A Minneapolis jury in April found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter for the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. Floyd’s murder “created a cultural awareness throughout the organization around [Diversity and Inclusion], and it created this real-life, horrifying example of racism in our society,” said Tara Ataya, chief people and diversity officer at Hootsuite. So reports HR Dive. The trauma and grief that followed right after Floyd’s death also spurred a learning experience for companies and moved some employers to address problems internally, Ataya said.

Floyd’s murder “provided the most clear illustration that many corporations had ever seen of not just police brutality, but also the inherent inequities that a lot of our citizens face,” said Aaron Burrell, member of Dickinson Wright's litigation practice and co-chair of the firm's diversity and inclusion committee. “Never could we have had these discussions without the framework and backdrop of a very clear instance of injustice.”

There needs to be ongoing commitment and action by employers with the D&I initiatives started or enhanced after the Floyd murder, Ataya added. That means having HR, marketing and public relations all engaged in keeping D&I efforts in the spotlight. But the most senior executives outside HR also need to drive and lead these efforts if they are to be sustainable.

Since Floyd’s killing, 85% of chief human resource officers from more than 390 of the largest employers in the U.S. and globally said that they have expanded inclusiveness activities and boosted involvement of C-suite executives, according to the HR Policy Association Annual Membership Survey. That survey also found that 70% of CHROs started or expanded unconscious bias training, while 51% started focusing on hiring from educational institutions with strong concentrations of students of color.

There also has been a shift in language that organizations were not using prior to Floyd’s death, Human Resource Executive reports. “Organizations started using words like ‘structural racism’ and ‘racial injustice’ or ‘social injustice,’ words they were not using before,” said Kerrien Suarez, executive director of Equity in the Center in Washington, D.C. “That shift in language is notable, and it resulted in a significant amount of unrest within companies because they were using language that people on their board might not be comfortable with.”

HR overall also needs to confront a less than stellar track record of taking bold action when dealing with tough workplace decisions, said Lauren Tucker, CEO and founder of inclusion management consultancy Do What Matters. “HR has allowed itself to sully its own reputation," Tucker said. "Too many of the people who've been running HR departments… have been seen as enablers of bad actors in an effort to protect the C-suite rather than transforming the C-suite.”

HR needs to step it up and make clear that they are capable of helping their organizations implement structural changes that make inclusion central to all operations, she added. “HR needs to understand itself as part of that mission and needs to start speaking that language,” Tucker said. “That's something I haven't seen HR leaders do effectively.”

Companies also should be mindful of any statements recognizing the one year anniversary of Floyd’s death, global communications consultancy Ketchum noted. While an employer may be tempted to talk about what it has done to improve equality internally, fallout from reputational risk could be a major headache if they can’t back up the talk.

“Remember, this moment is inherently not about your organization, it’s about the Black community—and the brutality it has suffered at the hands of police and the systemic racism that continues to oppress it,” Ketchum noted. “Unless your organization has ‘done the work’ to become an antiracist organization and has made significant progress against its commitments over the past year, think twice before making a public statement during this moment.”

Employers need to be cognizant of the solemn nature of the one year anniversary and treat it as such as opposed to approaching it like a holiday or yearly D&I day, according to Ketchum. “Remember to meaningfully center your Black employees,” it noted. “Be prepared with messaging about where your company is on its social justice journey, but be careful that it does not overplay or spin your progress to date.”

The takeaway for HR and employers is to stick with their commitments over the long-haul and to remain proactive players for workplace equity, Human Resource Executive reports.

A willingness to engage with Black workers and encouraging them to share how they feel is crucial moving forward, with HR an important part of making that happen, said Josh Saterman, managing partner, CEO and founder of Saterman Connect. “HR leaders can reinforce building relationships, breaking down silos and enhancing communication by expecting their leaders to lead by example,” Saterman said. “During this time, setting an example looks like listening, creating awareness and building bridges to open up hearts and minds.”