Beyond Executive Orders: The Enduring Importance of DEI for Young Professionals

Shortly after taking office, President Trump’s Executive Order on Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity was issued, slashing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government. 

This decision has generated considerable controversy. 

Some are celebrating the conclusion of DEI, arguing these initiatives contributed to discrimination practices and devalued individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination. Others are mourning the loss of DEI programs and the benefits they had to underrepresented populations of people, such as health equity research and STEM pipeline programs.

Ironic, isn’t it? 

The topic of inclusion and how to achieve is a topic of divisiveness. For me, the DEI controversy hits close to home. 

I started a business 23 years ago to advocate for the inclusion of young people in the workforce in meaningful ways. I believe including young people benefits all people because it directly contributes to the development of more sustainable and healthier, happy workplaces.

As a woman business owner, I have faced gender discrimination throughout my career, often struggling to get the same opportunities or compensation as men even when I have considerably more accolades and experience. 

As a champion of inter-generational team building and inclusion, I often work with leaders who feel strongly that including one generation is likely to limit another generation’s potential or contribute to discrimination and disengagement. 

If we take the emotions out of the equation, it becomes apparent that much of the controversy around DEI is rooted in our history and how most of today’s leaders learned to work. The Civil Rights Act was signed into law in 1964, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Sixty years seems like a long time, but it’s not that long considering we’re still trying to reverse practices established several centuries ago.

Many workplaces today are still utilizing an Industrial Era mindset. In the Industrial Era, people had a specific role to fill in a specific department. There was little cross-over or collaboration. People worked in silos and were rewarded for experience. There were few opportunities to share ideas and opinions.

We have many phrases to describe how humanity was supposed to behave in this era that thrived on productivity and predictability -- nose to the grindstone, learn the ropes, pay your dues, stay in your lane, punch the clock, work your way up the ladder.

But we’re not living in an Industrial Era anymore. Since the 1980s, we’ve been living in a world increasingly shaped by disruption, innovation, globalization, and customization. For centuries, society thrived on roles, predictability, and productivity. But there’s nothing predictable about this era and productivity is largely being replaced by AI. 

This is creating generation gaps because Boomers and Gen Xers were raised under the Industrial Era mindset, whereas Millennials and Gen Zs were not. This new era is also redefining our roles in the workplace and challenging our humanity. Why? Because systems and processes are giving way to creativity and relationship-building. 

In other words, for the first time in history, how we work together and treat one another matters. We’re still learning how to share and team-build, because many leaders today were raised with a belief that opportunities are limited and making room for others diminishes your own voice and potential. 

Disruption has forced workplaces to rethink their strategies and to create, experiment, and leverage the skillsets of their teams in new and different ways. Suddenly, experience doesn’t matter. Neither does productivity. What matters most is our ability to work together effectively as a team. 

DEI efforts played a critical role in this journey to improve team building. There were successes and there were challenges and there’s still a long way to go before we reach equity and inclusion. But I’ve researched inclusion in detail on the generational front and I believe there are solutions in these two case studies.

Less segmentation

When I researched my book, Talent Generation, I interviewed the CEO of a health membership association determined to abolish the traditions and rules contributing to the practice of segmenting people. For example, a student interested in learning about public health wasn’t permitted to be part the public health committee. They were only permitted to sit on the student affairs committee. The CEO recognized this was doing more damage than good and she shifted the organization to think and act like a community. This meant focusing on ways to connect people to the organization and to one another, and giving them the opportunity to shape the organization. She explained it's a very similar problem organizations have had historically with diversity. The typical response is, ‘Oh, yes! We need diversity. Let's have a council of minority affairs, or let's have a council of women. But putting people in a corner to sit and look at themselves and have no influence must come to an end’. The organization eliminated all its groups specific to gender, age, and race and instead focused on organization-wide inclusion and community-building.In addition, the bylaws were changed to mandate that at least 30 percent of every decision-making table included individuals within their first five years of the career. Immediately after introducing these changes, engagement increased for people of all ages and backgrounds.

More relationship-building

A UK-based organization started challenging assumptions when they began experiencing increased amounts of employee turnover and increased market disruption. They realized the senior staff wasn’t going to be able to turn the tide. Rather, they needed to leverage and celebrate the diversity of skills, experiences, and capabilities of their entire workforce. At the start, the team was extremely role and task oriented. Little collaboration was happening and there was a need to establish trust and foster relationships throughout the team. The organization launched a program they referred to as Dare to Share. Employees were encouraged to record 2-4 minute videos on their smart phones, during which they share something personal about themselves. For example, employees shared videos explaining what it’s like to have a disability, adopt a child, or overcome social anxiety. Videos were posted on a private communication platform and proved hugely beneficial in forming connections between colleagues. In addition, employees were asked to help develop programs to remove bureaucracy and hierarchical barriers, empower employees, and rebuild the team. The company quickly observed a culture shift and sharp increase in employee engagement. In the Industrial Era, how senior management was treated and felt mattered the most. Everyone else was expected to just do their jobs and find satisfaction and fulfillment in a paycheck.  

Here and now, relationships matter most—with people of all ages, genders, and races. 

DEI efforts remind us to be mindful of the gaps. To identify areas where people are overlooked, disrespected, and undervalued. To understand that we aren’t homogeneous in our thinking – and that’s a good thing! Our organizations are more profitable when we leverage everyone's skill sets and ideas, not just a select few. 

We all desire to be relevant and important. We all desire to belong.

It’s critical we seek to understand one another, to listen and collaborate, and to empathize rather than stereotype or criticize. 

These are the trademarks of both a great leader and a great place to work.