WHY IS THERE A PERCEPTION THAT EMPHASISING DEI COMPROMISES EFFECIENCY AND STRATEGIC EXCECUTION? (2025-02-26)

By Jené Palmer CA(SA) GCB.D (CGF Research Institute: Director)

Despite compelling research confirming a strong alignment between Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and corporate financial performance, Goldman Sachs and Deloitte have become the latest big corporations to formally announce that they are reviewing their DEI policies in light of the United States’ revised position on diversity, inadvertently giving credence to claims that diversity policies lead to “reverse discrimination”.   Some critics argue that prioritising DEI may create trade-offs that impact efficiency and strategy execution. Others emphasise that DEI efforts prioritise representation over experience and skills, unnecessarily increase governance complexities, impede decision-making, and detract from organisational alignment, particularly where organisations need to comply with multi-jurisdictional DEI laws and expectations.