DEI in Corporate Strategy

How we talk about DEI is important. How we do the work of DEI, to actually achieve #diversity, #equity, and #inclusion, is far more important. As we head into 2025, I'm hearing a lot of buzz from well-meaning practitioners looking for ways they can rebrand the DEI status quo of one-off trainings, zero-budget lunch and learns, and volunteer burnout-inducing cultural celebrations so that they can continue with their workplace's business as usual under a new name. There is no rebrand in the world that can save ineffective practices. Long before this latest wave of backlash, practitioners leading this work have pushed for organizational DEI to become more accountable, measurable, and impactful. We've all seen organizations with rampant discrimination in promotion and hiring, with broadly inaccessible facilities, websites, products, and services, with toxic workplace cultures lacking respect, value, or safety for those in them, and with leadership teams leading with neither trust or transparency...boasting about their underfunded, poorly-attended, and undersupported DEI events to show their "commitment" to this work. If that's the status quo you're trying to save, forget about it. 🎯 Effective DEI work in 2024 was rigorous, measurable, and principled. It sought to identify problems before (not after) prescribing solutions, with the goal of improving diversity, equity, and inclusion outcomes. 💥 That same work in 2025 will look like strategic human-centered interventions with pre- and post-measurement to identify progress—or lack thereof—toward removing barriers to thriving in the workplace. 🎯 Effective DEI work in 2024 was systems-focused, not stopping at individual-level solutions like coaching or training, to root out systemic biases enabling homogeneity, inequity, and exclusion at scale. 💥 That same work in 2025 will look like organizational development and change management, to ensure that policies, processes, and practices across every workplace are enabling everyone to succeed. 🎯 Effective DEI work in 2024 was rooted in the collective, drawing on allyship between different identity groups to lend our collective power, influence, and resources to each other's causes. 💥 That same work in 2025 will look like coalition-building and organizing for mutual benefit, building trust between people from differing backgrounds to push for a better status quo that benefits everyone. When we give into fear and go on the defensive, we risk losing the creative edge we need to imagine a world better than the one we're familiar with. 2025 might be a hard year for DEI, yes. But the good, hard work behind it isn't going anywhere, not if practitioners stay focused on the impact we're working to achieve and continue honing our craft. Stay sharp, folks.

For everyone who keeps saying, "DEI = Didn't Earn It," let me educate you. DEI isn’t just a corporate buzzword—it’s about ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to work, thrive, and be respected. It includes: ✅ Your coworker with ADHD who needs a quiet workspace to focus and do their best work. ✅ The deaf cashier at your local grocery store who greets you with a warm smile and quickly signs "thank you" when you check out. ✅ The chronically ill employee who works remotely because commuting drains their energy, but whose contributions are just as valuable as anyone else's. ✅ The Black woman in leadership who deserves to be recognized for her expertise, not dismissed or interrupted in meetings. ✅ The LGBTQIA2S+ employee who wants to share pictures of their partner on their desk without fear of side-eyes or whispers. ✅ The Muslim team member who takes a few minutes for daily prayers without judgment. ✅ The father who leaves early for daycare pickup and isn’t seen as “less committed” to his job. ✅ The older employee bringing decades of knowledge to the team, who isn’t pushed aside for someone younger. ✅ The neurodivergent coder whose innovative thinking makes the whole team stronger. DEI isn’t about “special treatment.” It’s about removing barriers that never should have been there in the first place. It's about recognizing that fair doesn’t always mean equal—sometimes it means adjusting the system so everyone can succeed. It’s not about taking opportunities away from one group to give to another—it’s about making sure opportunity exists for everyone. That’s what DEI is. That’s why it matters. DEI isn’t about giving anyone a head start—it’s about removing the barriers that never should have been there in the first place.

