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Daisy Auger-Dominguez’s mission is to make workplaces more equitable and inclusive. With her expertise in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion, she inspires global leaders and organizations to think inclusively, lead with purpose, embrace courage, and shape the future of work. Daisy began her career as a Credit Rating Analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, transitioned into the role of the first chief diversity officer, and has not looked back ever since. Her talent soon brought an opportunity to serve Time Warner as the Managing Director for Executive Search. In the following years, she drove diversity and inclusion initiatives at Disney ABC Television Group, Google, and Viacom. Currently, she serves as the Chief People Officer at VICE Media, overseeing its divisional HR functions, from recruitment to developing, onboarding, and engaging their global teams of over 2400 employees across 25 countries. Daisy is also penning a book, Inclusion Revolution, to inspire everyone, from an individual to CEO, to take on the work of dismantling inequity in the workplace.
Have you noticed any change in the outlook of organizations regarding diversity and inclusion?
Organizations are starting to understand the significance of diverse and inclusive work culture. They know that without diversity, inclusivity, and cultural tolerance, reputation stands on a fragile line. Today, every board member is on high alert as they know that they are just one social media post away from reputational oblivion. In a nutshell, we have changed as individuals, companies, and society.
People who were once silenced have found their voice, and they are exercising it to bring a positive change in today’s workplaces on a global scale. Interestingly, people who were oblivious before, intentionally or not, about the injustices inflicted on various races, colors, ethnicities, and countries are starting to understand the impact of these actions. For all of us who are trying to eliminate racism, discrimination, and other biases from our workspace, this is a good start.
What are the challenges an organization faces while implementing diversity and inclusion?
Various challenges are hindering the implementation of diversity and inclusion. First is the fear of saying the wrong thing and being called out. All of us have struggled through this one time or another. I know through my experience how fear can hold you back. So, we need to manage this fear. If you genuinely try and care about your employees, you will surely make your team productive! Last year at VICE Media Group, we doubled down on supporting our managers and provided them with training, resources, and encouragement in managing complexity across teams.
The second is a poor design that comes in the form of asking wrong questions or no question at all. Most companies do not seek feedback from women, black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), who are the main subject of this conversation. Instead, they focus heavily on the representation numbers and outrightly ignore the cultural and environmental elements that drive exclusion. Building trust and engagement becomes much easier when you make people feel like their opinions are valuable for the organization. We need a culture that promotes allyship and supports every employee by giving them a sense of belonging.
Diversity Fatigue is the third challenge. The work behind this change takes time, energy, strength, and patience, making it quite hard to stay interested, focused, and committed, especially when we see no progress. So, a risk that looms large is passivity and tuning out of the mission.
In the case of diversity and inclusion, there is no one-size-fits-all rule book. Every company has its troubles; so, the solutions must be specific to them. However, I have used a model that I share with leaders to help them jumpstart the process. My book, Inclusion Revolution, focuses on this topic.
First, leaders need to reflect and understand what they are afraid of, what they are enthusiastic about, and what ideas they have regarding their organization’s growth. Secondly, they need to visualize and understand the drawbacks of their organizational climate and its systemic as well as structural barriers to build better processes, behavioral norms, and policies for their employees. The third is all about taking action. Leaders need to analyze and accept the practices that work best and align well with their organization’s DNA. I call it pure pragmatism, where we fix one part of a broken system at a time. And the last one is persistence. Working through one’s discomfort is a significant step for an individual to consider and change their point of view and, in turn, change the overall work culture. It is difficult for anyone to acknowledge their shortcomings, but having that acceptance and willingness to pivot and make positive tweaks over time can help them become more agile as they overcome these challenges.
How does the future look like for diversity and inclusion programs?
I believe that the future of work culture is here, and we are in it. We are building new work models where work is far more connected, digitally engaging, and forward-thinking. Today, offices are turning into hubs of creativity, collaboration, and inclusion. However, this paradigm shift surely brings more challenges for leaders, pushing them to learn how to better build, manage, and engage distributed teams. The pandemic has already driven leaders to reinvent their leadership capabilities to ensure better parity between in-office and remote employees.
At VICE Media Group, we are firmly focused on building a radically inclusive and equitable workplace where leaders and managers are resilient, empathetic, and anti-racist. We are building a culture where creativity and innovation go hand-in-hand and are willing to test, iterate, and pivot so that everyone in our organization can be successful, both professionally and personally. In case of diversity and inclusion, there is no one-size-fits-all rule book. Every company has its troubles, and the solutions must be specific to them
