Founder of Consciously Unbiased, an organization helping companies meet their diversity and inclusion goals.
So far in 2023, many things have impacted the DEI landscape, from the affirmative action ruling to a growing number of Chief Diversity Officers leaving their companies.
Yet despite all the DEI initiatives that have been rolled back, we can’t put the genie back in the bottle. As a society, our demographics are rapidly changing; in roughly 20 years, there will be no ethnic or racial majority in the United States. Rather, we will be a country made up of “minorities.” We can’t go backward on inclusion, because doing so will mean we’re voting against ourselves.
When my parents first came to this country from India nearly 50 years ago, American ideals such as liberty, justice and equality prompted them to leave everything familiar behind and move to Connecticut in pursuit of the American Dream. It was a dream that no matter your family background or socioeconomic status, hard work and perseverance could grant you the chance to build a better life than those who came before you.
Their story is ultimately why I went into the business of belonging, to help put American ideals of equality and inclusion into action in the workplace. I believe that for America to live out its ideals of equality in this melting pot we are known for—and build a more unified country—we must protect policies that help advance inclusion.
Here are three policies I recommend leaders support.
1. Safeguard Diversity Spend And Supplier Diversity Programs
With changing immigration stances and laws around affirmative action, I and others predict that diversity spend and supplier diversity programs are likely to be cut as well.
Diversity spend is the total amount an organization spends with diverse-owned businesses and suppliers, operated by a historically underrepresented community such as women, veterans, people with disabilities or those from a racial minority group. To help remove economic barriers to underserved communities, the U.S. government benchmarks a percentage of its budget to diversity spend.
I believe that the idea that diversity spend is not needed or is a Ponzi scheme is wrong. Back in the 1960s when all of this started, networks were largely white and male. Due to similarity bias, many business owners tend to gravitate toward other business owners like themselves when purchasing goods and services. Diversity spend has helped corporations increase their chances of working with underrepresented business owners.
The bottom line is we have to make sure supplier diversity is here to stay.
2. Move The Economic Impact Down The Supply Chain
Phase one was diversity spend, and phase two of this equality movement is moving the economic impact down the supply chain.
The amount of money companies spend with minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) can lead to cost savings. For example, a survey of procurement leaders at U.S. corporations found that partnering with MWBEs can increase savings by up to 8.5%.
Today, the U.S. government rewards companies that actively work with minority organizations by allowing them to bid on government contracts. The U.S. government is the biggest customer in the world, so there is tremendous value in diversity spend.
And while diversity spend also benefits MWBEs by helping funnel more business to them from companies that otherwise might not have sought them out, companies working with those MWBEs could also offer them a cut of the pie. For instance, a company benefiting from diversity spend might take part of the profits and either invest in a minority community they are passionate about—such as by providing job opportunities to diverse candidates—or reinvest some of the profits back into that MWBE.
I believe that more leaders need to think about diversity in terms of the whole supply chain.
3. Continue Corporate DEI Training
In going beyond diversity spend to diversity hiring, inclusivity should be a focus in order to help create cohesive teams that work well together and innovate. If you have diverse teams without an inclusive culture, innovation won’t happen because only some voices, rather than all voices, will be listened to.
Overall, inclusive workplaces make your business more resilient. Much research shows how diverse and inclusive workplaces can help boost innovation, attract diverse talent, increase retention and lead to higher revenue.
Yet there is a big gap; while 79% of organizations recognize the importance of inclusion and belonging, only 13% felt ready to address it, according to a report by Deloitte. Just like other skills, strategies to create more inclusive workplaces can be learned. You can’t change behaviors within companies and make it more inclusive if you’re not doing the training part, too.
It’s about competitiveness. Even with the recent challenges to DEI initiatives, corporate America is on track to double its inclusion training spend by 2026. That’s because most organizations know what is needed to stay relevant.
Companies have used diversity as a marketing tool, as well as the “right thing to do,” but I believe we should tie it more directly to how DEI training can help business profitability. Ultimately, companies are in the business of making money, so it’s important to show how DEI is directly tied to profits.
The time for marketing inclusion has passed; it’s now time to follow through on what we say we are going to do and measure DEI just like any other business initiative. After all, America is known as the land of opportunity largely because people of all different backgrounds have been able to build businesses and make an economic impact within their communities. Let’s protect the policies that help keep inclusion and equality at the heart of the country; it’s in the best interest of all.
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