Uncovering Talent: A New Model for Corporate Inclusion
Only 1% of Fortune 500 CEOs are black. Only 4% are women. Years after companies have spent millions of dollars on initiatives meant to expand workplace inclusion, why has so little progress been made? Why are there still so few minorities in leadership positions? And what are ...
Only 1% of Fortune 500 CEOs are black. Only 4% are women. Years after companies have spent millions of dollars on initiatives meant to expand workplace inclusion, why has so little progress been made? Why are there still so few minorities in leadership positions? And what are the long-term consequences of not diversifying? In this powerful talk, Kenji Yoshino rethinks the conversation around workplace inclusion and outlines concrete solutions for change. Drawing on his breakthrough paper, “Uncovering,” he addresses the enduring challenges that historically underrepresented groups continue to face. Many workers “cover” at work—meaning they downplay certain aspects of their identity in order, they think, to better fit in and to meet expectations. What is the fall-out from this behavior? While more overt kinds of discrimination are gone, a glass-ceiling still exists for certain groups, and Yoshino paints a clear picture of how this situation hurts innovation, competitiveness, talent acquisition, and, of course, the bottom line. Simply put: companies that don’t diversify will be left behind in the new global economy. How can they adapt? Yoshino’s talk is a positive, brilliant, and crucial chapter in the ongoing war for talent.