SHRM Should Be Ashamed

The Society for Human Resource Management is the leading voice for HR professionals – and it’s using that voice to push a divisive, race-based agenda.

A tipster recently sent us a copy of a SHRM Webinar from October. Sponsored by Aetna, which is part of CVS Health, the webinar was entitled: “Addressing Health Inequities In the Workforce.” The webinar itself is centered on the idea that racism and discrimination are rife in healthcare. 

The webinar uses this pretext to push even discriminatory policies and practices. For instance, the moderator states that “diversity and inclusion are critical; you can’t get to health equity without it.” He also calls it “more than a moral imperative; it’s a business imperative.” This is a pretext for hiring people based on their skin color. Yet sacrificing merit for diversity could lead to worse health outcomes.

One webinar presenter also calls for “increased collection of race and ethnicity data of employees.” Another presenter states that “every business decision should be made through an equity lens.” In other words, SHRM wants healthcare employers to fixate on race to the exclusion of everything else.

The moderator also asks what organizations can do to make health equity a reality. The answer, from a presenter who works at the major consulting firm Deloitte: 

“The key here is having a strategy that has clear goals and measures that are tied to those goals. We’ve seen a lot of impact when there’s performance incentives tied to the health equity goal. It needs an all-enterprise approach so that everyone has to be invested in that kind of change; so bonuses and other ways to tie incentives are important.”

Don’t be surprised if your healthcare provider or employer takes this advice. Physicians and employees may soon be paid (or punished) according to how much they focus on people’s race. If only the Society for Human Resource Management was this concerned about individual health and well-being. SHRM should be ashamed.