Solving Misguided Diversity
A 3-minute segment of the Misguided Diversity presentation
YouTube link: https://youtu.be/sugfWnHW8mA
Fixing the DEI acronym
What's in a name? Rico puts his language and culture chops to work, showing that this is not just arguing about semantics.
YouTube link: https://youtu.be/waUdxE5dwEQ
Let Us Become Better Humans, Together
A Value-Based Approach for Medium-Sized Businesses
Informed by cultural anthropology, sociolinguistics, and marketing, Rico Paul Vallejos helps privately held, small, and medium-sized businesses achieve inclusion goals through a comprehensive personal and professional development initiative while avoiding the pitfalls of traditional DEI and Diversity training programs (by whatever names they may go now).
Acknowledging that "diversity" and "DEI" had become controversial years ago, he recommends avoiding this and other divisive language when promoting Inclusion.
While some public corporations have doubled down on DEI and others have either ditched or scaled back their programs, CEOs of privately held medium-sized companies can face a more formidable challenge: finding a balance between pleasing (or appeasing) employees and consumers at both extremes of our polarized society without the resources of large public corporations.
Costco's response to anti-DEI activists can serve as a model to follow, presenting a solid business case for inclusion. Time will tell if their choice of keeping the "DEI" label was right, but their emphasis on values (such as respect and inclusion) is right on the money. They state that “... among other things, a diverse group of employees helps bring originality and creativity to our merchandise offerings, promoting the ‘treasure hunt’ that our customers value.”
Says, Matteo Gatti, Law Professor, Rutgers University, "... the investor community doesn’t think that having a tough stance on DEI makes financial sense... Investors are saying they don’t want ideological shareholders to drive business.”
Fact: Anti-DEI proposals have little investor support, averaging less than 2% of shareholder support as of April 2025. It won't be long before investors can no longer vote on social issues that are unrelated to profitability.
DEI and MEI
(Diversity-Equity-Inclusion and Merit-Excellence-Intelligence)
A false dichotomy
Understanding that DEI and MEI are not mutually exclusive, Rico helps organizations use components of both models in a holistic strategy to create and sustain a culture that values the excellence of individual merit and the creativity and innovation of diverse perspectives within an inclusive workplace.
Company-Market Value Alignment
Rico's Company-Market Value Alignment model offers a unique 360-degree approach to business. Think Marketing meets Organizational Development.
Starting with your Mission, Vision, and Values (which we can develop or update together), we do a market scan using qualitative research methodologies beyond regular market research. We then do the value alignment work, creating a relevant initiative customized to your organization, considering your team's skillset and your market's needs and wants vis-à-vis your brand.
Your company runs on talent
A Company-Market Value Alignment's inside/outside focus fosters an organizational culture aligned with market needs while empowering team members to grow personally and professionally.
Rico will work with you and your team to develop metrics to track the benefits of a Company-Market Value Alignment initiative:
• Higher productivity and profitability
• Lower turnover and reduced absenteeism
• Improved teamwork, communication, and collaboration
• Increased innovation and creativity
• Lower workers’ compensation costs
• Enhanced customer satisfaction
• True corporate culture authenticity
• More engaged employees and a stronger employer brand
Schedule a free consultation today.
Skills First
9 April 2025
A good example of MEI (Merit, Excellence, Intelligence) in action
Working with educators, employers, and policymakers to develop solutions that build economic mobility and opportunity through skills, the Burning Glass Institute developed the Skills-First Workforce Initiative.
This initiative provides a skills-based language for hiring and assessing that can be especially useful for non-traditional hires like veterans, who struggle to translate their experience in the armed forces to corporate America.
24 February 2025
Time to shed the acronym
As I said in my November 14, 2024 talk, I discourage using the DEI acronym because it has become controversial—the acronym, not the concept. The term "diversity" has been controversial for decades—again, the term, not the concept. In the short videos on this page, you'll hear me state the importance of diverse perspectives, of team members feeling included, and of the need for humans to live and work in community with respect and dignity.
In my presentation and during a talk on DEI vs. Marketing a few years ago, I also mentioned how corporations have erred in strategy and often even in the talent they selected to lead DEI efforts. In this recent NPR article, How Corporate America Got DEI Wrong, Maria Aspan sheds light on some of these issues.
This is all about the evolution of DEI and not the end. We need better strategies and tactics than the old diversity training and the current DEI initiatives. Perhaps MEI (Merit, Excellence, and Intelligence) is a viable alternative to replace traditional DEI's ineffective and discriminatory elements (even if only perceived). Think about it: When addressing conflict of interest, for example, we focus not only on actual conflict of interest, but also on potential conflict of interest and perceived conflict of interest. All of them matter. It is a matter of trust.
Regarding the Intelligence aspect of MEI, I focus on three intelligences: IQ, EQ, and CQ. The last one, cultural intelligence, is a new critical addition to the intelligences needed in business and life in the 21st century. I address this in this short video as I make the case for intercultural competence (here's the direct link to YouTube).