DEI fair weather friends
It has been striking how many big banks, particularly in the U.S., have been so quick to disband, or dissolve, their DEI programs following the change of administration in the U.S.
I was actually taken aback by the PR messaging by one recently that explained that it had now met its targets for DEI and that it felt less need to prioritise the DEI agenda.
How absolutely wonderful in this latter case that this particular institution has been so strikingly successful - it almost feels as though it has really changed the world and solved all the problems that DEI programmes were put in place to address. Those titans of finance really are titans then for sorting out racism, misogyny and economic inequality as they impact on life in the workplace and career progression. We can all sleep better at night now. Problems solved. The world really is a better place.
Only we all know that it is not. The harsh reality is political and social trends are spurning, actually multiplying exponentially, racism, sexism and misogyny and likely worsening with them economic exclusion. People seem to feel emboldened to now openly spout out racist, sexist and other such sentiments on the premise that the right to free speech tops all others. The thing is racist and sexist speech risks normalising actual racist and sexist behaviour and actions in the workplace - undermining therein progress made on the DEI front in recent years. Trends likely are now going in the wrong direction.
I think big banks coming out (actually not) to denude their DEI programmes tells us a few things other than the world is now a better place.
First, I think it just shows that they were never really serious about DEI programmes in the first place. These were more box ticking and marketing. They were just going with the flow but were not really committed.
Second, the fact that some such institutions actually think that DEI issues have been adequately addressed is the best evidence of how out of touch they are with the whole DEI agenda and actually likely that their own institutions have failed in addressing the core issues. Likely the leaders making these big decisions are not as DEI reflective as they would like us all to believe. Perhaps they are just pandering for support from political leaders - or rather trying not to get in the cross wires.
Third, I would argue that recent political and social media trends suggest that sexism, misogyny, racism are in overdrive - the problems are rising. At this time, more than ever, employers need to stand up and defend DEI principles. And yet leaders in business seems to be running away from the challenge.
Doing DEI in the easy times is, well, easy. We only learn about real commitment when the tyres hit the road and there is friction and pushback. That time is evidently now. But the fact that so many big businesses are scaling back DEI programmes just suggests their support was just skin deep all along (no pun initially intended, but hey ho going with it now) - when the first point of contact/difficulty arose they folded/ran for the hills, showed no fight. Frustrating but it all kind of shows why so many big German businesses just went along with Nazi Germany in the 1930s and beyond.
And yes I get the argument that there is little room for broader social principles in business and in the end it’s about the drive for profit. Fair comment, only that many of these same big businesses have in recent times been bombarding us with hugely expensive PR campaigns trying to tell us exactly the opposite, that they have social consciences and really care. Let’s now see how quickly their climate change campaigns fall by the wayside alongside DEI in response to the climate change deniers in the ascendency in the U.S. administration.