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Panel 1
Scene: Kat approaches Hermie.
Kat: “Hermie, I need to diversify my team.”
Hermie: “That’s great news, Kat!”
Panel 2
Hermie (smiling, encouraging): “A more diverse and inclusive workforce strengthens decision-making and builds resilience…”
Kat (arms crossed, nodding): “…Making a healthier workplace. Exactly what I was thinking!”
Panel 3
Kat (cheerfully): “I’m adding birds, fish, maybe even a few mice to the team!”
Hermie (eyes widening slightly): “…Uh, Kat… what kind of team are we talking about again?”
Panel 4
Kat (with knife and fork in hand and a hungry look): “It’s all part of my new DEI initiative — Dine, Eat, and Ingest!”
Hermie (deadpan): “That’s not inclusion, Kat. That’s… consumption.”
About Hermie’s and Kat’s Cartoon
If you’ve worked in HR or leadership long enough, you’ve probably seen a few people like Kat in your day. Managers who want to hire help under their conditions without stopping to ask just exactly who they need to hire and why.
To achieve her goal of a more balanced diet… er, workforce, Kat’s use of the now divisive “diversity” term seems absurd, but not that far-fetched. Too often, organizations treat diversity as a means to appease stakeholders rather than a way to cultivate a better culture. Leaders may dismiss this buzzword as merely a checklist item, marketing campaign, or shiny initiative intended to make the company appear progressive rather than improve its functionality.
Real diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) go deeper. They strengthen how teams think, make decisions, and solve problems. And when supported by evidence-based HR and organizational development practices, DEIB becomes more than a moral imperative; it can drive performance.
What Does This Cartoon Tell Us?
Let’s unpack what Hermie knows instinctively (and Kat, not so much).
Lesson 1: Diversity and Inclusion Strengthen Decision-Making and Innovation
Research consistently shows that diverse teams make better decisions. A meta analysis in 2024 as reported in the International Journal of Applied Research in Social Sciences demonstrated that inclusive initiatives among diverse teams enhanced employee engagement and satisfaction leading to improved decision-making, higher productivity, and boosted performance. McKinsey’s Diversity Wins report furthermore demonstrated that companies in the top quartile for gender and ethnic diversity could produce stronger financial gains.
Why? Because diverse perspectives reduce groupthink and spark creativity. Teams that reflect different life experiences challenge assumptions and consider a wider range of possibilities. This cognitive diversity leads to more innovative products, safer workplaces, and stronger problem-solving cultures.
Hermie has the right idea: don’t treat “diversity” as a buzzword; leverage it as a business advantage. However, the level of effectiveness depends on how well leaders effectively manage and empower their teams.
Lesson 2: Recruiting Should Be Rooted in Job and Work Analysis
Kat’s “menu” approach might make you chuckle, but it reflects a serious error: prioritizing personal preference or superficial criteria over objective job requirements.
Industrial-Organizational Psychology reminds us that valid and reliable selection systems start with work analysis – identifying what tasks, behaviors, and competencies truly matter. A strong job analysis clarifies the skills, knowledge, and abilities (KSAs) a role requires and ensures that recruitment decisions are tied to performance outcomes rather than bias. Good hiring, as with any strategy, starts with data collection and analyzing that data.
When hiring managers “go with their gut,” they often replicate themselves, a phenomenon called similarity bias. Over time, that creates homogeneity, not harmony. After all, who wants to listen to an orchestra of only one instrument playing in unison? Structured interviews, consistent scoring rubrics, and validated assessments replace hunches with fairness and predictive validity. Goals from using these instruments include both predictable performance for immediate and long-term future and fit for the organization’s vision, mission, and values.
Recruiting inclusively doesn’t mean adding “different” for its own sake. It means finding the best candidates through systems that are fair, transparent, and data-driven. More diversity should stem from that.
Lesson 3: Organizational Development Means More Than Filling Seats
True organizational development (OD_ work doesn’t stop at the hire. Getting the right people on board means integrating them into the organization through thoughtful onboarding, socialization, and cultural reinforcement. Formal learning through training and informal learning via teambuilding, mentoring, and reinforcement, shape the norms that yield results.
A healthy organization strives to build Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCBs) – voluntary, positive acts that strengthen collaboration and performance. These behaviors don’t come from compliance training; they come from the culture that stems from the underlying assumptions, values, and normative behaviors and artifacts of the workplace. When new hires see cooperation, respect, and curiosity modeled from the top, they mirror it.
The most effective organizations tie DEIB directly into learning and development. They treat belonging as a skill to be taught and a value to be lived. Employees learn not just how to do their jobs, but how to work together with empathy and accountability.
A Final Word from Hermie
We intended Kat’s “DEI initiative” as a humorous but cautionary tale: diversity without understanding can lead to some messy results… and maybe even a few missing coworkers. Real inclusion doesn’t happen by accident (or appetite); it happens by intentional design and purposeful action. It requires clear processes, consistent leadership behavior, and a culture that invites people to bring their authentic selves to the table (not on the table).
How Does Your Org Stand Up?
If you’re curious about the health of your organization’s culture, how it handles inclusion, belonging, and how adaptable it can be to our ever-changing world, take our free Workplace Culture Scorecard.
This quick and easy instrument can provide insight to see where your culture thrives and where it may need a little less “Dine, Eat, and Ingest” and a little more “Listen, Learn, and Lead.”
Take the Workplace Culture Scorecard here: https://harmoniousworkplaces.com/workplace-culture-scorecard
Get Hermie’s New Book
Hermie the HR Hermit Crab: Out of the Loop, Into the Fire, or HR Hung Out to Dry is now available! Laugh, learn, and rethink workplace culture through sharp HR satire and evidence-based insights.
Learn more and buy your book today: https://harmoniousworkplaces.com/hermie-the-hr-hermit-crab/
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