The company’s board pledged to investors that it would pay closer attention to how the company managed workers.
In Washington, Elon Musk has been at the forefront of Trump administration efforts to gut programs designed to promote diversity.
At the same time, Tesla, the electric car company that Mr. Musk leads, has in recent days, with little notice, tried to appease critics who have accused the company of racial discrimination.
In a little-noticed section of the company’s annual report published on Jan. 29, its board promised to monitor “how Tesla recruits, develops and retains excellent talent.”
For shareholders who have long pushed Tesla to address complaints of racism at its factory in Fremont, Calif., the generic wording seemed to represent a rare case of the company’s changing its behavior in the face of criticism.
For the first time the board was taking responsibility for how the company treats employees, some investors said. It has been accused in lawsuits of being too passive in its oversight of Mr. Musk, who runs several other companies and has been deputized by President Trump to cut government spending.
“This is something we have wanted for a long time,” said Kristin Hull, the founder of Nia Impact Capital, an investment fund based in Oakland, Calif., that has filed shareholder resolutions calling on the board to take a more active role.