Why Do We Still Need a Business Case for DEI?
By: Vanessa Kirby
Tags: Universal Design, Workplace Culture, Hiring, Diversity And Inclusion, Design Thinking

Why Do We Still Need a Business Case for DEI?

By Vanessa Kirby, Senior HR Partner, frog NY

Having worked in HR for several years, a few questions that I’ve heard more times than I can count are, “What’s the business case for DEI initiatives?” and “How will these programs affect our bottom line?” When I get these questions, I usually have to take a deep breath and calmly explain how things like mentorship programs and recruitment outreach will, in fact, benefit the bottom line. But really, I want to scream, “Why do you need a business case to do the right thing?”

In the last decade, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have become common in workplaces across the country. A 2017 Deloitte report states that 69 percent of executives rated diversity and inclusion as an important business issue. Between 2014 and 2017, the number of executives who said that fostering inclusion was a top business priority increased 32 percent. This shift in leadership thinking is mirrored in labor studies as well, with Pew Research reporting in 2019 that 75 percent of Americans say it is very important (49 percent) or somewhat important (26 percent) for companies to promote racial and ethnic diversity in the workplace. That all sounds like good news, right?

Like we often say in the design industry, yes — but. Since June 2020, I’ve personally seen a renewed sense of commitment to issues of inequality and racism in the workplace on the professional level. Unfortunately, it took international outrage at police brutality against Black people in the U.S. to do so. The Black Lives Matter movement has used the power of technology and social media to force greater transparency and accountability from individuals, government and businesses. This caused many companies, including frog, to take a look inward at their own policies and practices in order to “do better” when it comes to fostering more diverse, equitable and inclusive working environments for historically marginalized groups.

But — despite the pressure to become more diverse and inclusive, many companies still feel that there must be a valid business case for pursuing DEI initiatives. Moreover, many of these initiatives are the first budget lines cut, or companies fail to implement them seriously enough to really affect company culture or outcomes.

It’s time to walk the walk

Despite the uptick in attention that DEI has recently received, actual progress in most workplaces has been slow. For example, McKinsey’s annual Women in the Workplace study, which examines hundreds of companies that employ over 10 million people, shows that progress toward gender parity is lagging. Between 2016 and 2020, the percentage of VP-level positions filled by women remained the same (29 percent), while there was only modest growth in the percentage of senior VP and C-suite jobs held by women (4 percent and 2 percent, respectively). When race and ethnicity is factored in, progress is even slower. In 2020, only 6 percent of VP-level positions belonged to women of color, and 13 percent to men of color — percentages nearly identical to those from 2018.

This problem is especially apparent in the field of design. While diversity, equity and inclusion are just as buzzword-y in our industry as in others, AIGA reports that of 878,000 professional designers in the United States, only 5.1 percent are Black, 8.4 percent are Asian-American and 10.6 percent are Latinx. And that’s only ethnic and racial diversity — we must also ask ourselves how representative is our industry in regard to other dimensions of diversity like sexual orientation or ability? For all our talk about designing diverse and inclusive experiences for others, we’re largely failing to design systems that promote diversity and inclusion in our own workplaces.

“If we are truly committed to human-centered design, we must first work to correct these discrepancies in our own backyards.”

And we shouldn’t need a business case to do so, even though a maddening amount of research has been conducted in order to make the case. Sure, studies show that improving DEI not only helps reduce the effects of inequity and exclusion on employees, but also results in businesses being more profitable, more innovative, more agile and more attractive to workers. But why did we have to do so much convincing to get there? The fact is, we’ve seen time and time again that universal design is better for all, not just for some. It’s time we put this into action in our business and operational models, as well as our design output.

Rethinking the bottom line

In order to see real impact on the professional landscape, leadership has to change the mindset that DEI initiatives are little more than unnecessarily costly concessions to public opinion and political correctness. Because here’s the thing: The United States’ history of racism, discrimination and oppression toward the Black, Indigenous, Latinx, disabled and LGBTQ+ communities has never been more obvious. We know that the underrepresentation of these groups in professional life is a product of social forces and discrimination, not a reflection of individuals’ skills or abilities. If you’re unconvinced of these facts, I’m not going to give you a history lesson. You have the internet, you can google it and educate yourself as well as I can. But I will ask you this: If you’re a leader who says people are your company’s greatest asset, what are you doing to make sure people of color are seen and heard? If you believe in the value of human-centered design, what are you doing to create systems and spaces that uplift underrepresented talent? If you know that businesses in this country have thrived for centuries on the exploitation of huge segments of the population, why do you need a business case for helping to repair the damage?

As we face the current national reckoning over race, privilege, equity, inclusion and power, I hope that leaders who are reflexively skeptical of DEI initiatives on business grounds will begin to change their mindsets and put into action the words that so many have expressed in tweets or LinkedIn posts over the last few months. Stand with Black lives in your field. Hire them. Invest to keep them engaged and inspired. Open up opportunities for their growth. And if your data proves that these hiring practices continue to be de-prioritized, it’s time to rethink your policies. I will say it: Affirmative action works. Without it, underrepresented minority hires and promotions have been disappointing. If you think that’s controversial, I’d ask you whether you’ve ever gotten a job based on a personal connection? Or hired someone from a friend’s referral? Or given a colleague’s niece or nephew a break with a summer internship? It’s time to undo the systematic discrimination that’s plagued the professional world. If we need affirmative action policies to do it, I’m here for it.

I get it — companies are in the business of making money, so leadership will always want to know the return on any investment. But when it comes to the investment in diversifying talent pools and providing opportunities to those who have historically been denied, we have to rethink our stance on “the bottom line.” The new bottom line is: Leadership shouldn’t need a business case to do the right thing. Yes — there is a business case for diversity, equity and inclusion. But if your company’s leadership is asking for one, I urge you to question their commitment to a better future. Diversity, equity and inclusion are a human case.