A hiring approach that maximizes talent and rewards performance is the antidote to bias.
DEI is dying. MEI is the new corporate rage.
Standing for “merit, excellence, and intelligence”—in contrast to “diversity, equity, and inclusion”—MEI involves hiring solely on merit, without consideration of demographic factors. Labor economists have preached the gospel of meritocracy for decades. It’s refreshing to see it become fashionable.
Companies that broaden their talent searches and eliminate biases in hiring can make efficient employment decisions. As Glenn Loury and I once demonstrated mathematically, meritocratic policies maximize productivity and insure against bias. When the right people are placed in the right jobs, and people with talent are appropriately rewarded for developing their skills, the economy runs more efficiently.
In 2020, I co-founded Sigma Squared to help businesses supercharge meritocracy. The idea is simple: Any company that is maximizing talent, by definition, has no bias. If there is bias, then moving toward meritocracy will rid the company of that bias and increase productivity at the same time.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the Wall Street Journal (paywall)
______________________
Roland G. Fryer, Jr., a John A. Paulson Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, is professor of economics at Harvard University and founder of Equal Opportunity Ventures.
Photo by Wong Yu Liang / Getty Images