Writing for the Harvard Business Review, Paradigm president Evelyn Carter details her three-part framework for promoting better accountability around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies in the workplace.
According to Carter, "[w]ithout a framework for measuring and evaluating their efforts, the resolve that many leaders and organizations have shown around improving DEI in recent years will falter when challenges arise."
To prevent this, Carter developed a three-part framework for driving accountability around DEI. Although her framework is centered around hiring, she emphasizes it can be applied to other areas, including performance management, compensation, and retention.
What most people get wrong about diversity, equity, and inclusion
1. Educate: Explain why the changes you are making are important
Because people "are more likely to persist in the face of change when they are intrinsically motivated," Carter suggests highlighting the ways in which proposed changes are personally relevant to the company and its leaders. In addition, she suggests sharing data on how low representation of people of color makes it hard to attract applicants from those demographics.
"Emphasize how your homogeneous workforce raises questions of belonging for those from underrepresented groups, creating a revolving door of talent for the people you do hire. With every problem that you share, demonstrate how it undermines the company's DEI values," Carter writes.
For instance, when one company debuted a new structured hiring process, a talent leader expressed frustration to Carter because they were having a difficult time getting the CEO on board with the process. In that situation, Carter said the CEO "needed a clearer view of the why, not just the how."
"Providing such education might have made it more likely that the CEO would willingly comply with the new process, or, at the very least, made it easier for that talent leader to hold the CEO accountable for doing so," she writes.
2. Listen: Ask for and implement feedback
"While it can be tempting to create a plan with goals and proposals around DEI, and then present that fully formed solution to your leaders, people are more likely to adopt changes if they help create the solutions themselves," Carter writes.
Accordingly, rather than simply telling leaders what they should do, Carter suggests highlighting existing problems and potential solutions and then asking for leaders' input and feedback. "This will help you design a series of accountability strategies that allow you to ensure your new process has the intended impact," Carter writes.
As companies work to craft DEI strategies with leaders and employees, Carter also suggests crowdsourcing accountability mechanisms. "Consider proactive efforts—ways you can incentivize people toward the behavior you hope to see—and reactive ones you can leverage when folks go astray," Carter writes. "This collective discussion will make accountability feel less punitive and more like commitment to a shared goal that you improve upon constantly."
3. Recognize: Celebrate successes—but encourage those who need it
According to Carter, "sometimes the best-designed processes go unused, because change is hard."
To mitigate this, she suggests encouraging and rewarding individuals who use the process well, but also giving a lot of encouragement to those who do not use the process well. "Establish a regular debrief cadence where people can share insights with others. Acknowledge that none of this is easy or simple and reinforce that these changes will align your company's DEI impact with your intent," Carter writes.
When employees are resistant to a new process, Carter urges companies to consider the planned accountability strategies that they developed in step two of her framework. The first few times a person falls short, she suggests asking questions about the challenges they're facing, and why they aren't using the process. According to Carter, their answers could further refine processes for everyone's benefit.
In addition, she suggests emphasizing a growth mindset, while reminding employees that "learning often yields mistakes and failure, but that it is net positive over time."
According to Carter, "until there is meaningful reform and accountability around how individuals apply such rules, no manner of policy updates will yield change."
"In lieu of waiting for a crisis to emerge, be proactive about bringing stakeholders on board for any process changes you make—and don't be afraid to hold them accountable for that plan's success," she adds. (Carter, Harvard Business Review, 2/25)