The state of DEIJ in business
To set the scene for Just Brands
‘21,
Kurt Merriweather — VP of Innovation at The Diversity
Movement — outlined the current state of
diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) in business. He recalled
the 2020 catalysts which led to increased interest in social and racial justice:
the start of the COVID-19
pandemic in March, and
the murder of George Floyd in May.
Since then, there has been a notable engagement from business. Corporate
donations to racial justice initiatives increased from $3.38bn during 2011-2019
to $8bn in 2020 alone, outpacing donations from non-profit entities.
Citing Porter Novelli
research
on racial justice commitments from top US companies from May to October 2020,
Merriweather points to an inconsistency between external commitments and
internal
changes.
In fact, he said, some companies have opted out of the DEIJ conversation
altogether — citing statements from
Coinbase
and
Basecamp,
which stated conversations around social justice have no place in the workplace.
“A third of both companies decided that they wanted to opt out, as well; so,
there is a cost of making those decisions,” states Merriweather, referring to
the employees who chose to leave.
To match employee and consumer expectations, the Diversity Movement recommends
that companies address DEIJ in four components of their brand — Community,
Customer, Innovation and Employer.
Merriweather concludes with a mantra for moving from awareness to action: Act
different, think different, make a difference. “Companies can be the engine for
change as it relates to social justice,” he exhorts, setting the stage for the
rest of the event.
Addressing gender, community inequality in a post-pandemic world
In the last year, women have been disproportionately affected by the COVID
pandemic, unemployment, gun violence, domestic violence, homelessness and the
unpaid labor of childcare and
homeschooling.
Inequity is set to continue even as the bounce-back begins, with Black women
currently having the lowest share of returning jobs. In the US, 860,000 women
left the workforce in September 2020 as ‘schooling’ began, and mothers out of
work are at the highest level. “Let’s get these women back to work,” says
Etienne White, VP of Sustainable Brands’ Brands for
Good initiative.
Along with the disparity arising from the pandemic, women are disproportionately
affected by climate change — and data continually points to the intersection
between gender and climate. White asks, “If this is how we react in a ‘mini’
crisis, what will happen to gender equality and equity as the larger climate
crisis unfolds?”
However, structural change is possible, with leadership actions seen from
Canada, Colombia, Morocco, Guatemala and Egypt.
Argentina has rolled out a more gender-sensitive COVID response measure than
any other country, according to the
UN.
So, what can brands do? White commends
Target’s approach to tackling
gender and racial equity with ongoing
commitment,
rather than one-off marketing campaigns. The company has seamlessly embedded it
into its business — empowering consumers to support in simple, easy ways. “What
I love is that it breaks free completely from the philanthropic / give-back
paradigm; they are celebrating minorities, with a lot of hope and optimism.”
These days, brands are more trusted than governments. With positive change now
more likely, White encourages brands to do more. “There’s an opportunity for
businesses to seize that and accelerate cultural change,” she says.
“All. Of. This. Is. Infuriating.”
This was a common theme of comments posted in the aftermath of White’s session.
One could be forgiven for expecting similar doom and gloom in the session that
followed, which highlighted the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on the
world’s most vulnerable communities. But that’s not what we got.
David Casey’s personal testimony of the handling of the US COVID-19 testing
roll out reinforced what many of us already knew. As Chief Diversity Officer at
CVS, Casey said the
interconnectedness between wealth and health was there for all to see.
“When mass testing came, the primary way to access it was to get a prescription
from a physician, and you had to have a vehicle to get to a testing site.”
Clearly, the system did not work for the most disadvantaged. But the situation
was countered by CVS and the launch of its community-based testing sites, set up
within schools and churches, and close to where people were used to going
locally. “We have to ensure that what we offer to the community is equally
accessible for everybody. That’s what’s needed to make a breakthrough,” Casey
said.
Philip McKenzie, a cultural anthropologist and strategist with
InfluencerCon, suggested such breakthroughs might
take some time. Two years ago, eight people controlled 50 percent of the wealth
in the world. As COVID-19 hit, and ‘normal’ was no longer normal, we had a
chance to break away from the way things had always been, he said. “The pandemic
could be seen as a portal, an opportunity for change. Unfortunately, the portal
merely transported the old ways of doing things into our new reality, and wealth
inequality has intensified.”
