5 inclusivity must reads for your weekend

We keep our ear to the ground for the interesting stats, insights and discussion points you need to feel in the know.

1. “I wanted to be treated like everybody else”

Have you ever felt overlooked? Displaced? Or disregarded? Thirteen EY staff have courageously shared their personal stories, through our Uplift Social Equity campaign launched earlier this week. Each story is unique but they all share a common thread; feeling like an outsider. “I was the first blind person in a bank,” shares Chandni. “The first thing I remember a headhunter saying to me – you're going to have to lower your expectation,” shares Sabrina. And Matt; “Whenever I enter a room. I subconsciously do a risk assessment.” So why share these stories? Storytelling is a powerful way to inspire deeper conversations that truly drive change. This is also backed up by Stanford research, which revealed that stories are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone. Understanding each other’s experiences - even if they might be unfamiliar to us - is the first step toward creating a space where everyone can thrive.

How EY is working to uplift social equity through authentic storytelling

2. Unleash the power of neurodiversity

Why the umbrellas? To mark Neurodiversity Celebration Week 13-19 March, we teamed up with the ADHD foundation and suspended 70 colorful umbrellas in the entrance of EY London HQ, to raise awareness and spark action. The umbrellas represent the 1 in 5 people who are neurodivergent, including those who identify with ADHD, Autism, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Tourette’s Syndrome, Dyscalculia and more. Neurodivergent people are typically highly creative, technologically inclined and detail-oriented. In fact, people on the autism spectrum are “90 to 140 per cent more productive” than “neurotypical” employees and make fewer errors, according to Anthony Pacilio, head of the JPMorgan Chase’s Autism at Work program. So why is it that these people are underrepresented in the workplace? For example in the UK, just 22% of autistic adults are in any kind of employment according to The Office for National Statistics (ONS). As businesses worldwide adopt technologies like Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, there is an increasingly urgent need for detail-orientated and data-driven individuals. By tapping into the neurodivergent talent pool, thought leaders can help fill critical skills gaps and drive transformation.  

How neurodiversity drives value at the intersection of talent and technology

3. Saving the planet with DEI

We all know that investment in climate action is crucial. But what about people? We’re not just talking about plugging the green skills gap, we’re simply talking about building teams made up of different perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. Amy Brachio, EY Global Deputy Vice Chair Sustainability, tells us that diversity will be pivotal to achieving climate goals. It will allow us to tackle global warming from different angles, come up with entirely new ways of doing things and - perhaps most importantly - convince the critics and doubters of the need for far-reaching social and economic transformation.

How diversity, equity and inclusion can help address climate change

4. How to achieve a truly inclusive culture

Nearly half of LGBTQ people in the US remain closeted at their workplaces; a rate largely unchanged over the past decade according to research published by the Human Rights Campaign. This figure fluctuates across different countries. In China, for example, only 5% of LGBTQ employees reported being completely open about their identities at work. Global companies have made great strides over the past decade in developing and adopting inclusive corporate values statements, personnel policies and codes of conduct. This is, of course, welcome progress. But the statistics above show that we need to go further. EY hosted a think tank with organizations including Stonewall, GSK and IBM, to identify key challenges and practical solutions. Actioning the results from this meeting in your organization, could make the difference to someone struggling to find and be themselves. 

Nine ways to advance LGBT+ policy throughout global organizations

5. Great things happen when we work together

When we talk about diverse teams, we often think about a team of people. But how about a team made up of multiple businesses? That’s what we call an ‘ecosystem’ - and the ‘age of the ecosystem’ has certainly arrived. In today’s ever-changing business environment, companies are being forced to rethink their partnership structures and, as a result, ecosystems are emerging in almost every industry as powerful new business models. Take Mercedes-Benz and BMW for example. In a competitive market, they pooled carsharing services, combined taxi apps and e-scooter providers to create mobility “superapp” FreeNow, which can offer multiple forms of transport to customers across 16 countries. The result was a bigger slice of the pie for everyone. 86% of executives believe that ecosystems will be a critical success factor in their industry. Here’s how to make your organization the partner of choice, through leveraging technology. 

The CIO Imperative: How does technology underpin ecosystem transformation? 

If you do one thing: 

Spark a conversation with someone new. Get to know their story.

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