How to get senior leadership buy-in for DEI

Beyond the smiles and words of encouragement, the cold-hard cash and resources needed to achieve inclusion are often missing.

Across the world, corporate diversity managers struggle to gain tangible support from their CEOs and other executive leaders to prioritise diversity, equity, and inclusion as critical business needs.

Recently, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has become a political pinata

The summer of 2023 witnessed a pivotal moment when the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action, sparking a flurry of legal actions and prompting several states across the US to enact DEI bans. It has also received a ridicule in national elections in 2024 in the US, UK and Europe.

This development has not only stirred political debates but also caught the attention of prominent business leaders from across the globe, who have voiced concerns that DEI efforts might compromise fairness, meritocracy, and excellence. Furthermore, the economic slowdown following the end of the pandemic has compelled numerous companies to scale back their financial commitments to diversity programs, including cutting budgets, disbanding teams, and discarding set targets.

Why is leadership support for DEI important?

Building a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace is nearly impossible without the active support of key decision-makers in the company.

Nuanced and embedded into every business operation, successful DEI strategies start with chief executives and C-Suite directors as vocal role models – championing equality across the entire workforce.

The influence of those at the top will increase employee receptivity to DEI initiatives and help accelerate inclusion progress. As the controller of a company’s purse strings, strong leadership support for DEI should also lead to a significant financial budget to invest in robust inclusion programmes and specialist personnel dedicated to the initiatives.

How to gain leadership buy-in for your inclusion efforts

Change the narrative on DEI

Some business leaders view diversity and inclusion as a deficit that must be filled to fit in with current trends—such as, ‘We lack women and black leaders.’ Instead, try to reframe the discussion by positioning diversity as an asset rather than a numerical goal.

We should challenge leaders to think beyond demographics and recognise the value of having a team of talented individuals from diverse perspectives and experiences. This opens greater opportunities for creativity, innovation, high performance and staying competitive.

From this perspective, we can then discuss how exclusion and polarisation threaten to destroy the same positive business outcomes. By removing the roadblocks that prevent different people from feeling they belong and realising their potential, DEI is, therefore, an investment in enhancing a company's future.

Promote the business case data for diversity and inclusion

The most diverse and inclusive companies benefit from greater performance, also known as the Diversity Dividend. Research shows companies with above-average diversity produce more revenue from innovation (45% of their total) than those with below-average diversity (26%).^[1]

Also, in a study of 5,000 board members across 60 countries, the company leadership boards with higher gender diversity were more likely to prioritise innovation.^[2]

Explain the hefty costs of not taking DEI seriously

Risk-averse business leaders may be worried that investing in DEI is a gamble. However, research shows that not investing significantly in inclusive workforces puts companies at an even bigger risk of losing customers and investors.

Between 2014 and 2018, research showed that stock prices rose more if a company revealed an improvement in diversity,^[3] while more than a third [38%] of US consumers are more likely to trust brands that promote diversity in their advertisements.^[4]

Discover how to build a thriving, inclusive culture at your company

Watch our DEI webinar 'Has the DEI bubble burst?', hosted by our Co-Founder Octavius Black CBE and Chief Behavioral Science Officer, Janet N. Ahn, PhD.

To find out about the link between improved judgement and inclusion, click here.

References:

[1] Holger, D. (2019). The Business Case for More Diversity. Wall Street Journal, October, 26.

[2] Cheng, J. Y. J., & Groysberg, B. (2020). Gender diversity at the board level can mean innovation success. MIT Sloan Management Review, 61(2), 1-8.

[3] Greenfield, R. (2019). When Companies Improve Their Diversity, Stock Prices Jump. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-17/when-companies-improvetheir-diversity-stockprices-get-a-boost.

[4] Bourke, J. (2016). Creating high performing leadership teams | Deloitte Australia | Diversity & Inclusion case study.