Stephanie Ryan, Growth Catalyst at B Lab, gave balance to the session
with a number of examples of progress in companies addressing inequality within
their workforce. “When you care for your people and your community, you operate
with a sense of relationship,” she said, pointing to frozen cookie dough
manufacturer Rhino Foods — which has long protected its staff against financial
insecurity with an Income Advance
Program. It has
become a beacon social initiative, imitated by many bigger companies — including
Ben & Jerry’s.
Casey rounded up the conversation with some “guarded optimism” as to the future
of reversing trends for the world’s most vulnerable citizens:
“I’m seeing movement in that direction, but we’re far from declaring victory.
Corporate America does not provide the sole solution, but it has a big role to
play in leading the diversity movement.”
This assertion was reinforced by findings from Porter Novelli — which did a
rapid succession of studies in 2020 to keep its finger on the pulse, as the
pandemic and social justice issues continued to dominate the public
consciousness. Whitney Dailey, SVP of Marketing/Research & Insights, summed
up findings from throughout the year — as well as from the agency’s
just-released 2021 Business & Social Justice
Study
— and outlined several key insights for companies as they continue along their
social justice journey:
-
Companies can no longer sit on the sidelines when the world is reeling.
67 percent think companies wait until headline news before they’re willing
to talk about sensitive issues; and 69 percent say it shouldn’t take a
tragedy for companies to care and speak out about social issues.
-
Silence is no longer an option — 49 percent assume that
companies that remain quiet on social justice issues just don’t care; 62
percent say it can help normalize the issue when they do, and 60 percent
feel it can help prevent further violence and prejudices; 66 percent
appreciate when companies they haven’t heard before join the dialogue — but
humility, authenticity and transparency are paramount
-
Actions speak louder — 63 percent of individuals now say companies can
no longer make a statement of support without following it up with
definitive actions to address social justice issues.
-
64 percent say companies must first make progress on JEDI internally
before speaking out on issues externally, and that companies with JEDI
policies are more credible than those without. 63 percent say these
strategies need to be less reactive and more proactive.
-
58 percent of employees say they hold their employer to a higher
standard than other companies when it comes to addressing social justice
issues. 43 percent of employees are reconsidering their current job because
their company isn’t doing enough on social justice issues
Companies considering following in the footsteps of Basecamp and Coinbase might
want to tune into this research. “I’d be curious to see what their talent base
is like in a year or two,” Dailey said.
Dwayna Haley, Porter Novelli’s SVP of Practice Director of Brand Innovation
& Impact, pointed to authentic storytelling as a key differentiator for
companies engaging in the DEIJ conversation. She stressed that companies need to
do their homework — and to not appropriate a topic without internal desire to
stay the course and follow through on their substantive commitments.
Sandy Skees, Global Lead of PN’s Purpose + Impact Practice and JEDI Advisory
Services, noted that she has been gratified to see entire C suites devoted to
this work — not just HR and Diversity officers; but that companies shouldn’t
expect a pat on the back for standing up for issues such as these, which should
be table stakes.
Soon Mee Kim, Global DEI Officer at Omnicom Public Relations Group,
closed the discussion by reminding brands that their engagement can’t just be a
fad — it must come from a place of moral conviction and reflect the values of
their organization.
How companies can authentically address DEIJ issues within their organizations
So, what does authentic corporate engagement actually look like — internally and
externally?
A diverse array of experts dug into just a few of the critical considerations
for businesses when working to create truly inclusive company cultures …
Navigating the new world of gender
While most of the conversation around gender equity involves viewing gender as a
binary, the world is embracing the realization that it is anything but. Truly
inclusive workplaces — which will understand and address gender as a spectrum —
will be even more sought-after in the coming years, with Gen Z poised to become
the most gender-diverse generation to ever enter the workforce. While increasing
expectations for gender-inclusive corporate practices may sit uncomfortably for
some, they should be seen as an empowering opportunity for everyone, according
to Lisa Kenney, CEO of Reimagine Gender.
