84% of CHRO’s say that their organizations are increasing investment in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives. But only 31% of employees say that their organization is committed to improving equity in the workplace, according to a Gallup poll conducted in the spring of 2022. Workplace diversity is experiencing a disconnect.

“A lot of companies make very public commitments to diversity inclusion, especially in the Bay Area,” said Shawna Chen, a breaking news reporter for Axios. “But obviously, it's not as simple as enacting a program or two or doing training.”

Chen moderated the panel, “From Recruitment to Advancement: How to Keep Momentum Going on Diversity and Inclusion,” at From Day One’s San Francisco conference. She was joined by corporate diversity experts, as they discussed what companies are struggling with when it comes to DEIB.

“There's a focus on either diversity or inclusion over everything else, of thinking there's just one number that they need to get to,” said Meghna Majmudar, head of executive and leadership engagement at ReadySet, a database software company. “[And] thinking about internal stuff, about hiring only in terms of DEI and not thinking about what this means in terms of our experience. And a disconnect between leadership and what people are really thinking.”

Making the connection between the internal and external means having a workforce that reflects the diversity in a company’s customer base. Majmudar acknowledged that leaders tend to come from more privileged backgrounds. They might not be aware that someone who has a different background doesn't have the same access to resources, and may focus on initiatives that employees do not care about.

“Sometimes the approach can be more programmatic instead of strategic,” said Shai Poulard, global head of diversity, inclusion, and belonging at NerdWallet, a personal finance company. “The approach is always to roll out programs, whether it's a recruiting initiative or employee resource groups. Very rarely do you see leaders take it a step further and understand, how do I regard this as a function similar to finance?”

In Poulard’s analogy, everyone at a company is a steward of finance. They own a budget. They’re efficient, ensuring spending benefits both the internal organization and consumers. Finance teams are rarely dismissed or viewed as a programmatic function. The disconnect with DEIB programs is that they’re often viewed as a ‘nice to have’ instead of something embedded into the organization.

“For it to be an effective strategy, it needs to be integrated into the employee lifecycle from day one,” said Poulard, “from onboarding through someone making a decision to leave the company. They have to see people that look like them. They have to feel included.”

“We are aspiring to ground our diversity-equity-inclusion work in our strategic plan and recognize that we have to begin with our employee base, our staff team,” said Chad Nico Hiu, senior vice president of strategy, equity, and impact at YMCA of San Francisco. “Sometimes in the polarized context of our society, issues show up. We have to not see [DEIB] as separate from what people are experiencing in their lives. What are the tactical ways we can create space for all of us to bring our authentic selves, especially when it's messy, conflictory, and challenging?”

“It's also about understanding that [DEIB] would help in driving core business growth for the company, driving a key strategy for the company,” said Sumit Khandelwal, co-founder and CEO of Xoxoday, an engagement software platform. “When you start hiring people across different geographies, it becomes very apparent that the leaders understand the culture of different countries.” Embracing DEIB is vital in effectively communicating with a global marketplace.

“What I’ve seen make a real difference is the specificity of behavior,” said Majmudar. “There were many clients at a financial services firm where they didn't want to give feedback to women because they're like, ‘but what if she cries?’ If you're thinking about her crying, you're focused on your comfort and not helping her be better at her job.”

Leaders can coach each other to handle vulnerability and allow humanity to exist at work. Leaders can also use their influence to impact and affect change, at all levels of the organization.

“Become more comfortable being uncomfortable,” said Hiu. “Be comfortable with being more authentic in spaces where we may not feel authentically safe and surround ourselves with different perspectives.”

“DEIB is a co-op,” said Poulard. “And how to do that is you systematize as much as you can.”

Sometimes there's resistance to participation. Poulard’s team started integrating DEI concepts into other forms of training, like management. “So instead of saying we're rolling out ‘inclusive management training,’” she said, “it's expected at NerdWallet that you are an inclusive manager, and that's going to be embedded in the training.”

Her team also started emphasizing allyship and what it means to the organization, both internally and to external stakeholders. NerdWallet employees (aka, “Nerds”) are told that allyship is a verb, not a noun, and missteps will be made. But that’s okay.

“Let's get comfortable making those mistakes—fail fast, learn faster,” said Poulard. “We found by implementing those pieces, we've seen a change in engagement.”

“One thing we can do is focus on symbols and signals,” said Antoinette Hamilton, global head of inclusion and diversity at Lam Research. “How do you incorporate and signify that it's okay to celebrate culture within your organization?”

“We have to think about what belonging means outside the US context,” said Hamilton. “When we're on a Zoom call, sometimes my colleagues who are in other countries are very silent. So when I think about belonging, it's understanding and recognizing that that looks different in other places. And then my job as a leader is to be able to articulate and voice up for that.”

There’s a US-centric way of operating, and then there's a global way of operating. Inclusion means nothing without equity, said Poulard, who advises meeting employees, colleagues, and consumers where they are.

“If we're focusing on increasing representation and making sure our internal representation matches the communities that we serve,” she said, “we have inclusive practices, we are being equitable in our approach, then ideally everyone should feel that sense of belonging. If we build with the person with the most need in mind, everyone wins.”

“It cannot be something which you speak about once in a while,” said Khandelwal. “It has to become the DNA of the organization.”

“Before it was so much on the interpersonal,” said Majmudar. “Now we get to do the systemic change. We are asking fundamental questions about how we structure work and our societies. And that's very exciting.”

Samantha Campos is a freelance journalist who’s written for regional publications in Hawaii and California, with forays into medical cannabis and food justice nonprofits. She currently resides in Oakland, California.