The “D” Word: How To Lead So Everyone Can Thrive In DEI-Restricted Climate
New federal restrictions on hiring and retention are harming and complicating workplaces.
A movement by any other name would be just as crucial.
New presidential assertions claim diversity is immoral and has led to reverse discrimination, unfounded accusations on competence. So the D word for diversity is banned in key agencies and other entities. .
The recent White House executive order calling for the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, programs and initiatives in federal agencies, as well as foundations, businesses, the U.S. Air Force, corporations, universities, legal and medical associations, non-profits and more organizations and companies across industries, prompted different, large-scale responses.
Costco recently defended its efforts for its 300,000 employees as its board of directors voted against any suggested proposals to scale back DEI movements.
However, companies including Amazon, Target, Walmart, Meta, McDonald’s, Boeing Company, Ford Motor, Harley Davidson and John Deere are among the large corporations that have acquiesced and deleted some diversity efforts.
Read more in Take The Lead on countering these pushback initiatives
According to the executive order, even titles and names with DEI are not allowed. The order reads: “Terminate all ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ ‘equitable decision-making,’ ‘equitable deployment of financial and technical assistance,’ ‘advancing equity,’ and like mandates, requirements, programs, or activities, as appropriate.”
An additional order on eliminating DEI from the military was planned. Private companies are not under the tutelage of this sweeping ban. Some of these anti-discrimination laws and practices have been in place since the 1960s, and many states are challenging the legal validity.. A White House halt on funding and grants was legally paused, then rescinded.
Merely adjusting and renaming programs and initiatives so as not to violate these new laws will not necessarily be effective. Workplace and organization leaders need to shift the workplace culture to be inclusive without violating new pressures..
“Merely adjusting and renaming #programs and #initiatives so as not to violate these new laws will not necessarily be effective. Workplace #leaders need to shift the #workplaceculture. ”
Brigid Schulte, author of Over Work: Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life and Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play when No One has the Time, and director of the Better Life Lab, writes in US News & World Report, ”Rather than focus on and try to ‘fix’ individuals and reprogram brains that are by their very nature biased, what works is a mix of increasing awareness and taking action. That means reviewing systems, tracking data, and making relatively small and fairly easy-to-implement tweaks to the way businesses operate – the way companies hire, promote, rate performance, hold meetings and design policies.”
“Rather than focus on and try to ‘fix’ individuals and reprogram brains that are by their very nature biased, what works is a mix of increasing #awareness and taking #action. –@BrigidSchulte for @usnews”
Listen to a Take The Lead podcast with Brigid Schulte
Hirings must not be based on affirmative action quotas, a practice in higher education that was overturned in 2023 by the U.S. Supreme Court, but must be “merit-based,” according to the executive order.
Even with the wide sweep of elimination of jobs, titles, programs and fundings bearing the names of DEI, the ideals of fairness, justice, awareness and equity are still urgently needed in workplaces, education systems and across all industries. Damning past efforts to improve inclusion under the umbrella of DEI is not a solution, as it claims the DEI efforts unfairly advantaged women and BIPOC, discriminating against whites and males. The numbers show a different reality.
“Even with the wide sweep of elimination of jobs, titles, programs and fundings bearing the names of #DEI, the ideals of #fairness, #justice, #awareness and #equity are still urgently needed in #workplaces.”
Women in The Workplace Report in 2024 from McKinsey & Co. and LeanIn, surveyed more than 15,000 employees and 280 Human Resources leaders.
“Women today make up 29 percent of C-suite positions, compared with just 17 percent in 2015. Women remain underrepresented across the pipeline, a gender gap that persists regardless of race and ethnicity. Simply put, men outnumber women at every level.” The report shows that at the entry level, 19% of employees are WOC, and 28% are white women. In the C-suite, 7% are WOC and 22% are white women, demonstrating the broken rung phenomenon of the corporate ladder for women.
Take The Lead reported in 2021, “Companies with a specific focus on DEI have 35% higher returns than companies that do not, and have as much as 19% higher innovation revenues,” People Matters reports. “In addition to this, there are some retention and engagement specific returns as well; over half of all employees want their current organization to increase their diversity, while nearly a third of all job seekers consider DEI to be an important factor in the organization they hope to work in.”
Take The Lead Co-Founder and President Gloria Feldt writes in Take The Lead: “Lack of commitment from the top of the organization is a sure-fire way to fail at increasing diversity. Even if a CEO vocalizes commitment but believes the organization is a meritocracy, it’s quite likely that leadership will continue to look like the CEO; it’s human nature to believe those with attributes we share are the most meritorious unless there is willingness to challenge one’s assumptions.”
“It’s #humannature to believe those with attributes we share are the most #meritorious unless there is willingness to #challenge one’s #assumptions. –@GloriaFeldt1, Co-Founder & President of @takeleadwomen”
As fairness and parity in leadership across all industries has been the mission of Take The Lead since it’s founding in 2014, Feldt adds, “And despite the unassailable business case that more gender and diversity of all kinds results in more profits, it’s not likely that anyone in the currently largely white and male power structure is going to relinquish their power voluntarily.”
Christian Nunes, president of National Organization for Women tells Politico, “If you take the DEI away, you also decrease your ability to provide ADA considerations and adaptability. DEI helps everybody, it doesn’t just help one group.”
Read more in Take The Lead on Christian Nunes
Calling these new laws “bullying,” the ACLU reports, “Employers must take a stand against this political intimidation and remain committed to opening doors to all candidates, especially those facing unfair headwinds. Legal advocacy groups and state attorneys general have urged compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws while advancing equity through measures that are neutral to race and other protected characteristics. Abandoning these programs risks perpetuating inequality, alienating diverse talent, and violating equal employment laws.”
“#Employers must take a stand against this #political intimidation and remain #committed to #openingdoors to all #candidates, especially those facing unfair headwinds. – @ACLU”
Take the Lead reports, “While the economic business climate is heating up about DEI initiatives, research shows that the country is split on the efficacy of DEI initiatives,” according to Pew Research.
“Half or more of both men and women say focusing on increasing DEI at work is a good thing, but women are more likely than men to offer this view (61% vs. 50%). In turn, men are more than twice as likely as women to say it is a bad thing (23% vs. 9%),” Pew reports. Another 26% say “having a workplace with about an equal mix of men and women,” is positive.
MSN reports from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that Robert Smith, Vista Equity Partners CEO, says, “I think that diversity is a great thing in business. How do I know? Because I look at the data, I look at the facts. When we have diverse teams, our teams are more productive. We have lower risk. We're actually able to out-produce those who don't have diverse teams.”
“When we have #diverse #teams, our teams are more #productive. We have #lowerrisk. We’re actually able to #outproduce those who don’t have diverse teams. –@RFS_Vista, CEO of Vista Equity Partners”
Smith adds, “We will have to navigate through this, and there may be certain laws to change. We have to make adjustments to it, but people will do the right thing."
“Leadership parity is an economic imperative,” Feldt writes. “The data is clear: companies with more diversity, including women in leadership, are more profitable and are key drivers in all areas of business, family, and community.”