“Gender is the water we swim in,” she explained. “The fact is, we’re affected in
our lifetime by these ideas we get about gender from the very beginning — it
starts with things like gender-reveal parties. This early gendering is really
important, because it begins this process of taking us from who we are to who we
are expected to be.”
With a global reimaging of gender underway, how can brands best navigate this
new
world?
Kenney pointed to two key stumbling blocks: the creation of well-meaning
corporate programs for, and measuring, gender when it’s not properly understood;
and a lack of inclusivity.
“We are all affected by gender constructs and conversations. Typically,
organizations see gender as either a woman or trans issue. Men need to be more
included in conversations around gender and seen as allies. We will make greater
progress when we include everybody, as everybody is affected.”
Maintaining that the trend to neutralize gender is the wrong approach as it only
seeks to minimize it, Kenney said there was a need to embrace the entire gender
spectrum and lend it some vibrancy. She pointed to Tiffany & Co — which just
launched diamond engagement rings for
men
— as an example of how companies can do the right thing.
“There are three things you can do right now,” she told delegates. “Establish
gender literacy in your organization, understand your own gender
story,
and put on a gender lens for a month. What do you see? How does your
organization view gender? How does it show up in the organization?”
Employee Resource Groups as a key pillar of DEIJ work
Speaking of gender inclusivity, recent McKinsey
research
shows that companies with gender-diverse executive teams are 25 percent more
likely to have above-average profitability than their less-inclusive peers.
So, it’s no wonder business is putting more emphasis — and resources — on
establishing and sustaining Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). In fact,
90 percent of Fortune
500 firms have at
least one ERG.
ERGs are voluntary, employee-led groups that foster a diverse, inclusive
workplace aligned with the mission and values of an organization and its
practices.
Manoj Raghunandanan — Johnson &
Johnson Consumer Health’s Global
President for Self-Care and the Consumer Experience Organisation — led a
discussion with a range of companies with mixed experiences of establishing and
maintaining their ERGs.
At the start of its journey, DoorDash’s ERG strategy aligned with its
mission to connect people — not just employees, but the cities in which the
company operates.
“We use our ERG to better serve the city and create opportunities for people to
get exposure,” said Sales Manager Mo Fall. “This is where people can share
experiences and concerns. We use that talent to participate and get ideas for
DoorDash to create a more inclusive and equitable company.”
At Salesforce, ERGs — referred to internally as Equality Groups — are a core
part of the company. In fact, half of its 50,000 staff participate, either
actively or passively. All 12 ERGs globally are focused on four things: creating
a community that is inclusive, empowering allies, giving back through
volunteering, and professional development needs for career growth.
“Our ERGs have been great, especially during COVID-19,” said Gino Ramos,
Senior Manager of Equality Programs at Salesforce. “Through our ERGs we
encourage people to ask, listen, show up and speak up. It’s important to create
an environment where people feel they can speak and be part of a community.”
ERGs have been in place for more than 30 years at Ford Motor
Company. For Amal Berry, the
firm’s Senior Manager of Global DEI, ERGs are about giving people a safe place
to talk about their experiences at work, including any mental health issues. But
maintaining momentum is not easy because of the “ebbs and flows of society.”
“What made sense 20 years ago or even three years ago, doesn’t necessarily make
sense now,” Berry said, adding that Ford continues to evolve the purpose and
practices of its ERG.
She concluded by reinforcing the value of ERGs — not only for Ford employees,
but the business as a whole. “We make great cars. But if we’re not listening to
our own people — who reflect our customers — how can we make those cars better?”
Authentic corporate engagement on DEIJ issues externally must involve a
thoughtful approach on a number of fronts …
Partnering with indigenous communities: A case study
For the latter, an afternoon panel shared insights gained from an ongoing
partnership with an indigenous community — specifically, in the case of
Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Hotel and Casino, which is owned by the
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and managed by Caesars
Entertainment.
Leann Bridges, Regional VP of Marketing at Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River,
explained the primary reason for going into gaming was to create jobs for tribal
members — and stressed the value of a partner with the willingness to listen and
support.
