Inclusion Isn’t a Solo Job: Time to Share the Load
Good intentions are not enough. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) needs to be a collective responsibility from leadership to all levels of the team.
If you’re responsible for DEI in your organisation — whether you’re in HR, People & Culture, or a leadership role — you’ve probably noticed a pattern. Organisations genuinely want to do better, and leaders often try to create fair, respectful, thriving workplaces. Sometimes they even create a very progressive, well-considered DEI action plan alongside creating full DEI committees or advisory groups. But when the time actually comes for implementation, the resources, time, and commitment are often nowhere to be found. And before you know it, it’s time for a progress report on the action plan, and the answer is… There is no progress.
So let’s talk about why good intentions aren’t enough, and how organisations can avoid the most common DEI pitfalls.
The Myth of the DEI Superstar
I’ll let you in on a secret that makes some people uncomfortable: your DEI person can’t change the whole organisation on their own.
Those 80 actions in your plan? Who is going to do them – cause I can tell you now, if your DEI person is responsible for all of them, this plan ain’t going to get done (unless of course your DEI person is a member of the Executive and has a team supporting them – which by the way should be the goal).
Despite having the DEI council and leadership buy-in, often the council just becomes a place where more ideas and work is generated, not actually done. And often the resources assigned to the implementation of the plan are the DEI person – and that’s all.
If your organisation expects one person to play the role of strategist, trainer, data analyst, counsellor, recruiter, event planner, therapist, and policy advisor, all on a budget of zero? That’s not inclusion. That’s a job description with a built-in burnout clause.
The Burnout Problem No One Talks About
Burnout in DEI is compounded by the fact that many folk who gravitate towards these roles have themselves experienced (or are experiencing) exclusion or harassment because of who they are. Once you secure your DEI role, you are now the gatekeeper – the person who reads the comments on the staff survey, the one who hears about and is expected to give advice on the bigoted actions of a leader, the one who constantly manages folk who are well-intentioned but just can’t stop making microaggressions.
So then add responsibility for a piece of work that is way outside their capacity, and you have a great recipe for burnout. It’s not just the workload, it’s the psychological impact of not getting it right – not removing the barriers.
Organisations need to create boundaries around the role. Protect your DEI people, provide them with counselling or coaching support. Respect their capacity. And please stop assuming they can support 2,000 staff on their own.
Build Collective Accountability
One of the biggest shifts an organisation can make is to stop seeing DEI as a side project and start embedding it into every team’s responsibility. That means:
Department leaders have specific DEI actions to implement
Team leaders are trained and supported to lead inclusively
HR and Comms aren’t just consulted, they’re collaborators
Progress is tracked, reviewed, and rewarded
This work is everyone’s business, and progress only happens when responsibility is shared and resourced.
What Next?
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Yikes, we’ve done exactly what you described,” don’t panic. You’re not alone.
The solution isn’t to give up or throw out your action plan. It’s to stop relying on good intentions and start putting structures in place that make progress possible.
Start by asking:
Who is actually responsible for each item in your DEI plan?
Are those people trained, resourced, and supported?
Is leadership modelling inclusive behaviour or just endorsing it?
And most importantly: are you creating the conditions for your DEI person to thrive, or to burn out?
DEI isn’t a solo sport. Let’s stop treating it like one.
If you’re ready to shift from intention to implementation, that’s where I come in. I work with DEI and People & Culture leaders to build realistic, resourced action plans and equip leaders to share responsibility for inclusion — not just talk about it.
Explore how my DEI Thrive program or Inclusive Leadership Workshops can help your organisation build momentum that lasts. Let’s make meaningful progress, together.
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