Or rather, you need someone to take over your Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategy.
Chief DEI Officers (or CDOs for short) have grown in popularity over the last few years. And for good reason! Good diversity management has been linked to higher job satisfaction, less goal ambiguity (Stazyk et al., 2012), decreased turnover (Ward et al., 2021), increased creativity (Egan, 2005), and increased financial performance (Erhardt et al., 2003). However, for many organizations DEI strategy isn’t inherently built into business strategy, so DEI gets put on the backburner. Reversely, your organization may have the best DEI intentions, but without someone leading the charge they may never come into fruition. Having a specific role on your team makes it easier to implement DEI into your business practices and culture.
Other titles for this role or similar roles include:
Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion (VP of D&I)
Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator
Human Resources (HR) - Diversity
Director of Diversity Management
Senior Leader of DEI
Manager of Diversity and Inclusion
While these titles all relate to diversity, equity, and inclusion, they each would have different expectations and levels of responsibility. Ideally, there is a CDO or VP of D&I who reports directly to your Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or at a minimum, reports to your Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). This is to ensure they have the resources and access they need to truly have an impact and that this work is made a priority. Then they would have a team made up of DEI coordinators, Managers of DEI, and so on to help support their efforts. However, if you don't have the capacity to set up an internal DEI team, you can also consider partnering with an external consulting firm to fill this gap or assist your CDO in their efforts.
Here’s the thing to keep in mind...
Simply having a DEI leader won’t solve your problems.
Too often, these roles function as an “honorary role”- meaning that the job exists and it looks good for the organization, but the individual may not have the power to make meaningful changes. The creation of DEI positions needs to be more than a publicity stunt. The individuals in these roles require resources, support, authority and space from the organization to create impact-driven initiatives and business level results .