“Caesars took the time to understand what the objective was,” she recalled. “The
partnership achieved creation of jobs; and now, people have careers. In the
early years of the partnership with Caesars, they guaranteed our loans; and now,
the tribe can secure their own financing.”
How can interested brands engage with indigenous communities?
“Many tribes have an economic development office, which can be a good starting
point,” recommends sustainability and hospitality consultant Anna Barrera.
“There are organizations like the National Center for American Indian
Enterprise Development (NCAIED), which has an intermediary role between
native and non-native businesses. These organizations can help non-native
businesses understand the protocols and tribal leaderships.”
Chris James, CEO and President of the NCAIED, strongly advises against
making assumptions of what a community needs:
“Make sure you find out about the community — for example, its poverty rates
and unemployment rates. We have had hundreds of years of trauma in our
communities from government and external sources, so a lot of trust needs to be
built. Think about having good partnerships and who you need to build trust with
in the community — e.g. tribal government or consultants — to help build the
relationship.”
Ethical storytelling: Deconstructing how we communicate impact
When brands talk to customers about the social impact they have created, the
stories they tell are often a manifestation of deep-rooted power structures.
That is the view of Manpreet Kalra, Social Impact and Brand Advisor at Art
of Citizenry. Her 45-minute workshop is
designed to encourage brands to really think about the power of storytelling —
and how to communicate impact through an anti-racist lens.
“When it comes to global development, our approaches to impact are often
band-aid approaches, rather than taking the time to understand the systems in
which we operate,” Kalra said. Her central argument is that brands too often
tell impact stories that resort to oversimplification. “This is feeding
stereotypes and power structures that are routed in a variety of systems that
have created exploitative narratives.”
In the race to meet consumer demand for more transparency of
products,
brands tell plenty of stories about trauma, mostly common about people and
communities in the Global South: “But there is often so much joy in their
experience; and we need to start telling stories but people of color as humans,
giving them humanity.”
Kalra reinforced the need for impact measurement and communication to be
sustainable, something that requires collaboration and the nurturing of
connections and the building of alliances. “We often approach impact through a
cookie-cutter lens; brands think they can solve issues alone and alleviate
poverty. But that’s not how this works. It must be collaborative.” She added
that for impact to be powerful, it must translate into “lasting systemic change
that goes beyond any business or individual.”
To achieve the change Kalra advocates, brands must ask themselves four
questions, she says:
-
Does my company sound like a savior?
-
Am I making blanket statements about a community or culture?
-
Do I have informed consent to share the information or image I am
sharing?
-
Am I promoting cultural dominance?
As Kalra concluded:
“Ultimately, brands must ask themselves whether they are the right person to
tell that story. What I’m saying is incredibly uncomfortable. But discomfort is
important if we want to come together as advocates for more inclusive
storytelling. We all have biases; it’s just important to acknowledge them.”
DEIJ issues in supply chains: Human trafficking, modern slavery and more
As people begin to realize that DEIJ issues are just as pertinent in supply
chains,
most notably in the form of human trafficking and modern slavery, brands could
soon find themselves under a whole new level of scrutiny. Sounding a warning
bell on this issue was Bonnie Nixon — who teaches about sustainable supply
chains at both Harvard and UCLA.
With value and supply chains effectively broken for more than 27 million humans
around the world, there’s an urgent need to address the root causes of such
exploitation. Nixon was quick to address an element of irony here.
“The term ‘supply chain’ has chains in it. We really need to rename supply
chains and value chains, and take the ‘chains’ out of them,” she said.
Giving a comprehensive account of the different forms modern slavery can take
and where it is most prominent in the world, Nixon highlighted some sobering
statistics: For every 1,000 people, there are 5.4 victims of modern slavery — 71
percent of whom are women and girls.
The nature of forced
labor
makes it hard to detect. Victims are often transported to unfamiliar places
where they become culturally, linguistically or physically isolated and denied
legal identity or freedom to leave.
Nixon recounted cases of female factory workers in some areas only being let
outside for 15 minutes a day, to prevent them from socializing; and pregnant
women being put into holding cells for punishment or facing deportation, as they
are deemed to be a healthcare burden.
