Does DEI concern you? If you’re a leader, it should concern you a lot. Here’s why it concerns me.
In 2020, as a direct response to the killing of George Floyd and the demand for social justice, corporations did what a man in trouble with his wife does: whatever it takes to make the punishment stop.
Man promises it’ll never happen again = companies made pledges to do better about diversity.
Man buys roses = companies bought new employees: Black, Hispanic, LGBTQ+.
Man pledges his undying love and affection = companies created ridiculous advertising campaigns littered with people of color (proving their love and commitment).
Man agrees to therapy = company hires “DEI” trainers to teach white managers and employers how to do and be “better.”
Man realizes he overcommitted = company increased overhead, exceeded budgets, pissed people off, ostracized employees and have little to no ROI.
Man says, “I should’ve thought this through.” = company says, “DEI is ineffective.”
And there it is: ALL REACTION. NO DEI STRATEGY. All of that is woke. Plain and simple.
Here’s how it should have gone:
(It should go without saying that George Floyd shouldn’t have been killed, but since his death is what instigated the DEI movement, I’m starting there.)
As COVID restrictions stressed us all out, supply chain issues drove costs up, the demand for justice increased, mental issues skyrocketed, and emotional overwhelm reached an all-time high. We should have paused. One of those issues is enough to take a beat. All of them combined–definitely not the time to make commitments, especially about issues such as gender and race, gender equality and overall fairness.
Like any decision made out of fear and emotions, it was destined to rebound, and today, we’re dealing with the unintended consequences. Had we paused and allowed the anger, fear, pain, disappointment, misunderstandings and so forth to shake out, we would have been in a better place to examine what needed to be done.
Receptionists wouldn’t have been promoted to Diversity Directors, and people of color wouldn’t have been tokenized for advertising. HR departments wouldn’t have implemented checkboxes for hiring and promotions, and divisive training wouldn’t have been permitted.
We would have taken a data-driven approach to identifying and closing gaps for employees and customers. We would have questioned why we have homogenous leadership teams in non-homogenous communities. We would have acknowledged that women and people of color missed opportunities due to bias and laziness and developed a strategic approach to addressing them. We would have learned that the minority is quickly becoming the new majority and recognized the importance of that information. We would know that making snap decisions that affect a customer majority is not smart and take a different approach.
We didn’t. But we can now. Put the woke wand away.
Let's do business the proper way—the anti-woke way. Call us at 800-834-4946 to get started or schedule a consultation here.
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