5 Things / Perspectives
Last weekend I was in Ireland for my aunt’s funeral. The trip was full of storytelling and laughter, and bonding with my sister who’s 16 years older than me and of a different generation. We had vastly different childhoods and different perspectives on the world. At one point while we were chatting with a cousin about my work, my sister brought up decades-old attempts to diversify workforces where under-qualified candidates were supposedly hired because of quotas for roles they had “no business being in.”
Let’s settle this question in 2022: does setting diversity hiring targets lower the bar?
Here’s what I told my big sis:
Replacing employees is very expensive, anywhere from 50-150% of the position’s salary.
Given that cost, I don’t believe an organization would deliberately set itself up to fail by hiring someone who wasn’t qualified, simply to check a box. Do you?
I don’t. She wasn’t so easily convinced…
Here are the good vibes I found this week:
The YWCA of Worcester (Massachusetts) hired a construction company with women leaders to lead its $17 million renovation project and the results brought greater inclusion and more equitable spaces. Every project leader was a woman. 10% of tradespeople on the project were women. And the space, which includes transitional housing, now has more rooms, more space for childcare, etc. This matters because it’s an illustration of how diverse perspectives on the planning team lead to more inclusive outcomes.
Instagram added a new tag feature for professional accounts and influencers that ensures they received credit for their content. This is in response to Black users not receiving proper credit or compensation for their original ideas. These people make their living from producing social media content but white influencers make twice as much money as Black influencers with similar-sized audiences. This matters because adding the tag to allow for proper attribution may reduce this pay disparity.
More than 60 companies including our clients Johnson & Johnson and Google, signed a full page ad in the Dallas Morning News slamming Gov. Abbott’s directive to have parents of transgender kids investigated for child abuse. A temporary injunction on the hurtful directive is in effect. Businesses took a few weeks to make this happen but I’m glad they finally spoke up because this matters to young LGBTQ+ people who struggle to find self-love when faced with such hate.
Speaking of Texas, Citigroup will now pay employees’ travel costs for any employee who travels for an abortion because their state has restricted access. This follows similar stances taken by other companies, including Match Group, Bumble, Lyft, and Uber. Though there are only a handful of companies, this is the start of something that I hope becomes a trend because employees should have the right to any and all healthcare they choose for themselves.
JustAnswer’s support for its 250 Ukrainian employees is remarkable. The company paid moving fees for relocation, rent on new leases, hotel stays and bus fare, salary for employees who join the military, and more. This matters because it shows