Several of my colleagues have expressed concern that there seems to be a growing trend to “downgrade” the top diversity and inclusion position in organizations.
In the early 2000’s it seemed that more diversity and inclusion leads were being elevated to the C-suite, sitting alongside the chief marketing officer, chief HR officer, chief information officer and other such “chiefs” who reported directly to the CEO.
Over the past 5 years, it seems that the trend is to place diversity and inclusion within talent management, sometimes reporting directly to the chief HR professional and sometimes reporting to the head of talent management.
I and others are concerned that this trend is short-sighted and fails to recognize the broader implications of diversity and inclusion beyond talent management. While talent attraction, development and retention continue to be critical elements of diversity and inclusion, so are multicultural marketing, corporate social responsibility, corporate communications, new product design, global operations, etc.
Confining diversity and inclusion to HR and further restricting the scope to talent, begs the question, who has responsibility in these other key areas?
- Who focuses on developing products and services for diverse market segments? If there is a focus in this area, how culturally competent are those charged with this responsibility?
- How is corporate social responsibility linked to diversity and inclusion? What is the strategic focus? Are these initiatives tied to overall business objectives? One of The Winters Group clients had a history of community involvement that was not strategic nor was it linked to the mission of the organization. Everybody felt good about the initiatives but they were fragmented, siloed and not sending a cohesive brand message.
- Who handles internal and external diversity communications? What specific competencies to they possess to develop an overarching diversity and inclusion communication strategy? Who handles the external press on issues of diversity and inclusion?
- Is diversity and inclusion being considered in new product design?
If we agree that diversity and inclusion encompasses the workforce, workplace and marketplace, it seems that the marketplace piece is conspicuously missing when diversity and inclusion is confined to the talent bucket. The top diversity and inclusion professional needs to be in a visible role that allows a big picture view of the organization because diversity and inclusion really does touch just about everything.
