Despite Critics, Diversity Metrics Here to Stay for 2024

Despite myriad claims to the contrary, companies do not appear to be making significant changes to either the setting of specific diversity goals or the tying of quantitative goals to pay, based on results of a recent HR Policy Association survey.  

Continued Commitment: Companies are responding to the war on ESG in several ways, including changing how and when they talk about diversity initiatives. What doesn’t seem to be changing for this year is the commitment to diversity targets, even when tied to pay.   

Striking Back: Several companies are standing firm in the face of legal challenges to programs such as diversity fellowships. Pfizer recently won a victory over Do No Harm, with the Second Circuit noting the failure to identify a single person who had actually been harmed by the program. The Fearless Fund made similar arguments in its challenge to the American Alliance for Equal Rights over its grant contest for Black women business owners.  

Words Matter: As Center Senior Advisor Charlie Tharp noted in a recent Bloomberg piece on terminology shifts in public filings,  companies such as Starbucks may “switch to “talent” [to avoid] the term DEI, which has been ‘weaponized’ by the opposition, while still making it clear the company is seeking to broaden the pool of applicants.” In the end, though, “companies [still] use compensation plans to highlight issues they believe are important to investors, employees, customers, and the general public.”