In the drive to build inclusive, thriving workplaces, stay interviews are a game-changer. Unlike exit interviews, which look back at why employees leave, stay interviews focus on why people stay—giving us real-time insights into engagement, satisfaction, and belonging. Here’s why stay interviews are essential for today’s diverse teams: 1. Uncover Insights That Matter: Stay interviews allow employees to share what they value most in their work environment, especially as it relates to inclusion, growth, and belonging. These conversations provide leaders with feedback directly from the voices of their teams, revealing barriers and motivators that may not surface in routine check-ins. 2. Retain Top Talent: For diverse employees, having a platform to voice their needs and experiences can boost loyalty and morale. By listening and responding to these insights, organizations show that they value each individual's unique contributions—leading to stronger retention and a richer workplace culture. 3. Reinforce Psychological Safety: Stay interviews foster an environment where people feel heard and respected. For DEI efforts, this means creating a space where employees feel comfortable discussing their challenges and successes, from career development opportunities to experiences with inclusion and support. 4. Drive DEI Strategy with Actionable Data: Conducted thoughtfully, stay interviews can guide DEI strategies with tangible data. They reveal which DEI initiatives are resonating and where there’s room for growth. This makes it easier to set meaningful, employee-driven goals that benefit everyone. By making stay interviews a regular part of your DEI strategy, we create a culture of active listening, continuous improvement, and genuine support. These conversations are a powerful reminder that every voice counts—and that by understanding why employees stay, we’re better equipped to build a workplace where everyone feels they belong. Info graph shared by Wouter Durville

Why rely solely on surveys when you can uncover the true state of DEI through concrete metrics? This is a question that echoes in my mind each time I embark on a new journey with a client. Surveys can provide valuable opinions, but they often fall short of capturing real facts and the nuanced realities of individuals within an organization. 🔎 Here are 6 key DEI metrics that truly matter: 📍 Attrition Rates: Take a closer look at why employees are leaving, especially among different groups. This will help you understand if there are specific challenges or issues that need to be addressed to improve retention. 📍 Leadership Pipeline Diversity: Evaluate the diversity within your leadership team. Are there opportunities for underrepresented individuals to rise into leadership roles? Are they equally represented on all levels of leadership? 📍 Promotion and Advancement Rates: Assess if all employees, regardless of background, are getting equal opportunities to advance in their careers. By monitoring promotion and advancement rates, you can identify any biases and work towards creating a level playing field. 📍 Pay Equity: Ensure that everyone is paid fairly and equally for their work. Address any discrepancies in pay based on not only gender, but also race, age, ethnicity or other intersectional factors. 📍 Hiring Pipeline Diversity: Examine the diversity of candidates in your hiring process. Are you attracting a wide range of talent from different backgrounds? Tracking this metric helps you gauge the effectiveness of your recruitment efforts in creating a diverse workforce. 📍 Employee Engagement by Demographic: Measure the level of engagement and satisfaction among employees from various groups. Are there any disparities in engagement levels? Run the crossings of identity diversity and organizational one. By focusing on these 6 concrete metrics, you can gain real insights into your organization's DEI progress based on actionable data that drives progress. ________________________________________ Are you looking for more HR tips and DEI content like this?  📨 Join my free DEI Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dtgdB6XX

I feared that the widespread adoption of DEI frameworks in 2020 was, for many, a knee-jerk reaction to the murder of George Floyd and the global reckoning on racial injustice that followed. Sadly, I was right. Corporations scrambled to issue statements, create initiatives, and hire diversity officers—not necessarily out of a deep understanding of or commitment to DEI, but because they feared being left out or publicly criticized. It was, for many, about optics rather than true change. This bandwagon approach lacked substance. Instead of embedding DEI as a fundamental principle of their operations, many organizations treated it as a temporary campaign. They missed the essence of DEI: it is not a trend, nor is it a branding tool. It is a long-term commitment to dismantling systemic discrimination and fostering fairness and inclusion. By extension, it is a commitment to justice. This lack of genuine belief is part of why we are seeing a retreat from DEI now – cowardly retreat I say. For organizations that never truly internalized its purpose, it is easier to abandon these efforts under pressure. But for those who understand its value, DEI is non-negotiable. It is not about checking a box—it is about building better, stronger and more just organizations and communities. The principles of diversity, equity and inclusion are not luxuries or “nice-to-haves.” They are essential for creating a just and caring world. When biases and prejudices are allowed to fester, we all lose. But when the true ideal of DEI is embraced, society becomes richer, more vibrant and more innovative. Justice is not about favoritism; it is about fairness. Removing systemic barriers is not about giving an unfair advantage; it is about restoring balance. DEI is a framework for unlocking human potential, recognizing talent and fostering a society where everyone has a chance to thrive. The pushback against DEI is disheartening, but it should serve as a reminder that progress is never linear. The work of dismantling inequities and fostering inclusion is ongoing, and it requires courage, persistence and clarity of purpose. Let us not lose sight of why DEI matters. It is not a trend. It is a commitment to justice, creativity and the shared humanity that binds us all. The question is not whether we can afford to embrace the principles of DEI but whether we can afford not to.

