5 Things / High Potentials

This week I facilitated a conversation with a client about my book Inclusive 360. In the conversation, I was struck by how often my conversations around DEI quickly focus on hiring for diversity. Yes, that’s important, but data tells us that at the entry-level of organizations, the percentage of men vs women, and White people vs BIPOC are fairly balanced. The gaps widen as employees are promoted. Classic unconscious bias.

It’s clear to me that organizations should instead prioritize embedding equity into the employee lifecycle to give everyone a fair shot at success and growth. This includes everything from updating and standardizing the performance review process, to inclusive leader training for managers, and coaching for high potentials. There’s a reason that many organizations are paying out big bonuses right now…it can be far more cost-effective to invest in current employees than hire new ones. 

Yes, we can help you with those things…but here’s how to start making the case for this: share the data that shows it can cost 3x an employee's salary to fill a role (including time spent by other employees as part of the hiring process). Then ask some of your high potentials, “what can we do to keep awesome people like you around?” Listen to the ideas and work through what’s reasonable, bit by bit.

Here are the good vibes I found this week:

  1. Period Poverty: Scotland First in World to Make Period Products Free

  2. Global Consumer Brands Are Wading Into an Uproar Over the Firing of a Popular Female Television Anchor

  3. Ben & Jerry's and Tony's Chocolonely Team Up To Tackle Cocoa Slave Labor

  4. All-Black, All-Female American Airlines Crew Flies From Dallas to Honor Bessie Coleman

  5. Races Are Finally Making Room for Nonbinary Runners, Whose Stories Are Driving the Change


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5 Things / Fired

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5 Things / Everybody In