There’s a critical point in the evolution of an idea, an effort, a program and even a career field when the description of it is condensed into an acronym. The reason for it is that when language begins to refer to something often in several words which takes a long time to say, someone will find a shorter way to refer to it. For example, “earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization” becomes EBITDA. “Generally accepted accounting principles” becomes GAAP. “Learning and development” becomes L&D.
In recent years, diversity and inclusion is a couplet that has evolved to “D&I”. It refers to all the formal programs and actions organizations implement in order to improve their demographics in certain categories of human stratification. Embodied in this short acronym are:
- All the types of humans in defined “protected categories” related to employment law
- All the types of humans defined as unfairly treated, usually over a significant time period
- All the formal compliance and reporting methodologies
- “Best practices” related to inclusive organizational behavior, policies and programs
- All the people who have jobs with D&I in their title
Due to the horrific events of this year, where black people have been killed in situations that did not warrant lethal action by the police, and due to the available time that unemployed people have to become personally involved in public dissent, D&I has experienced a surge in usage, attention by governments, increased tangible actions and in job growth within what is now a “field”.
There are more senior level roles in the field of D&I now, with many companies advertising for vice presidents of D&I. Salaries are $100,000-200,000 a year, on a par with commercial managers accountable for business results. Often, the role includes recruiting oversight, internal training monitoring, compliance and analytical reporting.
All too often, however, companies create such positions as a way of delegating responsibility to more junior levels, rather than “owning” the topic of inclusion at the very top of the organization. Also, companies under negative scrutiny can be tempted to loudly announce the creation of a new D&I role, with “authority”, providing a public commitment intended to calm concerns from shareholders and soften public criticism. Leaders in such organizations sometimes allow themselves to delegate the attention on these topics to the people who have the acronym in their title, and thus they become less personally aware of their own behavior and that of those they lead. These superficial reasons only serve to dilute the impact of the roles created.
To truly make progress towards creating environments where one’s membership in a defined category of humans no longer has any negative impact on opportunity, engagement, inclusion and value within that organization, it has to be a shared value of all leaders who dedicate themselves to it. It takes constant self-awareness and the disciplines of a meritocracy embedded in all people decisions within an organization. It takes continual effort, over a period of years. Every leader is the “head of D&I”, in such companies, starting with the CEO.
It’s not that the field of D&I is unnecessary. Unfortunately, it is. Right now, and for some time into the future, such roles can help, if designed correctly and under senior leadership accountability. I hope, however, that it is a temporary career field that becomes obsolete, when leaders everywhere embrace and embed the principles of equal inclusion in a meritocracy. Perhaps one day “D&I” will be looked upon as an outdated artifact of a dysfunctional social state that has been left far behind. I hope so.