Fortifying Your DEI Initiatives with Data

DEI initiatives have been coming under attack for a while resulting in several well-known organizations abandoning their DEI programs. These firms either don’t understand DEI or were never really committed to it in the first place. To be clear, DEI in its purest form is not about promoting less competent people over more competent people. It’s about making sure every competent person has a chance to be promoted.

DEI is not about quotas. If that was the basis for your DEI program, you should shut it down. The ‘D’ in DEI stands for diversity. Organizations should want diverse teams to tackle the many challenges they face. The United States is a mixture of cultures, ethnicities, races and genders. Organizations need diverse teams to provide their unique insights to reach their full potential. Studies have proven that more diverse organizations outperform those that are less diverse (Dixon-Fyle, et al, 2020). The need for diversity in management is a topic frequently discussed in my university marketing classes, as well as in my Elite Leadership Academy programs.

If your organization is serious about DEI, then fortifying it with data using a leadership resources management strategy will help build a defensible case that the selections were proper. Here is an example of how it can impact an organization’s promotions, assignments, hiring practices and resources planning.

Historically, when a new leadership opportunity or need arises, a lot of the ‘usual suspects’ are considered. Other highly qualified candidates may be overlooked due to bias, lack of the right relationships, etc. Including objective, quantifiable data in the mix minimizes bias and is repeatable throughout the organization. It also serves to broaden the pool of candidates considered, which can lead to a more diverse group of candidates to choose from.

Under the current practice, when a leadership opportunity becomes available, management is charged with finding candidates who meet the qualifications. This could be through an internal or external application process as well as recommendations from their manager. Of 30 possible candidates, 5 may be chosen for an interview and 1 selected from that pool. But was the best candidate for the position chosen? We’ll never know. It’s very possible someone else was just as or even more qualified but wasn’t even considered.

Reviewing the candidates through a leadership resources management lens could yield a different result or at the very least, some additional insights into who should be included in the candidate pool. Leadership resources management is a data-informed approach to strategically manage an organization’s leadership resources. It helps identify gaps in an individual leader’s practice of leadership, as well gaps in the perception of their leadership by their team (direct reports, peers and supervisor). It replaces subjective interviews, relationship-based promotions and selections with a quantifiable, repeatable and unbiased leadership management process. An added benefit of this strategy is the ability to segment and plot an organization’s leaders into tiers.

For instance, in the scenario previously discussed, a leadership resources management plot of an organization’s middle managers would indicate the 5 candidates the hiring manager is set to interview and choose from in yellow. Some of the candidates are top tier leaders and some clearly are not. There is even 1 in tier 3.

Candidate Selection Without Leadership Resources Management

If the manager broadens the pool to everyone in the top tier and some in the second tier, the pool of candidates would be more open (purple). After removing candidates who have just recently moved into other positions (red), 9 highly qualified candidates with the right functional knowledge for the opportunity would be identified.

Candidate Selection With Leadership Resources Management

From here, the manager would engage in the usual interview process but be required to justify choosing a less qualified leadership candidate from (Tiers 2 or 3) over more qualified candidates from Tier 1.

Leadership resources management can also help match the right candidate to the leadership opportunity based on their profile. If the opportunity requires a consensus builder, a candidate high on communication and humility might be a good choice. If an opportunity is for growing a new product or service, then a candidate with high leadership vision might be a good choice. If an opportunity is for leading a completely new area for the organization, then a candidate well-versed in the nuances of risk-taking might be a good choice.

The bottom line is that implementing DEI without leadership resources management only provides a partial solution, in addition to lacking evidence that the selections were justified. There is no guarantee that your DEI initiative will improve overnight, especially if you don’t have a diverse talent pool to choose from initially. If implemented and managed properly, it does improve the chances that every qualified person will receive the same consideration. Isn’t that what DEI is all about?

Just like the internet changed what and how we access information, we need new tools like leadership resources management to implement successful DEI initiatives.

Read more about how we help organizations manage their leadership resources at LeadershipRM.com.

Dixon-Fyle, S., Dolan, K., Hunt, D. V., & Prince, S. (2020, May 19). Diversity wins: How inclusion matters. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters

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