For slightly more than half (52 per cent) of U.S. employers, the chief human resources officer is either partially or fully responsible for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at their company, according to a new survey by XpertHR, a subsidiary of LexisNexis Risk Solutions Group.

The survey, conducted among nearly 400 U.S. employers in May, found the chief executive officer, president or owner is at least partially responsible for DEI at 36 per cent of organizations, followed by volunteer employee groups — such as employee resources groups — at 15 per cent, chief DEI officer (11 per cent), chief operating officer (seven per cent), chief financial officer (five per cent), general counsel (four per cent) and outside consultants (two per cent).

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Approximately one in five (19 per cent) respondents wrote in some sort of “other” option, such as “social justice work group,” “director of community services” or “board of directors.” At 17 per cent of responding organizations, no one is officially responsible for DEI.

“The survey results show that chief DEI officer positions are uncommon and that instead organizations prefer to entrust diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts to their CHRO,” said Andrew Hellwege, surveys editor for XpertHR, in a press release

The survey also covered several DEI-related trainings and found 70 per cent of respondents said anti-harassment training is conducted at their companies, followed by anti-discrimination training (56 per cent) and unconscious bias training (48 per cent). Other DEI training options are less common, such as training on microaggressions (21 per cent), psychological safety (11 per cent) and allyship (10 per cent). Few organizations said they provide DEI training specifically geared toward executives (11 per cent), managers (20 per cent) or non-managers (15 per cent).

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The survey also explored DEI audits and found that fewer than one in five (14 per cent) responding organizations have conducted a DEI audit. Meanwhile, 29 per cent of employers haven’t conducted a DEI audit but are planning to conduct one in the near future, while 39 per cent said their organizations haven’t conducted one and have no immediate plans to do so and 17 per cent weren’t sure.