Divisive DEI: HR Strategies for Overcoming DEI Pushback

Workplace topics like DEI can cause a surprising amount of controversy, especially in an election year. While politically neutral, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts often met with various court challenges and opposition.

42% of employees said they viewed DEI efforts as divisive, while 44% reported their colleagues felt alienated by DEI efforts (source: Gartner)

How can organizations and HR teams address DEI pushback amongst employees in order to continue to make progress towards DEI goals? Discover the reasons behind the DEI pushback and helpful strategies to overcome this resistance.

What Is DEI?

The acronym DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Diversity involves recruiting new hires from a wide range of backgrounds and communities in your area. How do the demographics in your office correspond with the population in your region? Equity focuses more on fairness and the equality of opportunities like raises and promotions. Inclusion is the practice of actually welcoming and including different types of people in work groups. DEI is one of the fundamentals of modern recruiting.

Why Do Some People Resist DEI Initiatives?

To better understand how to address DEI pushback, you need to first understand the concerns from the other side.

Fear

Many people are afraid that DEI will cause them to miss out on opportunities that they deserve. The Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action in 2023 because Asian American students were at a disadvantage in university admissions. Certain demographics of employees (like white, cisgender males) may worry that they’ll face discrimination because of what they’ve heard and misunderstood about DEI.

Misunderstanding

One of the biggest misunderstandings about DEI is the assumption that race is given priority over competence. When DEI is used as a target for political outrage, a common narrative is that incompetent people are given positions of influence because of racial favoritism. In fact, DE reduces unconscious bias and develop highly competent candidates–people who are more likely to be excluded and overlooked.

Skepticism or denial

Many professionals simply deny the existence of disparities and pay gaps that they haven’t personally witnessed. Men who don’t see any need to empower women in the workplace may not be sensitive to subtle, but common forms of harassment. Without pay transparency, many employees rely on speculation and rumor to judge the fairness of their employer and managers.

READ: Pay Transparency: What it Means for HR and How to Prepare

Moral or political conflict

The language around systemic inequality and privilege can be triggering for people who see DEI as a campaign to promote white guilt. Awkward and misguided efforts at DEI attract negative attention, and those stories are amplified online. When a Google employee was advised not to use the term “all-hands” (because it’s insensitive to people without hands), the CEO at Coinbase jumped at the opportunity to promote his workplace as “free from [the] distraction” of DEI. 

Disengagement

Inclusion takes effort on the part of individual team members, actively inviting different co-workers to stay involved. 

Strategies to Overcome DEI Pushback

In some cases, you can win support for DEI by just explaining your actual policies and goals more clearly. Correctly implemented DEI can consistently reward your hardest workers.

Listen, learn, and lead

In Al Switzler’s book Crucial Conversations, a big part of communication is speaking with respect and truly listening to what others have to say. Instead of shutting down the skeptics, make a point of listening with empathy. Find common values like how everyone on staff wants fair compensation for hard work, and everyone wants the company to succeed.

Education and awareness

Unfortunately, considering all the misinformation about DEI, you may need to correct some misunderstandings. Some critics may come armed with national statistics about discrimination, but your job in HR isn’t debating national politics. You can focus on the potential to improve your own company’s culture and profitability.

Better and open communication

Try not to be dismissive or misleading in your defense of DEI. A policy of pay transparency can quickly highlight any pay disparities and reduce gossip. In pursuit of equity, ensure minority workers have access to opportunities, but be sure to empower everyone for professional growth.

Leadership support

DEI is not just a fodder for a shallow PR campaign. With a strong relationship between HR and the C-Suite, HR knows whether leaders (or shareholders) are genuinely committed to DEI. If your leaders might follow the example of companies that laid off their DEI teams, then you may have better luck focusing on specific handbook policies without explicit DEI buzzwords.

Employee involvement

In polarized times, it’s easy to forget that “inclusion must be inclusive”. When the vocal opposition is only a couple of troublemakers, it’s tempting to just exclude and ignore them. Sincere pursuit of DEI, however, means going out of your way to include everyone. Collaborate with people who bring different perspectives to the table. If you can find compromises that please DEI opponents in your own office, then you’ll be far better equipped to defend your policies against public opposition.

Building trust and confidence

The term “diversity washing” is the DEI version of “greenwashing,” where publicity is a higher priority than meaningful change. It might take a longer time to convince jaded workers that your company is seriously committed to DEI. Develop a real plan for changes at your company, and make sure you’re going beyond empty rhetoric. Maintain your DEI initiatives year-round, not just as a response to occasions like Black History Month.

Clarify how DEI adds value

A series of reports from McKinsey & Company has found that “companies with diverse leadership teams continue to be associated with higher financial returns”. Diverse leadership brings together different perspectives, proving that anyone can rise to senior positions. Find examples within your industry and use proven data without getting dragged into debates about statistics.

Establish DEI pushback strategies

Don’t silence or retaliate against DEI opponents within your workforce. Be careful about responding to challenges in the moment. A clever response can be screenshotted and taken out of context, becoming a lightning rod for public controversy. Instead, use a Learning Management System (LMS) for training sessions that go into detail about policies and their goals. 

Discover how Netchex can help your organization develop effective DEI policy: