LAX Leader

Companies are finding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program deployment a tough job - Coca-Cola was roundly criticized last month when it tried.

But it's good for corporate culture and society that companies not only try DEI deployments but nail them, Vendium Global Corporate Solutions Senior Director Tamara Carpenter told LAX Leader.

"DEI is a high calling, and a necessary one," Carpenter said. "There is the simple fact that diverse companies who value each employee and cultivate a culture of belonging release the full potential of their workers and benefit from a happier, more cohesive workforce. On a deeper level, companies are also agents of change in society as a whole."

Vendium Global Corporate Solutions Senior Director Tamara Carpenter | linkedin.com/in/tamaracarpenter/

Vendium describes itself as "a small but mighty team of dedicated HR experts, developers and UX professionals on a journey to connect the world through technology." Collectively the Vendium team speaks seven languages, have lived in 10 countries, and represents more than a century of experience. Vendium, among many other things, offers DEI deployment and implementation programs for its clients.

Vendium also released a study in October that revealed what Carpenter called "the true cost and impact" to a company without DEI program deployment that instead hires external consultants, hosts chat sessions or operates multiple employee resource groups (ERGs).

"For a 10,000-person organization the leadership sees a cost of around $862,600, however, the costs with time away from role comes to $7,404,160," she said. "Every hour spent on something other than the role is an hour the company is paying toward the other task. Additionally, only about 36% of the workforce is impacted by this due to limited consultant visibility and participation in ERGs."

The Vendium study admitted that a well-executed DEI program is a complex process, which means it could be too easy for a company to opt out, "choose inaction and focus solely on the business objectives."

The study also found that poorly executed DEI programs result in employee disengagement and greater attrition rates.

The study cited a Gallup poll that found 34% of employees are "actively disengaged," which means that $23,800 of a $70,000 salary is wasted. Such employees often leave, which means they must be replaced and the average time to hire a new employee is 42 days. Additionally, it takes a new employee 30 months to be fully trained and operating at full capacity.

"Direct hiring costs, relocation, and training of a $70,000 per year role averages around $52,000 showing how important it is that we retain our top talent," Carpenter said. "Time away, loss of talent and a lack of measurability comes with very real costs. We need to be intentional about getting our entire workforce trained and have data to show impact with this level of investment."

While Coca-Cola has been a long supporter of inclusion and equality, last month it released a controversial DEI program. As a result, Coca-Cola endured worldwide criticism over its online racism training that included slides instructing staff to be "less white, less arrogant, less certain, less defensive, less ignorant and more humble."

At least one slide tried to explain white privilege in industrialized countries.

"In the U.S. and other Western nations, white people are socialized to feel that they are inherently superior because they are white," that slide reportedly said. "Research shows that by age 3 to 4, children understand that it is better to be white."

In a statement released at the height of the backlash against the company, Coca-Cola said a video and images then circulating were not part of the company's "Better Together" learning curriculum that is part of a learning plan aimed at building an inclusive workplace.

"It is comprised of a number of short vignettes, each a few minutes long," the statement said, adding that the curriculum also included access to a now-withdrawn LinkedIn platform.

"We will continue to listen to our employees and refine our learning programs as appropriate," Coca-Cola's statement concluded.

Despite possible pitfalls, DEI programs are important because 21st century workplaces are peopled by individuals and groups from an increasingly global talent pool and who are different from each other and those differences include psychological, physical, social, cultural, ideological and demographic, Carpenter said.

Companies know their DEI programs are making a difference when they, among other things, make progress rectifying inequitable practices, such as unequal pay, and update policies and procedures to become more inclusive while increasing minority representation in its workforce, Carpenter said.

"What is far more challenging to measure, however, is whether diversity of thought, perspective and experience are being promoted in the workforce because these are what bring the most business value," Carpenter said. "Most companies have strategies that involve only training their leaders in DEI principles with the hope this awareness will trickle down.  And truly, if leaders are not committed to seeing change in the culture of their companies, no DEI strategy will ever gain real traction."

Many of those same leaders become frustrated precisely when they can't measure DEI progress but there are steps they can take, Carpenter said.

"To do this, it is first necessary to pre assess where a company stands on baseline DEI indicators using real data, provide training and development for the entire workforce, and be able to measure improvement," she said. "In addition, another challenge companies face is incorporating a common language around DEI that is understood and embraced by all."  

Tracking the progress DEI initiatives have on company culture is not only important but recognizes change takes time, Carpenter said.

"We track DEI initiatives internally and with clients in three ways," Carpenter said, referring to Vendium's use of Go Culture's data-driven software that measures the 15 most important factors of how humans relate. 

Go Culture is an organization that uses data, derived from over 20 years of research and testing, to help solve diversity and inclusion challenges.

Vendium also utilizes detailed professional profiles that include skill tracking, and employee engagement surveys through conversational A.I. that provides anonymity in reporting and to reveal meaningful qualitative data.

With many corporate oversight organizations starting to gauge DEI in companies, Vendium also uses the same software, skill tracking and surveys to move beyond talent-acquisition demographic-spreads to measure progress.

"While talent-acquisition focused DEI initiatives primarily spend their time on diversity first, we focus on equity and inclusion first," Carpenter said. "By building equitable and inclusive organizations, we create places where diverse talent wants to work and more importantly, places for diverse talent to thrive."