Tag Archives: Diversity

Antiracism Forum for Business Leaders: You’re Invited

Did you know that research shows diversity training doesn’t create better environments for people of color in the workplace? (HBR) That’s partly due to the fact that these programs spend time telling people how to avoid legal trouble, not how to actively understand, support and encourage these individuals that bring value, insight, and perspective to the business.

What if we could change that?

Later this month I have the distinct honor to participate in an event that’s trying to help make strides in this direction. George Rogers and I will be co-moderating the Antiracism Forum put on by PeopleStrategy in conjunction with the National Association for African Americans in HR. I am honored to have a front row seat to the conversations with an amazing array of experts to learn and grow alongside the audience.

Do I expect to be comfortable? No.

Do I think it’s going to have an impact and help change the world for the better? Yes. Yes I do.

Side note: if you don’t have the pleasure of already knowing George Rogers who will be moderating the event with me, he’s an amazing leader and professional. I am thrilled to be able to share the virtual stage with him.

If this sounds interesting, click here to register for free. You can also read on below for what to expect from this special event.

antiracism forum

Just like we know that there’s value in having diverse individuals in a group to add perspective and insight, we know that making a change has to be a group effort.

Each day of the event, George and I will be facilitating panel discussions around key issues that we need to get right from an employment perspective: culture, hiring, development, and more. It’s our goal to push past the comfortable boundaries of diversity to the uncomfortable conversations of racism and equality. It’s not enough to claim support. It’s time to act.

We have a series of world-class speakers, teachers, and practitioners ready to contribute their expertise. Some of the confirmed panelists include:

  • Chaveso Cook, US Army Major, mentoring expert, and doctoral student at Tufts University
  • Sarah Morgan, HR professional, inclusion advocate, and founder of the upcoming HROI Summit
  • Jon Walton, expert in multicultural leadership development and veteran change transformation leader
  • Lakisha Brooks, Chief People Officer, training and coaching expert
  • Stephen Paskoff, Esq., an expert on workplace legal issues and culture/leadership change

Click here to register for free.

One last thing: please feel free to invite your team. Bring your managers. Make it a requirement for your executive leadership. Invite your peers.

So many of you are likely putting together diversity training, and as I mentioned to start this article, that is unlikely to lead to any substantive change. That’s not an indictment on you–that’s a function of how we learn as humans. You could use this forum as the curriculum for your own development program around racial justice. For instance, have your team join for the discussions with you, then debrief together afterward to see how the concepts tie in with your culture, your people, and their unique needs.

This is an active conversation, not a passive one.  Together we can work to change the conversation.

under our skin getting real about race book review

Under Our Skin: Getting Real About Race (Book Review)

A few weeks ago a friend recommended a book called Under Our Skin: Getting Real About Race and Getting Free From the Fears and Frustrations that Divide Us. It is an excellent book for anyone to read to better understand the different perspectives that are wrapped up in the racial discussion, but I would say it’s doubly so for HR and business leaders that need to be working continuously to create more equitable work environments.

under our skin getting real about race book reviewPersonally, it has opened my eyes to other perspectives and helps to give context to the conversations I am having with leaders that are trying to create more inclusive workplaces.

The book is written by Benjamin Watson. For some of you sports fans, you will recognize that name immediately, but as a self-proclaimed “sports agnostic” person, I learned of Watson’s sports affiliation only after digging into the book. That said, this is not a sports book. It’s a book about work and life.

Why I Recommend It

Watson tells stories, offers examples of both sides of each issue, and helps readers understand the realities of living in an unequal world. Continue reading

How AI Can Influence Diversity and Inclusion (for Better or Worse)

ai diversity inclusion

Recently, news broke that an AI-powered facial recognition technology used by law enforcement was actually biased against, well, pretty much everyone other than white men. This news hit the public like a slap in the face, but it's something I've been seeing behind the scenes for some time now. Artificial intelligence as a technology isn't good or bad – it just is.

AI, at its core, is like a toddler. Over time it learns and can improve its capabilities, but it isn't smart enough to know the context and impact of its decisions in most cases. If we use it properly and with care, we can improve outcomes (including those related to D&I). If we use it carelessly, we can hamper our efforts and limit success both for our people and for our organizations more broadly.

In my book, Artificial Intelligence for HR, I talk about how employers can leverage AI technology to hire, develop, and engage their people, helping them to achieve the best results. It’s really a book about how to be more human at work (with fun stories and examples sprinkled throughout). Today we'll explore some of the insights from my team’s research to make this conversation more concrete and actionable.

