Why Inequality Is Everyone’s Problem — And Solutions For Change

Founder of Consciously Unbiased, an organization helping companies meet their diversity and inclusion goals.

It's important to create space for people who haven’t traditionally had as many opportunities, and then hire for talent. We want everyone to have a chance and should let the most qualified person get the job. That’s the approach leaders should be taking. It’s about expanding your talent pool. 

In our effort to be inclusive, some people may be viewing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as exclusionary toward white men, but inclusion is not about excluding anyone. To be inclusive, you can't be exclusive — that defeats the purpose of the mission. 

This is especially important given the record number of people quitting their jobs in what has been dubbed the Great Resignation and the labor shortage happening across industries. The unemployment rate is 4.8% right now — if we don't have enough talent to fill the jobs, then why wouldn't we expand the talent pool as much as possible? For business leaders to find the talent they need, they should tap into talent pools that have been marginalized and that represent the demographics of the customers and communities they serve.

In addition to that, leaders, hiring managers and coworkers must be on board with the mission to build inclusion. Here are a few ways to get started:

Educate employees on how inequality is bad for everybody.

In order to make DEI a passion, one approach is to help teams recognize that inequality hurts us all. It hurts us in businesses because organizations that don’t create inclusive cultures for all will have a harder time retaining and attracting talent. In fact, nearly 80% of workers say that they prefer to work for a company that values diversity, equity and inclusion, according to a recent CNBC/SurveyMonkey Workforce Survey. 

It hurts the economy as well: The U.S. economy lost $16 trillion due to racial discrimination, according to a study by CitiGroup. Moreover, women’s labor force participation has dropped to its lowest level since the 1980s, largely due to increased caregiving responsibilities during the pandemic. If employers and governments put in place more support for employed caregivers, the U.S. gross domestic product would gain an extra $1.7 trillion by 2030, or 5.5% over current projections, finds an AARP report. 

It also negatively impacts our society at large: Hate crimes have risen to the highest level in 12 years, with increasing attacks on Black and Asian people, according to the FBI. Racism and discrimination can lead to greater social unrest and translate into none of us feeling safe.

Communicate how DEI boosts team performance.

By now, you’ve likely read the stats proving the business case for DEI, such as how organizations ranking highest on executive-board diversity are 35% more likely to financially outperform competitors. 

Still, some people may view making space for others as meaning there is less space for themselves. They may think, "If marginalized people have been treated unfairly and I give something up to make space for them, then marginalized people will in turn treat me unfairly." They may think that by giving others power they are losing some of their own power. Yet, it's important to stress that there is not a finite amount of power. We’re just creating more power rather than cutting down power. 

I personally think the heart of the matter is discrimination in all its forms, and no one has a monopoly on discrimination. Making space comes down to allowing the best talent to rise to the top. Who will win if we take the bias out of the situation? It might be a woman and/or a person of color — or it might not be. 

Yet because when we are making an active effort to include women and people of color, we are widening the pool so we can find the best talent and not just the available talent. This means leaders can’t look only to the traditional places for talent — you have to get creative and find where the women and people of color are to actively widen your hiring pools. It’s also important to share with your teams why diversity and inclusion matter in your workplace and what unique strengths and skill sets the new hires and existing employees bring to the company.

Tap into storytelling to drive empathy.

In my organization's corporate training sessions, we invite leaders and employees from the organization to share stories about how bias has impacted them, how allyship helped them or ways they have been able to leverage their social capital for good. When colleagues share their personal stories, it sparks insights for others about why DEI matters in their workplace and how it affects people they know and work alongside. 

Stories create empathy, and empathy motivates behavior change. To solve the problem, we can't push people away who want to help in the movement for DEI at work, but pull them in and make it a personal passion. Sharing our stories is a powerful way to take a large issue, such as DEI, and make it something that resonates personally and that people will actively champion.

Taking these steps can help shift mindsets away from “us versus them” or winning power versus losing power. There is no debate that workplaces where we all feel like we belong are better workplaces for everyone. The bottom line is that if you want to win the talent war, you have to invite the talent.

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