What Will Corporate DEI Look Like In 2025?
What will corporate DEI look like in 2025? This is a question that's top of mind for many talent practitioners as we soon enter a new year. Despite all the noise of protests against corporate DEI and the potential of different federal leadership, many companies are still continuing to invest in DEI work and push an anti-bias agenda.
To help us answer this burning question during our October webinar, we were joined by an expert panel of leaders driving change in corporate DEI - Fran Benjamin, Managing Partner at Good Works Consulting; John Graham Jr., VP of Employer Brand, Diversity & Culture at Shaker Recruitment Marketing; and Kalifa Oliver, Experience Coach & Executive Advisor at Kalifa K Oliver Experience Coaching.
Check out the full 1-hour webinar below or read on for a brief synopsis of the 4 major areas we dug into.
1.) How The DEI Landscape Has Evolved
Before diving into this topic, we polled the audience on how the importance of DEI has shifted at their organizations over the past 12-24 months. Around 60% reported an increase, 20% saw a decrease, and the remaining 20% said it stayed the same. The panelists found these results surprising, as they've observed many organizations placing significantly less emphasis on DEI recently.
Reflecting on the changes in the DEI landscape over the past year, John observed that while DEI efforts haven’t disappeared, there’s been a quieting. Organizations are rebranding their DEI initiatives externally, but the work continues as usual internally.
Fran highlighted an increase in risk aversion, largely driven by uncertainty. They referenced a recent Deloitte study where over 70% of Fortune 500 CEOs said they don’t plan to reduce DEI spending but may change the language they use to describe it.
Kalifa added that DEI is here to stay. While we may call it something different to avoid upsetting those uncomfortable with the term “DEI,” this shift disregards the impact on those who are already harmed by the lack of it.
2.) The Role Of Leadership In Driving Sustainable Change
Who is driving change within organizations? Kalifa began by discussing the redefinition of allyship, emphasizing that real allies don’t need to be taught—they put in the effort themselves and seek guidance to fill the gaps. True allies must be ready to sacrifice some of their own privilege.
John added that it’s not about leadership capability, but about willingness. Leaders need to prioritize humanity over profit in their decisions. Fran expanded on this, stating that true change happens when leaders are willing to share and relinquish power.
3.) Future Of DEI In Hiring
Kalifa kicked this topic off by highlighting that the future of DEI is centered on the employee experience, which is about setting people up for success. When companies prioritize employee experience, DEI naturally becomes embedded in everything they do. Business decisions should always consider, "How does this impact a specific group of people?" In the future, DEI will be integrated into systems, not treated as a separate initiative.
John added that companies need to decide how transparent they are willing to be about their culture. He also noted that human behavior changes through two forces: consequence or reward. As a society, we must define what is acceptable and ensure it's enforced.
4.) Role Of Technology In DEI
Fran noted that we now have a greater capacity to measure processes in ways we couldn’t before, especially when it comes to tracking the “steps” in a process rather than just the outcomes. This increased accountability makes it easier to identify where processes may be failing. With technology, we can focus on these process steps and generate reports on them. Fran also cautioned that if you're exploring technology platforms that influence the human experience, it's essential to incorporate human interaction to prevent bias from entering the system.
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To conclude, the panelists mentioned that what DEI will look like in 2025 is highly contingent on what happens in November’s election. If you do one thing after reading this or watching the webinar, read up on Project 2025.
And with that, we wrapped things up!
Huge thanks to Kalifa, John, and Fran for joining us! Don't forget to check out the entire webinar linked above for even more great insights.
And see you on November 13th for our next webinar! We’ll be joined by Mervyn Dinnen, Christina Beans, and Joe Keenan who will be sharing actionable insights for turning interviews into a strategic advantage in your hiring process. You can register for this live conversation here.
