Another 'win' vs the DEI complex

Following an entirely predictable backlash from their core customer base, tractor makers, Deere to a rapid and uncompromising 180 degree turn on their DEI strategy.

Another global company reverses its hashtag#DEI policy.

John Deere made headlines last week when elements of its radical DEI agenda were published online. The company employs 83,000 people in 30 countries and is one of the leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery.

Last week on X Roddy Starbuck exposed the company's hashtag#Woke strategy and pride activities:

"He highlights the firm's support for the Little Rainbow Run at the Capital City Pride event last month in Des Moines, Iowa, calling it 'creepy' to involve toddlers in an event aimed at 'celebrating what sex you like.'

He also points to the company's embrace of new-wave gender ideology, including staff training sessions on the 'genderbread person,' which casts aside traditional notions of sex in favor of the gender spectrum.

John Deere's website encourages staff to 'use their personal pronouns' in email signatures and correspondence, saying it is a 'sign of mutual respect' for people who do not identify with their biological sex."

As you can imagine, this went down line a lead balloon with the target customer base in the USA and elsewhere and, like Tractor Supply last month and Bud Lite last year, the company has quickly announced it will be reversing its policies.

Most noticeably Deere are announcing that they will no longer participate in or support external social awareness events and Business Reporting will be focused on core activities.

Furthermore, company training will be purged of any and all socially motivated messages whilst retaining civil and state law obligations in each locality.

This mirrors what we recommend FairJob UK where the 6 Rules for Workplace Harmony suggest the same - that employers simply do not get involved in active supporting of any social or political activism or awareness. Taking such positions may seem like a good idea but invariably results in excluding others be they customers or members of staff. In the UK, for example, it is very easy to slip from being an 'active ally' organisation into discriminating against employees.

Increasingly we are seeing more and more companies and employers toning down their DEI to focus on universal inclusivity rather than 'allyship'.