The Equity Advantage: Why equity matters

In my last article, I unpacked Cornerstone's first DEIB Principle: DEIB is good for everyone, highlighting the story of Ed Roberts, a pioneer for disability inclusion. His work resulted in onramps on public sidewalks at all intersections, enabling the inclusion of those with mobility challenges in public spaces. Just as these onramps created equity and inclusion for people with wheelchairs, organizations must ensure that their talent processes, and the decision-makers who run those processes, create 'onramps' for marginalized people whose talent, aspiration and opportunity are too often 'curbed' by the systemic barriers inherent in our society and organizations.

Our second principle is: When underrepresented Cornerstars are treated equitably, we all are. We center marginalized Cornerstars in our talent processes. Let's unpack what this means.

First, we acknowledge the reality that society and organizations treat marginalized groups unfairly. The data is clear:

A McKinsey & Company report, "Women in the Workplace 2020," found that for every 100 men promoted to a manager position, only 85 women were promoted. For women of color, the number drops even further to 58.

The same report highlighted that women held only 21% of C-suite roles in 2020 despite making up almost half of the entry-level workforce.

The 2021 Report by Lean In and McKinsey highlighted that people of color, particularly Black and Latina women, are significantly underrepresented at every level above entry-level positions. For example, while White men held over 45% of senior managerial positions, Black and Latinx individuals combined held about 15%.

Statistics from various sources, including Catalyst and the Ascend Foundation, show that White males are promoted at significantly higher rates than women and people of color.

According to a study by the Harvard Business Review (HBR), Black and Latino candidates are often less likely to be hired than white candidates with similar qualifications. Notably, the HBR reports that Black job applicants are called back for interviews around half as often as equally qualified white applicants.

When confronted with this data, there are only two possible interpretations. One is to mistakenly believe that women and people of color are inherently less capable, an assumption that unfortunately surfaces when well-intentioned people express concerns about 'lowering the bar' in efforts to hire a more diverse workforce.

The other is to acknowledge that organizations and the decision-makers within them mistreat these groups. We must hold decision-makers accountable for creating intentional onramps in hiring, promotion, and development processes to provide equal access to opportunity.

At Cornerstone, we define equity as 'measurable fairness.' When we see unfairness, we focus on solutions to address it where it is most needed. We 'center' those who face inequity and ensure our processes and programs work as much for them as they do for everyone else.

Inspired by the Equity Sequence® equitable innovation method created by Anna Dewar-Gully and Dr. Kristen Liesch at Tidal Equality, we work through a series of questions when re-designing equitable talent processes and programs. The questions help us think carefully about our stakeholders — whether colleagues, users, or clients — and about how they might face different barriers when it comes to our processes or programs. We consider whether representation gaps in our decision-making can be addressed so we can promote fairness and equal opportunities. Of course, we make sure to look at the data we have - and reflect on the data we don't have — that supports our assumptions and that can also be used to track our progress. It's by better considering the needs of all of our diverse stakeholders that we are positioning ourselves to achieve measurable equity outcomes.

Imagine if urban planners had people with wheelchairs in positions of authority earlier on! If so, onramps would have been built much sooner than the implementation of the ADA in 1990. Now imagine if marginalized people had a voice in hiring processes and decisions, promotion decisions, and how products and services are designed.

This is our aspiration at Cornerstone because everybody wins with more voices at the table. We make better decisions, design products and services that serve more people, and enable a rich, vibrant culture of inclusion. Onramps at all stages of the employee lifecycle are crucial — we can't promote people who aren't hired into the company. Accountability upstream must happen to make changes downstream.

As an organization that powers people's potential to thrive, we don't want to miss out on the many contributions our people can make. We're committed to the ongoing work of creating and implementing equitable processes that enable all of our Cornerstars to realize their full potential. A commitment to equity is how we aspire to meet that aspiration.

In my next article, I'll discuss Cornerstone's theory of change — how equitable processes and inclusive mindsets come together to measurably change outcomes.

Unlock deeper insights into diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging by watching the award-winning series, A Seat at the Table.