Last week’s article discussed why diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) should be considered core tenets of the Future of Work movement. Although the Future of Work is often synonymous with automation- and innovation-led attributes, the truth is that strategy-fueled principles are just as critical as their technological counterparts. As we wrote last week:
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion represent, perhaps, the most important of these strategy-led Future of Work tenets and deserve a rightful place in the pantheon of work optimization approaches. Diverse workforces, inclusive workplaces, and an overall environment of equity can pay massive dividends for businesses seeking to spark innovation within their total talent community.”
I once again spoke with several technology leaders across the contingent workforce, digital staffing, and HR arenas for their unique perspectives on DE&I as core Future of Work tenets:
Jody Mohammed, Vice President, Partnerships and Solutions, Geometric Results, Inc. (GRI)
“DE&I is no longer considered buzzword bingo but rather this important initiative has elevated to a business imperative. This essential, crucial focus has the attention of the C-Suite and we see enormous investment in hiring not only DE&I leaders to establish policies but the importance of partnering with talent partner organizations that deliver against the goals. Companies now expect their partners to deliver a diversified workforce and provide the data to demonstrate trends/progress. Simultaneously, top talent is assessing an organization’s DE&I DNA and when evidence is presented, it is much easier to attract and retain talent. We see significant investment dollars in this important area and know it’s a journey. By engaging with talent partners who are committed and have a mature strategy of attracting and hiring diverse talent, we are contributing to the client’s goals and objectives. Clients’ internal focus, commitment, and training on DE&I means they are better equipped to recognize signs of bias and exclusion and act. This concerted effort to design policies within our clients is delivering teams that diverse in their thoughts which is netting greater innovation, a positive brand and culture.”
Judy Ellis, Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory (Americas), AMS
“There’s no denying that business leaders are placing a greater emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within their workforces. When we consider the future of work, leaders will need to adapt and evolve their talent acquisition strategies to take into account not only the make-up of the workforce of tomorrow, but also what each segment seeks from a potential employer. Changing demographics will be an extremely important consideration in the ‘Future of Work’ movement and, as a result, dynamic workplace strategies will be needed to manage the changing expectations of future talent which will skew across each new generation. Younger generations, for example, are more in tune with an employers’ brand, mission and vision, and a commitment to DEI will be a key influencer in affinity for prospective employers. And if we look at demographic predictions from the Economic Policy Institute, which predicts that by 2032 people of color will become a majority of the American working class, employers will also have to adapt their strategies to reflect this. As groups that were once underrepresented look likely to become the majority of the workforce, their unique needs, perspectives, and contributions will have even more importance and therefore must be considered in future talent acquisition strategies.”
“With the rise of contingent populations, business leaders will also need to take this growing segment of the workforce into consideration when developing future strategies. Many of our clients are actively doing so and there is certainly a deeper appreciation for how diversity within contingent populations can positively impact diversity within permanent employee groups. This is not only because of the propensity for contractor conversion – which allows workers to almost ‘test’ a company’s culture – but also because in some leading organizations there are more contingent resources than permanent employees. Consequently, at a time when different segments of the workforce – including emerging generations and underrepresented groups – are undoubtedly placing culture and a clear commitment to DEI as key requisites of a future employer, employers must ensure that their workplace strategies reflect this.”
Catherine Candland, President, nextSource
As a certified woman-owned business enterprise, diversity and inclusion is always front of mind at nextSource. We strive to provide an inclusive culture within nextSource, where 45% of our staff identify themselves as being members of a diversity category. We actively recruit MWBE, Disadvantaged Small Business, and Veteran-Owned suppliers. nextSource has for many years conducted a supplier diversity nurturing program in which we leverage our buying power to increase the competitiveness of minority suppliers, encourage customers to automatically include diversity suppliers for Tier 1 distribution, and we share market intelligence data and business development leads. To ensure candidate diversity, we launched a Community Workforce Development program to recruit and place workers from within disadvantaged neighborhoods. We assign a community liaison who partners with representatives from community/civic organizations, business groups, churches, technology centers, educational institutions, cultural centers, local media, and government agencies. And, we work closely with each client to ensure the smooth transition of minority candidates into their workforce.
However, we recognize that achieving a truly diverse, inclusive culture does not happen without continuous focus and innovative initiatives. We conduct internal training to ensure that our staff has the knowledge and skills needed to manage culturally and demographically diverse groups. We then serve as diversity advocates with our clients, helping to build programs that work effectively across differences and support diversity, equality, and inclusion.
Rasmus Pedersen, VP Customer Experience, Diversity and Inclusion Lead, Pontoon
“At Pontoon, we help our customers activate their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategies by providing candidates who are representative of the communities our customers serve. When our customers have an inclusive culture where people can truly bring their full self to work, our ability to attract diverse talent increases dramatically, as does our customers’ ability to innovate.”
“You cannot talk about innovation without also discussing diversity. At its core, innovation is about serving the unmet need of your customer base, current or future. To enable innovation, you must ensure your workforce is representative of the communities you serve and the customer base you pursue.”
Kevin Poll, Global Head of Strategic Partnerships, D&I Champion, WillHire
“By 2023, over 52% of the workforce will be made up of freelancers. With this being such a large portion of an organization’s total workforce, those organizations which are committed to D&I must consider their diversity and inclusion strategies across all categories of workers.”
“Millennials will dominate the workforce by 2025 (75%) and most of them prioritize diversity when evaluating work engagements. We have all heard the phrase “war for talent” and recognizing the importance of diversity and inclusion to the talent supply chain is critical to attract and engage great talent.”
Nina G. Vaca, Chairman and CEO, Pinnacle Group
“In addition to DE&I being the right thing to do – always and forever – there are three critical reasons to include it as a core tenet in the Future of Work movement. First, it upgrades your talent. Second, it makes you a more desirable place to work. Third, more diverse organizations consistently outperform their peers. I simply can’t think of a more obvious strategic imperative for any organization than to elevate its DE&I strategy.”
