September 26th 2023.
Following the tragic death of George Floyd in 2020, many companies across various industries announced that they would invest in diversity and inclusion initiatives, often appointing a Chief Diversity Officer to lead the efforts. However, a report from career site Zippia revealed that only 4% of these positions were occupied by Black people in 2023.
Reyhan Ayas, a senior economist at Revelio Labs, stated that this was likely a result of many of these organizations not following through with their commitments. He explained to NBC News, “It’s so easy to make public statements and commitments because no one will eventually check if you’re actually following through with what you said you would do. A lot of companies made big commitments in 2020, but we’re now seeing that many didn’t follow through.”
The lack of Black people in diversity and inclusion roles has experts in the field suspecting that many of these positions were created for public relations and little else. Chris Metzler, senior vice president of corporate DEI and environmental, social, and governance strategies at the National Urban League, said, “Most diversity professionals report to human resources, which are typically headed by white women and in some cases, white men. It doesn’t surprise me that Black diversity officers... are being moved out. It’s increasingly becoming a dead-end job.”
Tai Robinson, a human resources professional based in Houston, added that many of these DEI roles are lacking the support and qualified individuals needed to do the job successfully. She told NBC News, “So many of these individuals were receiving these great salaries. But in reality, they were wearing golden handcuffs, unable to do but so much because the organization leaders didn’t want much done.”
Research from the Harvard Business Review has shown that diversity programs fail when companies don’t use data to inform their decisions. For example, after companies required diversity training for managers, the percentage of Black, Latina, and women managers dropped by 9%, and Asian managers fell by 5%. However, when companies implemented voluntary training, they saw an increase of up to 13% in Black male managers and no decline in Black female managers.
In conclusion, it is not that diversity programs don’t work or don’t achieve results; if the direction of the company’s program is misguided, then diversity numbers will be stagnant. The success of a DEI program boils down to a company doing the research and following through based on what works, and having the willpower to allow those individuals to do the job they were hired for.
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