The Path to Equal Chances

Make Work Fair
By Iris Bohnet and Siri Chilazi
Harper Business, 384 pp., $32

Life can be difficult, so we could all use ways to make our lives and jobs easier. Or, perhaps, more fair. Believing in fairness is great, but it's not enough. Behavioral scientist Iris Bohnet and gender expert Siri Chilazi generally do an excellent job throughout Make Work Fair in giving readers proven methods to do just that.

The book starts with a simple concept: You make work fair by improving how you are doing things you already do. The authors use an example of designing safety features for cars and adapting those features so they work on cars of all makes and models. They seamlessly adapt the concept to the workplace, meaning that designing workplaces where everyone can thrive and perform their best helps create an even and fair playing field for everyone at all levels.

That leads to a discussion of diversity, equity, and inclusion, although Bohnet and Chilazi emphasize that they're not asking readers to do "additional DEI work." Instead, they're proposing a complete paradigm shift. To their credit, they point to a rise in DEI initiatives in the US following George Floyd's killing and subsequent protests in 2020. However, employers that hired individuals into DEI roles during that surge didn't put them in a position to succeed.

Existing policies, the book concludes, are often missing data-driven recommendations that center on redesigning processes. Fairness cannot be a nice-to-have benefit that sits on the sidelines that companies can break out when it's convenient for them, the authors argue. It needs to be intentional, and it needs to be a core feature of the business that intertwines with everything else a company does.

Data helps us all make sense of what's happening around us; without it, it's impossible for companies to understand what's fair and what isn't.

The authors divide Make Work Fairinto three parts: Make It Count, Make It Stick, and Make It Normal. The second section is perhaps the most interesting and comprehensive, focusing on finding and developing talent, which ultimately creates career advancement opportunities that benefit people at all levels.

In difficult times, a book like this is valuable to remind L&D practitioners that believing in fairness isn't enough. The authors stress throughout the book that training isn't enough, either. Fairness must be a way companies do things—such as fair pay and transparent promotion policies—and a core value. Question the status quo and understand that you can create change at any level.