How (and why) you should start a DEIB committee at your company

A Forbes article written by a USC professor earlier this year that included interviews with 24 chief diversity officers revealed something troubling: many CDOs feel “set up to fail.” 

Many factors contribute to that. Paltry budgets and understaffed teams. Unclear job mandates. A lack of clear reporting lines. 

One overarching factor that is true for all of the CDOs interviewed: improving DEIB at a company isn’t something that can be done by one person alone.

That’s why it’s a great idea, whether your company currently has a chief diversity officer or not, to create a committee focused on DEIB.

A DEIB committee will be made up of a variety of employees — usually around 10-15 — with different kinds of influence, experience, and perspective. They can self-select to be on the committee or can be nominated by their managers. 

Either way, they should be individuals who are interested in doing hands-on work to make your company better. These are the people who will take goals and strategy set by your CDO or C-suite and figure out how to actually implement them across your company. 

Your DEIB committee can:

• Bridge the gap between big corporate statements about the importance of DEIB and the on-the-ground experiences of employees and their day-to-day view of DEIB’s importance at your company. Per a 2022 report, 39% of employees think their organization views DEIB as a checkbox. A functioning diversity committee can help with that.
• Improve your problem perception by making employees feel empowered to call out issues they’re seeing. Whether it’s committee members sharing their observations or a reporting system that said committee members set up to source complaints from other employees, a DEIB committee can ensure you hear more voices and learn about issues faster. Given that HBR found only 30% of employees think their organizations are fair, a diversity committee can help identify those specific points of unfairness. 
• Expand your partnerships inside and outside of your organization. Efforts to build community and belonging only work if they’re authentic. By empowering individuals on your DEIB committee to form links with other company groups, as well as with external orgs like nonprofits, industry groups, and local organizations, you’ll be able to expand your reach by highlighting existing connections. For inspiration, check out how Dartmouth Health empowered their ERGs to partner with community orgs in order to register new bone marrow donors, host Pride parties, and support business owners from underrepresented backgrounds. 

💡 Take action by following the five key steps highlighted in our article on how to start a diversity and inclusion committee at work.

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