Frank Starling has been in the DEI space for more than a decade, beginning his career tackling the unemployment of young Black men in East London which, at the time, had the highest levels of unemployment in the UK. He went on to get certified in DEI and psychological safety and worked across seven countries before landing at LIONS — the parent company of Cannes Lions — as its chief DEI officer 18 months ago. Frank also serves as an enterprise advisor to the Mayor of London.
“There’s always going to be this fear of saying the wrong thing or getting it wrong, so company policies and externally facing actions are always going to be reviewed again and again,” says Frank. “So we’re seeing companies regressing the commitments they made to DEI during the pandemic due to fear and changing priorities. We just need to focus on the North Star of building an equitable society — and startups are in a unique space to do that and gain from it.”
In our Startup Life newlsetter, Frank gave us his top tips to continue doing DEI work despite backlash.
Don’t fear the changes
It’s important we decouple the headlines and social media from the actual work being done. Challenges change, but DEI is always challenging. Every decade comes with new things to overcome, internally and externally. Right now, for example, there’s focus on ensuring companies are taking necessary steps to prevent sexual harassment. We’re also seeing important questions being asked now that DEI functions have become maturer in organisations or are facing pushback, like:
- Why are we doing this?
- How do we reset our expectations of this department?
- How do we ensure that we are embedding DEI within our business strategy, not just as an add on?
- How do we review the impact it’s making?
This makes DEI structures stronger.
Prepare for potential shifts
Trying to drive DEI on the backdrop of changing legislation and policy is a hard job. You need to ensure you are constantly on the ball. For example, 193 governments have committed to the sustainable development goals by 2030. This means that companies will have to commit to them too. The goals are centred on societal changes which include sustainability, education and equality. Do you have the right policies in place to comply? Are your goals still the right goals? Do you have the right people on the team to tackle this, potentially, wider scope?
Focus on psychological safety
Often, DEI debates drown out the core truth: psychological safety is what drives success. Companies where employees feel psychologically safe outperform ones that don’t across the board; there are extensive studies to prove this from research centres and corporates like Google. If people feel they can contribute, feel ownership and ask questions, they are more likely to create and innovate. Insights from Accenture show that 68% of leaders believe they’re creating an empowering and inclusive culture but only 36% of employees agree with that, so there’s a perception gap and companies are missing out on talent and ideas. When AI is a leveller, what gives you that edge over other companies is the USP of your creativity and intersectionality as a company.
Don’t forget about leadership
There are more than 180 biases we can have, so it’s unlikely we’re always being inclusive. A way to make sure your leadership is inclusive is by being cognisant. According to Deloitte, being a cognisant leader requires self-awareness, active listening, continuous learning, intentional inclusion, empathy and respect and accountability. I’d highly recommend reading Deloitte’s report on the six signature traits of inclusive leadership and doing training. Couple that with psychological safety and you’ve got the basis of a great culture, away from the noise of what DEI should/shouldn’t be.
Your job isn’t to convince, but to execute
Many business leaders don’t need convincing that DEI is important, but need help understanding how to make it central to the business strategy. Be armed with data. We’re experiencing pretty heavy shifts in the global population. By 2050 a quarter of the population will be in Sub-Saharan Africa; we have an ageing population; and in the US, by 2040, “minority groups” will become the majority. You need to understand the macro view and develop your goals around it. To do this, you might need to upskill, read the data, read reports or bring in external support.
Read the impact and DEI reports of bigger enterprises and corporates, like Google or Apple.
Where do they focus their time? Then plan:
- Take two or three of their key points. Maybe it’s allyship, inclusive leadership, recruiting policies.
- Scale them appropriately to the size of your company. Set objectives and goals around them.
- Execute. If you were to just do those things for a year or two, you’d really start to see meaningful outcomes.
On the subject of… DEI
1. Immigrant founders in the UK held back by lack of networking and conservative attitudes in tech.
2. Here are three ways companies should consider shifting their approach to DEI.
3. Why are companies backing away from DEI?
4. The Progress Check. Here’s how brands and businesses can support the queer community in an authentic, non-performative way.
5. How to develop psychological safety at work.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/how-to-continue-dei-work/
