The State of the CDO: Here's 2021's Top Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Trends at Work

Last year, amid a global pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement spurged by the murder of George Floyd had a series of ripple effects — including forcing corporate America to re-evaluate its diversity practices. As a result, the hiring of Diversity and Inclusion Officers increased dramatically that year.

Between 2015 and 2020, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officers (CDOs) grew by 71%, according to Linkedin. Since then, conversations around the role of the CDO have emerged as well. The Org explores three key trends surrounding diversity and diversity officers in the workplace in 2021.

Very few CDOs have past experience in the role

A Russell Reynolds report revealed that only 18% of existing CDOs have prior experience in the role. Despite this, there has been an increase in the number of HR professionals who are stepping into the role in comparison to communications executives who used to step into the position. This shows that the topic of diversity is moving away from compliance and branding, and there has been a greater focus on actual people in companies.

There is a high turnover rate of CDOs

The average tenure for a CDO has dropped from 3.1 years in 2018 to 1.8 years in 2021. The high turnover rate for the CDO is often correlated with misalignment in expectations.

“Organizations often hold very high expectations of what the CDO needs to do but in some cases sometimes fail to clearly define the scope and priorities for the role,” said Randall Tucker, chief inclusion officer at Mastercard.

The size of the diversity team and a dedicated budget for DEI work are all necessary to support the CDO. If they are not treated as a key figure in the organization, it will be difficult to achieve cultural change.

According to Diversity Inc, its Top 50 Companies for Diversity has an average of 9.58 full-time employees focused on diversity efforts.

More leaders are being held accountable for initiatives

Now more than ever, companies are being held accountable for their practices around diversity, equity and inclusion. A Deloitte study revealed that millennials are 83% more likely to be engaged when their workplace focuses on building an inclusive culture and 81% more likely to be true to themselves when operating in a welcoming environment.

As a result, more businesses are becoming aware of the importance of reporting on transparency. Companies are now actively publishing details around their hiring practices, salaries and employee statistics. Further, diversity targets have also become directly linked to leadership compensation.

On to 2022

With almost half of S&P 500 companies reporting to have a chief diversity officer, it is clear that conversations around diversity and inclusion in the workplace will continue to be an important topic. The challenge now becomes how companies can retain and continue to develop diversity in their organizations.

According to Venture Beat, 79% of companies are planning to allocate more budget and resources to DEI initiatives in 2022 but that alone is not enough. Senior leaders should also be more involved in supporting diversity initiatives. Reports show that although 58% of DEI leaders said that their leadership team is actively involved in endorsing DEI decisions, only 13% of them believe that their leadership is proactively demonstrating support.

It is important to note that DEI initiatives are not one size fits all, and leaders should critically examine where their own organizations are lacking.

“You cannot freely adapt…different initiatives from other organizations and try to just insert them within your particular organization, because every workplace is different,” Michelle Crockett, Chief Diversity Officer, Miller Canfield said in an interview with Senior Executive. “You have to come up with things that are going to work within your specific culture.”