Diversity Dividend

July 17, 2023
“Diversity pays, and organizations that succeed in hiring and promoting diverse talent realize a variety of measurable benefits,” according to Harvard University data scientist Cecchi-Dimeglio’s instructive debut. She argues that hiring women, people of color, LGBTQ individuals, and those with disabilities builds a “richer portfolio of perspectives” that expose ideas to greater scrutiny and result in more rigorously vetted solutions. Discussing how businesses can hire more diverse workforces, Cecchi-Dimeglio urges companies to use inclusive language on job postings, noting a study that found the use of gender neutral pronouns and position names (“salesperson” vs. “salesman”) increased the rates at which women applied. According to the author, employees from marginalized groups often lack professional connections able to advise them on how to advance through corporate ranks; she encourages businesses to be “transparent about what it takes to move up the ladder” and offer training for the skills necessary to do so. The advice is pragmatic and the case studies enlighten, as when Cecchi-Dimeglio discusses how one company increased the number of employees from underrepresented groups by 40% after using software to remove from résumés names, hobbies, or other details that might trigger implicit bias from the hiring team. This is a must-read for hiring managers who want to make their organization more inclusive.