Diversity fatigue, and tips to manage it
I’ve been hearing a bit about ‘diversity fatigue’ lately. According to the World Economic Forum, the term surfaced three decades ago and describes stress in response to companies’ efforts to diversify their workforce; but more recently it has included people feeling tired of talking about diversity, or the lack of it.
I’m working with organisations across New Zealand in the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) space every day. And whilst I see pockets of fatigue, I still see people and teams doing great work to champion this critical space. Leveraging these and my own experiences of leading real change in large businesses, here are my top tips to manage diversity fatigue.
1. Switch the focus to inclusion
We must pivot from focusing on diversity, to grounding this work in inclusion. Employees can sometimes feel excluded if they don’t see themselves represented in a diversity or equity ‘focus area’. But an inclusive environment is good for EVERYONE; we all feel more engaged and have a greater sense of wellbeing, we all feel our perspectives are heard and valued, and we all get smarter and make better decisions. What’s not great about that!
2. Change up the language
If the terminology of diversity, equity and inclusion isn’t landing in your organisation, focus your communications on the outcomes. “As a result, our workplace will be somewhere where everyone can thrive”, “we’ll give people the support they need to achieve great things”, “we will represent our customer base in our business”, “we’ll be more creative and better at problem-solving”; the list goes on. Notice the switch in energy?
3. Hardwire DEI into your business strategy
The more time I spend in this space, the more I think that your DEI strategy should be a sub-set of your business strategy so you can have these conversations through the lens of your organisation’s goals. For example, DEI is a huge contributor to innovation which has a direct line to growth, is a key component of a business’s sustainability strategy, has a strong connection to delivering an organisation’s purpose, and should be lived every day through its values.
4. Make a personal connection
As humans we’re emotional beings, so we get a lot more drive when we connect personally to the need to change our behaviours. Encourage your people to think about what your work on diversity, equity and inclusion means for them. For example, how will it make their life more fulfilling, support the people they care about, support the business they love to have longevity into the future, and so on.
5. Choose and communicate your metrics wisely
I’m hearing a lot of push-back on DEI measures. Using the example of women in leadership targets which many New Zealand organisations have, men are telling me they’re disengaged as they think they won’t have any chance of getting the next role, and the women I speak with want to know they’ve got their opportunities on their merit. Metrics still have a place but be conscious which ones you choose and how you communicate them; they should never be the focus of your DEI conversations or the reason for your work.
Leveraging my finance, business leadership and HR background, I have unique expertise in being able to support you from strategic conversations through to practical actions. If I can help you in any way to continue to get traction in this important space, even just via a chat or sharing my resources, please reach out.