For the fourth year in a row, Edelman, the company of which I am CEO of the U.S. region, has released data on the state of trust in business as it pertains to racial injustice – a special report affiliated with our flagship Trust Barometer research.
I am guessing the results of our latest survey will elicit one of four reactions: 1. Tell me something I don’t know. 2. I felt like this was the case, and it’s affirming to know what I feel is real. 3. This is shocking and terrible. 4. It doesn’t matter because nothing will change.
Three years after the collective wake-up call wrought by the murder of George Floyd and others, the data reveals that, while concerns about racism are rising, trust in business to assuage them is not:
*Americans are increasingly concerned about racial equity. Sixty-nine percent of Americans are concerned about racial injustice, up 8 points from 2022. Notably, concern from Republicans increased 9 points and those 55+ increased 14 points in the last year.
*Rank and file employees are more likely to say that diversity is good for business than their leaders. Less than one-third of executives say that diversity enhances innovation or helps build trust with customers. Their rank-and-file staff is more likely to say that diversity adds value to both.
As painful as I find the data, I am convinced we must keep asking the questions and compiling the results. Unless we can agree on a starting point, we certainly cannot arrive at an endpoint.
As painful as I find the data, I am convinced we must keep asking the questions and compiling the results. Unless we can agree on a starting point, we certainly cannot arrive at an endpoint.
Lisa Osborne Ross is CEO, Edelman U.S.
*Encouragement to qualify my call for representation as also looking for the most qualified candidate. My reply: qualifications are assumed, table stakes. This is a given.
*New business pitches or portfolio introductions that include perennial, passionate insistence on the value of DEI. When I ask teams what percentage of senior staff is representative, the deflation is palpable.
The research also found that 61 percent of executives are uncomfortable talking about race because they’re afraid they might say something racist.
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Our data shows that racism is still alive, and I’m afraid to say, thriving. Our recommendations for change within companies and in the country call for more accountability, shared understanding, and the empowerment of peer voices. But I believe business will only usher in real change when two things happen. First, when leaders realize that a non-diverse workforce cannot credibly create products and services for a diverse world. And second, when leaders no longer believe that their personal and professional standing is threatened by setting the table in a representative way.
This will help us reach that agreed-upon starting point across institutions to begin dismantling 400 years of injustice – and it will also help business leaders connect with consumers, engage employees, and improve their bottom line.