The year 2020 served as a stark inflection point in the ongoing conversation surrounding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). While the back-to back murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery ignited a national reckoning on racial injustice, the subsequent surge in corporate DEI initiatives often fell short of genuine, tangible change. Many organizations earnestly sought meaningful change in the DEI construct but underestimated the calcified nature of (and ultimately familiarity and comfort with) status quo. Adopting a posture of DEI felt like it required upending everything. Other organizations adopted performative measures, failing to address deeply entrenched biases and systemic inequalities. This superficial approach, coupled with the inherent complexities of fostering equity, left many feeling disillusioned and questioning the effectiveness of traditional DEI strategies.
Today, the current political climate in the United States presents a complex and evolving landscape for DEI strategies. While there’s broad societal support for DEI principles, a notable counter-narrative has emerged, often framed as a pushback against “woke” culture. This counter-narrative, reflected in certain policy decisions and public statements by the current administration, challenges the legitimacy and necessity of DEI efforts. This has created an atmosphere of uncertainty and hesitancy within some organizations, leading some companies to scale back or even abandon their DEI programs for fear of legal challenges, negative publicity or perceived backlash from consumers or stakeholders. The resulting ambiguity creates difficulties for organizations seeking to address the reality of their employee and customer needs, forcing them to contend with conflicting priorities and navigate a potentially volatile political climate.
Dr. Nikki Lanier, CEO of Harper Slade, an advisory firm that specializes in helping organizations build strategic and thriving, multicultural workplaces, urges that a fundamental shift is needed. She emphasizes organizations must move beyond the limitations of reactive, often crisis-driven approaches and adopt a proactive, holistic strategy that addresses the reality of evolving demographics of the workforce and anticipates the future needs of businesses and the American economy.
The Demographic Imperative
By 2045, the United States is projected to become a majority-minority nation, with people of color outnumbering white individuals. This dramatic demographic shift presents both challenges and opportunities for organizations. Failing to adapt to this changing demographic landscape will not only result in a less inclusive workforce but also limit a company’s ability to attract and retain top talent, understand its diverse customer base and innovate effectively.
Dr. Lanier emphasizes the urgency of this issue, highlighting that companies must proactively develop strategies that ensure equitable outcomes for all employees, irrespective of race, ethnicity, gender, or other identity factors. She stresses that simply increasing representation (diversity) is insufficient; it’s crucial to create a work environment where individuals from all backgrounds have equal opportunities to advance (equity) and feel a genuine sense of belonging (inclusion). This first requires an understanding (and acknowledgment of) circumstances giving rise to jarringly different experiences, by aspects such as race, in the same workplace.
Beyond Inclusion: The Importance of Equity
The core of Dr. Lanier’s approach centers on the critical distinction between equality and equity. While inclusion focuses on creating space for diverse groups within an existing system, equity necessitates the active dismantling of systemic barriers and addressing historical inequalities. She explains this concept using a powerful analogy: “Imagine a family with three children. Each child needs love and support, but their individual needs will vary based on their unique circumstances. One child may require extra help with their studies, another may need more emotional support, and a third may need assistance with their physical health. You don’t treat all your children the same; you tailor your approach to meet their unique needs. The same principle applies to building equitable workplaces except in this instance, we are talking about common impediments experienced by groups of people because of common deficit-rich narratives assigned to them at birth.”
This requires a move beyond simple numerical representation to a more profound understanding of the lived experiences and unique challenges faced by each group within the organization. Dr. Lanier stresses that proportional fairness (not fairness alone), acknowledging historical injustices and providing targeted support where needed, is essential for achieving true equity.
Part of why equity often gets boiled down to a merit vs. equity battle is due to a resistance for complexity and nuance. It’s easy to tout the mantra that the ‘best candidate gets the job / promotion.’ It is wrapped in the assumption that there is no context to consider. When we start to examine whether an equitable opportunity exists, it becomes far less black and white. Though there are definite underlying issues of bias and prejudice behind the pushback of DEI focused approaches, a great deal of that pushback is grounded in the fact that it’s not a simple concept that can be answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no.’
Addressing the Challenges of Equity through Proportional Fairness
The shift towards equity presents significant challenges. Dr. Lanier highlights the difficulty many organizations face in accepting the concept of proportional fairness. The ingrained notion of equal treatment for all, regardless of background, often makes the idea of targeted interventions difficult to accept. She explains, “Equity isn’t about sameness. It’s about proportional fairness. It requires acknowledging that different groups come into the workplace having experienced different histories and face different real-world challenges that impact their experience of the workplace. To create proportional fairness, we have to filter our approaches to engaging, leading and working with them through this context.”
Many companies struggle with this concept due to a lack of understanding of historical context and systemic biases. Dr. Lanier underscores the need for organizations to undertake a deep dive into their own history and the societal forces that have shaped their workplace culture. This has to include confronting uncomfortable truths, acknowledging past wrongs and understanding the systemic biases that have historically favored certain groups.
Dr. Lanier’s approach to this work recognizes that often, it is this exercise that leaves many feeling guilty and ashamed or even complicit about the past and current day inequity. Most lack the tools to manage these feelings and emotions so they are outright rejected, along with the doctrine (in this case DEI) that ushered them in. In her view, guilt and shame are neither required or helpful in this pursuit. “Those emotions, while understandable, stymie growth with these principles.”
