DEI and Human Resources: An Uneasy Partnership By Rohini Anand
T
he relationship between Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Human Resources (HR) teams can be fraught. This is in part because the role of DEI is to highlight challenges and gaps in the talent life cycle. HR can view this as DEI agents criticizing their work without a complete understanding of HRs priorities and workload. My HR colleagues share that while DEI exposes HR’s shortcomings, DEI is often the team that gets credit for any improvements. Meanwhile, it is not uncom-
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2023 Second Quarter
mon for a DEI team to experience HR as being resistant and indifferent to DEI values and objectives – something that can be intensely frustrating for DEI practitioners who have a sense of urgency and vision for their organization. Whether DEI is positioned within a larger HR Department, or forms a separate department, these tensions can block sustainable DEI progress. So, what can DEI professionals do to build more positive, collaborative and ultimately successful partnerships with HR? And what can HR do to ensure that they support DEI?
DEI teams need to: Be Aware of HR’s Workload Familiarize yourself with HR’s deliverables as a department. Is there synergy or are the DEI team and HR getting mixed messages about what their priorities should be? Are your DEI suggestions creating more work for an already overstretched team? When I was the Global Chief DEI Officer at Sodexo, one of our objectives was to hold review panels for each posted job in the U.S. But we
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