This is an article from the HRZone series recognizing National Inclusion Week in 2024:#ImpactMatters
The backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion at work is not new or universal. It is a persistent obstacle to social change, progressive organisations and positive social change. There are two ways that HR can address this issue.
- The resistance to change problem
- A silo problem
Tom Calvard shares his recommendations on how to deal with DEI backlash from these two perspectives. This article is a part of HRZone’s National Inclusion Week series 2024.
DEI continues to face backlash
Backlash, or negative reactions towards change in organizations is not a new phenomenon. Over the decades, DEI’s focus and implementation, as well as its terminology and acronym have faced many critical concerns.
“easy to say but difficult to do”. Positive and affirmative action has been a contentious issue in the past and continues to be so. Objectors appeal to concerns about reverse discrimination.
There are a number of observations, especially in the UK and US. These indicate a desire to monitor, understand, and address DEI. There is currently a split in the number of companies that are cutting back on DEI versus those who continue to improve and mature their approach.
HR can address DEI’s backlash by focusing on two areas.
Picture of a complex picture
The contradictory comments and announcements on DEI create a complex picture of the change. The ‘culture-war’ critics or populists who are critical of DEI , coexist with the increasing positive reactions to DEI by many workers.
Debate has been sparked by the US Supreme Court’s decision in 2023 to repeal race-based affirmative actions and companies rolling back on DEI. The workforce demand for DEI programs and the leaders’ plans are still strong at many other organisations.
Backlash can be reframed in part as evidence of a a href=”https://www.forbes.com/sites/juliekratz/2024/08/25/dei-backlash-4-legitimate concerns-to avoid/” rel=”noreferrer noopener” target=”_blank”>positive change overall/a>. Backlash can be framed as a sign of progress, with DEI success being achieved by working through opposition and gaining powerful allies.
It is particularly disturbing to see the use of terms such as “wokeness” or “wokeness” in DEI’s backlash.
Practices, concerns and responses
No matter if the term ‘DEI Backlash’ is used, there are different reactions and concerns that can be raised in various circumstances. The use of hiring quotas for shaming and training ‘bad guys,’ tokenistic promotion, legal risks, and training aimed at ‘bad’ people are all common concerns.
It is particularly disturbing to see the use of terms such as “wokeness” or ‘woke’ in DEI’s backlash. This could undermine and misrepresent hard-earned legal or organisational advancements, and enable powerful elites use the rhetoric to their own ends.
DEI fatigue is a reality for those who are trying to improve diversity equity and inclusion in the absence of much support. To avoid or minimise “backfire” or unintended adverse outcomes, organisations must rethink their engagement and communication with minorities and majorities regarding diversity and inclusion.
DEI resistance and backlash
When we consider DEI backlash to be a form’resistance’ to change, it allows us to integrate parallel insights from another area of HR, change management. has evolved in its understanding of resistance to changes, allowing it to provide insights into individual and contextual influences.
Resistance to change, for example, does not have to be ‘overcome,’ nor can it be used as a way to blame others. Instead, it may be an indication that better relationships need to develop between the change agents and their recipients. Resistance can be useful when used to manage conflict and engage feedback.
People are often ambivalent when it comes to change. They resist it in certain ways while remaining open in others. background discussions can include resistance. Some resistance may be a result of positive attempts that are meant to raise organisational issues or implications.
How to deal with resistance to DEI change
Anticipating, understanding and responding is the key to dealing with (DEI) resistance. It may be necessary to explain it to different people at different levels and roles, to gather doubts and ideas, or to uncover issues with past initiatives.
Different strategies can be used depending on the context and cause of the resistance. These include education, participation or facilitation. DEI change agents with experience will employ a range of tactics to ‘sell’ others on the issues . They consider small wins, relationships and timing, as well as worldviews.
If a resistor states “I think that this DEI stuff is too far”, then an influential change agent could respond with curiosity and questioning definitions (eg. merit, fairness), exploration of privileges, and ways to help everyone feel included.
It’s also important to take into account how difficult some DEI discussions can be from a social, political and ethical perspective. If ‘tough issues’ such as diversity, justice, and identity are framed in a way that encourages “productive disagreement” there can be modest gains made to understanding and respect.
Backlash against DEI and organisational silos
Organisational silos are a good way to look at how structure and design may be involved.
By comparing DEI with silos, it is possible to see how the DEI role and function may be isolated from other parts of an organisation.
In many organisations today, the so-called “silo effect” is common. This is because it can be difficult to find a balance in protecting specialized work in neat, separate categories, while also ensuring adequate cross functional and cross company collaboration.
There is a clear awareness that DEI needs to be’mainstreamed’, or “maturity” within the broader business strategy. Many companies still struggle to embed this holistically across silos.
By comparing DEI with silos, you can highlight the disconnect between DEI roles and functions and other parts of an organisation (e.g. through tokenism) and the different minorities of employees (e.g. separate employee resources groups and ERGs).
DEI can be spread by tearing down silos
It is difficult to ‘bust’ or shake up silos (and it’s not always desirable), however, the key to success lies in the spread and sustainability of DEI so that it becomes an ‘all inclusive’ across the organization.
Bridging silos is bringing DEI data and workplace data together. For example, AirBnB tackled racial bias on its platform following research that showed it to be a serious problem. HR can also use co-creation strategies to enhance DEI.
Middle management roles and change agents could be designed in a way that combines DEI and work across functional and organisational borders. The best organisational designs are difficult to achieve but they tend to focus on simple, but smart’ connections, which encourage cooperation and accountability across silos.
Conclusions: implications for HR
HR can address DEI’s backlash by focusing on two areas. First, HR can help address the resistance to change in terms of psychological, cultural and social elements. Second, redesigning DEI in silos to include more systems and structures elements.
Additional implications and recommendations:
- Consideration of paradox and other areas of tension or tension should be given to DEI when going beyond ‘business cases’.
- DEI, change management and organisation design and development perspectives can benefit from greater cross-fertilisation.
- evaluations that are based on evidence of the reactions of DEI-related change, in order to diagnose feelings, beliefs, behaviours, and targets of resistance.
- Use principles and tests for organisational design to assess the level of DEI across all organisational processes and structures
- Linking DEI to other strategic concerns and cross-functional challenges, such as hybrid work, people analytics and sustainability, risk, wellbeing and wellbeing.