Negative Effects of AI

When you think about the negative impacts of artificial intelligence, your mind inevitably goes to something you've probably seen in a science fiction movie. Robots. Killer AI It's a cliché, really, but the AI that I'm talking about today is less overt in nature.

Artificial intelligence algorithms are now being used for everything from child welfare to recidivism rates. If incorrect data are used, or if the algorithm has an underlying bias, then the results could be disastrous for those on the receiving end of the decision.

Within the workplace, AI can cause flaws in recruiting decisions, causing employers to avoid hiring qualified women and minorities. Amazon was courageous enough to come out last fall and share its own challenges with this process. Though some have disparaged the company for its results, I believe sharing the cautionary tale is a laudable act on the company's part if it helps other firms realize the challenges that may exist.

Positive Effects of AI

At the same time, the positive opportunities presented by AI simply can't be ignored. In a recent podcast interview with IBM's Distinguished Engineer Lisa Seacat Deluca, she explained to me that the best way to create unbiased algorithms is to have a diverse team creating the software. This prevents groupthink and helps the team to think through outcomes for a variety of diverse individuals, not just a single group.

Let's look at a few use cases for how AI can help in the workplace:

  • Uber uses an algorithm to set pay rates and schedule shifts for drivers, which allows it to cut the gender pay gap by half of what it is in the open market, improving pay equity for the more than 2 million drivers across the globe.
  • Unilever utilizes automated assessments and asynchronous video interviews to find talented, diverse college graduates to join its team. Moving away from a purely human-driven approach has increased diversity and candidate satisfaction.
  • Last fall I coached a startup in the HR Technology Conference “Next Great HR Tech Company” competition. The firm uses a chatbot to consume employee feedback surveys and performance review data to help coach managers on their individual performance issues, developing them into better leaders. If we developed all leaders, including diverse ones, then we would see more representation in the C-suite than we do today.

As you can see, the value in having an unbiased approach can lead to better outcomes on a range of factors, including diversity. That's because machines are really great at certain things, but they're terrible at others. That's where humans come in.

The Core Human Skills of Work

When we look at history, every time automation has happened the resulting jobs are more human than the ones before them. We automate the more “robotic” components of the job, leaving it fundamentally changed. This means jobs will continue to shift into more human components, and soft skills will become key traits for employers to develop and seek. In researching dozens of sources, I found a core set of skills that we need to prioritize as employers so we don't get tackled from behind by this algorithmic era.

Those skills include compassion, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and curiosity. I share more about them in this article, if you want to learn more, but it's essential that we look for ways to develop these skills in ourselves and in our teams. Work is an essential component of being human, and these core human skills will set us apart from the AI, algorithms, and bots for the foreseeable future.

We’re Only Human 43: IBM Leaders Share How Algorithms and Bias Affect Us

Amber Grewal

Amber Grewal

Recently Amazon announced it had shut down a talent-finding algorithm built by its internal team. Why? Because it was perpetuating bias against women at the tech giant, which is unacceptable in today’s work environment.

With so many bots, algorithms and other tools being used to automate our work and personal lives, it’s important to think about how this affects each of us. Is there bias in the algorithms that drive our decisions? If so, how do we mitigate that?

In today’s episode, Ben talks with two IBM leaders with diverse perspectives on AI, bias, and more. Lisa Seacat DeLuca and Amber Grewal both join the show to talk about how they see AI benefiting the workplace but also how to watch for bias and prevent it from creeping into the finished product.

Lisa Seacat DeLuca

Lisa Seacat DeLuca

To learn more, be sure to check out the following resources from IBM:

Website: https://www.ibm.com/talent-management
Twitter: @IBMWatsonTalent 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/watsontalent

Links to the references made by Lisa and Amber on the podcast:

Diversity Analytics: You Need Macro Numbers to Improve Results

This week I am in Atlanta for the SHRM Diversity Conference. I had the opportunity to speak on bias, HR technology, and how AI might be able to help us avoid some of our biased tendencies (if we can keep the bias out of the systems themselves). It was a great session because the audience was more than willing to kick in ideas on how to solve for a variety of problems in the D&I arena.

For example, last week Amazon announced they were shutting down an internal program its team had created to support recruiting initiatives. The team built an algorithm to find the best candidates based on years of performance data at the company, but the algorithm kept delivering male candidates. Despite efforts to balance the results, Amazon eventually had to shut it down because it was not creating equal opportunities for both men and women.

