Real Talk: Aspiration vs. Reality in DE&I commitments

Last month, our team welcomed strategic marketing consultant and author, Deborah Farone, as a guest panelist in our DE&I webinar, Aspiration vs. Reality: How to Attract Candidates & Clients Without Letting Them Down Due to Inauthentic DE&I Commitments. Watch the webinar here and read our commentary below!

For the past several years, there has been a renewed effort to increase people’s awareness about the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), as well to embed DE&I into an organization’s culture. Some law firms have done more than others, and many are evaluating their efforts as to whether their commitment to DE&I is authentic, meaning it’s a true commitment to their people, or performative, meaning it’s being done in name only in order to create the appearance of a meaningful commitment.

Clients, too, are evaluating their law firm’s commitment by asking firm leaders to complete detailed questionnaires and surveys that capture information about the actual demographics of their law firms, the makeup of attorneys, business services professionals and support staff. With this level of transparency, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for law firm leaders to rationalize a lack of progress as it relates to DE&I.

Where law firms have done well is with their promotion and marketing about DE&I efforts. Firm representatives are visible at diverse recruiting events and firm websites have been refreshed with compelling DE&I language – all in an effort to attract and hire diverse talent. But is this a smart strategy? Is it opening up the possibility of actually creating more harm than good by making two different commitments: one to those who might want to work at the firm and one to those who already do? And will there be alignment between what you say you’re doing and the reality within the firm, which will be evident in the questionnaires your clients are requesting you to complete.

Loeb Leadership assembled a panel of DE&I, consulting and marketing experts to explore this complex issue. Here’s what they had to say on the topic during a recent live webinar:

Do you see law firms using DE&I language in the external marketing efforts, and if so, why do you think that is?

I absolutely do. And although I want to believe they are doing this for the good of society, a majority of firms are doing this because they are being forced to by two very important group: recruits and clients. - Deborah Farone, legal marketing expert

How does a client raise this issue with their legal firm?

Typically, there has been a DE&I question in the RFP. But RFPs are far more sophisticated today and the question related to DE&I are more fulsome. I’ve also recently seen in two large companies interim questionnaires where they ask their legal firms for information on who is actually working on their cases, and are those people diverse. – Deborah Farone

Does it matter what’s driving the DE&I efforts within a firm so long as it’s being done?

Yes, it does matter. There needs to be alignment within senor leadership as to why the firm is making the investment. If you have a handful of senior leaders who believe the firm is making the investment simply as an exercise in checking a box, then it will be far more challenging for those leaders to embrace the necessary changes to achieve DE&I outcomes, as compared to leaders who feel there is moral obligation to make the investment. – David Robert, organizational culture expert

You can easily tell where a firm’s priorities are by where they spend their time and money. DE&I efforts can’ be delegated to one small group of people. It needs to be embedded into the DNA of the firm and that starts at the top. It has to be embraced by senior leadership and seen as a business imperative. DE&I does impact how we show up with clients, that’s a business case. – Taris Mullins, DE&I expert

What’s your perspective on firms taking a public stance on divisive social or political issues?

There’s a difference between taking a public stance and demonstrating support for your people, and you are saying something by remaining silent. – Joy Stephens, DE&I expert

Law firms have sort of morphed into personalities. When we think about specific law firms, we immediately think about the attributes of those firms and people will create perceptions about those firms based on those attributes and whether they do take a stance on important issues. When my firm was considering making a public statement on a sensitive issue, we considered the questions of who will this statement affect and how. – Deborah Farone

I don’t know how can choose to not take a stand, especially if you have externalized a commitment to DE&I. You need to back up that commitment with action. – David Robert

Why is there often a lack of alignment between external marketing messaging and the lived experience of people within that firm?

When I think about the lack of alignment, I think about New Year’s resolutions. We are really good at articulating what we want, but we are terrible at executing. DE&I is a promise to your people, and fulfilling that promise requires hard work. – David Robert

I think firm leaders must ask themselves who they are being held accountable to for executing against DE&I commitments. – Taris Mullins

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