What’s the first to go when thinking about cuts?
One of the several appointments I have this month (as Black History Month) has been pulled because of budget cuts. While it was a small assignment in the scheme of things, it got me thinking about the proverbial image of throwing the baby out with the bathwater! Let me explain.
These are VUCA times – that is, vulnerable, uncertain, complex and ambiguous times – not least, because of the cost of living crisis and the rising energy costs we’re all thrown into, to name just two. Often when organisations have to cut costs themselves, the first items to go are marketing, maintenance (stock, resources) and staff/organisation development. The latter is of most concern to me largely because staff/organisation development is inextricably linked to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) programmes, which are fundamental to wellbeing and mental health. Also, research demonstrates that DEIB invariably contribute to profitability and creativity.
I want to suggest that DEIB are not characteristics that we can take off or put on. They are not external factors that can be muted, excised or ignored. They are inherent values that are germane to every human being – values that are indispensable to what it means to be human. The only thing is, for many of us, we have been conditioned by certain societal legacies to bury these values in some cases 6ft 6 under, and the job of consultancies like mine is to perform excavation (no, I didn’t say exorcism) and bring people back in touch with these human core values.
So, dispensing with DEIB budgets can be akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. You need to do something good like cutting the budget but in your excessive (inflexible) zeal you discard the essential. And as such, to use another idiom, you cut off your nose to spite your face.
Consequently, we are doing more harm than good, and setting back the good work of bringing about a healthy growth mindset and positive culture change by many years. So, think before you cut. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!!
Week 3 BHM
