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Ask Jackye Clayton About Diversity – “Is White a Color?”
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There is a ton of information on recruiting diverse candidates. Most articles start the same, mentioning how important it is to have a diverse culture and yadda yadda yadda and then you see those three words: “People of Color.” To get to the answer of the sarcastic question, with help from Crayola, most of us know that white is a color. But when we are talking about “people of color,” white is the color left outside of the box.
“Right now, 83 percent of the global talent pool consists of women and minorities. Also, women are increasingly outnumbering men in college graduating classes worldwide,” says Sylvia Ann Hewlett, founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy in a whitepaper written for Cisco.
Because race and sex is a diverse group that is “visually obvious,” those seem to be the first types of diversity candidates sought. It seems the easiest group to search for. I am happy that the diversity topic is addressed at all but could you be discriminating in the name of diversity? It is time to move beyond the obvious.
I would like to invite you to look at Bloomberg Finance. On the Bloomberg.com diversity page, their global diversity initiative detail is one of the best I have seen.
“At Bloomberg, our formula is Diversity + Inclusion = Innovation.
Bloomberg’s diverse workforce and open culture are essential to innovation, which is the key to our success. Diversity means the innumerable ways in which we are different, and inclusion means that those differences are leveraged. Simply stated, our success is driven by extreme diversity of thought.
It reads as follows:
Bloomberg Communities – such as Women’s, LBGT, and Black Professional groups — serve as a forum for employees to share ideas, concerns, and successes, to serve as brand ambassadors internally and externally, and to increase professional development.
Women’s Coaching & Development Programs in News
Curriculum Design – Embedding D&I messaging and concepts into global curriculum
Culture Survey – Focus group sessions on engagement, career development, commitment, flexibility, retention, etc.
Strategic partnerships with organizations that provide thought leadership and programs that improve workplace for underrepresented groups. Notable partnerships include:
Instill D&I principles and behaviors into organizational culture and systems
Increase the experience of inclusion for all employees, particularly for underrepresented groups
Raise awareness of D&I efforts across the organization and increase engagement
Provide philanthropic sponsorship to diversity organizations that focus on cutting-edge research and thought leadership
Work with organizations and universities to source students and experienced candidates from a variety of backgrounds
Enhance the Bloomberg brand in the marketplace through our company commitment to diversity and inclusion”
To help diversify your diversity plan, I found a great resource. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). While their focus is on federal jobs, they have a wealth of resources discussing diversity and inclusion as well as information on disability hiring, insurance practices etc. This website, is just a great place to look for information about all aspects of Human Resources. OPM’s vision is to make the U.S. Federal Service America’s model employer for the 21st century. I’d say they are well on their way.”
In closing, diversify your diversity plan to include as many of the underrepresented groups as you can. Continue to research and promote where to advertise your open positions. What ever you do, keep on diversifying! Remember, if you have any other questions, email askjackye@sourcecon.com