Part I of V | LEQ - Lived Experience Intelligence | Am I required to hire someone based on diversity?
💥This is #IncreaseDiversity, a weekly newsletter + toolbox series sharing best practices for employers who want to implement effective diversity recruitment programs. To see previous editions, visit JenniferTardy.com. | IG: @IncreaseDiversity 💥
News From #TeamJTC:
LEQ + Lived Experience Intelligence™: An introduction to an untapped intelligence, and the important implications of this transformational perspective for both individuals and organizations
In our newest report, I unpack the LEQ - Lived Experience Intelligence concept in detail and discuss how this model can provide a transformational way of approaching diversity recruiting. In our commitment to support organizations in their mission to increase diversity and to support candidates from historically underrepresented backgrounds in their own mission to advance their career, we are offering this report for free over the next 14 days! Download today.
Also, follow this Increase Diversity newsletter because throughout this month and the month of March we will be breaking down the most important concepts regarding LEQ in our 5-part series.
Please ALSO join us tomorrow, 2.23.22, in our live LinkedIn Audio Event where we are unpacking the LEQ concept further. Register Here
Am I required to hire someone based on diversity?
The answer is NO.
Here is a better answer. If you have two equally competitive candidates, make your final selection decision based on LEQ.
As a matter of fact, LEQ is the central ingredient that makes increasing diversity so beneficial to organizations.
Have You Ever Considered the “it-factor” to Diversity? – Jenn Tardy
We have been talking about the benefits of increasing diversity in the workplace for years. However, something that is rarely spoken about is the “it factor” that brings success and innovation to organizations once they embrace diversity.
This performance advantage can be explained by a concept I define as LEI – Lived Experience Intelligence™. I define LEI as the particular set of knowledge, skills, and abilities that develops out of life events and occurrences in which one has been engaged, ultimately enhancing insight and perspective.
It is not enough, however, to have LEI. It must be applied in order for it to be effective. Now, the application of LEI can be thought of as a ‘quotient’ relating to how much an individual uses their lived experiences as an asset. This brings me to the definition of LEQ.
I define LEQ as the extent (quotient) to which one exercises the knowledge, skills, and abilities that one has developed through life events, applying, and expressing them in one’s thinking and actions, and using them as an asset. In simple terms, Lived Experience Intelligence (LEI) is what you have; Lived Experience Quotient (LEQ) is what you use.
"Lived Experience Intelligence (LEI) is what you have; Lived Experience Quotient (LEQ) is what you use."
Let’s place this into the context of inclusive hiring.
As shared in the beginning, LEQ answers an all-time, million-dollar question: to increase diversity, am I required to hire based on diversity? Too often, leaders believe that increasing diversity means hiring people based on characteristics like race, sexual orientation, and gender. Hiring based on protected characteristics is illegal, plus it leads to negative downstream implications for the person hired, such as others questioning whether they were truly qualified. Avoid this practice at all costs.
In addition, how one identifies is NOT the critical element that creates such great outcomes for employers. It is the lived experiences generated by how one identifies that creates unique perspectives and new considerations. Leveraging these perspectives and considerations is what creates the value and ultimately the competitiveness. Candidates should be hired, praised, and rewarded because of how unique their perspectives and considerations are – which means embracing LEQ. Hiring based on LEQ is a way to move the needle to make diversity recruiting, simply recruiting. In other words, it makes diversity recruiting systematic.
“LEQ reshapes how organizations approach diversity recruiting. It redefines the value that recruiters and hiring leaders place on unique perspectives in context to basic qualifications.” – Jenn Tardy
Current recruitment practices assign value to candidates based on types of learned experience. When we focus on knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) gained through education, training, and work experience, we are implicitly valuing things that have been learned a certain way. Hiring candidates based on KSAs is a proactive means of assigning value and competitiveness to applicants during the recruitment process, and it typically raises their perceived value to the organization with each KSA they report that aligns with the essential functions of the role. But to increase diversity, we have to be willing to think beyond learned experiences.
In contrast to KSAs, lived experiences are human experiences and circumstances that create a distinctive type of internal knowledge (LEQ), which can equally foster valuable skills and knowledge.
“Forbes states that diversity in the boardroom helps spark healthy debates that can lead to better decision-making due to having more perspectives that help remove ideological blind spots.”
We are in a season where it is no longer a question of whether an employer values diversity. The benefits are everywhere and study after study demonstrate the value. It is now a question of do you understand the value of LEQ and how it can transform the workplace. If organizations truly understand the impacts and benefits of collective organizational LEQ, the workplace would be clamoring for opportunities to increase diversity.
DOWNLOAD THE REPORT: LEQ- LIVED EXPERIENCE INTELLIGENCE
In our recently released report, LEQ – Lived Experience Intelligence™, I discuss the LEQ concept in detail and the potential and application of this innovative perspective in the workplace, outlining its unique benefits for employees and employers alike. In our commitment to support organizations in their mission to increase diversity and untapped voices in their own mission to advance their career, we are offering this paper free of cost for the next 14-days. Grab yours today.
As a matter of fact, we invite you to join the LEQ conversation in three ways:
Download a free copy of the report at http://www.livedexperienceintelligence.com/ and share it with your peers.
Follow this Increase Diversity newsletter on LinkedIn because throughout this month and the month of March we will be breaking down the most important concepts regarding LEQ.
Register for our free 5-part LEQ series on LinkedIn Audio (live discussions).
Join me in the comments section and share your thoughts.