Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a great challenge and a top priority for most employers today. In the latest State of HR report, HR leaders revealed that creating a dialogue about inequity and conducting surveys about DEI were top priorities when it came to such initiatives. Just about everyone recognizes that those things are not enough and must be done in tandem with other efforts.
As employee activism increases and the labor shortage continues, companies are looking for ways to reach a wider group and ensure happiness in the workplace. DEI is a cornerstone of the mission. Kristen Weirick, Vice President Global Talent Acquisition and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Alcon, recently talked to HR Exchange Network about DEI and what more needs to be done to ensure employees feel included.
HREN: What do you see as the biggest DEI problem facing organizations today?
KW: There’s been momentum in the United States and globally around DEI over the past couple of years, especially after the killing of George Floyd. While it was a horrible impetus, the silver lining has been a far more prominent interest, focus, and appetite around diversity, equity, and inclusion. One of the biggest challenges people in my space see is the sustainability of the effort, keeping the spotlight on it.
There’s always a balance we must strike. Event-based programmatic approaches are not wrong, but they can’t be the only thing. If that solved DEI challenges, then I probably wouldn’t have a job today because that’s how many organizations approached solutions in this space over the past couple decades. Recognizing the value in hardwiring DEI into the operations of the organization [is important]. How do you design and deliver products? By putting a DEI lens on solutions, you get so many bigger, broader perspectives and that always delivers bigger, better solutions.
Another challenge is leadership engagement. This is what drives cultural and transformational change. It’s about capturing both the hearts and minds of those who might not always see the immediate value. Sometimes I can capture the heart because people understand this is morally, ethically, empathetically the right thing to do.
Sometimes I can capture the mind because they understand the business value. You help them understand what happens when people are free to speak their mind, be themselves, bring that diverse perspective, which leads to those bigger, better outcomes and solutions. But the real magic is when I get both the heart and mind engaged.
HREN: What DEI wins has your organization had?
KW: Alcon has an amazing culture. I have seen the highest level of leadership engagement ever. Our executive leadership team was directly involved in creating our diversity and inclusion vision. We’ve also had more dialogue and participation around DEI than I’ve ever seen. We hear people say, “We’ve never talked about it before, let alone regularly.”
We made it part of the narrative of who we are and what we stand for. When I joined the team, we had one person. I have a team of six people, managers sitting in different regions of the world. We’re not just taking a U.S. approach but a global approach. Also, we are holding leaders accountable for both inclusion and diversity.
HREN: Isn’t the inclusion part the harder part?
KW: It is, and I think we should lead with inclusion because inclusion is what allows diversity to thrive. We can source diverse talent. But if diverse talent comes into an organization, where they don’t feel they have the same opportunity to contribute, learn, and grow, they won’t stay. So, we must have that environment for diversity to thrive.
HREN: What do you see happening in the DEI space in the next two to five years? Progress? Challenges?
KW: There will be both progress and challenges. These are areas that are messy, and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. The challenges for black talent and what they experience in an organization is different from what Asian talent experience or what women experience. It’s also different based on the function of the organization in which they work and the culture in different parts of the world. There is no one size fits all which makes it both challenging and messy but also incredibly exciting in terms of the opportunity we have.
To make progress we must hardwire it into our processes, making it inescapable as we find solutions to both people and business problems. A simple question we can ask is, "Whose perspective are we missing?"
Two key components of progress are continuing to drive leadership accountability and making sure we are leveraging data to measure effectiveness of diversity and inclusion practices. The third key element that we don’t talk about enough is practicing empathy. Empathy is what allows you to be open to other perspectives. It might not sound like a very business focused word, but I call it the connective tissue of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
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