Diversity And Inclusion - Why DEI Leaders Are Burning Out — and How Organizations Can Help - Sun and Planets Spirituality AYINRIN

 Diversity And Inclusion - 

Why DEI Leaders Are Burning Out — and How Organizations Can Help - Sun and Planets Spirituality AYINRIN

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Summary.   

Why do DEI leaders burn out so quickly? Research finds that this job demands constant emotional labor and surface acting, particularly for professionals of color. As a result, frustration and exhaustion mount. One solution stems from the way DEI programs are designed. The authors found that when programs take what’s known as a discrimination-and-fairness paradigm approach, DEI leaders experience more burnout because the organization’s focus assumes employee differences are sources of problems that must be managed. Alternatively, when organizations take a learning-and-effectiveness approach, which values employees for who they are, burnout is less frequent. The authors go on to suggest ways companies can adopt the latter approach to set DEI professionals up for success.

Emotional labor — the regulation and modification of emotion — is common in many work roles. Most research on the topic has focused on externally-facing customer service employees who are under pressure to provide smiling, friendly service despite unpleasant customer behavior. Recent research, however, suggests that people who engage with coworkers and other internal stakeholders may also experience emotional labor.

To extend that research, we explored the experiences of a unique group of internally-facing employees: diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professionals and human resource (HR) professionals doing significant DEI work in their roles. DEI-specific roles have more than doubled in the last decade, with greater increases after George Floyd’s murder in 2020. Nearly half of U.S.-based Fortune 500 companies have a chief diversity officer or executive specifically responsible for DEI. Numerous organizations have also significantly increased accountability for DEI among their HR professionals. Still, despite being high-status, well-compensated jobs, those doing DEI work endure extensive burnout, resulting in high turnover, and have an average tenure of only three years.

Why is this occurring? Our in-depth interviews with 23 HR and DEI professionals across various industries in the United States offered evidence that the mantle of DEI work is emotionally taxing. These professionals shared vivid accounts of stress and frustration and expressed the need for near-constant emotional regulation in the face of others’ apathy and negativity about their roles. “My emotions are a roller coaster, with lots of highs and lots of lows, and that’s okay,” one Black male diversity officer told us. “But…also, my emotions are oftentimes stifled, and that’s not okay,” he elaborated. A Black female diversity officer shared, “I can’t tell you how many times in training, somebody will say something, and I have to keep on my game face. I just nod, and I go hmmm…. Because I focus so much with my associates on neutrality, I have to model that…I have a very expressive face, and I work really hard at work not to let my face show my emotions.”

One type of behavior, known as surface acting, is common and arguably one of the most damaging ways DEI and HR professionals must manage their emotions. Surface acting occurs when people try to fabricate positive emotions when they do not genuinely feel positively and suppress negative emotions when they feel them.

These feelings are exacerbated by display rules — implicit or explicit rules that dictate appropriate expression and suppression of emotions in the workplace. For example, organizations often expect the expression of positive and suppression of negative emotions. Further, societal stereotypes can interfere with the perceptions of how specific demographic groups of employees should express emotions. Since employees in DEI roles are most often racial minorities and/or women, they may feel especially confined to more rigid scripts for emotional expression because of ingrained stereotypes.

When asked about the rules and stereotypes governing emotional regulation in their work roles, one Black female DEI officer responded, “I think it’s a rule for women executives — that if you show emotion, be it anger, sympathy, sorrow, whatever, you’re just not taken seriously. You’re being emotional, as if men are never that. And so, my girlfriends and I have learned that you have to put on your game face.”

Another Black female explained: “There are not written rules. But I know that as a woman, and as a Black woman, I’m not supposed to show emotion. I don’t feel like I need to show anger or sadness on the job. And I have counseled other women in the same way. One of the women I just counseled is my counterpart in multicultural affairs. She is experiencing some things with her leadership, and she was saddened by it. I told her, ‘Do not cry. Whatever you do, do not cry.’ It’s not written anywhere, but we shouldn’t show emotion.”