In the session we talked about how algorithms can be made gender blind in order to better accommodate a diverse population and how to create a council or team to oversee decisions made by the algorithm to keep it in check.

A Braindate with Destiny

Conferences are always trying new things and this time there were “braindate” sessions where you can sign up to lead or participate in a topic of interest. I started one on AI technology and bias and had several really smart people show up to discuss.

tie wang jones ikeaOne of them, Tie Wang-Jones, is the Global D&I Matrix Leader at IKEA. Wang-Jones explained that one of the challenges faced in the organization from a diversity perspective is having the right data on hand in a format that supports diversity initiatives.

For example, we wouldn't want to have race, gender, and age listed on someone's resume when a hiring manager is screening (that's just asking for trouble). However, for Wang-Jones' purposes of managing a global program and seeing what kind of volume the business has in hiring, succession planning, etc., it's critical to know the numbers to see how IKEA Is performing against its stated goals.

IKEA is looking for analytics technology that can support these needs, providing rich insights into diversity throughout the employee lifecycle and identifying any hotspots or troublesome areas that need attention. For example, if a firm is hiring plenty of diverse candidates but not growing them, then they will ultimately leave. It's important to continue the diversity beyond a token hiring action.

Diversity and inclusion are more important today than ever before, not just because businesses are struggling with finding the right people, but also because of the importance of creativity and innovation. Creativity comes from having a variety of perspectives in the conversation, and it's important to have a diverse workforce in order to reap the rewards that come from new business innovations.

Employee Referrals: A Players, Diversity Hiring, and Key Benefits

Employee referrals are not a new topic in the HR and recruiting space. But the truth is that many companies phone it in when it comes to referrals, often leaving them with lackluster results. It takes a little time, effort, and intention to get a referral program into good shape, and the benefits are far-reaching.

Hiring A Players with Referrals

Data from one study shows that referrals are the best source for finding quality hires. Another expert says that referrals should be one of the top metrics that talent acquisition leaders focus on. And our own data at Lighthouse Research says that more than 80% of companies believe that referrals are important for measuring sourcing performance. Yet more than four out of ten employers are measuring nothing or only anecdotal information when it comes to referrals as a source of hire.

Referrals as a Talent Channel

You don't create a great place to work. You defend it. -CEO of a firm with multiple “Best Places to Work” credits

Let's face it. Many employees have not had the opportunity to work at a company with a great culture. But when they find one they inevitably become protective of the culture. This is a great tool for ensuring a strong referral program without having to constantly weed out poor performers and poor fits. It's been said that A players hire A players, but B players hire C players, and companies of all sizes, industries, and geographies are trying to find those critical A players to remain competitive.

The right referral program needs to not only prioritize referrals as a source of hire, but it also needs strong technological underpinnings to help manage the volume and variety of referrals. Systems like MintMesh and others provide that functionality and help companies to get a grasp on what is typically operated as a “shoot from the hip” type of program. From an analytics perspective, being able to track quality of hire, time to fill, and other metrics and tie them back to the referral source is an incredibly valuable practice. Gathering the right data to support your referral practices is going to generate higher quality hires, ensuring those A players end up at your organization, not at the competition.

Using Referrals to Improve Diversity

Diversity has become an HR buzzword, thrown around in meetings and leveraged for positive PR, but what does diversity really mean?

Legally, diversity refers to the age, socioeconomic background, gender, race and ethnicity differences in your workforce. However, the concept of a diverse workforce encompasses more than that, capturing more nuanced elements such as religious and political views, social status, personality, communication styles, and cultural values.

Diversity sourcing, by extension, is a dedicated effort to attract, engage, and hire a diverse slate of candidates. An interesting twist on the diversity sourcing discussion is in referral practices. Anecdotally, it's often believed that referral hiring will diminish diversity, encouraging people to refer their friends and colleagues that are just like them. In reality, diversity sourcing can be vastly improved with solid, intentional referral practices.

While virtually all companies say they encourage diversity, and the evidence for diversity as a business performance enhancement is clear, the question remains – how can we source and recruit a diverse workforce? There are three keys to success:

  1. Building a Diversity-Driven Culture-Having the best diversity programs possible won't matter if your culture doesn't support it. Diversity begins and ends with your company culture. It should be part of who you are as a company.
  2. Expanding Your Diversity Definition: In a conversation last month with the head of human resources for a U.S.-based construction firm, the leader said that the biggest challenge was filling a key technical role with diverse candidates, because the company had come to see the value in not just diversity of gender or skin color, but in diversity of thought. Candidates that entered the role from diverse backgrounds performed better, connected more thoroughly with their customers and peers, and lasted longer than more traditional candidates.
  3. Employee Referrals: Current employees are living, breathing advertisers for your company. Their testimonies about your organization provide an authentic initiative for potential hires. Missing out on their referrals could be the difference in being a market leader or a laggard. And as mentioned above, this allows your company to target more diverse hires in a way that traditional job postings and advertising just can't.

