Connecting the dots: Navigating DEI at the crossroads

Co-created in partnership with  Mercedes Jenkins and Lorena Rosselot

• As DEI practitioners and leaders are you making connections across global events recently that will have a continued negative impact on marginalised communities?
• Whose voices do you centre in these moments and how do you influence to ensure existing efforts aren’t threatened and future activity is not derailed?

Over the last three years we’ve experienced a multitude of moments reflecting the racial inequities across our globe. As DEI practitioners and leaders we have been called to show up in ways that meet these moments. Yet, we haven’t always met the moment together or had the right answers or toolkits on how to navigate these moments.

It’s not lost on us that many folks within DEI teams are low on resources, have limited bandwidth - so seeking community to exchange info and resources is critical to this work…and yet when that is all the community is, it leaves a gap for collective care. Spaces where we can check in on one another during moments that matter.

As three DEI practitioners working in the EMEA region we recognise the need for collective care in these moments, for each other and also recognise the power of collective action to mitigate the imbalance of power structures at play across the globe right now. 

We invite you to consider the action needed in these moments through tactics to help practitioners do the work, support communities, influence leaders and continue efforts to drive DEI across sectors in our regions.

We are not alone in these challenging, heavy and exhausting times. The murder of George Floyd ignited a global conversation around Black lives and what racial equity means and looks like inside and outside the workplace. These conversations even spread across White and non-Black spaces. However, we must continue to move beyond collective discussion and take collective action. What's happening in Paris, the UK, and the US is not isolated. Anti-Blackness, anti-Arab and anti-Islam sentiment are all interconnected, upheld by the systems we all play a part in. As practitioners and leaders, there are moments, everyday, in which we have an opportunity to chip away at these systems, whether it’s by naming and validating the experiences of those who are most marginalized or actively combating discrimination. 

The recent events across the US, UK and France are continual reminders that racism and inequity have deep roots and impacts. A few weeks ago, in the US, Affirmative Action was overturned - a decades long policy intended to diversify educational institutions. Adam Lipkin, a journalist for the New Times explains “… American society seems to be at a crossroads on race, coming out of the Black Lives Matter movement and responses to what seem to many to be deep systemic racism in police reactions to encounters with young Black men, and then followed by a pushback against the 1619 Project, against critical race theory…”

In the same week the UK Royal Air Force dealt with cases of positive discrimination in efforts to diversify the air force, which impacted White men’s acceptance rates into the force. While it’s illegal to hire people based on their identity, what is not being said across this issue is the exclusion and barriers that women and folks of colour face to enter these types of spaces. Policies and legislations to protect against racism, sexism and the like are at stake when we blur the lines of why positive action policies are in place and critical to addressing historical underrepresentation of talent. 

France, known for its principles of "fraternité, égalité, liberté" (brotherhood, equality, liberty), is currently facing a lack of discourse regarding important social issues within the country. The recent case of Nahel Merzouk, a victim of police brutality in Nanterre, highlights the need to focus on the root cause of such incidents and the specific communities affected. 

These crossroads are important to be aware of as both practitioners and global leaders. What happens outside of the doors or virtual rooms of the workplace impact how we show up at work and will have downstream impacts on how we do our work. Also For us as co-authors of this piece, this context is crucial to share as it’s where we are living our lives, where we do our work and where we practice the work of DEI. 

There are dynamics that can play out in the workplace that are important for practitioners and leaders to notice and address:

• Denial or ignore - ‘keep calm and carry on’.  Racism and oppression are constant, we know this and during times of crisis the oppression and discrimination faced by these communities are exacerbated. Yet, companies rarely learn to identify, address, and prevent them. To ignore or deny the various moments will mean folks will need to code switch, pretend they have not been emotionally impacted and ultimately lead to a loss of psychological safety in their environment. Over time this additional cognitive load compounds and impacts mental and physical health. 
• Gaslighting - ‘This isn’t the same as…’ ‘I don’t think this was racially motivated’ …. ‘Perhaps you are reading this incorrectly’... ‘Why do you expect leaders to know about this, they have a business to run’. It is crucial for companies and individuals to listen and understand the experiences of marginalized communities. No one knows these experiences better than the communities themselves, and it is essential to prioritize their voices and perspectives. Leaders should listen attentively and resist the urge to dismiss or downplay these experiences, especially as leaders, practitioners, and communities. Opinions should take a backseat because the focus should be on them, not us.
• Fear of litigation - as a result of existing affirmative/positive action policies and programmes. Many organizations may be feeling cautious about their existing commitments and need to move past this to focus on building equitable environments. On the contrary, this is an opportunity for organizations to wholeheartedly embrace these commitments and demonstrate an unwavering dedication to improving the circumstances of your under-represented talent and effecting lasting change. 
• ERG groups left to coordinate and organize - ‘help us become better allies’, ‘tell us how we can support you better’.  In the last few years there have been examples where there hasn’t been an organizational response or even communications of allyship/solidarity in organizations. In some, the responsibility of writing of organizational statements about the crisis was left to the ERG community groups at a time when they were themselves grappling with pain, loss and repeat trauma. Communities often take on the role of educators, constantly teaching leaders and colleagues how to do better, without having the permission to grieve and be there for each other. 

What are things we should keep in mind? How do we show up collectively? 

• Clarity in your organizational voice - What do you stand for as an organization and how does this event/moment contradict your values/purpose as an organization? Be clear about your existing DEI strategy and how it aligns to your overall success e.g. why/how you are solving for the current underrepresentation and inclusion of all talent in your organization and double down on efforts to communicate your why and how to drive this work.
• Trusted Advisors - Build an environment of safety where folks can process and share trending vs non-trending headlines and in doing so being alert to some moments not being given the airtime in mainstream media. Combat discrimination; true allyship goes beyond mere statements of solidarity - it requires active participation from leaders, practitioners, and those adjacent to HR/DEI professions. Provide communities with the space to process their experiences and support one another, as it is crucial for their mental and physical well-being - particularly where those spaces are not familiar to them. Check in on your communities with empathy and with recognition that they may not want to engage.  
• State your boundaries - To the DEI practitioners out there: it's okay to say, “I don’t have space to navigate this at the moment”, “I need more time to process”, “I need to take a walk”, “I don’t want to talk about this” and “I need help”. We are human, we feel deeply, and it’s okay and helpful to those we do work in service of to make sure we are creating space to “refill our own cup” by stating our needs and wants. 
• Accepting non-closure - This work for many of us, stays with us once we leave the office and close the laptop. It’s hard to let this work go and navigate the other pieces of our lives. As leaders and practitioners, we need to accept that we won't solve everything, we will make mistakes as we try on these tactics and we won’t have all the answers. What we can do though is take a deep breath together, “refill our cups” and know that for whatever tomorrow might bring - we’re not alone in this.