Inside the I&D Space with CEO Action President Anuradha Hebbar

It’s a time of change regarding inclusion and diversity (I&D) efforts in the workplace.

Following the wave of nationwide protests against racial inequality that began in 2020, a number of employers—including John Deere and Harley-Davidson—have recently cut back on their I&D programs.

At the same time, however, said Anuradha Hebbar, president of CEO Action for Inclusion & Diversity, there’s a growing consensus that inclusive and diverse workplaces are vital to organizational success—and that momentum on the issue is, and should be, driven by the top.

“The CEO does need to drive ownership and accountability in the organization [when it comes to inclusion], just like any other strategic business initiative,” Hebbar said. “CEOs are seeking a trusted adviser to provide data-driven solutions and peer convenings around this topic. Even though you’re reading a lot in the media about companies backing away from [inclusion and diversity], leading companies are not.”

CEO Action for Inclusion & Diversity, assumed by SHRM in early October from consulting firm PwC, is “a huge opportunity to be able to drive transformational change across organizations,” Hebbar said, by helping to provide CEOs with a better understanding of how to build a culture of inclusion. Established in 2017, CEO Action offers a range of resources, convenings, and experts to help CEOs advance I&D in the workplace. About 2,500 businesses are part of the coalition. 

SHRM talked with Hebbar to discuss the state of inclusion and diversity, CEO Action, and why commitment from CEOs and HR is important.

Let’s start with the basics: Where do you think workplaces are with their inclusion and diversity efforts?

We’ve made some progress, but I think we are stuck in many ways. Some of the initiatives that businesses are investing in haven’t driven the desired outcomes.

Why is it important to continue to invest in efforts and try to make workplaces more inclusive and diverse?

We have the most diverse workplace ever, and we have young workers—the Gen Z population—driving some of these changes. That generation grew up with such differences, and they really demand a different type of workplace. Their expectations are very different, and that’s really a big change because the employees are now at the center of this conversation, and they are exerting their voice around this topic. They expect companies to be diverse and inclusive. It’s important to them, and it’s going to affect where they work. That’s very different from generations before. 

What’s your first plan of action for the newly rebranded CEO Action?

We’re going to listen and talk to CEOs. It’s critically important. What do they need? How can we help them drive organizational outcomes? We’re also going to talk to delegates. Delegates are not just the CEO, but the individual within the organization responsible for executing on I&D—we will be surveying them to get their perspective as well. Overall, we want to take the time to get to know our signatories and listen to them.  

There’s a need for objective, data-driven advice and solutions around this. CEOs like data; they like evidence-based solutions. We want to be able to assure them that CEO Action can be that objective, neutral, third-party voice. We can be a trusted adviser to CEOs around this topic to really help drive organizational change.

Tell me more about the data piece. How does that fit in, and why is it important to the cause?

Like any business imperative, it starts with understanding the data. In my opinion, a lot of people don’t look at or understand their data. They might see gaps in their data, which show there could be a problem. But how do you get to the root cause of that? One of the things our team at CEO Action is thinking about is, “How do we add value—from a data perspective—around this?”

A data-driven approach is critically important because companies and CEOs aren’t spending time thinking about this. Understanding talent data, for example, is important. Women are one example—we know that many are not in leadership roles, yet they make up a significant percentage of the workforce. Leaders who understand where their talent pools are and where the gaps are can make more informed decisions that benefit organizational progress.  

A lot of inclusion and diversity efforts have fallen on the shoulders of other company leaders, including HR. How important is it to have multiple people looking after this and trying to foster this in their environments—including HR and CEOs?

It’s critical. The entire executive team has to own it from a business perspective. The CEO is the leader of that team. But the chief marketing officer also must drive it, and the chief people officer, and the chief HR officer; they must all be a good partner to the CEO as it relates to work. I think that’s probably where we’ve made the least progress—the talent pipeline—and really making sure that diverse groups are advancing in the organization.

What’s the biggest challenge you see in inclusion and diversity efforts in the workplace that CEO Action is trying to solve?

CEOs need a trusted adviser around this work who is objective and data-driven and can help drive meaningful change. It’s all about change. We need to bring people together and have everyone marching toward a common goal, and that’s what we’re not doing. Today, people are doing many different things around this work. That’s causing division and friction. 

If we can lay out some research and show what an inclusive culture looks like, what drives it, what derails it, and what are the behaviors you need to demonstrate it as a leader of that culture—that’s going to make a huge difference; that’s going to make progress. There’s a real opportunity for us to be a thought leader.