Jim Dunn is EVP and chief people and culture officer for Atrium Health, a highly integrated not-for-profit healthcare system in NC.
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The last two years have brought a handful of friends to my doorstep for advice about the diversity, equity and inclusion roles they’d been offered. They came from all sorts of backgrounds: finance, marketing, operations and HR. Though I believe roles like chief diversity officer (CDO) are critical to an organization’s success, I didn’t suggest that my friends pursue these roles. Why? None of them had expertise pertinent to the role, they just had the right optics. Surprise: They were all people of color.
That these organizations were seeking out people of color who had no experience in the field told me one thing: There’s a strong likelihood they believe hiring a CDO is how you begin to show and display your commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Taking steps to make diversity a reality is a business decision, not just an ethical one. Considering the function and reach of this role in a comprehensive way will improve your company culture and your bottom line in ways you may not have anticipated.
Hiring a CDO is not the first step—you’ve got to be ready before they arrive and be able to give them what they need. The simple act of establishing and hiring for this role is not necessarily going to have a lasting impact. What will have a lasting impact is the investment you make into a company culture of belonging, which should be the basis of any successful DEI program.
How A DEI Program Impacts Your Bottom Line
A recent study reported companies with diverse leadership were 36% more likely to outperform their competitors in profitability. What does this mean? Diverse teams make better decisions—60% better, according to research that also shows the ability to make effective decisions has a 95% correlation with showing enhanced financial performance.
In my opinion, a sense of belonging is the most critical aspect of a healthy company culture. The concept of DEI and belonging are really inseparable. Both should be woven throughout the fabric of the organization. Belonging is more than just having a seat at the table—it’s a mutual understanding that your voice is heard, valued and understood. Sometimes companies think that’s what they want until it actually happens.
Hiring A CDO Is Not The First Step
The nonprofit where I currently serve as chief people and culture officer is better able to fulfill our mission when our teammates represent the communities we serve, with people from everywhere, every identity and every culture. Our “for all” mission calls on each of us to respect, value and appreciate each individual for who they are—and to bring their whole, authentic self to work each day. We know we can make the world and workplace better by respecting our differences and celebrating the ties that bind us. In fact, one of our five culture commitments is “we create a space where all belong.”
Creating and maintaining that type of culture upfront is the foundation of a successful diversity program. We rely on a robust diversity infrastructure of councils and system resource groups that multiply the impact of our office of diversity, equity and inclusion. They share insights with our leaders and amplify priority objectives, cascading important information throughout the organization, while enhancing engagement and supporting our greater culture of inclusion.
If you’re planning to hire someone to oversee these types of efforts, you need to know what you want this person to do and what your pain points are. If you’re hiring for this role reactively to bad press or because your organization is not in compliance with regulations, then you may need a CDO with a legal background and experience in corporate strategy. If your DEI problems are rooted in hiring and recruitment, you need to be seeking a skilled HR professional. Consider the root issues before you make your hire and ensure your leadership is aligned so that everyone will be accountable to this initiative.
Be Open To The Not So Obvious
In a past CHRO role, I was hiring for a diversity officer and had to fight to hire the most qualified candidate. She had worked extensively in 10 to 15 different countries: She knew well what it meant to live and collaborate with people who were different. But she was white. You could see it on their faces: “Jim, are you sure? Should we keep looking?”
In the end, I hired her. She became the best CDO in the history of that organization and has now moved on to become one of the strongest international voices in the diversity community today.
Your chief diversity officer also needs to be appropriately resourced—only 35% say they even have access to company demographic statistics. These statistics should bother us, especially when a mere 58% of DEI leaders say their leadership technically may stand behind their decisions, and only 13% feel the proactive support.
The Problem Is Real—Your Solutions Must Be Real, Too
If you want something to infiltrate your organization—something as critical as diversity initiatives—you’ve got to make room for your seeds, plant them and give them what they need to grow. Transplanting a plant just because it’s the right color is going to do little more than give you a dead plant, which is exactly why these roles have such an incredibly high turnover rate.
What are your expectations for someone in diversity leadership? Who would be your ideal candidate? Take the time to do some further thinking about the impact you want this role to have organization-wide. It’s an uncomfortable process, but we all need to get more comfortable with keeping the pressure on. The status quo is not sustainable and none of us are immune.
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