Giving Notice

The Chicago Tribune recently published an article titled: “The racist in all of us: Are subtle insults and indignities toward minorities oversights or something bigger?” The answer to this question is a resounding YES, particularly from a workplace perspective. In fact, that something bigger comes with a price tag of roughly $64 billion annually to corporations, according to the Corporate Leavers study conducted by the Level Playing Field Institute. This rigorous academic study found that 2 million managers and professionals voluntarily leave their companies each year due to workplace unfairness, mostly in the form of subtle, hidden bias and barriers. Specifically, 3.0% of Caucasian men, 4.6% of Caucasian women, 5.6% of GLBT, and 9.5% of people of color are driven out annually by the cumulative effect of subtle slights and behaviors on the job. Furthermore, these corporate leavers are likely to strongly discourage others to seek jobs at these companies or to buy their products and services.

In her book, Giving Notice: Why the Best and the Brightest are Leaving the Workplace and How You Can Help Them Stay, Freada Kapor Klein acknowledges that in order to be truly effective, diversity efforts in corporate America need to move away from the traditional one-size-fits-all legal approach and focus more on addressing different types of hidden bias and barriers, which are more insidious and prevalent today in companies than overt forms of discrimination. Ms. Klein emphasizes the criticality of corporate leadership’s commitment to building equitable and welcoming work environments for all employees. She proposes several practical approaches for employers to uncover and effectively address these hidden biases and barriers that continue to drive out their top talent at a cost too high to ignore.