5 Things / setting standards
My new book, Inclusive 360, is now available for pre-orders and will be released on September 21! I'm very excited.
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The biggest story in diversity, equity, and inclusion this past week was the U.S. Nasdaq securities exchange's new rules that require listed companies to disclose board diversity and have a diverse slate of Directors. Companies must now have at least one woman and one BIPOC or LGBTQ person.
It's a pretty low bar, to be honest. And if you read the fine print, there are some exceptions for newly-listed companies. Still, this matters, in part, because it's rare. The larger NY stock exchange doesn't yet require this. Ultimately, I believe that policy change, even with these bare minimum standards, is the way forward with DEI, because humans are just too prone to unconscious bias.
This is how change happens and I believe we all have a part to play. It's a long road, but there's also an increasing amount of momentum and progress. There's an increasing amount of good vibes like:
Target announced that they will now pay 100% of college tuition and fees for all 340k employees. This program is available to all full and part time employees and provides them access to 250 college programs at 40 schools. This matters because it's an incredible employee benefit that extends to front line employees who are traditionally underappreciated and undercompensated.
The tech company Twilio has some innovative programs to increase diversity, but my favorite is Hatch, a 6 month apprenticeship program for coding boot camp grads from underrepresented groups. 93% of the program participants still work at the company. This matters because it's a creative way to expand the talent pipeline and offer opportunities to people from underrepresented groups.
Google has a new partnership with the Stanford University Neurodiversity Project to train Google managers to better understand neurodiverse job candidates during interviews, with the ultimate goal of hiring more employees with autism. The project will also provide ongoing support to those employees. This matters because visibly neurodiverse people are severely under-employed and this will expand their access to well-paying jobs.
LinkedIn's Recruiter software has a new feature that allows the talent acquisition team to remove the candidate's face and name. This allows the team to focus on the qualifications and experience and can remove some unconscious bias that occurs during resume reviews. This matters because this expands access to a technology that can ultimately lead to an increase in diversity.
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