With all this emotional labor and surface acting, it’s no wonder DEI leaders are burning out so quickly. “This work is very exhausting…Your frustration comes from people just not understanding. And you get tired of educating. You get tired of explaining. You get tired of selling people on your value, and you just get tired of ignorance sometimes,” a Black female diversity officer said. “And I’m not that old, so if I’m tired, that means gosh, you know maybe, I should take a step back.”

So, what can organizations do to help? Our research recommends focusing on the way DEI efforts are designed, valued, and supported.

How Organizational Approaches to DEI Can Increase — Or Alleviate — Emotional Labor

Almost 30 years ago, scholars David Thomas and Robin Ely suggested that organizations should strongly consider their DEI management approach and how it impacts employees. They described three common paradigms for organizational DEI: the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm, the access-and-legitimacy paradigm, and the learning-and-effectiveness paradigm. Although our interviewees showed evidence of all three of the paradigms at work, most of them described organizations that fit clearly into two paradigms.

The discrimination-and-fairness (DF) paradigm is the most common in modern U.S. companies and was the most common in our interviews. As this paradigm assumes employee differences are sources of problems that must be managed, DEI initiatives are typically defensive in DF-oriented firms. The primary focus is compliance with equal employment opportunity laws to avoid discrimination-related lawsuits. Under this paradigm, employees are not valued for their differences; instead, employees are encouraged to assimilate into the dominant culture to “fit in.”

A Black male HR professional (whose role includes a large amount of DEI work) referenced the DF approach when discussing his fatigue, asking, “How are we really managing and leveraging diversity, not only with the demographics in our organization, but beyond that?…Most folks think that it’s just about chasing the numbers. Do we have enough of this, that, and the other thing? I’m trying to get them to see that it’s a much bigger picture that I’m trying to get them to appreciate, which is really leveraging those differences.”

When asked whether there were rules about showing emotion in his organization, this employee described the unwritten rules of expressing positive emotions despite his authentic feelings. “There are unwritten rules, and it’s pretty important for us here. We see ourselves as a very polite organization, and we think that’s part of the southern culture, and so politeness is very, very important, and if you do something that is contrary to that, we see that as a violation of our company values.” He explained his resulting burnout in the following way: “It puts you in a mindset where you go home, and you take it out on the cats, dogs, wife, spouse. You can’t get away from it. You do instant replays over and over in your mind.”

Alternatively, organizations adopting a learning-and-effectiveness (LE) approach value employees for who they are and foster climates where employees can share their intersecting identities with others at all levels. They recognize the opportunities and costs of diversity but are committed to learning, listening, and working through conflicts. LE extends beyond increasing the representation of people from various demographic groups, giving employees from all groups the power to make decisions and influence how work is done throughout the organization. This approach also involves fighting systems that sustain discrimination and oppression.

“The idea is to create an environment where everyone can bring all of [their] identities with them to work…so that they can be fully engaged,” a Black female interviewee noted. “The idea is when you don’t have to calculate what parts of you to bring and what parts of you to leave, then you can be fully engaged…as an employee.” Being authentic at work extends to emotional expression as well and reduces the stress associated with emotional labor.

A Black male with over 20 years of experience as a DEI professional shared that he had finally found an organization striving to integrate DEI into all areas. “We have this blending where the objectives get established, but they are shared objectives because they get baked into my colleagues’ objectives just like they get baked into mine,” he said. “That’s my point about making sure that you’ve got it woven into the corporate fabric, the critical HR systems, whether it be compensation, whether it be recruiting, whether it be just the internal staffing that goes on, whether it be performance reviews. You’ve got to make sure that it’s baked in so that the organization is paying attention.” When asked to recall an example of feeling pressured to manage his emotions at work, he said, “Well, I can’t.” He felt bound by no rules, expectations, or pressures to manage his emotions. He clarified that his company is not perfect regarding DEI but highlighted that they respond to diversity-related infractions quickly and with consequences: “We have issues just like other companies. The difference is, in my estimation, we address them when we find out about them.” He further noted that he was a respected member of strategic meetings with top management.

