Why Everyone (Yes, Everyone) Should Care about Diversity in their Job Search

Sometimes it’s hard to be yourself at work. Ken Bouyer knows that firsthand. When he first joined professional services organization Ernst & Young LLP (EY), he was convinced he had to be someone else to succeed there — until a teammate completely changed his perspective.

Now he’s the Director of Inclusiveness Recruiting for EY Americas. Here, Ken shares why diversity should be a top priority for all job searchers and how it impacts everyone at a company, from interns all the way to executives.

How do you define diversity and inclusion?
When people hear the word ”diversity,” they may get turned off, but EY’s focus on diversity is really broadly defined. No matter who you are, you’re diverse in some form or fashion. It goes far beyond skin color and gender and includes veterans, LGBTQ individuals, and even diversity of thought and perspective.

Frankly, diversity is about all differences. At EY, inclusiveness is the way we leverage those differences to achieve better business results—creating an environment where all of our people feel (and are) valued. If you effectively leverage differences, you drive innovation, create a sense of belonging and inclusion, and deliver different perspectives and approaches to clients and consumers.

Why is workplace diversity so important?
You have the highest-performing teams when you have diversity on those teams—people who will pull from their unique point of view to challenge decisions when needed. Diversity is also critical to innovation. When you think about companies like Airbnb that disrupted an entire industry, you need diversity of thought for that to happen.”

A lot of companies say they care about diversity. How can a job searcher know if a company really means it?
The best thing they can do is ask for examples of how that company supports diversity and inclusion. If you asked me, I’d tell you that 25 years ago 10% of our hires were minorities. Now it’s 30% and there are people who wake up every single day thinking about how we’re going to impact diversity for EY.

You talk a lot about wanting employees to be their authentic selves, but sometimes that’s hard to do at work. How does EY make it easier?
Early on in my career here, I thought I had to be someone else to get ahead. Then a partner told me, “We hired you to be who you are, not someone else.” Those reminders are critical. Once you start with EY, we have a lot of support networks, whether it’s the Black Professional Network, the Latino Professional Network, the Veterans Network, the Professional Women’s Network, or one of nine other groups. These networks are places where you can feel at home, have honest conversations, ask questions, and challenge thinking.

Any final advice about embracing diversity and inclusion, especially for someone who’s just starting their career?
Ask yourself whether or not you have real conversations with the people around you—not just your group of friends. Do you know what religion they practice or why they take certain days off from school or work? What kind of food do they eat? What is their family like? When it comes to diversity, you need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. When you do that, you’ll be amazed by how you’ll learn and grow.

Interested in building your career at EY? They’re hiring. Check them out now on WayUp.

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