DEI efforts in companies are often totally ineffective. Over the last three years, I’ve discussed DEI with hundreds of HR leaders across dozens of industries in more than 15 countries. That’s a lot of research into what works and what doesn't. Here’s what’s broken in DIY strategies 🔧 🔝 There is no focus on the top of funnel Very few people look at the top of the funnel. There’s no way you can increase diversity in your team without being discovered (and considered) by diverse candidates. By only focusing on reactive hiring, you're setting yourself up to fail. Work on employer brand, recognition, employee advocacy, and discoverability even in periods of low or no hiring. 📊 You aren't working with data Despite what many dinosaurs will have you think DEI is not a fluffy topic. The best DEI strategies (the ones that actually work), lead with data. They ask about the candidate demographics on the platforms they use, they A/B test job descriptions to uncover inclusive language, they go through their own application processes, and they report DEI data all the way to board level. 🫡 DEI isn’t recognised as a strategic company wide objective DEI impacts every single part of your organisation. Diverse companies are more innovative, they’re more creative, ultimately diverse teams are stronger teams who build better products. How is this not worthy of being prioritised? 🦕 Your working environment isn't inclusive Without flexibility, you cannot have inclusivity. Without inclusivity, you cannot expect to attract diverse talent. Simple. When companies do hire diverse talent, often these are the first people to leave, but no one it digging into why (hint: it's often to do with inclusivity). There are so many other reasons that DEI is broken, so which ones would you add? 👷🏽 Flexa #DversityEquityInclusion #FlexibleWorking #EmployerBranding

Could the resistance to #DEI be less about individuals and more about how our systems are built? I first explored this question in a paper for my Fielding Graduate University PhD course, Systems Approaches to Leadership, Organizations, and Society. The assignment, in short, was to “develop a detailed intervention plan that applies systems thinking to address a complex issue within an organization, business, or nonprofit of your choice.” I chose to focus on resistance to DEI in organizations. Because, I’m (we’re) living it! Being that this topic is so urgent and relevant, I didn’t want to leave it in the classroom. So I transformed my final paper it into a blog post for The Winters Group, Inc.'s The Inclusion Solution blog. In the post, I explore how DEI resistance often goes unrecognized because it’s not always loud (although, under the current administration, it certainly has been!). It’s quiet. It’s cultural. And most importantly, it’s systemic. Using tools like the iceberg model, I examine what’s really driving the stall in DEI progress—and offer 5 system-level strategies for interrupting it. 💭 I’d love to hear from you: What are some of the mental models you’ve seen or heard that quietly shape resistance to diversity, equity, and inclusion in your space? And what are the structural or cultural patterns that continue to hinder real change? Read the full post here: https://lnkd.in/eFZTqgYy

Target didn’t just blink. They backpedaled. Hard. A company once hailed as a retail leader in DEI quietly pulled inclusive products, scaled back internal teams, and softened its stance when things got uncomfortable. And now? CEO Brian Cornell is meeting with Rev. Al Sharpton to work out how to patch things up. But let’s be honest - this isn’t leadership. It’s clean-up. Target’s brand was built on values. On standing up for people. On showing that inclusion wasn’t optional. That’s why it mattered to so many. So when they hit pause on that promise to avoid controversy, it didn’t just disappoint - it betrayed the trust of customers, employees, and entire communities who expected better. I’m not saying brands have to get everything right. But when you go quiet in moments that call for courage, you send a loud message: “Our values are negotiable.” Here’s the thing: DEI isn’t a trend. It’s not a campaign. It’s leadership. Full stop. And if you abandon it the moment things get tough, don’t be surprised when your people (and your reputation) start to walk away. To every CEO and CHRO watching this play out: this is your reminder. If you want to lead with integrity, your commitment to inclusion has to hold especially when the heat’s on. Because backpedaling might calm the noise. But it costs you something deeper: Credibility. https://lnkd.in/ggkAeei2

