Why Your HR and D&I Programs Are Ineffective: The Devil is in the Details

Several years back, my team and I did a content analysis of diversity and inclusion programs that were intended to positively affect career success of women of color.  On paper, they looked great.  For example, of 15 organizations we assessed, 14 stated, in writing, that they had programs incorporating managerial accountability for developing women of color.

However, when we surveyed the women of color in those organizations, we found that less than 20% believed that their managers were held at all accountable.

What happened?  Simple (or not so simple):  poor implementation.   Such problematic implementation exists through the current time, with many targets of D and I programs being dissatisfied with results.

Many practices are well-intentioned and may even be well-communicated.  But organizations are short-changing themselves if they do not examine, in a granular way, HOW programs are implemented and carried out.

HR and D&I practitioners can take a page from educational program assessment, which digs deep into implementation.  At the core of program assessment is  the concept of program integrity, defined  as the degree to which a program is implemented as originally planned.  Undergirding this principle are adherence indicators  that include program content, methods, and activities, and  quantity, which represents the amount of a provided service received by a participant, such as  frequency of interactions.

But most important to HR/D&I is quality of delivery.  This deals with the manner in which a practice or program is provided and includes commitment and interaction style.

For example, as another team and I discovered, women of color tend to have less trusting relationships with their managers than do majority women.  Much of this lack of trust can be traced to interaction styles between the manager and direct report.   Importantly, this lower trust leads women of color to have a greater intent to leave their employers.    Whatever the organizations we surveyed were doing regarding retention of women of color, it was falling apart at the manager–direct report level.

HR and D&I professionals need to learn from pitfalls, as well as share stories of successful implementation—whether it is grooming strategically-based champions across the company to role model and support a change effort; or following up on program commitment experienced by key players;  or holding in-depth discussions with managers–especially those in the “frozen middle” who are often resistant to D&I–as to the quality of interactions with their diverse employees.

In the meantime, I welcome a dialogue on what people are struggling with.  What are the pain points for your diversity and inclusion practices, and, more broadly, HR programs?

For more insight on implementation,  please see:

Dusenbury, L., Branningan, R., Falco, M., & Hansen, W.B. (2003).  A review of research on fidelity of implementation:  Implications for drug abuse prevention in school settings.  Health Education Research, 18, 237-256.