Looking for “5 Quick Tips” to Build an Inclusive Organization? You’re on the Wrong Track.
Skip to content
Leadership Jul 20, 2020

Looking for “5 Quick Tips” to Build an Inclusive Organization? You’re on the Wrong Track.

Two experts discuss why corporate diversity initiatives so often fall short, and what it will take to produce real change.

Play Pause
Listen to this article 0:00 Minutes
Black Lives Matter protester walks past business

Lisa Röper

Based on insights from

Nicholas Pearce

Xavier Ramey

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of articles based on Kellogg Executive Education webinars focused on COVID-19.

Between the pandemic’s racial disparities in infection rates and outcomes and the widespread protests around police killings, 2020 has, for many, prompted another national reckoning on racism. This has led many organizations to look inward and focus on developing or improving their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Some have also ventured to consider a word that is new to many: antiracism.

Each Thursday, Kellogg faculty are offering free webinars on how COVID-19 is impacting businesses, markets, and careers. You can sign up for upcoming sessions, hosted by Kellogg Executive Education, here.

How can companies best tackle the important undertaking of scaled and integrated DEI strategies that are specific enough to identify and root out acts of racial inequity or their proponents? And how can this be done in ways that result in meaningful, long-term changes in their organizations and society?

These questions were the focus of a recent conversation between Nicholas Pearce, a clinical professor of management and organizations at Kellogg, and Xavier Ramey, CEO of Justice Informed, a social-impact consulting firm in Chicago. They spoke during a webinar from Kellogg Executive Education.

Below are lightly edited excerpts from their discussion.

On DEI Definitions

PEARCE: Diversity is not about marginality. Diversity is simply about human differences, whether they are based in our race, or gender, or sexual-orientation identities, whether it’s because we are parents, or not married, or veterans.

If we think about diversity as a seat at the table, inclusion is actually being able to be heard at the table. Your voice is not muted by virtue of the fact that your perspective is not cared about, that you don’t have access to the microphone.

RAMEY
: Equity requires an honesty about our past and honesty about where we are today. If we actually get to equity, not only do I [as a Black man] get to speak, but I also am in an environment where we have a reorganized methodology for distribution of economic or human capital or other types of resources that allow for me to fully access and harness the fruits of my labor.

To be antiracist requires you look at how to stop racism as an action. Just saying I’m not a racist has never been enough to stop racism. It’s not about whether you’re nice or not. It’s about whether you’re effective. It’s the same thing for a business.

On COVID-19 and Corporate DEI Efforts

PEARCE: As COVID hit and companies had to make difficult choices, a lot of organizations either furloughed or released their chief diversity officer. Now some of these very same diversity professionals who were just deemed nonessential five minutes ago are uber essential and we can’t live without them.

RAMEY
: It’s showed for whom it was an initiative versus a matter of sustainable infrastructure, for whom it was a “must have” and for whom it was a “nice to have.” Many of those who removed their infrastructure [when COVID-19 hit their bottom lines in March] were then immediately exposed [in June when DEI infrastructure was most needed] for how non-system wide their expertise was about DEI. It exposed that gap in prioritization.

And I’ve taken dozens and dozens of calls from organizations over the last six weeks, as they are scrambling to build infrastructure for something that has been a perennial issue in the hundreds-year history of the United States.

On Why There Are No Shortcuts for DEI Work

PEARCE: Many come to us looking for “the three bullet points” or “the five strategies.”

RAMEY
: Yeah, [people think] “What are the quick wins?” What are the quick wins about an eternal issue!

We’re never going to get there until we deploy scaled resources that are commensurate with the scale of the problem. You are not going to engage DEI in your firm through having an MLK brunch every January, and a Black History Month event, and hanging a pride flag, or highlighting eight authors of Asian descent. You’re never going to get there with a training. Trainings only build understanding. They don’t build accountability.

The work that’s required for most organizations is actually to undergo a diversity, equity, and inclusion audit first. Much like going to the doctor, you don’t show up and tell the doctor, “I need surgery; cut me open.” There has to be a diagnosis. We have to go in, you’re going to have to open up your books, and we’re going to have to confront the data that we see and the narratives that we hear.

You can watch the full webinar here and see previous articles from this series here.

Featured Faculty

Clinical Professor of Management & Organizations

About the Writer

Emily Stone is the senior editor at Kellogg Insight.

Most Popular This Week
  1. Sitting Near a High-Performer Can Make You Better at Your Job
    “Spillover” from certain coworkers can boost our productivity—or jeopardize our employment.
    The spillover effect in offices impacts workers in close physical proximity.
  2. 5 Tips for Growing as a Leader without Burning Yourself Out
    A leadership coach and former CEO on how to take a holistic approach to your career.
    father picking up kids from school
  3. How Are Black–White Biracial People Perceived in Terms of Race?
    Understanding the answer—and why black and white Americans may percieve biracial people differently—is increasingly important in a multiracial society.
    How are biracial people perceived in terms of race
  4. 2 Factors Will Determine How Much AI Transforms Our Economy
    They’ll also dictate how workers stand to fare.
    robot waiter serves couple in restaurant
  5. Podcast: How to Discuss Poor Performance with Your Employee
    Giving negative feedback is not easy, but such critiques can be meaningful for both parties if you use the right roadmap. Get advice on this episode of The Insightful Leader.
  6. What Should Leaders Make of the Latest AI?
    As ChatGPT flaunts its creative capabilities, two experts discuss the promise and pitfalls of our coexistence with machines.
    person working on computer next to computer working at a computer
  7. Today’s Gig Workers Are Subject to Endless Experimentation
    “It raises the question, do we want to be a society where experimentation is just the norm?”
    gig worker at computer with three scientists studying them through a window
  8. Will AI Eventually Replace Doctors?
    Maybe not entirely. But the doctor–patient relationship is likely to change dramatically.
    doctors offices in small nodules
  9. How to Make Inclusivity More Than Just an Office Buzzword
    Tips for turning good intentions into actions.
    A group of coworkers sit in various chairs.
  10. China’s Youth Unemployment Problem
    If the record-breaking joblessness persists, as seems likely, China will have an even harder time supporting its rapidly aging population.
    college graduate standing before Chinese flag
  11. Will AI Kill Human Creativity?
    What Fake Drake tells us about what’s ahead.
    Rockstars await a job interview.
  12. Why Are We So Quick to Borrow When the Value of Our Home Rises?
    The reason isn’t as simple as just feeling wealthier.
    A homeowner uses the value of their home to buy things.
  13. Take 5: Research-Backed Tips for Scheduling Your Day
    Kellogg faculty offer ideas for working smarter and not harder.
    A to-do list with easy and hard tasks
  14. Why Do Some People Succeed after Failing, While Others Continue to Flounder?
    A new study dispels some of the mystery behind success after failure.
    Scientists build a staircase from paper
  15. How to Manage a Disengaged Employee—and Get Them Excited about Work Again
    Don’t give up on checked-out team members. Try these strategies instead.
    CEO cheering on team with pom-poms
  16. Which Form of Government Is Best?
    Democracies may not outlast dictatorships, but they adapt better.
    Is democracy the best form of government?
  17. The Second-Mover Advantage
    A primer on how late-entering companies can compete with pioneers.
  18. What Happens to Worker Productivity after a Minimum Wage Increase?
    A pay raise boosts productivity for some—but the impact on the bottom line is more complicated.
    employees unload pallets from a truck using hand carts
Add Insight to your inbox.
More in Leadership