The Employee You Think Isn’t Ready May Simply Have Had Less Access

This is #IncreaseDiversity, a newsletter series + Increase Diversity Academy sharing best practices for employers who want to learn how to… well, increase diversity. To see previous editions, visit JenniferTardy.com. | IG: @IncreaseDiversity | Increase Diversity - YouTube

There is a phrase I've heard some version of throughout my career:

"They're just not ready yet."

Not ready for the promotion.

Not ready for the stretch assignment.

Not ready to lead the meeting.

Not ready to manage the team.

And sometimes that's an accurate assessment.

But after nearly two decades in talent acquisition and diversity work, I've learned that readiness is worth interrogating.

Because what we call readiness is often the accumulated result of access.

Who got access to the high-visibility project?

Who was invited into the important meeting?

Who received candid feedback?

Who had a leader willing to advocate for them?

Who was allowed to make mistakes while learning?

Who was introduced to influential people?

Who got to practice before the stakes became high?

Then, years later, we compare two people and conclude that one is simply more prepared.

Maybe.

But we should also ask:

Did they have the same opportunities to become prepared?

Careers compound.

A small opportunity early in someone's career can create access to a larger one.

That assignment creates experience.

The experience creates confidence.

The confidence affects how someone shows up in the next room.

Someone notices.

They receive another opportunity.

And suddenly we're looking at a person five years later saying:

"They're a natural leader."

Maybe they are.

But we're also looking at the compound interest of access.

The opposite compounds, too.

Don't get invited into the room.

Don't get the assignment.

Don't build the experience.

Don't develop the relationship.

Then eventually:

"We'd love to promote them, but they haven't demonstrated enough leadership experience."

That's why organizations interested in increasing diversity can't only examine outcomes.

We have to examine who is getting the experiences that create those outcomes.

Native American Heritage Month: Access to Opportunity

As we recognize Native American Heritage Month this November, it's worth considering how access to employment, professional development, and advancement shapes people's opportunities to demonstrate their talent.

Honoring Native American communities includes recognizing their contributions and considering whether workplace systems give people fair opportunities to grow and advance.

The question isn't simply whether talent exists.

It's whether people have access to the experiences that allow that talent to become visible.

Veterans Day: Recognizing Experience and Potential

Veterans Day on November 11 also offers an opportunity to reflect on access to employment and career advancement for those who have served.

Military service can build valuable skills, experience, and leadership capabilities. Yet translating that experience into a civilian career can require employers to recognize qualifications that may not follow conventional career paths.

The question is not simply whether someone is qualified.

It's whether employers recognize the experience they bring and give them a fair opportunity to demonstrate what they can do.

Access to opportunity also means recognizing talent that may look different from what an organization is used to seeing.

Sponsorship matters because access matters.

Mentorship can help someone understand what to do.

Sponsorship can help them get the opportunity to do it.

That's a significant difference.

It is one thing to tell someone:

"You need more executive presence."

It's another to give them opportunities to present to executives—and useful feedback afterward.

It's one thing to say:

"You need experience managing complex projects."

It's another to trust them with one.

Development without access can become an endless preparation cycle.

At some point, people need the opportunity to practice what we've spent so much time telling them to develop.

So when someone isn't "ready," get curious.

Ask:

What experiences are missing?

Were those experiences equally available?

Who has been advocating for this employee?

What opportunities have we given them to demonstrate readiness?

Are we evaluating potential—or primarily rewarding previous access?

And perhaps most importantly:

What could we give them access to now that would help them become ready?

This doesn't mean lowering standards.

It means examining how people get the opportunity to reach them.

Because talent may be widely distributed.

Ambition may be widely distributed.

Leadership potential may be widely distributed.

But access to the experiences that allow those things to become visible?

That's another story.

Sometimes the employee who appears less ready isn't less capable.

They may simply have had fewer chances to become ready.

If you're leading HR, Talent Acquisition or people strategy and found yourself thinking, We're dealing with exactly this, my team at Jennifer Tardy Consulting can help you examine where access is breaking down inside your own talent systems.

Explore how JTC can help your organization increase access to opportunity → Click Here