How do you tackle intolerance AND communicate about EDI less?

The latest research from the IOIC has just dropped and shows that IC professionals are facing pressure to communicate about equality, diversity and inclusion less. 10% of those surveyed say they're being asked to do less EDI communication, and 9% say they're choosing to do less EDI communication.

Unsurprisingly, I have thoughts, so buckle in!

Standing up for what's fair and decent protects everyone

Despite wide scale political turmoil right now, large organisations are still highly influential. They hold sway over their consumers and employees, and they can choose to stand up for what's right and be a voice to the voiceless.

It bears repeating that the causes championed by EDI are not asking for unfair advantage. They are asking for a level playing field where people don't face barriers as a result of characteristics they can't change. Mostly, they're asking for basic human decency.

Misinformation, political corruption and biased algorithms have generated a culture of one-dimensional debate, where the term 'DEI' has been boiled down to simply mean 'positive discrimination' and is therefore now 'illegal'. That's pushed shockwaves through the industry, and is directly causing this hesitance to speak up about what's right.

Karl Popper's tolerance paradox states that it's only by standing up to intolerance that we protect tolerance. If we extend tolerance to the intolerant, then we permit them to undermine the tolerant society that we worked so hard to build - read more here. History shows that nothing good has ever come from high levels of intolerance.

It is essential that influential voices continue to speak up against intolerance.

The over-commercialisation of EDI work has undermined what we were truly trying to achieve

This June, the world is unusually free of rainbows. Logos aren't changing. Drag queens aren't guest-featuring in the adverts. Pride collections aren't in the shops.

To some extent, it's good that companies aren't rainbow-washing for commercial gain. And yet, as a gay man, I feel it sends a very obvious message to the LGBTQ+ community that defending our rights was never really the priority. As soon as it became a commercial risk instead of a commercial opportunity, brands turned their backs on a vulnerable community with little thought to the message that broadcasts to people who'd previously been led to believe that they had some allyship.

Unfortunately, that's now extended to brands who've previously been stalwarts of pride season removing their sponsorship and backing away from public support of the LGBTQ+ community. It's not just 'we don't want your money this year' and now has a distinct whiff of 'we don't want to be seen with you at all'.

Now that the bubble is bursting, it's worth asking the question 'did how the cause was communicated perhaps overshadow what was truly trying to be achieved?'

And the calendar of diversity dates isn't helping achieve relevance

A 2022 study shared in Forbes reported that 70% of white men feel left out of DEI, and a more recent study found that 41% of white men feel anxious about getting sacked for saying or doing the wrong thing at work. White men still form the majority of workers in the UK and US, and we cannot build workplaces that feel inclusive without their active participation. If we can't reach them, we're investing all our energy in preaching to a choir of people who already understand what it feels like to be excluded.

Clients tell me that the annual rhythm of diversity dates doesn't help. The teams I work with say that messaging is sometimes done for the sake of doing it, without a clear learning opportunity, call to action, or connection to a real community at that organisation. And even if they marked every single date in the calendar, they feel there would still be topics or communities that wouldn't feel included.

For all employees to feel that EDI comms are relevant to them, an organisation really has to set its own agenda and communicate about the topics that help their people build cultural cohesion and deliver the goals they aiming for - whether that's retention, skills attraction, collaboration, innovation or risk reduction.

However, turn your back on minority and marginalised communities at your own peril

In response to Target rolling back their DEI commitments, Black and Brown households in the US boycotted their stores, causing a $12.4bn drop in Target's market value in just a matter of months. Costco, who have stood firm to their DEI commitments, benefitted from a rise in online and in-store footfall.

In the UK, Accenture Song - who's parent company Accenture also 'sunsetted' their DEI goals - were removed from a £50m pitch opportunity by TfL, who said "we are proud to hold our suppliers to account, making sure they are aligned with our commitments on diversity and inclusivity.”

Marriott's CEO, Anthony Capuano, recently spoke out against the executive orders in the US. He said “We welcome all to our hotels and we create opportunities for all … fundamentally that will never change.” The response from employees was overwhelmingly positive. Watch him describe the scenario here.

So, communicating EDI is the right thing to do morally and the right thing to do commercially (when done for the right reasons)

How do we balance this top-down pressure to do less with the bottom-up demand to feel cared for, respected and safe?

First - if you're in the USA, just go with the flow for now. The dust will settle and the tides will turn again, but right now they're too strong to swim against. Keep doing as much as you can behind the scenes and get the message to the people who need it. Protect your energy so you can protect the vulnerable people you serve.

If you're in an organisation without a strong link to America - push back, speak up and use your influence for good. Do things differently and do different things.

• Write your own authentic narrative - outline why you and your team truly care about inclusivity, and highlight the benefits that it brings to your people, your customers and your organisations.
• Set your own rhythm of communication and choose your own topics to explore - find new ways to invite more people into the conversation and open their minds to different lived experiences and new perspectives
• Prioritise relevance - use every communication about strategy, EVP, change, product, technology and sustainability to highlight how ED&I helps your organisation to deliver these transformational project

Sidenote - the topics that IC professionals are being asked to do more of can all lead to more inclusive workplaces

All of these can absolutely contribute to a more equitable and inclusive culture that naturally encourages greater diversity of people to join and stay at that organisation. However, this can only be achieved if you maintain the mindset that greater diversity and a more inclusive culture are fundamental to the success of your organisation.

Keep that as a consistent lens to your work, and then the listening will tell you what your minority and marginalised communities need from your organisation, and how your leaders need to show up as allies and advocates, and the data will show the extent to which your EDI work is actually making a difference to people.

Don't do less, do better

The world needs better communications about equality, diversity and inclusion - now more than ever. Less controversial, and more conversational. Less polarising, and more practical. Less Elon, more empathetic.

As communicators, we're in a position of privilege and power, to use our channels and our messages for good. What if we used this weird, angry, high-pressure time not as an excuse to simply cut back on what we do, but to transform how we connect with people? It's not a choice between communicating more or communicating less, but an opportunity to make smarter choices about when, how and why we communicate about EDI.

For the sake of the people who are most at risk from the rise of intolerance, we have to not do less, but do better.

Read the full IOIC report here: https://www.ioic.org.uk/resource/future-of-ic-professional-survey-report.html