Gartner: supply chain organizations pursue DEI despite economic pressures

Nearly half of supply chain organizations have formal DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) objectives with specific targets on management scorecards, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. 

The amount of supply chain organizations with formal DEI objectives has risen markedly year-over-year, from 27% in 2022 to 49% in 2023.

“Supply chain organizations may have been expected to take a step back in pursuing DEI objectives in light of increased scrutiny and economic pressures,” Dana Stiffler, Distinguished VP Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain Practice, said in a release. “Our data instead showed strong gains, with a steep increase in representation of underrepresented races and ethnicities at every level of the supply chain. The key driver of these gains is an increase in accountability via formalized management goals.”

The statistics come from Gartner’s 2023 Supply Chain Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Survey, which polled 314 supply chain professionals from North America and Europe with active involvement in their organization’s DEI initiatives. The survey was conducted from September through October 2023, consisting of qualifying organizations with at least $250 million in annual revenues.

One reason for the strong growth is that the data showed strong alignment between DEI and broader business objectives. Among those who have either formal or general DEI objectives, respondents provided the following reasons for having such goals:

• Attracting new talent (68%)
• Engage and retain new employees (64%)
• Improve business performance (58%)
• Attract customers (48%)
• Reflect and support local communities (44%)
• Attract investors (40%)

Beyond formal objectives, a second reason pushing representation higher in 2023 was a greater emphasis on actual DEI initiatives within supply chain organizations. In 2022, while 75% of supply chain organizations reported that they focused on some dimension of diversity, only 40% reported working on specific DEI projects or initiatives. Gartner refers to this gap between intention and tangible action as the “say-do gap.”

“While nearly the same proportion of organizations focused on one or more aspects of DEI in 2023, we saw a much higher percentage of supply chain respondents working on specific DEI projects and initiatives with measurable outcomes, jumping from 40% to 73%,” Stiffler said. “In 2023, the ‘say-do gap’ was reduced to nearly half of what it was in 2021; the connection between tangible action and improved DEI outcomes seems increasingly clear.” 

Overall, the top four DEI initiatives invested in were learning and development (L&D), benefits, employee engagement, and recruitment. On that last point, the survey data revealed that the percentage of full-time employees of underrepresented race/ethnicity in the supply chain organizations evaluated increased from 32% to 48% over the past year.