DEI is dead. Long live DEI!
This is a guest article by one of Ben's partners, Byrne Dean, workplace behaviour and culture experts. This article is part of a series of content from Ben's partners.
By Jane Farrell, Principal Consultant at Byrne Dean.
I have heard it all before. With monotonous regularity. Over 30 years.
“The death of DEI… it’s all gone too far…”
In the 90s, it was the perils of “political correctness gone mad”. Today, it’s “the evils of woke”. Political and social movements inform and sometimes infect the ability to have a long, cool look at how advantage and disadvantage play out in our organisations, and in society.
The best companies (and governments) watch these movements, and they reflect on what is real and important, and what is hyperbole. Then they get on with the business of ensuring they really are recruiting and retaining the best talent, and delivering the best services and products.
This same narrative comes round from time to time, suggesting that “the pendulum has swung too far”. I would love to visit that place, by the way, as I have never seen evidence of it. Where is it, exactly, that black women and men are over-represented in senior leadership teams? In the FTSE 250? Where are all those companies where disabled people are running the show?