Every time I log online, I see a seemingly new article touting the demise of DEI, from shutting down DEI departments to removing diversity language from websites to passing bills to eliminate the role. The pressure is coming from so many directions, even on Capitol Hill in the latest budget he cut ties with DEI. In fact, since 2023, 80 anti-DEI bills have been introduced in 28 states and Congresses.
While some leaders, such as Mark Cuban and Jamie Dimon, remain positive, most of the company's biggest voices (and the ones that make money) are struggling when their voices matter. It's eerily silent and seems short on solutions compared to criticism.
One voice that is currently missing is that of those tasked with handling DEI within today's companies. For the past 12 years, I have worked with Madison Avenue helping brands in this space and in Geneva, Switzerland, where he has traveled to 40 countries conducting his DEI workshops and has taught people all over the world what DEI is. I've spent some time trying to better understand what I mean.
In all my experiences with colleagues, customers, and communities, five DEI challenges consistently emerge when addressing what is preventing DEI from growing, achieving scale, and positioning itself as an important issue. did. permanent Role within the company.
- Language and Definitions – When discussing this topic, most people simply do not know what words to use, when to use them, and what context they hold. (In other words, what is the difference between the following? latino american and hispanic?) The letters DEI cause misunderstandings because most people still define them differently and the landscape continues to change. This need is even more pronounced if English is not your first language.
- Trustworthy and trusted sources of data – The issue of trust in corporate environments is real. For people to feel comfortable enough to embrace the sensitive issues that arise in the workplace, the voice of DEI leaders within the company and their data must hold weight, authenticity, and credibility across the subject.
- Privacy – no one wants to say the wrong thing and get canceled – so people stopped speaking en masse. What started a few years ago as “silence is the norm” ended up becoming “it doesn’t concern me.” While a group setting may seem like the best place to teach, it's her one-on-one learning environment that matters most.
- Understand the law – DEI-based compliance and regulations vary across many of the 50 states, making it very difficult to determine what you can and cannot do and when in an international market. There is no easy way to access all the information in a concise and user-friendly way.
- Augmented Communication – Centralizing messages within one messenger role is not efficient enough. DEI messages need to be expanded through thoughtful communication. This includes everything from letter writing to memo writing to programming design. All of this can be arduous work. But without it, knowledge cannot be transmitted from her one to many.
These five challenge areas for DEI are making it increasingly difficult to leverage DEI effectively across organizations large and small, especially when the opposition is loud.
However, beware of spoilers. There’s no need to eliminate DEI. We as a diversity community need to evolve DEI. We've come together for conferences, happy hours, and monthly celebrations, but also for the same kind of AI support and training that other departments and HR managers are starting to use to inform the entire company. We need the same energy to unite, build, and fight. In a more timely manner. For DEI practitioners, now is the time to collaborate and move forward to deploy, test, and pilot new and customized AI solutions to improve knowledge, efficiency, and practice outcomes. Leaders, HR managers, and executives need to do the same. And companies need to support this effort.
As DEI has grown from niche to mainstream, and in an effort to ensure diversity programs for everyone, companies have gone from having no visible diversity to essentially relying on the DEI role to Now you can be the voice and subject matter expert (SME) for every business. Social and social issues from #metoo, #stopasianhate, #blacklivesmatter to same-sex marriage, non-binary identity and unconscious bias. Diversity executives are not only expected to be knowledgeable about all of these topics, but they are also in a position to communicate that knowledge to HR managers, HR leaders, and ExCos through training, communications, and employee handbooks. All were requested by companies. and while complying with all local laws.
With that came the issue of scale. Despite demanding more from DEI teams and department leaders, resources, financial investment, and personnel support couldn't keep up.
The future of equity, equity, and cultural diversity in our industry is a weight we must carry on our careers. But what can help close the knowledge gap and his five challenges above are the insights and efforts we have drafted, created and implemented to help businesses become more equitable. One creative AI solution is a centralized large-scale language model (LLM) aimed at personal learning and inclusive leadership.
DEI leaders are messengers and often create messages. And you need tools that allow you to create your own stories and build your own systems. Now is the time to rely on AI. We, the change-makers of today, are too smart to sit here and watch our country continue to wrestle with its past while the future passes by.