How Do Organizations Address Anti-DEI Pressure? Problematization and Perspectivization

Abstract

Underneath headlines that decree organizations are increasingly abandoning or rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in response to anti-DEI pressures, we argue thathoworganizations are doing this warrants further focus. While the strategy literature speaks to tactics for addressing institutional pressures, missing in the study of how organizations address anti-DEI pressures is consideration of how HRM systems impact and are impacted by such action. Incorporating a strategic human resource management (SHRM) view, we offer three approaches—all of which are substantiated with evidence from contemporary organizations—that range in the extent to which organizations resist or embrace anti-DEI pressures. The common thread linking these approaches is that each one moves beyond an oversimplified emphasis on “alignment.” We do not advocate misalignment per se but underscore how the nuances embedded in each approach reflect the intentionality of organizations and how they consider contingencies (i.e., external alignment) and configurations (i.e., internal alignment) in proactively adapting HRM systems in response to anti-DEI pressures. In advancing these views, we develop an agenda to drive future empirical research addressing the intersection of DEI backlash and HRM.