Editor’s note: Veteran entrepreneur and investor Donald Thompson writes a weekly column about management and leadership as well as diversity and other important issues for WRAL TechWire. His columns are published on Wednesdays.
Note to readers: WRAL TechWire would like to hear from you about views expressed by our contributors. Please send email to: info@wraltechwire.com.
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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – The power, influence and importance of the tech industry can hardly be understated. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sums it up well: “The high tech sector has become a major source of economic growth fueling the U.S. economy. As an innovation leader, the high tech sector has impacted how we communicate and access information, distribute products and services and address critical societal problems.”
Donald Thompson
The ubiquity of tech is at the center of our lives. For many of us, our livelihoods as well. That is why the “address critical societal problems” part of the quote above is so challenging when we look at the industry from the vantage of its generally subpar implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion programming.
I am not going to blanket the entire industry negatively when it comes to DEI. But, what we’re seeing and hearing more frequently is that the tech sector simply isn’t applying the same resilience and innovation to its commitment to culture (within organizations and as an industry as a whole) as it is to solving today’s (and tomorrow’s) most critical challenges.
At The Diversity Movement, we have spent significant time examining why companies should not stop the culture work during an economic downturn. Culture affects everything from talent acquisition and retention to innovation, efficiency and collaboration. Done right, DEI as a guiding strategy can be the bedrock upon which a strong culture is formed. As we now realize: Workplace culture is at the heart of profits.
TECH INDUSTRY: THE CHALLENGES
The tech industry and its leaders still face the same longstanding criticism – the sector is viewed as ageist, overly White and male-dominated. The racial reckoning after George Floyd’s murder seemed to be a catalyst for the industry to change, but what we’re seeing in the wake of recent economic and societal challenges is a retrenchment.
The media has been reporting on the industry’s reaction to the threat of recession and focusing on mass layoffs and similar cuts. The sensitivity around DEI programming and tech’s challenges in this area have virtually wiped out whatever meager gains in culture-building the industry may have achieved in the last two-plus years. For an industry as besieged for its lack of diversity as tech, the necessity to do more is paramount.
Ebony Flake, writing in Essence, explains, “For all the industry’s talk of representation, the tech sector has always been one of the least diverse. Black workers accounted for just 7% of the workforce in 2021. With recent cutbacks, that number has undoubtedly diminished.”
BIGGER THAN A DIFFICULT ECONOMY
Investing in DEI programming isn’t a luxury. In fact, it has become a necessity for outstanding companies that want to strengthen their brand, retain high-performing talent, protect themselves from costly legal actions and weather economic downturns.
That last point about what to do in a difficult economy is essential. Flake writes that tech executives, in particular, are claiming that recession chatter is a “legitimate cause” to lay off workers and slash funding for DEI programs. However, the journalist explains that studies reveal, “nurturing organizational diversity leads to higher profit margins. The most diverse companies outperform their less diverse peers by 36% in profitability.”
Research on financial success after the Great Recession also indicated that organizations with strong cultures built on diversity, equity and inclusion were able to rebound stronger than their peers. DEI efforts actually strengthened companies and protected them during tough times. It is not just counterintuitive to cut DEI programs, it’s actually a bad business decision that may have ripple effects for the organization far into the future.
THREE INITIAL STEPS TOWARD TRANSFORMATION
I hear people throwing around phrases like “DEI fatigue,” because it seems fashionable or they heard it somewhere on social media. Yet, digging in, I find that they don’t really want to hire fewer people of color or take away rights from people who are disadvantaged. Often, it’s just cover for not confronting a difficult set of challenges they don’t really understand.
I like to be direct, so rather than eliminate your company’s ERGs or lay off the personnel responsible for DEI programming, try these three steps toward cultural transformation in a way that isn’t going to cost a lot of money, but could be revolutionary.
- Inclusive Language – Building a foundation of inclusive language will set you up for success in developing high-trust relationships, strengthening confidence, and attracting – and retaining – top talent. Recognizing the need for a guide that leaders could use to educate their teams and implement quickly, we published The Inclusive Language Handbook: A Guide to Better Communication & Transformational Leadership by Jackie Ferguson and Roxanne Bellamy.
- Establish Goals – If you approach DEI initiatives like you do the other lines of business, then you will put the same accountability on the outcomes. These targets should include new hires and promotions, as well as goals around feelings of belonging for existing employees, and diversity training for executives and managers.
- DEI Champions – For DEI programs to work against your real-world objectives, you need to have champions at every level, but particularly when involving executive sponsorship of critical culture change initiatives. When DEI is stated as a company value, but no one is held accountable for implementation, the program is destined to fail. By sponsoring champions on specific, game-changing initiatives, you’re signaling to your company and other leaders across the industry that enough is enough. We’re in the 21st century, long past time when we should be giving lip service to authentic equity in the workplace.
CHANGE IS COMING
Technology is a fiercely competitive industry with its own unique challenges. There is no single superhero or group of superheroes who can swoop in to fix the culture challenge that has bedeviled the industry and continues to draw negative attention. Instead, tech executives need to take responsibility for deliberately transforming the industry.
You can look at this final fact as an omen or a blessing – change is on the horizon. Spend some time with teenagers and college students, the same smart young people who are going to be your future employees and customers. They do not carry the tech industry’s baggage when it comes to DEI. Quite differently, they embrace – and demand – that organizations and leaders operate in a more culture-focused fashion.
I spoke with a tech leader recently and he put it bluntly: “You are who you associate with. Your stakeholders, whether they are employees, customers or prospects, are demanding that you do better. 2023 may very well be the year of a great reckoning. Hiding under the desk and pretending the problem is going to disappear is not going to protect you.”
What keeps my optimism at a high level is that we know how successful culture-centric leaders and organizations can be. When you commit to real change via a DEI lens, the return on investment is delivered in productivity, collaboration, performance and morale. And, for the industry as a whole, a DEI overhaul makes it easier to attract top professional talent, overcome negative public perceptions, and build long-lasting, successful relationships with stakeholders.
About the Author
Donald Thompson is CEO and co-founder of The Diversity Movement and the author of Underestimated: A CEO’s Unlikely Path to Success. For a limited time during the holiday season, both The Inclusive Language Handbook: A Guide to Better Communication & Transformation Leadership by Jackie Ferguson and Roxanne Bellamy and Underestimated are offered with a 25% discount.
