Corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have expanded significantly over the past five years, driven by global conversations on social and racial justice sparked by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. However, with Donald Trump’s return as US president in January, these initiatives are facing strong backlash from some politicians, investors and consumers. As companies quietly rebrand or scale back their efforts, the challenge for internal communicators is how to keep the conversation – and the commitment – alive without alienating anyone.
Trump's ‘anti-woke’ campaign has increased scrutiny on US and global organisations, leading many to rebrand, scale back or even abandon their DEI functions. Examples include IBM eliminating its DEI department and allyship training, Skydance Media ditching DEI programs at Paramount Global, and Parexel rebranding its DEI messaging to focus solely on ‘inclusion’. Raconteur has also reported that Amazon, Deloitte, Boeing, Meta, Ocado and Toyota have all reduced or abandoned their DEI programs.
DEI fatigue
The mood on the ground in the UK, however, is altogether quite different. During the same period in 2020, UK businesses rushed to jump on the DEI bandwagon and while some organisations have committed to enacting real change, some have stuck to – in the words of Srabani Sen, CEO of inclusion experts Full Colour – the “fluffy stuff”: more performative, tokenistic initiatives. As a result, those with “minoritised characteristics” lost trust in the internal comms teams at organisations who failed to take meaningful action.
“Part of the fatigue we’re seeing now,” says Sen, “stems from colleagues being bored of the messaging from those organisations who initially made a fuss, but have not yet made any meaningful progress.”
DEI as a concept, however, remains an important pillar of the workplace: a study of 1,000 working adults by HR tech firm IRIS Software Group, found that 60 per cent of UK workers would consider quitting if their employer backtracked on DEI commitments. Colleagues are now, according to Jennifer Sproul, CEO of the Institute of Internal Communicators (IoIC), urging their employers to focus on the ‘inclusion’ part of the DEI acronym.
“Diversity is not difficult to achieve in the workplace,” adds Barbara Phillips, founder of Brownstone Communications and chair of the PRCA’s Race and Ethnicity Equity Board. Diversity consultant Verna Myers has a neat way of putting it: “Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance”. The core challenge now for internal communications professionals is, therefore, how to ask employees to dance when they’ve grown weary of the party.
Leadership comms
To execute this successfully, as with any internal change, it is necessary to start by bridging the gap between senior leadership and the rest of the organisation. Sproul says often this task is left to the HR department, but a successful internal comms team can serve as a conduit to disseminate inclusive policies and initiatives from senior leaders.
This is often easier said than done, however. One major stumbling block for internal comms can be working with leadership teams who don’t have a unified understanding of what DEI means for their organisation. This is, according to Sen, not a “luxury” but an essential part of enacting real inclusive change.
Often, she adds, internal comms teams are – depending on the structure of an organisation – not perceived by senior leaders as being in a position of power, and this means their voice is less likely to be heard. In her role at Full Colour, Sen enacts power-mapping exercises with less senior teams (including internal comms) to determine how best they can work with senior teams and persuade them to formulate more progressive and inclusive messaging.
Despite many organisations working hard to diversify their senior teams, others still project an image of white, middle class and male affluence, which doesn’t resonate with a truly diverse workforce – regardless of good intentions. Phillips urges internal comms teams not only to collect feedback from organisation-wide surveys, but to engage with employee resource groups (ERG) to gain an understanding of live experiences, and present the findings to senior leaders.
In an age of increasingly discerning job seekers, particularly those in millennial and Gen Z age brackets, internal comms teams have a duty to scrutinise the materials being used during the recruitment and onboarding process, as well as internal promotions. Sproul says internal comms professionals must question whether the materials used by recruitment factions is easily accessible to every candidate, and determine whether the language is appropriate.
Lived experiences
A particular pitfall of many DEI and inclusion strategies is failing to amplify the voices of marginalised groups, or amplifying them in a way that appears to be tokenistic or for show. Simply wishing colleagues a happy Eid Mubarak or acknowledging ethnic minority struggles on Black History Month “isn’t telling people they belong in an organisation” or helping make them feel psychologically safe, says Phillips, and it consequently results in a less engaged and included employee.
Similarly, asking colleagues to speak about their identities during certain months of the year can, while a common DEI initiative/strategy, come across as performative or “putting certain people on a pedestal”. Amrita Dasgupta, senior engagement and communication manager at law firm Fieldfisher, says asking black colleagues to speak about their experiences only during Black History Month, for example, either results in complete refusal or acceptance under duress.
“They might also want to speak on a different topic, something that more closely relates to their job rather than their identity. Your female, ethnic minority, LGBT+, disabled etc colleagues don’t come to work only during those periods – they’re working throughout the year, so why would you silo them to tell their stories or raise their profile during specific times?”
Sen describes the concept of storytelling as part of DEI and inclusion practices as “hogwash”, “absolute nonsense”, and “the laziest way to get engagement”. In her view, five years of storytelling has yet to make a significant impact on the levels of inclusion felt by individuals in the workplace. “ If people were going to be convinced or motivated to create change as a result of personal story, we would've fixed DEI by now.”
Amplifying marginalised voices
Effective amplification of marginalised voices rests on the context in which they are being used, says Phillips. Taking into account that the common denominator among all colleagues is that they work for one organisation, she says amplification can be as simple as asking a member of staff – who happens to be a member of a marginalised group – to publicly discuss their role in more depth and detail, which not only furthers the reach of the organisation, but also ensures that any future employees, investors, or customers know that it fosters a diverse and inclusive community.
Tracking the success of DEI initiatives will involve a multi-faceted approach, with Dasgupta recommending something as simple as monitoring the number of attendees at DEI events or ERGs – no matter what marginalised community (if any) they belong to. Not only will this give an indication of how many colleagues are engaged, but also which events are more popular.
Ultimately, all appear to agree that the success of DEI initiatives hinges on the shift from performative gestures to genuine, embedded and strategic practices. Internal communicators are uniquely positioned to facilitate this transformation by fostering authentic dialogue, empowering diverse voices year-round, and strategically aligning DEI efforts with core business objectives. By doing so, they can move beyond mere compliance with fleeting trends and towards building workplaces where every individual feels truly valued, respected, and empowered to contribute to their full potential.
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