A shift in the political landscape triggered some US firms to roll back on their DEI best practices and bury them in the fine print. Recently, Accenture scrapped its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) targets, following similar actions taken by Meta, Alphabet, and others. As US firms re-evaluate DEI commitments amid a changing political climate, the India diversity charter of MNCs remains robust. Some firms have relabelled these efforts as talent initiatives while continuing to monitor performance indicators internally. India hosts approximately 1,700 global capability centres (GCCs), which have demonstrated forward-thinking approaches in their talent management strategies, including accelerating DEI efforts. Recently, DEI firm Avtar examined India Inc’s position in the DEI debate. The study showed that the US govt’s directive on DEI has no significant impact on Indian and non-US multinationals. When it comes to Indian affiliates of American companies, over 50% of the companies are pausing their DEI programmes temporarily or indefinitely. Additionally, the study showed that 33% of the companies stated they will continue DEI with some modifications. This means that while DEI will not be pursued under a formal DEI agenda, it will be adopted through other avenues like CSR or by transforming the workplace culture. Among the US companies, 50% of their Indian entities said that their DEI initiatives will continue unchanged (17%) or with some modifications (33%). Kellie Wagner , founder and CEO of US-based DEI lab Collective, said while some of these US companies are dismantling programming or efforts they never fully bought into and embarked on out of social pressure, others are simply modifying language to avoid the wrath and attention of the Trump administration. “For instance, while news is reporting that Disney ended their DEI work, they simply recoded their language about DEI, embedding it into how they talk about their values and masking it with language like 'talent strategy.' With a closer look, it appears that most of the rollback is simply a modification of language designed to appease an administration that is hostile to the work,” she said. #diversity #MNCs #DEI #inclusion Ramkumar Ramamoorthy Dr Saundarya Rajesh

Google just agreed to pay $50M to settle a racial bias lawsuit. But the real story? The warning signs were there years ago—and they were ignored. 🚨 Back in 2018, over 20,000 Google employees staged a global walkout, protesting how the company handled sexual harassment claims, and the $90M exit package they gave to an executive, Andy Rubin , the creator of the Android software, even after the company concluded that a harassment claim against him was credible! Then came April Christina Curley, a diversity recruiter at Google who raised concerns about how Black candidates from HBCUs were treated. Her reward? She was dismissed. And now, years later, the company is paying the price—economically and in their reputation. Having spent decades in tech and corporate leadership, I’ve seen this movie before! These situations unfold slowly—not all at once, but in small missteps that are ignored. But I’ve also seen how powerful it can be when a leader listens early, acts with intention, and builds a fair system of accountability with checks and balances before a crisis forces their hand. But this isn’t just about Google. It’s about every company out there that thinks DEI is optional—especially now in face of all the anti-DEI actions and rhetoric. To these leaders I say, "proceed at your own risk, because data and history show just the opposite to be true." ✅ It's a fact that when done right, DEI is a safeguard that helps you attract the right talent, retain your best people, improve decision-making, and yes, it protects you from the kinds of legal and reputational risks that make headlines. So what can organizations do today to build a stronger, safer culture? Here are 4 things I'd recommend: 🔎 Make inclusion measurable – DEI isn’t fluff. Use real-time data to find out where the gaps are, what’s working and what’s not. 🤩 Create safe spaces for feedback – Anonymity isn’t dangerous. It’s how you achieve transparency as an organization and get honesty from your employees. 📊 Audit your people processes – From hiring to promotions and pay equity – unconscious bias will creep in over time unless you actively manage and remove it. 🛠️ Equip your managers – Inclusive leadership isn’t innate. It’s a skill—one that can be modeled and developed. If you’re re-thinking your DEI strategy in this new environment, I encourage you to read the full story (link to be posted in the comments) and feel free to add a comment or DM me. Let's get the conversation going. The stakes are too high to get it wrong. 🧭 It’s time we stop treating DEI as a “nice to have” that can change with the way the wind is blowing—and start seeing it for what it really is; a core business function that protects and propels organizations. Because when inclusion is real, everyone wins. 👏 #Leadership #Culture #HBCU #Inclusion #DEI #HR #BusinessStrategy #EmployeeExperience #Retention #Accountability #Android #settlement #lawsuit Image credit: The Source Los Angeles. 🙏