DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
CULTURE CLASH Here’s how to harness the power and the value of a diverse and inclusive workforce By MICHAEL GOSSIE
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ore than 80 years after President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order that opened national defense jobs and other government jobs to all Americans regardless of race, creed, color or national origin, we are STILL talking about issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. But why? “I think it’s cultural development in the country,” says John Balitis, chair of the Labor & Employment Practice Group at Jennings Strouss. “If you look at the most recent census data, it tells us the Caucasian group, as a racial set, is shrinking as a component of our overall population in the United States. And in some states, it’s no longer the predominant racial group. So, as our population on the whole becomes more diverse, I think workforces and businesses
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need to try harder to focus on diversity, to make them a true reflection of what our overall population is like.” But that doesn’t happen organically, Balitis says. If you want to diversify your workplace, it needs to be a deliberate effort and you need to be passionate about it. “That’s the only way you’re going to succeed at achieving diversity in your workplace,” Balitis says. Az Business sat down with two of the most acclaimed employement law attorneys in Arizona — Balitis and Julia S. Acken, member at Jennings Strouss — to talk about diversity in the workplace and what can be done to improve DEI efforts in Arizona’s business community.
Az Business: The most recent Census showed that Hispanics are the majorityminority in Phoenix for the first time with 42.6% of the population. Yet, we are still talking about the need for DEI initiatives. Why is it more important than ever for businesses to pay attention to this issue? John Balitis: It’s because you can’t think you are going to achieve diversity just naturally. I think some business leaders will step back and look at that data and think, “Well, you know what? We don’t really need to devote a lot of energy or effort to a diversity program because, theoretically, our workforce eventually should mirror our population in the state.” And so I think the potential for complacency is a real problem, because if you think you don’t need to put
