The Ulrich Model Is Killing DEI—And No One’s Brave Enough to Say It
A Model That Changed Everything—And Then Stalled Progress
In 1997, HR got a facelift. Dave Ulrich’s now-legendary model reshaped the profession, offering a clear structure: HR as Strategic Partner, Administrative Expert, Employee Champion, and Change Agent. For a generation, this was considered progress. It professionalized HR, aligned it to business goals, and gave it a seat at the table.
But somewhere along the way, we stopped asking the only question that mattered: progress toward what?
HR became more efficient. More aligned. More structured. But not more human. And as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) emerged as a defining mandate of the 21st-century workplace, we ran into a hard truth: Ulrich’s model wasn’t designed to carry this weight. We’re still trying to retrofit justice into a system built for cost savings. We’re still confusing access with inclusion. And we’re still wondering why it isn’t working.
The problem isn’t DEI. The problem is the operating system HR is still running on.
Melissa’s Story—The Failure of Doing Everything “Right”
Melissa had done everything right. She was a CHRO at a multinational firm with 8,000 employees. After the board publicly committed to equity, she’d moved quickly. Hired a Director of DEI. Rolled out mandatory training. Launched new metrics tied to representation and engagement. She was confident—until the quarterly pulse survey came back.
Women of color were disengaging at higher rates than before. Attrition was rising. Trust was declining. Exit interviews revealed that people didn’t believe the company’s intentions. They saw the messaging. They heard the words. But they didn’t feel power shifting.
Melissa brought the report to the CEO. “We followed the playbook,” she said, quietly. “I know,” he replied. “That’s what scares me.”
This isn’t a one-off. It’s systemic. And it’s why DEI isn’t delivering. Because we’re still playing by the rules of a model that rewards control, not transformation.
The Myth of a Timeless Model
Let’s give Ulrich his due. His model was revolutionary. It reframed HR from a service function into a strategic one. It gave structure and language to a discipline that had been historically reactive and vague. But it was built for a different era.
An era when HR was asked to align with business strategy—not question it.
An era obsessed with optimization, not equity.
An era when diversity wasn’t even in the job description.
We’ve inherited a model that privileges efficiency over inclusion, strategy over justice, and silence over power redistribution. It doesn’t mean Ulrich was wrong for his time. It means we’re wrong for clinging to it now.
Why Ulrich Is Failing DEI—and Failing You
The “Employee Champion” Is Symbolic, Not Structural
The “Employee Champion” role sounds empowering. But in practice, it’s often the weakest link. DEI initiatives are frequently assigned to this space, making it a feel-good title with no teeth. These champions are held accountable for cultural change but rarely have access to real decision-making authority. Calling someone a champion doesn’t make them powerful. It just makes them responsible—without control. If DEI is being stewarded from the margins of your org chart, then it was never designed to succeed.
Siloed Structures Fragment Ownership
Ulrich’s model divides HR into functional silos—Centers of Excellence, Shared Services, and HR Business Partners. DEI gets wedged awkwardly between them. It’s a “priority” that touches everything and owns nothing. No single person, team, or vertical has the full mandate—or the cross-functional pull—to drive systemic transformation. This fragmentation leads to duplication, confusion, and worst of all: performative progress. When everyone owns DEI, no one does.
It Protects the Existing Power Structure
Let’s name the thing: DEI isn’t failing because organizations don’t care. It’s failing because they’re still optimizing for comfort, not disruption. The Ulrich model was never intended to challenge the distribution of power inside organizations. It was meant to align HR to strategic goals—goals that, more often than not, center shareholder value, not shared power. But DEI isn’t a PR campaign. It’s a confrontation with the very systems that decide who gets heard, who gets promoted, and who gets protected. You can’t do that with a model designed to preserve status, not question it.
Measurement Has Become a Shield, Not a Mirror
Ulrich helped introduce HR metrics into the business strategy conversation. But in DEI, we’ve weaponized measurement. Engagement scores and sentiment dashboards give the illusion of momentum, but they often reflect politeness—not trust. We start measuring emotional responses instead of shifting structural conditions. Are we tracking belonging, or tracking the ability to mask discomfort?
It Robs HR of Moral Authority
The more HR tries to mirror the business, the more it loses its soul. Ulrich encouraged alignment—but alignment without challenge leads to silence. And DEI doesn’t need neutrality. It needs nerve. Real DEI work means naming inequity, calling out exclusion, and redesigning decision-making. It requires HR to stop being a support function and start becoming a systemic accountability function. And that means reclaiming HR’s moral voice.
The System Isn’t Broken—It’s Working Exactly as Designed
If your DEI efforts are failing, it’s not because your people aren’t trying. It’s because the system is delivering the exact results it was built to deliver. You can’t patch a justice problem with a compliance model. You can’t drive transformation with an operating system built for transaction. And you certainly can’t empower marginalized voices with a framework that never asked where power resides in the first place.
What’s broken isn’t DEI—it’s the model it’s trapped inside.
The HR Power Model™—What Comes After Ulrich
It’s time for a new framework. One that begins not with structure but with power. One that doesn’t treat DEI as a bolt-on but as a blueprint. The HR Power Model™ is built for the age of systemic accountability. It doesn't just redistribute tasks—it redistributes influence.
Here’s how it’s different.
First, DEI isn’t a department. It’s a design philosophy embedded into hiring, performance, budgeting, and strategy. Every operational decision becomes a DEI decision.
Second, power is mapped—not assumed. We audit who decides what, who gets access, and who is absent from critical systems. Power isn’t hidden; it’s made visible, discussed, and shifted.
Third, HR stops mirroring and starts leading. The HR Power Model™ rejects the idea that HR must mirror the business. Instead, it insists HR redesign the systems that perpetuate bias and exclusion. That includes challenging KPIs, leadership pipelines, and how we define performance.
Fourth, accountability replaces optics. No more symbolic gestures. We tie DEI metrics directly to promotions, funding, and executive incentives. If equity isn’t rewarded, it won’t be sustained.
Finally, culture is understood as a system—not a slogan. We don’t manage culture through surveys. We rebuild it through decision rights, access to power, and clear consequences for harm.
A Message to CEOs and CHROs
You didn’t choose the Ulrich model. You inherited it. That doesn’t mean you have to keep it. If you’re serious about inclusion, belonging, and performance, then stop retrofitting equity into a model built for control.
You don’t need a DEI initiative. You need a new operating system.
One where HR leads the redesign of systems—not the maintenance of rituals. One where power isn’t protected, it’s examined. One where equity isn’t aspirational—it’s measurable, structural, and enforced.
What Comes Next Starts With One Question
Is your HR model capable of building the future you claim to care about?
If not, let’s stop pretending the model is neutral. It isn’t. It never was.
It’s just old.
Your Invitation to Go Deeper
If this resonates—if you feel the strain of running equity through a 1997 operating system—I invite you to schedule a private Executive Briefing.
In 60 minutes, we will:
Examine where Ulrich’s model is limiting your DEI outcomes.
Reveal how power actually moves in your organization.
Introduce The HR Power Model™ as a structural alternative for real transformation.
Schedule Your Executive Briefing
This isn’t about fixing DEI.
It’s about replacing the system that keeps breaking it.