DEI Gains Ground as Strategic Initiative
Groth sawmany local and global chapters emerge in Employee Resource Groups (ERG) representing different interests, ethnic backgrounds, leadership goals and minority populations to support DEI efforts at Lumen. “As employees continue to cope with world events, we launched our newest WELL-BEING ERG that is committed to educating employees and engaging them in behaviors that promote their total well-being physical, emotional and financial,” she comments. “Last year, we appointed India Sylvester as our Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO) to help us develop and deliver on our efforts.”
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Over half of HR professionals in our survey expect their organizations will pursue new initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion in the year ahead. The good news is that those initiatives are more likely to be intentional and accountable, with defined metrics to measure progress. This year, the World Economic Forummet in January 2021 to assert its dedication to DEI initiatives. Partnering for Racial Justice in Business, which has commitments from 48 global companies, is “designed to operationalize and coordinate commitments to eradicate racism in the workplace and set new global standards for racial equity in business.” 15 To help complement these efforts, the Nasdaq plans to require listed companies to disclose their diversity efforts, 16 and 80% of corporate boards are planning to tie executive pay to environmental, social and governance metrics including DEI. 17
Despite these strides, businesses are still struggling to operationalize DEI activity. Even with an outpouring of support for these initiatives, skills in this domain are not widely distributed, and many organizations haven’t figured out what metrics to use.
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