Are we being fair to organisations still failing at Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, two years on from the murder of George Floyd?

On a day like this, companies will be scrutinised and criticised for not moving the needle when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion despite posting pledges and commitments on websites and social media two years ago. It's great to see so many books being written in the DEI space giving advice to organisations about what they should and shouldn't be doing. It's important to analyse and criticise (constructively) organisations for the work they fail to do when it comes to DEI. 

Here are some of the facts:

Over 60% of the FTSE100 companies do not know HOW to implement the DEI changes they want - this is a staggering statistic. Less than half of those companies have positive DEI initiatives within the organisation.

'More than 80% of white people said they see themselves as allies to people of other races and ethnicities...[but]..of Black women respondents to the survey, only 45% said they have strong allies at work'.

'A 2019 survey found that 77% of men believed they were doing all they could to support gender equality at work, while only 41% of women agreed. LGBTQ+ activists have also long noted that well-meaning allies often don’t understand what they should and should not do, including at work'

Only 13% of White HR professionals say they believe discrimination based on race or ethnicity exists in their workplace.

Two years on we still have some serious progress to be made. And the issue is not just whether companies know why diversity and inclusion is important and whether they have policies or initiatives. Part of the issue is lack of competency and appropriate confidence in their DEI role holders and those who have DEI responsibilities.

What do DEI professionals have to say?

I've spoken to 100s of DEI professionals in the course of my work and research about what's really preventing progress and sometimes the answers aren't what you would expect. Yes inclusive organisational design, senior buy-in, commitment and budget are necessary. However, the competency of those responsible for DEI initiatives is just as important.

Most DEI professionals do not regard themselves as experts, are relying on free adhoc webinars and events to learn. have not received any targeted training and coaching in the key skills needed to deliver in these roles and are lacking confidence. This is a key part of the puzzle. It's all well and good that an organisation has a strategy, goals and objectives BUT what if the responsible role holder does not have the confidence or competency to deliver and execute?

DEI professionals do not have the necessary support and training to deliver workplace DEI initiatives effectively. Passion, lived experience and enthusiasm just aren’t enough to ensure delivery and execution of organisational DEI goals.

For example, are you competent in facilitating conversations which do not alienate, offend or lead to unnecessary disruption? Note I'm asking about competence and not confidence to speak about issues. What about creating psychological safety rather than the fallacy of 'safe spaces' when discussing challenging and emotive topics?

Are you competent in creating quality training for the different groups in your workforce with due regard for Neurodiversity and different learning methodologies? What about programme design? Do you know how to identify the right external partners and what questions to ask to ascertain whether they have verifiable experience and expertise? I could go on and on listing the actual skills needed in order to even get the needle moving on broader and bigger organisational goals as related to DEI.

The DEI Pro Academy is a 12 week live training and personalized coaching programme for DEI professionals and is laser focused on the development of the skills and competencies needed for workplace DEI.

This isn't like any other training or coaching in the DEI industry.

It is not a business or marketing course.

We are not mentoring participants either.

Nor do we cover relevant legislation as related to equality.

We won’t be trying to convince you of the business case for diversity or sharing more ‘information’ and 'content'.

This is laser focused on ensuring you build on the core skills and competencies which keep you going day in day out in your role. 

This is practical, structured and skill focused coaching and training for DEI professionals.

What do you get if you enroll?

• A 12 week programme of training and personalized coaching from a leading workplace DEI practitioner, coach and facilitator so that you can receive hands-on support and training for your particular area of development. There are 5 live training and coaching sessions.
• Access to a learning portal so that you can refer back to key learning resources when you need them.
• Access to a peer community of other DEI professionals who are also invested in the development of their competency and skills so that you can learn with and from others. 

We only have THREE spots left on this programme before we close the doors until September 2022 and I would love to have a chat with you about whether the programme is right for you. 

You can select a date and time for a call if you wish to ask questions about whether it's right for you here or you can drop me a DM and we can have a chat. 

I believe we as DEI professional can do our part to make change so that hopefully next year those statistics mentioned above change.