Every morning at 9:15 EST, our team at Tactile gathers together, in person and virtually, for our daily stand up. We each give a brief summary of what we got done yesterday and what lies ahead; you know, pretty standard Agile stuff. In one of these recently, we were discussing a challenge one of us was having with a client, or some code, or whatever, when from another team member came a really insightful perspective, with the qualifying “Isn’t it obvious?”

To many of us, the value of diversity and inclusion is indeed obvious. At Tactile we’ve chosen to make a very particular investment in building a diverse team, and that investment pays dividends on a daily basis. Our staff ranges in age from 24 to 63. We are immigrants and U.S. born, we are from around the world and around the way. The socio-economic backgrounds of our families range from poverty to upper-middle class. We vary in ethnicity, race, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation. We’ve built a culture where everyone can bring their full authentic self to work every day. The range of opinions, perspectives, and viewpoints helps us make more creative, more exciting, more accessible, and more interesting digital products.

We’re not alone in knowing this. “Empirical evidence reveals that diversity—heterogeneity in race, culture, gender, etc.—has material benefits for organizations, communities, and nations.” Studies show that diverse research teams outperform homogeneous teams. Diverse teams are more likely to constantly reexamine facts and remain objective. Diverse leadership drives greater profits.

There is also a moral and civic imperative to include the underrepresented in growth of our local economy. John Fry, at his first address to the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia as their new Chairman, states that “the urgency of an inclusion agenda Is not just a social nicety. It is an economic and moral imperative…. Otherwise, we end up functioning as globally connected and locally disconnected as the urban theorist Manuel Castells once opined.” An economy will be crippled in the long term when the local underrepresented communities are not included.

Many businesses can see the value in diverse teams, but how can established businesses pivot to realize these financial and civic benefits? How do we find, recruit, train, support, and most importantly, retain diverse talent? How do we build an environment where diversity can thrive?

Build a Culture of Diversity

In order for a diverse team to be effective, the culture of that organization must be rooted in empathy. The potential of diversity is lost without a culture that actively includes those of diverse perspectives. There must be the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, or a willingness to try. Not everyone on a team is going to end up being BFFs but there has got to be a core level of respect, for what each other brings to the team and for each other as humans. Without empathy, there can be no inclusion. Diversity on a team without inclusion is just a bunch of differently hued and experienced people sitting around in a room. You have the possibility of friction without the promise of progress.

In order to retain diverse talent, this culture of empathy must be clearly defined and constantly nurtured. It must radiate from leadership and be reinforced by policy. Make sure what you say matches what you do. You say you want more women in tech? You better be addressing your gender salary gap. You say you’re going to fire someone for violating policy? You better damn well do it. You say that you care about your corporation’s commitment to local communities and you can’t find diverse talent? Well, how about putting some effort into educating local populations for the next generation of tech jobs. Speaking of which...

Hire for Talent and...

Hiring diverse talent seems to be an elusive goal, especially in tech where meritocracy rules. For many marginalized and oppressed people, the promise of meritocracy is false . Too often, proponents of this approach don’t actively address how implicit bias skews this system toward the privileged. How bias affects evaluations, hiring, and pay.

It’s not that the talent is not out there. When GapJumpers performed Blind Tech Auditions, 60% of top candidates were from underrepresented communities. So, when thinking of diverse candidates, we don’t have to compromise quality for diversity. Think of it as a hiring for talent and...

Some might not see value in that extra set of challenges that underrepresented people face (or that they even exist), but it is exactly that difference in experience that should be seen as an asset. When working collaboratively, the different experiences of the members of that team serve as the basis of idea diversity. They can save an organization from the dreaded “groupthink.” It is precisely the friction of diverse perspectives that can spark magic.

Do Better

Building inclusive cultures and diverse teams is by no means easy, but so worth it. Our companies and our communities deserve the investment required to make them happen. Because to quote Paul Wellstone “We all do better when we all do better.”