Referral Benefits for SMBs

While referrals can help any company, I see the benefits to small and mid-sized businesses as being some of the most valuable.

Referrals are the most powerful tool in recruiting. A provocative statement, sure, but also proven to be true. Recruitment is the lifeline of all organizations and referral programs can deliver top talent to your door at a fraction of the cost of traditional recruiting. According to Dr. John Sullivan, if 50% of your company's hires aren't coming from referrals, then you need to get proactive with your referral program.

This is even more true for small and mid-size businesses. With tight recruiting budgets, limited organizational agility, and a need for highly engaged workers from day one, the SMB market can benefit from referrals by reducing costs, lowering time to fill, and ensuring long-term retention and engagement.

Cost

Costs for traditional recruiting sources far exceed those of referrals.Traditional recruiting can cost anywhere from $4,000 to well over $18,000 per hire, but recruiting with a referral program costs closer to $1,000.

Even offering financial incentives to employees for referrals is still a small price to pay for creating an army of talent scouts. Offering a $1000 bonus would still keep the referral hire cost far below that of other methods.

Other cost savings associated with hiring referrals include lower spending on advertising, job boards, and agency fees. Meritage Talent Solutions founder Kara Yarnot found that the typical agency charges a fee of 20 percent of a hire's first-year salary, equaling $20,000 for a single $100,000 hire. If we're comparing that to the referral program cost per hire data above, your organization could have hired 20 people for the same cost of one hire through an agency.

Referrals save costs and benefit the bottom line.

Speed

In today's fast paced workplace, speed is crucial. Referrals can significantly increase hiring speed over traditional recruiting methods. Referrals are the fastest method to hire with an average of 29 days for referrals. Compare that with 39 days for job boards, and 45 days for career sites, on average.

This is due in part to the fact that you have a broader network when you're prioritizing referrals. Your employees know the company better than anyone and with the rise of social media, employees have networks of contacts at their fingertips ready to tell their peers and friends about openings at your organization.

To get a sense of the size of this potential network, consider this: Pew Research estimates the average person has more than 600 social connections. If your business has just 100 employees, that's a potential 60,000 people that can learn about your openings with a good referral program.

Not only do referrals start faster–they also onboard faster. A key part of onboarding, beyond understanding the workplace policies and requirements, is assimilating into the social fabric of the organization. By having a social connection already in the firm, the referral can onboard faster. This equates to higher productivity and performance from day one, which is critical for SMBs that don't have extensive resources to train and develop competencies in new hires.

Referrals are faster to hire, start working quicker and out perform non-referrals.

Retention and Engagement

One third of new hires quit their job after about six months and 32 percent of employers say they expect employees to be job hoppers. This demonstrates the “revolving door” attitude employees have towards companies, but referral programs can increase job loyalty.

Referral programs are proven to decrease turnover and increase retention. 46% of referral hires are retained after one year as opposed to 33% for non-referrals. With referrals producing 25% more profit than their peers, this is doubly valuable for employers.

As mentioned in a recent blog, great companies are made up of great people, and referrals are the best source for bringing those great people to your front door.

#SHRM16 Interview with Sodexo’s Global Chief Diversity Officer

This week I have a treat for you. I had the opportunity as part of my role on the #SHRM16 social media coverage team to interview Rohini Anand, Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Global Chief Diversity Officer. She will be speaking at the SHRM Conference on June 20th from 2:00-3:15 in case you are interested in seeing her after reviewing this interview.

rohini anand sodexoBen: Just to get the ball rolling, please tell me about yourself and what you do at Sodexo. 

  • I currently serve as the Senior Vice President, Corporate Responsibility and Global Chief Diversity Officer for Sodexo
  • I am responsible for the strategic direction, implementation and business alignment of Sodexo's integrated global diversity and inclusion initiatives, as well as Sodexo USA's sustainable development, wellness and corporate responsibility strategies
  • I also lead the organization's sustained culture change initiatives, as well as its integration in the overall business growth strategy

Ben: What is Sodexo’s biggest challenge when it comes to diversity and inclusion today?  Continue reading