Dr. Shruti Kapoor on being part of a DEI Board and how to evaluate its success
Dr. Shruti Kapoor is an Indian economist, gender equality activist and the founder of Sayfty Trust, an NGO with a mission to educate and empower women and girls against gender-based violence. Dr. Kapoor serves on the global advisory diversity and inclusion board of L'Oréal and was named one of the most influential people in global policy in 2019 by Apolitical.
Dr. Kapoor holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Riverside, and has worked with international organizations such as The World Bank and UN Women. She has served as an Adjunct Professor of Economics at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA. More recently she was a teaching fellow at the CSIS Executive Program at University of Pennsylvania.
Dinal: As a member of the inaugural Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Board at L’Oreal, what is the role of such a board?
Dr. Shruti: The role of L’Oréal’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board is to provide guidance on the company’s various policies and initiatives. The purpose is to ideate as a collective of internal and external thought leaders on pervasive efforts to influence and reimagine social and inclusive strategies that support L’Oréal’s Global Diversity and Inclusion mission.
There are 3 main objectives of this Advisory Board:
1) Aim to enrich L’Oréal’s D&I strategy and to contribute to an action plan to move forward on their topics (Gender including LGBTQ+, Disability, Age and Socio-Economic & Multicultural Origins)
2) Enable external experts to react and provide orientations, insights on social issues that pertain to L’Oréal’s ability to be an inclusive leader, as well as suggesting ways to amplify their commitments and
3) Influence internal policies & practices.
Dinal: For other companies that may be thinking about setting up their own DEI Board, where is the best place to start and how do you measure success?
Dr. Shruti: The best place to start is to engage the organization at the executive level. Starting with robust commitment and backing from senior-level executives is crucial and having this is key to ensure visibility, accountability, impact, and growth. Establishing DEI as one of the organization’s core pillars helps ensure that everyone in the organization is committed to a more representative and inclusive workplace.
The success of the Board can be measured by the tangible DE&I actions taken by the organization. Here are some examples from L’Oréal:
Recruitment of diverse profiles and representative teams: L’Oréal’s workforce consists of individuals from 170 nationalities across 68 countries, promoting diversity within their organization.
Gender balance in leadership: L'Oréal demonstrates gender balance by having 50% women on their Board of Directors and 50% women in top key positions.
Renewal of the Board for another term: an ongoing investment demonstrates commitment and dedicate towards the DEI objectives as well as benefits to the organization.
Establishing DEI as one of the organization’s core pillars helps ensure that everyone in the organization is committed to a more representative and inclusive workplace.
Dinal: What has been your biggest learning since taking on this role in the context of your global NGO work?
Dr. Shruti: There have been plenty of learnings since I took on this advisory board role 2.5 years ago.
It is challenging to initiate a change of this magnitude within a large organization. Improving DEI necessitates a cultural shift which can be particularly difficult for several reasons. Deep-rooted beliefs, values and norms can create resistance to change. People are often resistant to change because it involves introducing new perspectives and behaviors that are unfamiliar, leading to fear and uncertainty. For example individuals may fear the potential loss of their jobs or being treated differently. Additionally, organizational hierarchies and power dynamics can impede cultural shifts as they may hinder buy-in and support from leaders within the organization.
However, with the dedicated commitment of key senior individuals, it can yield significant benefits, including enhanced retention, unbiased hiring processes, increased workplace engagement, and improved productivity. For instance, L'Oréal collaborates closely with its suppliers throughout the supply chain to extend their DE&I commitment. This, in turn, amplifies the positive impact for individuals involved in producing the materials, goods, and services that the company globally purchases.
People are often resistant to change because it involves introducing new perspectives and behaviors that are unfamiliar, leading to fear and uncertainty.
Data always helps tell the story. In the NGO world, it's often challenging to measure impact or convince stakeholders to invest in development programs and policies. Private sector does an excellent job at measuring impact. L'Oréal excels at measuring their DE&I improvements. For instance, since 2007, L'Oréal has collaborated with the Economix Institute, which brings together renowned public research entities (INED, CNRS, and Université Paris X), to conduct an annual gender pay gap analysis in France. The analysis focuses on median, mean, and adjusted mean pay gaps between men and women. This serves as an excellent example of utilizing data to measure the gender pay gap and track its evolution over time, thereby measuring progress.
Your brand should reflect your commitments. L'Oréal's commitment to DE&I is ingrained in their brands. They actively support and collaborate with their communities and partners to foster greater diversity. For instance, L'Oréal is a member of the Unstereotype Alliance, an industry-led initiative convened by UN Women, which brings together advertisers, industry leaders, and creators to eradicate harmful stereotypes in advertising. They provide DE&I training to all their employees (over 75K since 2007) and offer a range of 80+ learning resources in this area.