The futur of DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion)
For whom and why is this topic so popular? A trend or a necessity in business today? These are the questions that came to my mind, and it’s the start of the school year that answers revealed themselves!
DEI …. The natural way!
The return to the routine of the school year has gotten off to a good start for thousands of families in recent weeks! Children, parents and school buses are in the streets again and the energy of excitement is palpable… for the most part!
I found myself one of these mornings, outside the schoolyard, watching our children line up to meet their classmates. They all passed by one after the other under the warm welcome of one of the teachers, Nat, who did not miss a single one!
The beauty and perhaps a particularity of a Montreal school was noticeable to me that morning. Watching over the students and the parents who remained outside the courtyard to watch their children enter the school, I was reminded of this “United Nations” reality.
Regardless of their age, children and parents alike, we represented a good part of the world in our origins, our nationalities, our first language, etc. I watched our children talk to each other, play together, hug each other in a completely natural way. As for the parents, with smiles on our faces, we all talked together, and there were also reunion hugs.
Inevitably, in relation to the subject of this article, the question to contemplate in this context was the following: Will children need diversity, equity and inclusion programs at school and in business later on?
The answer, with a few exceptions, was quite clear! Surely not! In their current daily life, this is not even a reflection. It’s just normality!
They will have this enormous opportunity to grow up alongside other young people who have different origins, often seen in their physical appearance. Different color skin, different features, different accents, different expressions, different ways of doing things based on their customs, different meals in the cafeteria, different stories to share at the daycare…
A legacy that will serve them greatly, when the time comes in our companies. What questions will they ask themselves about DEI, in business, since they will have experienced it at such a young age?
DEI in catch-up mode
So today, in business, who is DEI aimed at and why is it so important and popular?
Without doing too much research and falling into statics, it is quite fair to think that the law of numbers has something to do with it! Let’s go back in time, and the mass of corporate workers (SMEs and large companies) were mainly made up of white men and women! They themselves have not been exposed to this diversity that children today experience.
Now that the 2nd, 3rd and even 4th generations of immigrants are starting to enter the job market, the need is being felt to talk about diversity, equity and inclusion! After all it is the apparent reality! Allthough, we could of talked about DEI in a different way when ethnicity was not making it so apparent.
It is not only for the non-white folks that DEI is present in the business environment. There are also other aspects of the DEI which I do not cover in this article (man/woman parity; social class; age; sex and gender; disability; religion; etc.), but which find their root in the same place! We will talk about it in the conclusion.
For now, the reality of current DEI leads me to ask the question: Why and for whom?
Why?
Because the nature of things has changed! There was a time when it was not an issue to talk about DEI since the mass was similar. Business leaders were not yet sufficiently aware of the repercussions of a lack of openness, fairness among colleagues; and inclusiveness of everyone at all levels! That’s just the evolution of consciousness.
I think we could have talked about DEI a long time ago already depending on the situation and the reality in which the business diaspora was. There was a time when DEI should have influenced gender equality. There was a time when she could have brought more female leadership. There was a time when pay parity should have been at the forefront!
There are therefore several faces to DEI and it is that much present in the discourse of companies since it must catch up. By the nature of things on the one hand, and by the lack of awareness on the other, we are coming up against our shortcomings today and it is quite perfect.
For whom do we do it?
The natural answer to this question is for the people we are trying to include, and for those who suffer from inequity!
Yes, but not only them!
Will our children in the schoolyard need all these programs?
I don’t think so, since for them it will be normal! And when they’ll step into leadership, Ismael will not have a worse salary than Roger! Mary-Vaugn will not have the worst shifts compared to Julie! And Luc, even if he wears a skirt and is called M, he will still be hired!
In my eyes, DEI is just as important, if not more, for those who don't see it! Those today who do not know how to adapt their vision and their businesses to the transformation that has already begun...is it not also for them that we talk about DEI?
The DEI obstacles of yesterday, today and tomorrow
I think at this point in the article we are ready to get to the roots of DEI. No matter what face we give it, depending on the season, one thing remains irrevocable:
We must speak about DEI and will speak about DEI until we have done an individual inner work!
A work that requires freeing ourselves from the influence of our concepts, our conditionings and our desires which are the source of any DEI conversations.
This is true for leaders who implement DEI stuff and it’s also true for holdouts. Even those who could be positively impacted by DEI can be stuck in this obstacle, by their own conditioning and their own suffering!
For them too, inner exploration remains the only solution to transform themselves and to contribute to a better life.
A better business world, more inclusive, diverse, equitable is coming! Let’s continue to evolve, free ourselves and awaken to fully contribute to it! It is all of our lives, in all these spheres, that will be impacted positively!
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In leadership or like any other situation, we are often our own worst enemy!