Corporate America’s diversity backtrack has a silver lining: more competent leaders

No matter the passageway of post-George Floyd DEI leaders, many were entering at a time when diversity and inclusion had become increasingly business-driven and complex, mirroring the increased complexity of the organizations in which they resided. As a result, and for all their good intentions, many new DEI heads were unable to effect change in a way that aligned with their business’s core goals. Today, corporate America’s knee-jerk reaction of tapping seemingly anyone and everyone to become a diversity leader has quickly evolved to a significant pruning of the role, with companies like Zoom laying off entire diversity teams, rescinding budgets, and freezing hiring within the function.

But there is a silver lining to the DEI function’s constriction: The cream has risen to the top. What’s more, there’s been a greater effort to standardize success metrics for the role. “There isn’t one set of requirements or criteria for the pathway to becoming a chief diversity officer in the same way that we have standards for lawyers,” says Dani Monroe, founder of the Martha’s Vineyard Chief Diversity Officer Summit and former CDO at Mass General Brigham, the largest health care system in Massachusetts.

Even HR professionals have standards, she says, noting that one can obtain a degree in human resources. The same can’t be said for diversity leaders, although that’s changing as CEOs press their DEI chiefs on their business impact.

“People have assumed almost anybody can be a chief diversity officer, especially if they’re a person of color. That is not true,” Monroe says. “There is a body of work; there’s knowledge, technique, and science to this, along with experience and application.”

During her time at Mass General Brigham, Monroe says she often asked leaders if they’d allow her to perform surgery on them simply because she has a passion for the job. “They’d laugh and immediately say no, so I’d say, ‘Well, why do you think someone could be a chief diversity officer because of a passion for DEI?’ It’s because they don’t understand the discipline of being a CDO.”

Monroe admits that diversity heads are partly to blame for this lack of understanding. And as some CEOs become disillusioned with DEI, often due to a mismatch of expectations, the push to create standards on required subject matter expertise will become all the more important.

The most effective CDOs, she says, have change management skills and data analytics skills. They understand human development both as individuals and in groups and how we operate within a system. They are familiar with different identity groups and their history and understand how to create and analyze policies and conduct an internal audit. Most importantly, they have deep knowledge about their business and the broader industry. “Only then can you integrate DEI into everything the business does,” Monroe says. In a CDO Impact study her organization recently published that surveyed some 48 Fortune 500 chief diversity officers, respondents cited additional skill requirements such as the ability to negotiate, build bridges, and astutely communicate why their work matters to all stakeholders. “If you can’t create a compelling story and strong narrative for your organization’s work in DEI, then it’s hard to bring people on board,” Monroe says.

I point out that as some companies withdraw from DEI, the now smaller base of diversity officers seems to have a solid and more robust understanding of what it means to be a catalyst for change and leverage diversity as a performance driver.

“What is strong and good is going to stick,” Monroe says. “What you’re seeing are people in the field who are incredibly dedicated, committed, competent, and skilled to do the work, and so their organizations are doubling down on it because they deliver results.”

While over-indexing on CDOs following the 2020 racial reckoning “probably wasn’t a great thing,” Monroe adds, “it has set up a core group of people now who are doing the work and really understand what the work is about and how to do it. Better yet, their organizations understand what their work is about, too.”

Ruth Umoh
@ruthumohnews
ruth.umoh@fortune.com

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