How Companies Can Recommit to Their DEI Goals

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Communication, Marketing, Business, Business/management, Management, Business/marketing, Business/entrepreneurship, Innovation, Hbr, Strategy, Economics, Finance, Teams, Harvard

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After the summer of 2020 in the United States, many organizations made a big push to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in their ranks and operations. But now, many fear that that momentum is slipping, especially in the face of economic headwinds. Laura Morgan Roberts, organizational psychologist and professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, says it is time to recommit to these efforts by creating the conditions for all workers to flourish. She explains four freedoms that organizations can foster to allow employees to become their best selves — and even be able to fade into the background when they choose. Roberts wrote the HBR Big Idea article “Where Does DEI Go From Here?”

Transcript

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0:00.0	So you got the job. Now what? Join me, Eleni Mata, on HBR's new original podcast, New
0:08.1	Here, the Young Professionals Guide to Work, and how to make it work for you. Listen for
0:13.8	free wherever you get your podcasts. Just search New Here. See you there!
0:30.0	Welcome to the HBR IDA CAST from Harvard Business Review. I'm Kurt Nickish.
0:43.2	After the summer of 2020 in the United States, many organizations made a big push to increase
0:55.1	diversity, equity, and inclusion in their ranks and operations. That meant new jobs, new
1:00.4	initiatives, and top-level focus on the issue. Some companies put more people of color in
1:05.8	leadership ranks. Some overhauled their compensation to improve pay equity. There was real change.
1:13.0	But at the moment, the momentum for these changes seems to have slowed. In the face of economic
1:18.2	uncertainty, many businesses have quietly taken resources away from these DEI efforts.
1:25.1	Today's guest presents a way to recommit. Laura Morgan Roberts says one of the best ways forward
1:30.9	at this moment is to coalesce efforts about making life better for all workers. Roberts is an
1:37.0	organizational psychologist and a professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
1:42.6	She's the author of the HBR Big Idea article. Where does DEI go from here? Welcome back to the
1:49.0	show, Laura. Thank you so much. It's wonderful to be here. I'm glad that we are having this conversation
1:59.3	now, right? I know somebody who works in a DEI office in a company and she went to a conference
2:07.5	recently and everyone was scared, like staffs were just down everywhere. I want to hear more about
2:13.4	why big picture you see the focus on creating better conditions for all workers as an important
2:19.3	step forward here. I think the focus on creating better conditions for all workers has always been
2:27.4	the driving force for DEI efforts, for workforce engagements efforts, for any leader who cares
2:36.2	about their business outcomes, who cares about their organizational service and impact,
2:41.6	and who cares about the human beings who are tasked with the tremendous responsibility
	...

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