The best and brightest HR leaders and professionals in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) recently came together in Austin, TX for our Thrive by 15Five event to learn, share and grow.
Cara Pelletier, Senior Director of DEIB at 15Five, joined Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategist and Consultant Lily Zheng for a fireside chat about the role of Human Resources at DEIB. Lily shared some amazing insights and tips from her new book, DEI Deconstructed: Your no-nonsense guide to getting the job done and doing it right. Read on for six of our top takeaways from this insightful conversation.
1. Like it or not, employees will blame HR for company policies and procedures.
Lily shared how they spend a lot of time on the job as DEI consultants speaking to two groups: HR leaders and employee activists. As she may suspect, these two groups tell very different stories.
HR leaders tend to talk about new policies and initiatives the company is currently working on, while employee activists (who may volunteer for employee resource groups or champion DEI initiatives) often share a Negative sentiment about the HR team. From promises of promotions that never make it to micro-aggressions that occur in the organization to understated statements on social media, employees place most of the blame for company missteps on HR.
Fair or not, employees often can’t tell the difference between HR people and company policies and results (or lack thereof). They see HR as the formal stewards of the culture, and when things don’t work out, they are the first team to blame. As Lily shares, it’s a heavy load that many HR leaders just aren’t ready to carry, but they must to bring about real change.
2. Change can’t happen without employee trust, and when it breaks, HR. H H. You should help fix it.
HR professionals and leaders are stewards of employee trust, and when that trust is broken, they must be accountable for efforts to rebuild it. Lily explained that without trust, it will be very difficult to get information from employees. For example, if employees don’t feel safe sharing honest feedback, a survey might get a 20% response rate, which isn’t enough to get real insights.
People expect that when they provide feedback, it will get something back in the form of organizational change (or at least significant steps toward change). When that doesn’t happen, and nothing is done with the feedback they provide, the company loses the goodwill it had with the employees.
To win back their trust, the organization needs to give something to employees without expecting anything in return. Another good example of this that Lily shared is giving a resource group of employees the resources they need without asking about ROI. Just give them what they need without making them demonstrate some kind of business result.
By rebuilding trust, business and HR leaders can build an effective coalition among employees. Once that trust has been restored, you can start taking employee surveys again and expect a better response rate and more honest feedback.
3. Historically, Human Resources has not been the right home for DEIB, but it can be.
Cara asked Lily for her opinion on one of the most hotly debated topics in the industry: Who should own DEIBs? On one side of the argument, many HR teams believe they should be the owners (DEIB is about people, and people are “what we do”). On the other hand, many DEIB advocates do not trust Human Resources for these critical initiatives. Perhaps they have been burned in the past or feel DEIB is too big to fall into the hands of an already stretched HR department.
Lily’s personal opinion is that HR is one of the few roles in an organization that is truly cross-functional (when done right). DEIB is all about making processes fair across groups, another truly cross-functional initiative. So, if only for organizational synergy, HR and DEIB need to work together. Unfortunately, they say, that’s not happening right now.
It makes logistical sense for DEIB to either fall low or work very closely with HR. But how can we get there? Lily says that the key is to create a human resources department that any DEIB professional would be fascinated to report on.
4. Being compassionate is not enough: HR professionals must be advocates.
We can all probably agree that most HR professionals and leaders are “good people.” But being a kind or compassionate person is not enough to be an effective HR leader today. Lily gives a great example of this by asking the audience to think of a really nice person in her company that she would love to have coffee with but she wouldn’t necessarily want to be her manager. Being nice is not the same as having all the skills necessary to live up to today’s expectations.
In human resources, Lily says it’s time for professionals to stop being compassionate policy gatekeepers and become active advocates. There are many new hire needs around DEIB and inclusive cultures, and while many HR professionals don’t have the formal knowledge to fix every problem, it’s critical to work to gain the skills necessary to become advocates in these areas.
A big pitfall Lily sees in the industry is well-meaning HR leaders who go out of their way to help people navigate broken systems instead of working to improve those systems. Today’s HR leaders must be organizational change professionals. As Lily shares, if the right policies don’t exist for your people, it’s your job to make sure they do.
5. Beware of performative diversity in DEIB leadership opportunities.
During the fireside chat, Cara and Lily fielded some great questions from the audience, including one from someone concerned that Black women were being assigned to DEIB leadership roles and then not being given the resources or the authority to make real change. This “performance diversity” is a real problem, and as Lily said, “DEI leader is the one role they will hire you for, pay you for, and hope you never do.”
To avoid being in a position to help a company “check the box” without giving it any power to make real progress, Lily recommends asking potential employers about headcount, budget, and cross-functional ability to implement change. They must promise you the same resources as other department leaders at your level, and the organization must focus on tangible DEIB results. If not, she should view this as a red flag.
6. Small HR teams don’t have to go it alone.
An audience member asked how organizations with a small HR team or a team of one can prioritize DEIBs. Lily says that instead of working for small victories, go big. If her organization doesn’t have a documented mission, vision, and values, that’s a great place to start.
“If you can get there early and create that [mission, vision, values], you can make a difference for the future,” they said. “Culture building is important, even in a small team.”
This can seem like a monumental task, especially for an HR team of one, who is responsible for payroll, hiring, benefits, learning and development, and much more. But Lily says that there is no need to own DEIB alone. Ask another leader in the business to co-lead the initiative with you. You will most likely be asked to do many things that are not necessarily in your job description. This is no different—it’s just you asking the question this time.
In a related question, someone asked about ways to persuade executives to care about DEIB. Lily says that instead of building a traditional business case, focus on what happens if not to take action. Talk to your executive team about the risks of doing nothing. If they say they don’t have enough information to know what would happen, then you can argue that you need to find out. Solutions like 15Five can help you get the data you need to prove what you already know: your people care about DEIB and want to see meaningful change.
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