Addressing such toxic practices can seem overwhelming for organizations, but
Nixon advised starting with a set of basic principles — including supply chain
mapping to identify high-risk suppliers and regions, introducing dynamic codes
and contracts, third-party auditing, and establishing a plan for remedial and
corrective action.
“Businesses are connected to a world wide web of global supply chains, so what
does responsible company behavior look like? Make sure we pay these workers,
look at the challenges they are
facing
… ensuring that we are paying the right purchase prices is important.”
Nixon also pointed to the growing amount of legislation designed to help tackle
such issues — such as the UK Modern Slavery
Act,
which she said had “some of the best teeth” in it.
“I think we are going to get our stick,” she added. “We need to change the word
‘supply chain’ to ‘supply change’. Are we ready for it?”
Tracking corporate progress
So, how can stakeholders assess whether companies’ walk really matches their talk?
JUST Capital’s new Corporate Racial Equity Tracker
“This work is a hell of a lot harder than sustainability; it takes dog years to
change.”
A powerful statement, and a sobering one, too. In her opening remarks on Day 2, Gwen Migita — VP for social impact, sustainability,
diversity, equity & inclusion at Caesars Entertainment — spoke from personal
experience when recounting the challenges brands face in advancing DEIJ issues.
In particular, Migita highlighted the frustrations of chief diversity officers
and the gaps preventing them from meeting their goals, some of which can simply
be down to interdepartmental inefficiencies and teams working in silos. With
DEIJ still often viewed as an HR function, she called for brands to take a
greater intersectional approach in order to replicate some of the systemic
change now being progressed in other areas — such as ESG.
With corporate DEIJ performance lagging, JUST
Capital’s Corporate Racial Equity
Tracker is
looking to unpack some of the reasons behind this and scrutinize just how far
companies are walking the
talk
when it comes to taking action in this space. The tracker collates data on
corporate DEIJ public disclosures from the US’s 100 largest employers —
typically found in websites, CSR reports, press releases and other company
sources.
It measures six dimensions critical to advancing racial equity:
anti-discrimination polices; pay equity; racial/ethnic diversity
data; education and training programs; response to mass incarceration;
and community
investment.
Across the six dimensions, the tracker captures 22 data points reflective of
various corporate commitments and actions.
Launched just last month, the tracker is already yielding interesting insights.
“At the highest level, the tracker is highlighting four key trends,” Kavya
Vaghul, JUST’s senior director of research, told attendees. She said while
large companies were quite hot on disclosing general commitments around DEIJ,
particularly to mitigate risk or support racial equity issues, they were less
likely to report on actions that expose how well they are performing on such
pledges (which, as learned from Porter Novelli’s latest research [above], has
become a red flag for both internal and external stakeholders).
Overall, there’s a pressing need to cover more ground. “Just 18 companies out of
the 100 largest have at least one commitment or action within each of the six
dimensions,” Vaghul said, adding that “no single company has implemented all 22
commitments or actions.”
Shining a spotlight on racial pay inequity, the tracker also revealed that less
than one-third of these companies are disclosing that they conduct such analysis
with even fewer reporting the results. There are a few stand out brands however.
Vaghul highlighted the work of Microsoft, Starbucks and Intel — all
of which have strong pay equity reporting practices.
Concluding that DEIJ issues are cross-cutting because of how entrenched
systematic racism and oppression is, Vaghul asserted that addressing such
agendas requires a multi-stakeholder approach:
“The commitments and actions highlighted in our tracker are just a starting point … alone [they] are not a substitute for the interpersonal work that goes into creating inclusive environments.”
Tools and tech for more efficient, accurate DEI disclosures
DEI issues have come into greater focus for many organizations as they take a
closer look at their practices, set quantitative targets, and make new
commitments. But when it comes to DEI disclosures, many companies still
manually collect data each year for their CSR and environmental, social and
governance (ESG) reports. Phil Redman, Offering Lead at data-management
platform OneTrust, gave an overview of and insights
into best practices, tools and technologies to drive change; and help increase
the efficiency and accuracy of collecting, assessing and disclosing DEI data.