Drawing on the paradigm-related insights from our interviews, we surveyed 301 DEI professionals and HR employees who spend more than 50% of their time doing DEI work over a more geographically dispersed area of the United States. We determined that organizational DEI paradigms strongly influenced emotional labor for HR and DEI professionals. Specifically, when organizational DEI paradigms focused on compliance and numbers (i.e., DF), HR and DEI professionals reported more surface acting, which consumed valuable cognitive and emotional resources and elevated burnout. However, organizational paradigms that genuinely valued the contributions of all employees and integrated DEI into strategic organizational processes (i.e., LE paradigms) were associated with less surface acting and, in turn, less burnout.

Creating a Learning-and-Effectiveness Model to Support DEI Leaders

Our research provides consistent evidence that organizational DEI paradigms shape employees’ experiences of emotional labor, resulting in many negative consequences. Unfortunately, almost 30 years after introducing LE as an aspirational paradigm, Ely and Thomas highlight that few organizations were taking the necessary action to realize its potential fully. So, how might organizations shift toward the LE paradigm to support HR and DEI professionals and their DEI work? We suggest several steps:

Conduct regular DEI climate assessments.

These assessments clarify the organization’s current DEI posture. Do employees feel like they belong? Are policies perceived as equitable? What are the strengths and challenges of existing DEI initiatives? Companies should use both closed and open-ended survey items to gain deeper insight. For initial assessments, leaders could commission homogenous employee focus groups to facilitate a more profound discussion of how the current climate affects marginalized employees. Doing so would offer a benchmark for future assessments after they initiate change.

Integrate DEI programs and policies throughout the organization.

Ensure DEI values are connected to the organization’s mission, discussed in all departments/divisions, incorporated into ongoing training, and detailed in HR policies. It is not enough to “go through the motions,” as one recent article explained. The business case for diversity set DEI programs and initiatives on a good path decades ago, but organizations must reevaluate to ensure progress.

Assess and improve HR policies to ensure equity.

Regular assessments of compensation, performance management, recruitment, and selection procedures are critical for evaluating, establishing, and maintaining equity. When evidence of inequity surfaces, transparently communicate what inequities emerged and clarify the plan to redress them. Empower diverse groups of stakeholders with voice and accountability throughout this process.

Top management must demonstrate consistent, enthusiastic DEI support.

It would benefit company leaders to take stock of where their company is regarding DEI programs and initiatives. Leaders may find it helpful to integrate insights from books, such as The Necessary Journey by Dr. Ella F. Washington, which outlines the stages of the organizational DEI journey. Many companies and their top management teams have been aware of DEI efforts for decades. And organizations are overwhelmingly compliant or attempting to comply with DEI-related laws. However, many top management teams have not fully explored how DEI fits into company goals and how to create a self-sustaining pro-DEI climate.

Institutionalize DEI roles with the power and resources to effect change.

Despite many organizations having roles solely dedicated to DEI, power and resources in those roles remain limited. It is essential for organizations to not only afford DEI professionals a seat at the table but also to encourage them to participate in decision-making and resource allocation efforts.

Provide resources for social support when emotional regulation is necessary.

Our interviewees frequently mentioned how helpful it was to reach out to others in their position or a similar one when they face emotionally challenging days at work. To that end, organizations must understand that sometimes, employees venting with one another can effectively alleviate the negative consequences of emotional labor. Organizations can offer mentoring opportunities or identify external networking groups for DEI leaders to accomplish this. Similarly, it may be beneficial for organizations to create or encourage group membership with people in similar roles, or from similar identity groups (such as affinity groups); that way, employees can build a supportive network of colleagues.

These recommendations are a mere starting point. Still, as organizations adopt the LE paradigm, we believe their HR and DEI professionals may engage in their work more authentically, leaving them less frustrated, burned out, and at risk for turnover. Thinking of a diverse workforce as an opportunity to learn and grow rather than a problem to manage will positively affect employees, organizations, and the quality of the HR and DEI work they support.

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