It's been almost three years since the murder of George Floyd sparked protests across the country, and many employers responded with a newfound commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in corporate America. But this CEO has noticed that some organizations are running out of steam.
Jeffrey L. Bowman is the co-founder and CEO of Reframe, an employee management platform that helps companies and their HR teams build more inclusive cultures. Bowman has worked with hundreds of
Bowman defines diversity fatigue as the stress and exhaustion that builds up after attempting to tackle discrimination and exclusion in the workplace. In Bowman's experience, it can set in after just a year.
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"We were made promises post-George Floyd that came with a lot of excitement and energy within corporations," says Bowman. "But the fatigue sets in because there's more to do than corporations actually have the capacity to do."
Bowman points out that many employers underestimated the scale of change they would have to commit to. When systems of attraction and retention continue to inherently favor white cisgender men, social media posts, donations and even employee resource groups are not going to cut it, explains Bowman.
"Many of these companies have been around for over 50 years — none of their systems were set up for Black and brown people," he says. "They really didn't understand the amount of work change required. It's not something that will be fixed in two or three years."
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As a result, companies struggle to reach their projected DEI milestones, becoming discouraged, and at worst, resistant to inclusion efforts because of a perceived lack of impact, notes Bowman. Employees may not be convinced DEI can make a difference in the first place.
Employee Benefit News' parent company Arizent found that only 66% of employees believe that companies make better decisions with a diverse employee base. The same report highlighted a lack of diversity across professional services industries to begin with — the greatest percentage of diversity across multiple minority demographics was found in banking, which was only at 15%.
In other words, companies may be expecting more impact despite making
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"The ownership of DEI needs to be between the CEO and the chief human resource officer if you want more than small pockets of change," says Bowman. "Otherwise, it's not sustainable."
Bowman advises leaders to assess their company from a cultural standpoint. This means questioning who is recruited, retained, rewarded and promoted in their workplace. From there, companies may find that they need to redesign everything, from their recruitment strategies to how they make termination decisions. All the while, the company needs trackable data to hold them accountable. The data should communicate not only if diversity is increasing, but being equitably rewarded, says Bowman.
In the wake of layoffs this winter, this may be more important than ever, since many companies may find themselves going backward on their DEI efforts and feeling more discouraged in the coming months.
"Ask yourself if the way you're approaching right-sizing is aligned with what you said and published in 2020," says Bowman. "Are you truly being equitable and inclusive?"
