Diversity in the face of adversity – how to consciously continue DEI activities in your organisation?

‘It is encouraging to see that 66% of you participating today are not withdrawing from DEI, while the 25% who do not know how to respond are probably also connected to the 66% – we are not withdrawing, we are just considering how to proceed,’ emphasised Paulina Maslich.

The experts pointed to the media hype that could suggest a mass withdrawal of companies from DEI policies, contrasting it with the facts. As Paulina Maslich pointed out, research shows that ‘15% of large companies in the United States began to reduce their budgets for DEI policies as early as the end of 2023,’ and comparing 2023 to 2022, there are 20% fewer job offers involving DEI roles.

What does ‘de-DEI’ mean – examples from the market

Recent months have seen a number of high-profile decisions by global corporations to change their approach to DEI:

“We have Meta and Mark Zuckerberg, who in the first quarter of 2024 stated that there are too many women in the company and that this will be corrected. Later, big banks like JP Morgan Chase sent information to their employees about which DEI-related expressions to use and which to avoid. At NASA, on the other hand, expressions such as “Women in Leadership” were removed from official reports at the beginning of the year,” explained Paulina Maslich.

Agnieszka Czmyr-Kaczanowska pointed to a change in the narrative surrounding DEI, citing regulations signed by the US administration that explicitly describe previous DEI actions as ‘dangerous, degrading, and immoral preferences.’

Business benefits and risks of limiting DEI

The experts emphasised that it is worth considering whether DEI was just a ‘PR shell’ in the company or whether it is consistent with the organisation’s values.

“This is a moment when many companies will weigh up what true diversity and inclusion policy really means, whether it is indeed, as McKinsey stated in its 2023 report, a value deeply rooted in organisational culture. These types of solutions cannot simply be turned off overnight, like a switch,” emphasised Agnieszka Czmyr-Kaczanowska.

The potential risks associated with withdrawing from DEI policies include:

• Negative impact on employee morale and sense of security
• Limited opportunities for talent development
• Decline in team innovation and creativity
• Conflicts within the organisation
• Weakening of recruitment processes and employer branding

‘McKinsey’s research consistently confirms that diverse teams are approximately 47% more effective, both in financial terms and in terms of innovation and generating new ideas,’ added Agnieszka Czmyr-Kaczanowska.

Best practices – how to effectively continue DEI?

Magdalena Bukała, responsible for Inclusion, Diversity and Engagement at Akamai, shared some best practices that work well in her organisation:

‘My team is called Inclusion, Diversity, Engagement, or IDE for short. Given that you can have a very diverse team in every respect, but if people do not feel included in the processes and their point of view is not respected, diversity does not really matter.’

Among the effective practices, she mentioned:

1. Candidate Connect Program – enabling candidates in the final stage of recruitment to have informal conversations with employee group representatives: ‘People who later decide to work for us mention that this is one of the most important moments in their decision to join the company,’ emphasised Bukała.
2. Employee groups (ERGs) with an emphasis on their real business impact: “Last year, we decided that, in addition to the element of engagement, we would also like their impact on the business to be very strong.”
3. Executive sponsorship for employee groups: “Each of our employee groups has at least one executive sponsor who, for example, when hearing about a change in benefits policy, brings this information to the employee groups.”
4. Clear and consistent internal communication: ‘At Town Hall and All Hands meetings, this topic is one of the flagship topics that are regularly discussed, so it is the official position of the company – we are continuing.’

What next? Recommendations for organisations

Based on the experts’ discussions, the following recommendations for companies can be formulated:

1. Conduct an audit of existing DEI activities and identify those that bring the most business value
2. Ensure clear communication of the DEI strategy within the organisation
3. Involve senior management in DEI initiatives
4. Measure and report on the impact of DEI activities in the context of their impact on the business
5. Adapt the language of communication to the current context while maintaining key values

Summary

The experts unanimously emphasised that the current situation may be a good time to review existing DEI activities and retain those that actually bring business value and are consistent with the organisational culture.

‘Contrary to appearances, we are at a cool moment where companies are really thinking about whether to continue their DEI activities and, if so, how to do so in a way that is consistent with their brand values,’ summarised Paulina Maslich.

Agnieszka Czmyr-Kaczanowska concluded the webinar by emphasising that diversity and inclusion remain key issues for Talenti:

‘There is a reason why we organise these types of webinars. For us, this is the core of our business – we are looking for the best ways to empower women and support their professional development, so these are very important topics for us.’

Would you like to discuss how to conduct DEI activities? Contact us at: agnieszka.kaczanowska@talenti.pl