It’s you, not me!

Remember dating, remember when you needed to end the relationship, but you didn’t want to hurt your partner’s feelings? You would tell them how the relationship needed to end because you had some work you needed to do on yourself, blah, blah, blah, yackity, smackity.  And you would end all of that with “It’s not you, it’s me.” You and they knew that excuse was garbage, but no one said anything so that everyone could save face and move on.

Unfortunately, we have done the same thing as a society related to DEI, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the workplace.  Somehow we have distorted the reality of where the real benefactors of DEI efforts.

Organizations, including corporate, schools, government agencies, and nonprofits have approached Diversity and Inclusion as if diversifying their employee ranks somehow benefits those poor, maligned, subjugated people. After all of these years of not doing what’s right, we need to “give them a chance.” It is this thinking that has so many companies lagging and not truly embracing DEI initiatives.

DEI is not about what the company can do for those poor minority populations. DEI is about what those populations can do for the company. And by do, I mean make money.

“I’m lovin’ it” is not just how we feel about the renewed energy around equality in the workplace; it is also a money-making slogan used in a McDonald’s marketing campaign. You read the slogan correctly; the “g” is missing from loving. Lovin’, a common word in urban vernacular from Black communities now used in a massive campaign for McDonald’s, and made them millions.  Who is the benefactor of this influence from inclusivity?

When companies want to expand market share into different communities when they want to tap into what’s “hip,” “lit,” “on fleek,” (we know these terms are outdated, but they are here, for example) where do corporations go?  Organizations go to the place that gets the white, suburban soccer mom to say “Listen” or “Listen, Linda.” They go to those populations that have historically been excluded in the workplace and strategic planning.

So, this idea that the corporations are helping “those poor minorities” out is a myth.

By doing what is right, by ensuring that the workplace is diverse and inclusive, corporations are doing what is right financially for themselves. The benefits of DEI are not one-sided. The charge and real benefit of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a symbiotic relationship in which all parties are benefactors from doing what is right.

It’s not you or me, it’s us!