As part of a new Russell Reynolds Associates report surveying the global state of chief diversity officers, Senior Vice President of Workplace Dignity Jeffrey Siminoff shares reflections on the CDO landscape against the backdrop of increasing challenges to diversity equity and inclusion initiatives. With DE&I sitting at the core of what dignity-centered workplaces hope to be, CDO tenures declining and a persistent need to meet the moment for those most affected by unfair or biases workplace structures or leadership approaches, the report features other perspectives from leaders, and offers insights for boards and C-suite leaders on how to “find, appoint, and retain CDOs amidst a changing socio-political landscape.” As Siminoff notes in the report, not only are “the burnout risks … real … as many organizations turn to and rely heavily on their CDOs every time a traumatic external event or social policy issue affects internal constituencies,” “[c]hallenges to the mere presence of DE&I work and the values that underlie it proliferate as part of the volatile political environment in the US and elsewhere.”
Read the full report here.