Dr. Randal Pinkett Talks Data-Driven DEI (Full Q&A)

After a rush of diversity initiatives made in 2020, the recent wave of layoffs sweeping the nation has hit diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) departments particularly hard. Last year’s attrition rate for DEI roles was 33 percent compared to just 21 percent for non-DEI roles.

Why are DEI positions declining? How do we measure and track DEI, anyway? And what should businesses make of a recent backlash from Disney’s legal battles in Florida to training-program reassessments in mainstream publications like the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Harvard Business Review?

Dr. Randal Pinkett, CEO of BCT Partners and author of the new book Data-Driven DEI: The Tools and Metrics You Need to Measure, Analyze, and Improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion — who, incidentally, won NBC’s The Apprentice in 2005 — spoke with b. about how data can drive DEI in the workplace and why he believes it’s so essential.

b.: Data can be useful across all aspects of business. Why is data important for DEI?

Pinkett: Whether it is a personal assessment of preferences and competences, or an organizational survey of culture and climate, or employee interviews and focus groups to gauge their feelings of belonging, data matters to DEI. To be clear, data is not the end-all and be-all to DEI. It is not the entire DEI puzzle, but is a very important piece of the puzzle.

Data is to DEI what an instrument panel is to a plane. Long before there were instrument panels, people were able to fly planes. However, it was significantly harder without the instrument panel. Instrument panels have made the journey more efficient and effective at every step along the way.

Similarly, improving DEI can be achieved without data, but it is significantly harder. Data makes the DEI journey more efficient and effective at every step along the way.

b.: What is a data-driven approach to DEI?

Pinkett: Data-driven DEI is a straightforward, step-by-step process to understanding your current DEI practices and using that data to create a personal and organizational DEI action plan.

It is based on six simple steps:

1. DEI Incentives to clarify your motivations
2. DEI Inventory to conduct an assessment
3. DEI Imperatives to determine your priorities
4. DEI Insights to identify proven and promising practices
5. DEI Initiatives to develop your strategies
6. DEI Impact to evaluate your results

[These steps] are a never-ending cycle. Anyone seeking personal improvements to DEI, from individual contributors to executives, can benefit from data-driven DEI. Managers, supervisors, executives, and DEI champions and leaders responsible for improving DEI for their organization can also benefit from this approach.

b.: What tools and metrics do you recommend?

Pinkett: I recommend the following DEI minimum viable metrics:

• Diversity: Data that characterizes the representation of different groups in the workforce. This data can be collected via employee survey or census and should be disaggregated by demographics, role/level, department/division and office location. Comparisons should be made to suitable benchmarks such as local, regional or industry demographics.
• Equity: Data that characterizes gaps or inequities between groups that is disaggregated by demographics. This could be represented by rates of change across hiring, promotions, complaints, retention, and separations, and/or gaps in time-to-promotion and pay/compensation extracted from a human resources information system.
• Inclusion: Data that characterizes how people are experiencing the organizational culture and climate with respect to feelings of inclusion and belonging. This data can be collected via surveys and focus groups and should be disaggregated by demographics to understand how different groups are having differential experiences.

Other areas to consider for DEI measurement and tracking relate to the marketplace (i.e., customer satisfaction) and the community (i.e., well-being of relevant geographic areas).

b.: Over the past couple years, many companies seemed to prioritize DEI, hiring diverse candidates as a result. However, now that organizations are drastically reducing their workforces, are we seeing layoffs impact DEI positions?

Pinkett: After a flurry of hiring for DEI positions in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, I’ve recently seen some companies eliminate DEI positions as they scale back. I believe they do so at their peril.

Countless studies have made abundantly clear the business case that DEI leads to a growing list of benefits, including better recruitment and retention; enhanced teamwork and decision-making; improved products, services and innovations; increased employee engagement and productivity; and greater financial returns.

In a world that continues to become more diverse, companies that continue to invest in DEI will reap these benefits, while those who do not will lose competitiveness.

b.: Why do some companies see DEI positions as expendable?

Pinkett: I think some companies see DEI positions as expendable because they are unfamiliar with the business case for DEI, or they are familiar with the business case for DEI and do not take it seriously, or they simply reject the findings. This is a problem because it compromises their competitiveness and does a disservice to their employees.

According to a study by Deloitte, inclusive cultures increase team performance by 17 percent, increase decision-making quality by 20 percent, increase team collaboration by 29 percent and increase feelings of inclusion by 70 percent.

