{"id":3856,"date":"2025-07-08T15:57:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T15:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=3856"},"modified":"2025-07-08T15:57:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T15:57:16","slug":"the-important-steps-before-launching-diversity-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-important-steps-before-launching-diversity-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"The Important Steps Before Launching Diversity Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher<\/a><\/p>\n

Before launching a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program, a best practice is for leaders to discuss the effects that they\u2019d like for their organization\u2019s initiatives to have. Leadership teams that articulate specific objectives for DEI programs typically achieve better results, and making sufficient investments into the programs is another key to success, according to Academy of Management Scholar Quinetta Roberson<\/a> of Michigan State University.<\/p>\n

Roberson said that when she works with companies as a DEI consultant, her first question is: \u201cAfter we\u2019re done working together, what\u2019s the end state? What do you want this organization to look like?\u201d She says that an important first step is putting specific goals into place.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to get to that desired end state, if leaders want people to feel a greater sense of belonging in the organization, or if they want everybody to be more engaged and more productive, think about what that means for diversity,\u201d Roberson said. \u201cI actually like to say, \u2018It\u2019s not a diversity story; it\u2019s really a people story\u2014it\u2019s an employee story.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaders should ask themselves, \u2018How do we make our employees better? How do we help them to be the best that they can be?\u2019 and then thinking about what diversity\u2019s role in that is,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A best practice is for organizations to conduct regular employee surveys and leaders, to inform the objective-setting process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they find that there\u2019s different levels of engagement across different groups, the response might be to create a more consistent engagement experience as an objective, or maybe they find that their turnover is higher than normal, one of the goals might be to lower attrition and increase retention,\u201d Roberson said. \u201cOnce we figure out where leadership wants to go, we can figure out how to get there and start talking about specific DEI practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cI encourage leaders to think about that end state\u2014what are the goals, and then, what are they willing to do to achieve them?\u201d she said. \u201cWhat\u2019s the resourcing, infrastructure, or scaffolding that they\u2019re really willing to put in place?\u201d<\/p>\n

Many small-to-medium-sized organizations\u2019 leaders have told Roberson that they don\u2019t have staff with the expertise to lead a DEI program and claim that they don\u2019t have the budget to hire anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve had some small organizations say, \u2018We don’t really have the person-power to do this\u2014we would love to do more in the area of DEI but we can\u2019t hire a chief diversity officer,\u2019\u201d Roberson said. \u201cI haven\u2019t seen anything yet that says you have to have a chief diversity officer, but you do have to have some responsibility structure, be it a diversity council, task force, or somebody who keeps eyes on it to make sure that it\u2019s moving in the right direction and being implemented and activated properly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn organization might have very lofty goals, and its leaders may say, \u2018We want to change the world, but we\u2019re only willing to give it $5,\u2019 then that\u2019s not going to work,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd so that\u2019s where the conversation becomes how to do that within the organization\u2019s budget constraints.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher Before launching a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program, a best practice is for leaders to discuss the effects that they\u2019d like for their organization\u2019s initiatives to have. Leadership teams that articulate specific objectives for DEI programs typically achieve better results, and making sufficient investments into the programs is another key to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,60,72,74],"tags":[],"sp_smart_badges":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":["post-3856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corporate-social-responsibility","category-diversity","category-ethics","category-hr"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Important Steps Before Launching Diversity Programs - Academy of Management Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-important-steps-before-launching-diversity-programs\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniel Butcher\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-important-steps-before-launching-diversity-programs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-important-steps-before-launching-diversity-programs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daniel Butcher\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c\"},\"headline\":\"The Important Steps Before Launching Diversity Programs\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-08T15:57:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-important-steps-before-launching-diversity-programs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":546,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-important-steps-before-launching-diversity-programs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/team-sets-goals.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY\",\"DIVERSITY\",\"ETHICS\",\"HR\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-important-steps-before-launching-diversity-programs\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-important-steps-before-launching-diversity-programs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/the-important-steps-before-launching-diversity-programs\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Important Steps Before Launching Diversity Programs - 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