There appears to be a mad rush to dismantle DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging) programs. On his first day in office, newly sworn-in Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) issued an executive order eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices within the state’s government. On his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order to eliminate federal DEI programs.
They are not alone. Ford, Walmart, Boeing, Coors, Lowes, John Deer, and Harley Davidson, among others, have done the same. Source: Apple Asks Shareholders To Block Anti-DEI Proposal: Here Are The Companies Ending Diversity Programs (Full List)
Braun has ordered the initiative be replaced with MEI, or “merit, excellence, and innovation.” In the inaugural address, Trump also advocated the idea of merit.
There have been often-repeated memes and stories about DEI hires that have been used as reasons why the system failed. I don’t doubt that some hires were made to reach an artificial DEI target for which the person may not have been the best choice.
In my lived experience within organizations that had an overwhelming bias toward only promoting traditional (primarily white and male) talent, many people were in positions that they were ill-equipped to fill. In these same organizations, many capable (or exceptional) candidates of color or of the female gender were discounted in the selection process on very shaky grounds.
I find it odd (perhaps laughable) that there is a concern about “preferential” treatment when data would show that by almost any measure, those who are not white, male, heterosexual, able-bodied, and young continue to be underrepresented…in spite of their education, accomplishments, or qualifications.
- Only 25% of the Senate seats are held by women, even though they constitute 53% of Americans
- In our Fortune 500 companies, women hold only 8.2% of CEO roles. Broaden it to the Fortune 1000 and the number declines to a puny 7.3% of CEOs. Sources: Pew Research
- The situation is even more dire for black people, who hold a dismal 1% of the top jobs, which has declined over the past decade. Source: Chart: Little Progress for Black CEOs in the U.S. | Statista
As an organizational change expert, I believe the current backlash is indicative of a reaction to the clearly evident changes in the workforce that threaten the status quo for those who have held most of the power and perks in an America of the past.
No doubt that the workplace demographics are shifting to a workplace with more people of color, more women, more workers of various sexual identities, and a tilt to an older workforce. Credible data abounds, but here is an overview from Morehouse College in 2020:
New census population projections confirm the importance of racial minorities as the primary demographic engine of the nation’s future growth, countering an aging, slow-growing and soon to be declining white population. The new statistics project that the nation will become “minority white” in 2045. During that year, whites will comprise 49.7 percent of the population in contrast to 24.6 percent for Hispanics, 13.1 percent for blacks, 7.9 percent for Asians, and 3.8 percent for multiracial populations.
I also believe that those organizations, leaders, and communities for whom DEIB was more than a compliance activity will stand on the right side of history and thrive. In those organizations where all people are truly respected, valued, and can thrive good things happen.
Companies committed to tapping talent in all forms post stronger profits. This McKinsey report is one of many that provide data to that point: How diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) matter | McKinsey
For it is evident to me that talent comes in all shapes and forms and genders and colors – and if you want top talent, you value the skills and abilities, not the container it comes in.
If you want innovation, you must know that it comes from the fringes and relies on a diversity of viewpoints, lived experiences, and talents.
If you want excellence, you must tap into people’s quest for something higher – it resides in us all.
It you are seeking merit, set high standards, provide the conditions for it to occur, and people will rise to the occasion.
Our 250-year American experience has been founded on a great vision of “equality.” The preamble to the Declaration of Independence contains the entire theory of American government in a single, inspiring passage:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
The vision has been tested, and the notion that equity for all truly means all has been refined over time. Blood has been shed, battles fought, and progress, albeit slow, has ensued.
I, for one, do believe, as Martin Luther King so eloquently stated, that the arc of justice does bend toward justice.
We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.
–Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution.” Speech given at the National Cathedral, March 31, 1968.
Our nation sometimes moves forward, and at other times, it slips backward. It is my hope that each of us calls on our better nature to value all humans, dismantle the barriers that prevent people from exercising their talents and achieving their full potential, and lift all people up—not just a few.
Foot note: Please do NOT take my words to mean that white, male, heterosexuals are to be diminished or don’t matter. What I am fighting for is for race, gender, age, sexual orientation NOT to matter.