The “Who,” “How” and “What” of Building High-Performing Multicultural Workplaces
Dr. Lanier’s framework for cultivating high-performing, multicultural work environments rests on three key elements: the who, the how, and the what.
The “Who”: A comprehensive strategy considers all stakeholder groups, recognizing that their needs and experiences are diverse and require tailored approaches. In particular, Dr. Lanier emphasizes that genuine inclusion requires creating a space where all employees, particularly those from marginalized groups, feel valued and respected. This means moving away from a ‘blame-game’ approach and towards engaging the current decision-makers and senior leaders, who are still primarily from a white, cis male demographic.
The “How”: Successful implementation requires carefully selecting and training practitioners and leaders who possess the necessary skills and qualities to support these strategies. These include:
- Emotional intelligence: The ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions, and to empathize with and respond appropriately to the emotions of others.
- Cultural sensitivity: A deep understanding of and respect for the diverse cultures, backgrounds and experiences of employees.
- Knowledge of corporate dynamics: A thorough understanding of how organizations function, the nuances of corporate culture and the dynamics of power and influence.
- Infectious optimism: A positive and empowering approach that inspires others to embrace change and actively participate in embedding these efforts into the way business is done. In her opinion this is about emphasizing the “invitation” into a new world view on “human difference based on demographics such as race, gender and more” vs. a condemnation of current or prevailing views.
- Proactive planning: Inclusion is not intuitive. At this point, we’re all learning that creating a high-performance, multicultural workplace won’t happen organically. This is why Dr. Lanier partners with leaders to build real-world strategies that will enable them to intentionally build inclusive and equitable organizations as a part of the company’s long-term vision. She emphasizes that being reactive or implementing short-term ‘band-aid’ initiatives can do more harm than good. Her and her team at Harper Slade take a holistic and unique approach to ensure leaders implement solutions for sustainable success. This ensures the company’s investment in their employees is aligned with the organization’s values and long-term business needs.
The “What”: This element focuses on addressing the root causes of inequity in the workplace. Dr. Lanier underscores the need to understand the unique lived experiences of different groups, particularly the historical and systemic biases that have shaped those experiences. It requires not only acknowledging past injustices but also actively working to dismantle the systems that perpetuate them. This involves a deep understanding of the relevant societal issues at play and a commitment to addressing them within the organization.
She also sees this work as an opportunity to assign an economic lens to the importance and urgency of this body of work. The Federal Reserve has studied the cost of economic exclusion based on race and gender. They’ve identified that the American economy has lost $16 trillion in GDP because of it.
Practical Strategies for Building Proportional Fairness into the Workplace
Dr. Lanier provides several practical strategies for organizations looking to implement effective DEI initiatives. These include:
- Sentiment Surveys: Conducting employee sentiment surveys to understand the existing attitudes and beliefs within the organization, especially perceptions of and experiences with diversity, equity and inclusion in their daily lives and through work. This information is invaluable for identifying areas that need to be addressed. It helps gauge current attitudes, assesses the organization’s level of receptiveness and allows for a more tailored implementation strategy. “None of us come to this work lacking opinions or experience regarding DEI. The prudent employer will endeavor to determine how fertile their soil is before planning DEI seeds in it. You might be surprised to find the many pockets of rigidity that often exists within your organization,” advises Dr. Lanier.
- Employee Experience Reviews: Collecting data through employee experience reviews, from onboarding to exit, to understand how different groups experience their journey within the organization. These assessments are different than “engagement or satisfaction” surveys. While engagement surveys tend to focus on job satisfaction, company pride and development opportunities, employee experience reviews help identify any barriers to equity and provide a holistic view of employee experiences. This comprehensive approach enables the tailoring of talent strategies to address specific concerns and improve outcomes.
- Targeted Development Initiatives: Creating targeted programs to develop talent from underrepresented groups. This may include mentoring programs, leadership training and other initiatives to increase representation at all levels of the organization. These proactive efforts ensure equitable representation and professional development within the workforce. “It is helpful to employ this priority in response to your own data gathered from the above data-gathering methods,” recommends Dr. Lanier.
- Integrating Multicultural Efforts into Core Business Strategies: Building diversity, equity and inclusion should not be a standalone initiative but integrated into the core business strategy of an organization. This includes making these elements fundamental components of all major decisions, such as talent planning, budget strategies and customer growth. This ensures topics such as proportional fairness or inclusion are not merely separate add-on programs, but rather a strategic priority woven into the fabric of the company’s operations, becoming cultural norms.
Embracing the Equity Imperative
The demographic shift in the American workforce is undeniable. The future of work demands a paradigm shift in how organizations approach this burgeoning, multiculture workforce. Dr. Lanier’s framework, emphasizing proportional fairness, implementing a holistic approach and embracing a more nuanced approach to talent planning and management provides a roadmap for building workplaces where every individual can thrive, not one at the expense of the other. It requires proactively creating a culture of belonging where diversity is celebrated, equity is achieved and every employee has the opportunity to reach their full potential. Failure to adapt to this new reality will not only harm the workforce but will ultimately impact the competitiveness and sustainability of businesses in the years to come.