4 Steps to Generate C-Suite Buy-in for DEI
Over the years, we have connected with many executive leadership teams about the profound impact DEI has on organizations. We have learned that no amount of data or evidence supporting the business case will convince a CEO to invest in DEI. Often, it is when we connect with each other on a human level with candor, vulnerability, truth-telling, and compassion that we take the first steps to developing a trusting and lasting partnership to do the deep and transformative work required to shift mindsets, behaviors, systems, and ultimately the culture at an organization.
We encourage you to try some of these strategies to help you get the buy-in that you need to introduce or expand the DEI efforts of your organization.
Make it Personal. Begin DEI commitment conversations by appealing directly to leaders’ emotions and the deeper human need for fairness. Have they ever felt they were treated unfairly or know someone, personally, who was excluded based on an aspect of their identity? Was it because of their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, immigrant status, or something else entirely? How did that experience impact them or that individual – personally or professionally?
Expand Leaders’ Understanding of DEI. What is the big picture and context you are working with? How does your company currently define DEI? Are employees or customers asking for it based on a series of incidents or data collected through different feedback channels? Do you have an employee retention problem? Have you observed behaviors like the fear of speaking up by employees? Are employees of color less likely to receive promotions and are less represented in leadership ranks? Are they leaving the company for step up promotions with your competitors? What might this all mean for the future success and sustainability of your organization?
Connect DEI to executive development and support your points with reputable sources. Provide illustrations of how DEI is similar to the behavior changes often expected in performance management, which is not a one and done activity. Help leaders to see the critical role they play in advancing your organization’s DEI efforts – starting with building the foundational awareness they need to advocate and lead confidently across difference. Afterward they can expand these efforts to help build more inclusive teams and organization’s that uphold fairness through less subjective systems and processes.
Highlight the risk of inaction to the business when DEI is ignored or de-prioritized. Connect inaction to employee disengagement, lowered productivity, burn out and feelings of not belonging due to organizational practices and policies that no longer serve their needs. Additionally, share supporting evidence from credible sources like Gallup. A 2021 Gallup engagement survey indicates that 64% of U.S. employees are disengaged of which 74% were either actively looking for new employment or watching for openings.
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