Redman pointed out the importance of social data — not only to communicate to a
variety of stakeholders, but also to measure and drive change: “[Change] won’t
happen unless there is an understanding of the metrics, the data, and the
programs that can be put into place to quantitatively measure that change.”
He emphasized the importance of choosing what metrics and issues you want to
focus on — not only to communicate relevant information to your stakeholders,
but also to focus on issues that are material to your business, and can help
track and measure progress towards quantifiable goals.
When developing DEI programs and workflow processes, Redman suggested to first
focus on the data gathering. For example, for a metric such as equal pay,
relevant data can be gathered from the companies’ ERP systems and pay can be
compared against various roles and demographics. This data can then be evaluated
and benchmarked against competitors, standards, regulations, internal goals,
etc.
Tools such as ESG-management platforms can come with built-in metrics and
standards (e.g., GRI, SASB, etc), or be customized. They can also help
automate data collection and can include progress tracking, task management,
workflow management, assignments, and permissions functions to streamline data
collection and assessment. ESG platforms can also be integrated with APIs to
automate data collection and management, and/or third-party data sources, such
as additional analytics and benchmarking data.
Other tools that can help automate the collection, assessment, and management of
DEI data include digital survey tools, ERP systems, tools with API capabilities,
and new AI tools that pull and digitize relevant data. OneTrust’s unified
platform helps simplify complex ESG projects by allowing users to connect across
different modules, pull information, automate information management and
assessment.
Once material data is collected, it can be used not only to generate reports,
but to identify risks and opportunities, benchmark performance, develop
strategies, track progress towards goals, and measure success of internal DEI
programs.
Progress on corporate DEIJ commitments and targets
A panel of diversity and social justice leaders from 3M, Ben & Jerry's,
and PepsiCo discussed their own recent progress, challenges and lessons
learned since developing progressive commitments and programs in 2020 that
address DEIJ.
As 3M’s Garfield Bowen explained, diversity has been a pillar of the
company’s corporate culture since Mike Roman became CEO in 2018; “but the
[George Floyd] tragedy accelerated the movement” — which led to Garfield’s
appointment as the company’s first VP of Social Justice Strategy, as well as
over 100 individuals assigned laterally to drive this ambitious agenda. Garfield
highlighted that a major challenge is that these employees already have
full-time responsibilities, but that “when passion meets purpose, the sky is the
limit” — which is what he has seen at 3M over the last year.
Tina Bigalke, Chief Diversity Officer at PepsiCo, mentioned that while the
company has a long legacy of diversity and
inclusion, 2020 was a
major year of reflection for the company, and its role in addressing systemic
racism. PepsiCo recently committed over $400 million over five
years
to address inequality issues, while also increasing focus on engaging both
management and disadvantaged groups in executive advancement programs. Bigalke
also discussed “Pepsi Dig In” — a program aimed at
driving at least $100 million in sales for Black-owned restaurants in the next
five years.
Chris Miller, Social Mission Activism Manager at Ben & Jerry's, described
how for the past five years, the activist ice cream brand has focused on equity
internally and racial
justice
externally, and then gradually and methodically engaged its employees in
broader issues of structural and systemic
racism.
For the past few years, the company has focused on “results-based
accountability” for equity work — establishing a set of employee committees to
define outputs, outcomes, and goals related to DEIJ both internally and
externally. These goals revolve around three main areas of focus; 1) having
employees reflect the country’s diversity, 2) leveraging its procurement spend
to support Black-owned businesses and suppliers, and 3) increasing the portion
of scoop shop franchises owned by people of color.
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Maxine Perella is an environmental journalist working in the field of corporate sustainability, circular economy and resource risk.
Content creator extraordinaire.
Tom is founder of storytelling strategy firm Narrative Matters — which helps organizations develop content that truly engages audiences around issues of global social, environmental and economic importance. He also provides strategic editorial insight and support to help organisations – from large corporates, to NGOs – build content strategies that focus on editorial that is accessible, shareable, intelligent and conversation-driving.
Max Pinnola is founder of GreenStream Sustainability Consulting.
Published May 10, 2021 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST