Navigating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Today's World

Banks should audit their internal practices and communications to ensure they comply with all legal requirements, including the Department of Labor’s requirement for an annual Affirmative Action Plan and implications from the recent U.S. Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision regarding higher education. Consider these guidelines:

• Reinforce the goal of DEI to hire and promote the most qualified person regardless of race, gender or other identity groups. Develop evaluation criteria in advance of interviews and offer the job or promotion to the best candidate as determined by a diverse hiring or promotion review committee. Do not use numerical hiring goals, “diversity scorecards,” or other hiring preferences for people of certain races, gender, or other marginalized groups.
• Avoid making decisions based on “intuition” or a guess as to a candidate’s “fit” because doing so can result in discrimination against people who are viewed as different in some way.
• Strive for diverse slates of candidates for interviews to ensure that you are considering all available talent, and that everyone has an equal shot at the opportunity.
• Spotlight the commitment to DEI by your executive leaders because tone from the top matters. Do not tie leadership compensation to DEI goals without the advice of an attorney.
• Review your current DEI programs, policies and trainings to ensure that they could not be interpreted as establishing preferences for people based upon race, gender or other identity groups.
• Open your Employee Resource Groups’ events and meetings to everyone within the organization. This practice is inclusive and fosters improved allyship by educating everyone about the needs of different identity groups. This approach also reinforces that you are not giving preferences to any particular group.
• Examine all written statements about your DEI efforts including web pages, press releases, onboarding materials, meeting minutes/notes, brochures, etc., to ensure that your statements are aligned with current practices and do not suggest preferential treatment for people based upon race, gender or other identity factor.
• Ensure your DEI initiatives are closely linked to your bank’s core values and business strategy.
• Evaluate your supplier/vendor diversity program to ensure you are not making decisions based on race, gender or other marginalized group, but instead are taking a holistic approach that includes evaluating suppliers/vendors for their values, cost, quality, service, and other bank needs and priorities.
• Collect data and other metrics with the input of your HR and legal teams to ensure that data privacy and other laws are being followed.
• Stay current on legal developments following the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision. While the decision does not directly impact corporate DEI initiatives, the law could be in flux

Our industry gets stronger when we reconsider how talent decisions are made, ensuring the most qualified person is hired or promoted. Using these guidelines, banks can create a robust workforce and leadership pipeline through equal opportunities for everyone — regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, abilities and other historically excluded groups.