Another study by the Australian Institute of Company Directors found that organizations with inclusive cultures are twice as likely to meet or exceed financial targets, thrice as likely to be high performing, six times more likely to be innovative and agile, and eight times more likely to achieve better business outcomes.

These results cannot be accomplished without an entire DEI team, as well as managers and executives who lead by example.

b.: For small businesses that can’t afford to hire a DEI consultant and the immediate concern is simply staying afloat, how do you recommend framing and approaching these issues?

Pinkett: DEI should be a priority for large businesses and small businesses, while recognizing it may take different forms. I’ve been a small business owner who works for small and large businesses for more than three decades, so I understand that small businesses do not have the same resources and are subject to different pressures than large businesses.

However, I’ve also learned that if you don’t build DEI into the culture and fabric of your organization from its inception, it can be very difficult to do it retroactively. Culture eats strategy for lunch, so if DEI is not a part of your culture, then your strategy cannot be an optimal one. For example, when a company is composed of only the three founders, there is perhaps the highest likelihood of hiring people and engaging consultants who reflect their identities. This can lead to blind spots that inhibit creativity, innovation and competitiveness.

My recommendation to small business owners who may be concerned with simply staying afloat is that there are simple steps you can take to build DEI into your culture now, such as participating in free and online unconscious bias training, hosting book clubs or video watch parties on DEI topics, reading articles and blogs on inclusive leadership, facilitating courageous conversations on current events, and hiring professional coaches with a DEI lens.

Taking these simple steps today will establish a solid foundation for future growth tomorrow. … I’ve been a small business owner for more than 30 years. I speak from experience when I say that small businesses need to know two things: First, DEI is a business imperative to be competitive in the 21st century. It is no longer a nice-to-have, it is a need-to-have. Second, DEI data is one of the essential keys to unlock the business benefits of DEI, which are myriad.

Perhaps most importantly, small business owners need to know one thing: Just as we must have mastery of finance, human resources, marketing, sales, technology and their associated data for our companies to be successful, we must also have mastery of DEI and DEI data for our companies to be successful.

In an increasingly diverse marketplace for talent and customers, small business owners who embrace a DEI mindset will outperform their competition.

b.: You mention diversity of thought in Data-Driven DEI. What are some examples, and how would hiring managers take that into consideration?

Pinkett: Diversity of thought, also known as “cognitive diversity,” refers to the differences in how we think and process information. (A great tool for measuring thinking preferences is the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument^®.)

For example, some people prefer analytical thinking and naturally focus on logic and numbers. Some people prefer practical thinking and naturally focus on process and sequence. Some people prefer relational thinking and naturally focus on people and feelings. Some people prefer experimental thinking and naturally focus on possibilities and the future.

People and organizations have these thinking preferences and natural foci, which have implications for how employees interact with each other and perform at work. For example, while an accounting firm may prefer logical thinkers (analytical thinking), it needs people across all four thinking preferences to be successful and make certain there are effective processes (practical thinking), relationships (relational thinking) and future considerations (experimental thinking).

Managers must be mindful not to translate their personal or organizational preferences into decision-making blind spots or a talent management lifecycle – recruiting, hiring, development, advancement, retention, support and the like – that produces a workforce of people who think and act alike

Managers at companies of every size must be vigilant and intentional to ensure representation across the full spectrum of diversity of thought if they want to maintain competitiveness.

b.: DEI is becoming a very hot flashpoint in the culture wars. What is your read on this? 

Pinkett: I am genuinely concerned about the trends we are witnessing that relate to DEI. From the coopting of DEI to the corruption of critical race theory to legislation aimed at limiting discussions of race, privilege, systemic inequities and oppression in schools to bans of related books in libraries to anti-wokeness, we are now in an era of “reversity,” or organized resistance to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. I think this is far more than bad; it is perilous to our democracy and our society.

Perhaps what troubles me the most is the way these efforts are being framed: that DEI is meant to “indoctrinate” people when it is meant to liberate them; that DEI seeks to “rewrite our history,” when it is designed to balance how our history is told; and that DEI is divisive, when it is – both in words and in deeds – meant to be inclusive. Said differently, the framing of these efforts is a misrepresentation of what DEI stands for and, ironically, an obfuscation of my firm belief that most people are seeking the same fundamental and shared principles of fairness, equality, justice and human dignity for all.

It is my hope that no matter which perceived side a company believes it must take or choose to take, that all companies can uplift these principles – no matter what words are used describe them, whether it is diversity, equity and inclusion or otherwise – and, in doing so, reconstitute the fabric of our democracy and society.

An abridged version of this article first appeared in the b. Newsletter. Subscribe now!