Looking Busy Isn’t Progress: The Trap of Performative DEI

Looking busy for the sake of looking busy

A byproduct of my writing is that a number of my peers (DEI professionals) have reached out to me for chats and, most recently, advice. (Ps. I don’t make any money out of it, but people are welcome to buy me coffee or lunch).

One story that came up recently: an organisation wanted to run a survey focused on psychosocial safety. Now, that’s a legitimate workplace health and wellbeing issue — but is it really a direct inclusion priority? The motivation behind it wasn’t about driving meaningful cultural change. Instead, it was about ticking a box, showing they were doing something “new” this year, and reassuring leaders that DEI was being “seen to be done.”

This is the classic trap of looking busy for the sake of looking busy. It’s performative. It gives the illusion of action without the substance of impact.

The risk here is twofold:

• Wasted resources. Time, money, and people’s energy get diverted into initiatives that aren’t connected to a bigger plan.

• Loss of trust. Employees aren’t dense. They notice when an organisation repeats the same shallow cycle of “initiative → comms announcement → silence.” Over time, this undermines credibility.

Sooner or later, you’ll be found out. Because employees don’t just want surveys, slogans, or one-off events — they want to see genuine progress that connects to their lived experiences and to the way the business operates.

 So why do organisations keep doing this? A few possible reasons:

• DEI is not seen as integral to business strategy. If inclusion sat alongside revenue growth, compliance, or risk in the strategic plan, leaders wouldn’t allow it to be treated like a side project.

• A culture of optics over outcomes. Many leaders believe being seen to act is enough — that visibility equals impact.

• Short-term thinking. Quick wins look good in reports, even if they don’t solve root causes.

• Underestimation of employees. There’s sometimes an implicit assumption that staff won’t notice or won’t care if initiatives don’t add up. In reality, people do notice, and they disengage when they feel patronised.

• Fear of accountability. Running a performative initiative is “safer” than tackling structural inequities that may expose uncomfortable truths about leadership, culture, or systems.

Would leaders treat a business plan this way — by throwing in a survey or event without clear outcomes, measures, or integration with strategy? Of course not. Yet somehow, with DEI, the bar is lower.

If inclusion is truly part of business success, it cannot be run like a side hobby or PR exercise.

Reflection Questions

For leaders, DEI professionals, and teams to consider:

1. Strategic Alignment If this initiative weren’t branded as “DEI,” would it stand up to the same scrutiny as a business plan? How does this activity directly link to the organisation’s strategic objectives or performance outcomes?

2. Employee Perception Do we underestimate how much employees notice about performative actions? How might employees interpret our initiative — as meaningful change or as another tick-box exercise?

3. Motivation & Intent Are we doing this because it will create real impact, or because it’s convenient and easy to showcase? If we stripped away the comms and glossy reporting, would we still run this initiative?

4. Long-Term Value What evidence do we have that this will drive sustained change, rather than short-term optics? How will this initiative be built upon, scaled, or integrated into ongoing strategy?

5. Accountability Who is responsible for ensuring this initiative delivers outcomes, not just activity? How will we hold ourselves accountable if employees call out performative behaviour?

If you wouldn’t accept this level of thinking in your business plan, why is it acceptable in your DEI plan?

Looking busy isn’t the same as making progress — and employees know the difference.

#Inclusion #Leadership #CultureChange #DiversityEquityInclusion #BusinessStrategy #Accountability #EmployeeVoice