Why Your DEIB Efforts Aren’t Advancing

How development equity can help you in the new learning economy

Two years ago, we seemed to be on the brink of real change. Faced with stark statistics about social discrimination, workplace microaggressions, the lack of diversity in corporate leadership roles, and the inequity in funding for female- and minority-led startups, the promises to improve the state of Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, and Belonging (DEIB) in the workplace began. 

Businesses made declarations of support and solidarity. The State of California and Nasdaq introduced requirements for increased diversity on boards of directors. These efforts have made a difference. We’ve seen real gains in diversity on corporate boards and a record number of Fortune 500 CEOs are now women.

Yet, there is still so much work to be done. Despite those recent gains, female CEOs represent less than 5% of Fortune 500 companies. And the number of Fortune 500 CEOs who are Black has not matched the high from 10 years ago.
 

Why? Real change–real progress toward creating a welcoming and supportive environment for everyone who walks through the door–in some cases requires a fundamental change to how an organization views itself and the people who work there. 

Lack of Opportunity

A common and long-standing argument around diversity in the workplace has been that there’s a pipeline problem: simply not enough qualified diverse candidates to fill roles in leadership or to be placed on a leadership track. Although many organizations are realizing the fallacy of this, other leaders have seemingly ignored the pervasive nature of social justice issues raised following the death of George Floyd.

The truth is there’s a lack of opportunity and awareness. It’s been a particularly effective combination of a dearth of resources (educational, social, and financial) and an inability to recognize and/or address existing inequities in the systems that are in place to provide hiring, mentorship, and succession support to rising leaders. 

Anyone in recruiting knows that “qualified” is subjective and not an absolute; few candidates tick every box on a hiring or promotional manager’s wish list. But if candidates see red flags in the job description itself, they’re not going to see a long-term fit for themselves in your organization. The result is diverse candidates and employees who move around in order to have any hope of moving up. 

The other options are twofold: talent that lies unrecognized at a loss to both the employee and the employer, or talent that pursues an entrepreneurial path. Despite the independence afforded by the latter, there are barriers.

For example, opportunities available to many participants in the Great Resignation are not as readily available to employees of color. They either don’t have the flexibility to leave their current roles and regroup or, when pursuing their own businesses, they find that – despite a fourfold increase in funding in 2021 – Black-owned startups still make up less than 1.5% of venture capital investments in the United States.

Lack of Development Equity

When it comes to unrealized talent in the workplace, organizations risk fostering dissatisfaction as well as missing out on the benefits of an engaged, diverse workforce. By shifting some focus from external recruitment to effective internal talent investment, you can realize the full potential not only of your employees but your own DEIB efforts.

The fact is, we’ve entered a New Learning Economy, and as more leaders and employees focus on their own professional development and advancement, the New Learning Economy will define the future of work. Companies that are successful at leveraging technology to provide high-quality, high-impact training and development experiences with equitable access across the organization will position themselves not only to be more successful in their efforts to be more diverse but to be more competitive in the long term. 

Unfortunately, a lot of organizations fail to move the needle with DEIB initiatives not just because they don’t see internal diverse talent, but because they don’t see how they may be complicit in their own stalled progress. When over 70% of sponsors are the same race or gender as their protégés and 73% of organizations use a single subjective nomination to select candidates for learning and development (L&D) opportunities, it all but eliminates opportunities for those who don’t have the right connections.

These companies lack what I deem to be Development Equity--equitable access for underrepresented groups to career-enhancing development opportunities. Without it, companies can’t “walk the talk” of DEIB, showing not only a commitment to change but a foundation that will make it sustainable. 

In addition, without establishing a baseline for each of the following three components of Development Equity, you won’t be able to measure and make meaningful progress:
 

• Benchmarking. By measuring how equitably development opportunities are distributed across multiple categories of identity, organizations hold themselves accountable. It’s the same process that has helped with closing the gender pay gap.

 

• Nomination and selection processes. Diverse employees may be excluded from the informal networks that are on the radar of decision-makers. By mapping your process you’ll see where you can add quantitative features to make it more objective.

 

• Program structure. Effective L&D should upskill the participant and provide opportunities for them to demonstrate to senior stakeholders that they can apply what they’ve learned to solve critical business challenges. Real-project application and/or stretch assignments should be a part of any L&D endeavor.

HR as a Key Driver of the Future of Work

The future of work will be more cooperative. The pandemic altered the dynamic between employer and employee and between members of distributed teams. The C-suite is expanding to accommodate the new leadership needs of tomorrow. And cooperation has certainly been key to the development of a Development Equity Council.

While my organization serves as host and facilitator, the work of the council is driven by senior-level HR and DEIB professionals in top global companies who discuss how best to democratize L&D access in order to create the next generation of diverse leaders. As they gather learnings from efforts in their own organizations, their goal is to create an actionable blueprint for other organizations to follow. 

All of these trends and activities put HR professionals in a unique and exciting position. You hold the keys to your organization’s ability to meet the operational challenges and opportunities of tomorrow. Not only by preparing your leaders with the appropriate future-ready skills but by helping high-performing individuals to advance to leadership roles and demonstrating that your organization embodies a culture that values all of its employees.

In short, you’re driving your organization’s journey into the New Learning Economy by nurturing the greatest resource in the future of work: people. But as we’ve seen, success is not just about a shift in attitude. The next steps are perhaps the toughest–an unflinching review of how you currently operate, then coming up with a measurable plan of action that leadership and employees understand and embrace. Only an honest assessment about where you are, transparency about where you’re going, and a unified approach to how you get there will help you achieve your goals.

Recommended Resource: 

• The Challenge of Achieving Equity in the Future of Work - Newsweek article by ExecOnline CEO Stephen Bailey

Stephen Bailey is an entrepreneur, leadership and workforce expert and futurist, who works with corporate leaders within the Fortune 500 and Global 2000 to create memorable life- changing learning experiences. Stephen co-founded ExecOnline, a premier provider of certified, online leadership development experiences, to diversify the leadership pipelines of the world’s largest organizations by democratizing access to high-quality leadership training. Prior to ExecOnline, Stephen served as the CEO and chief product officer of Frontier Strategy Group (FSG). Connect Stephen Bailey