The Equity Report

Every year the company publishes a diversity, equity, and inclusion report. Sixty-four pages. Full color. Photography by an agency that charges more for the shoot than any of the people in the photographs make in a month.

The charts go up. Hiring of underrepresented groups: up three percent. Retention: not in the report. Promotion rates by demographic: not in the report. Pay equity analysis: referenced but not published. The methodology is “proprietary.” The CEO writes a letter on page one that includes “we know we have more work to do,” same phrase as last year. The work never gets described.

The Chief Diversity Officer has a title and a budget and a seat at a table that is not the table where decisions get made. She reports to the Chief People Officer, who reports to the COO, who reports to the CEO. Three layers between the person whose job is equity and the person whose job is everything else. She can recommend. She cannot require.

There is a version of this report that would cost the company something. The pay gap by race and gender at every level. The attrition rate for underrepresented employees. The number of discrimination complaints and what happened to each one. That report exists. The CDO wrote it. It was described as “not ready” and “needing additional context.”

The published report won an award. Corporate communications. Recognizing excellence in stakeholder transparency. The award is framed. The draft is in a drawer.

The report is the accountability. That is the whole trick. Publish the report. Win the award. Point to the report when someone asks. The question was never “are you equitable?” The question was “do you have a report?” They do. Sixty-four pages. Full color. Up three percent.