From the course: Creating a Skills-Based Organization

Reduce bias and increase support of DEI

From the course: Creating a Skills-Based Organization

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Reduce bias and increase support of DEI

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- In today's workplace, what matters most are the skills that somebody has and their willingness to use them to produce a result. This philosophy is at the heart of a skills-based organization, and it's very well-aligned with an organization's diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, otherwise known as DEI. The first reason a skills-based organization can help DEI efforts is because when an organization prioritizes assessing a person's skills first, it helps them to check their own conscious and unconscious bias from playing a role in decision-making. For example, despite a degree not being necessary to perform the tasks associated with many jobs, there are plenty of organizations that still require a candidate to obtain a degree to be hired or promoted. This can have a negative and an unnecessary impact on Black, Hispanic, and other historically underserved communities. I want you to consider this. Among adults 25 and older, 61% of Asian Americans, 42% of whites, 28% of Blacks, and 21% of Hispanic adults have a bachelor's degree or more education, and that's according to data from the 2021 US Census. By including unnecessary educational requirements, you may be unintentionally eliminating qualified candidates from your talent pool. What is more, by eliminating these requirements, the organization can offer broader access to what is known as stepping stone jobs. Those are the getting a foot in the door, entry-level opportunities. So if your organization requires a college degree or other educational requirements, reconsider the necessity of that requirement and rewrite the job description to include only requirements and skills that are essential to succeed on the job. Remember, while DEI initiatives are legally and morally appropriate, they're also important because organizations need diverse viewpoints when responding to today's social and economic challenges. So, where can you expand access to work opportunities by reconsidering educational and similar requirements?

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