Finding the Right Diversity Officer and What Comes After the Hire
The demand for Diversity, Equality, Inclusion (DEI) officers is rising fast and with today’s job market favoring job-seekers, salaries for DEI officers are climbing, as well. Increasingly, DEI initiatives are taking more prominent positions within companies as corporate America adjusts to changing trends among the workforce. Creating a diverse and inclusive workspace is more important now than ever before, and key to achieving it is the role of DEI officers. Recruiting the best DEI officers can greatly increase productivity and morale, but getting the best fit can be a real challenge for any company. What happens after the hire is just as important.
Rising DEI Demand and Finding the Right Fit
The number of available DEI positions is growing fast, according to Glassdoor. At first this trend was felt mostly in larger (1,000 plus) employee companies, but it is now filtering down into smaller businesses, as well. With the rise of DEI, it is important to first remember that DEI is not human resources. HR was not created for, and is not equipped to deal with, DEI issues.
Therefore, when looking for DEI officers, companies should not just look for candidates possessing extensive HR experience. HR deals more with the bureaucracy of company operations, while DEI focuses on attracting and retaining a diverse workforce. A job description template available on workable.com lists some of the responsibilities of a DEI manager and includes: Designing company policies that reinforce diversity in the workplace, addressing all kinds of harassment and protecting minority groups; training hiring managers and HR staff on how to select, manage, evaluate and retain diverse employees; and revising and updating job descriptions to ensure the use of non-discriminatory language.
Candidates possessing social sciences degrees and those with knowledge of federal, state, and local laws concerning discrimination can make very successful DEI officers. Successful DEI efforts can only happen in a company when they are supported from the very top. It is important for the top DEI officer in a company to report directly to the CEO.
They must also be given the resources to put together a team of their own to manage DEI matters. These situations require excellent communication and management skills. Setting out a DEI strategy requires good planning skills and the ability to analyze data to determine the success of the strategy. In other words, the ideal candidate for top DEI officer needs to have a varied skillset that allows them to both manage and be managed, to plan and to analyze, to communicate, and to listen.
What Happens After a Chief Diversity Officer Is Hired?
After hiring someone to take charge of DEI, companies need to follow through on their efforts to increase diversity. Over the last half decade, the number of chief diversity officers (CDOs) has nearly doubled. But simply putting someone in a position does not guarantee results. The company must provide the proper authority and resources for the new hire to be effective.
CDOs need to be treated seriously and have access to the very top of the C-Suite. This is not always the case, as the CDO position is relatively new and there is not a long track record of best practices for the position. Adequate money and staff must be available for the CDO to utilize in the way they best see fit.
A huge challenge for the CDO is that their role affects the entire business strategy of a firm. Everything from hiring practices to the way the product or service is presented to the public are concerns for the CDO. This requires that the DEI strategies be adopted by numerous different departments. Oftentimes, departments are resistant to change, preferring to do things “the way they’ve always been done.” Getting one department to make major changes in their operational methods is difficult. Getting multiple departments to not only change but also to coordinate those changes with other departments can be a monumental task. Frustration can set in quickly for a new CDO, who can find themselves unable to make the changes necessary to achieve DEI goals.
Tact and Discretion
The issues of DEI can also be very sensitive and many may be uncomfortable dealing with them. A CDO requires a tremendous amount of tact and discretion to make sure that everyone is always feeling respected and included and not attacked. Some people are going to resent DEI initiatives because they feel that they are being singled out for not being inclusive or committed to equality. A CDO needs to find the best way to present their initiatives as positively as possible so those tasked with carrying them out will want to do so and not resist the changes.
A powerful tool for CDOs to make use of is analytics. Companies today collect more data on more aspects of the firm’s inner workings than ever before. Powerful software tools now exist that allow for fast analysis of the collected information. This allows the DEI team to see what is working and what isn’t in real time and make adjustments on the fly. While there are certain aspects, such as morale, that can’t be easily quantified, there are enough areas where data analysis can provide important insights into the results of DEI initiatives. Like analytics itself, DEI positions and strategies are evolving quickly. Companies that best address DEI through effective hires and proper resources will be those best poised for success in the rapidly changing workplace.
