Christopher J. Dwyer

Over the past two weeks, we’ve discussed why diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) should be considered core tenets of the Future of Work movement. Diversity, equity, and inclusion represent, perhaps, the most important of the 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.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion have become top-of-mind priorities for businesses in regard to their workforce. New and exclusive Ardent Partners research finds that:

• 94% of businesses are focused on transforming their workplaces to be more flexible and inclusive.
• 62% of businesses have injected DE&I and workforce culture into their plans for future innovation.
• Nearly 65% of businesses plan to, over the next two years, create a “Chief Diversity Officer” role within their enterprise.

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:

Dan Beck, COO and Co-Founder, Utmost

“I’ll take this one step further: DEI needs to be more than just a future of work tenet, but it needs to be a core business strategy. In the same way that enterprises have focused on purchasing from diverse suppliers, we’re seeing a trend of enterprises looking at the DEI composition of the workers themselves. 

While HR certainly plays a role, DEI is an overall organizational initiative that requires investment from all teams and especially leadership. To truly reap the performance gains of an inclusive workplace, it needs widespread adoption and not just from the workforce management side of an enterprise.”

Saleem Khaja, COO and Co-Founder, WorkLLama

“When we have conversations about DE&I, I begin with questions, a lot of questions. First: “What is the core problem we trying to address?” Once an organization hones in on the problem statement, a plan can be developed to move forward. The most common problem statements include “How do we hire diverse talent, treat diverse talent equally, or ensure we are inclusive?”, “Is the new generation of workforce going to evaluate an organization based on the organization’s approach to DE&I?” Therefore, to be successful organizations must make DE&I core tenets of their culture and policy. Is awareness one of the problems to solve? Immersive training for all employees with scorecards to measure progress is key.

DE&I is more of a people, process, culture, and policy problem to solve as opposed to a technology problem if you exclude reporting, delivery, or training/measuring, and eliminating bias in AI.

From that standpoint, I am also having a lot of conversations around bridging the income gap.  Regardless, if it is this question or one I have already mentioned, I believe addressing the supply of diverse talent starting at ground zero is at the core. Building, nurturing, and growing a diverse talent pipeline should be a key pillar in an organization’s DE&I strategy. This means making investments in facilities and infrastructure; providing affordable access to education and training; etc. Hiring diverse talent contributes towards this, but at that point an organization is dealing with qualified talent – finished product, so to speak. Impactful DE&I strategies focus on talent at its origin and not just the finished product.”

Patrick Dunn, Chief People Officer, Bluecrew

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion remain an essential component of any elastic workforce strategy. These qualities reinforce a culture that attracts and retains quality talent, the foundational catalyst to drive forward looking innovation and strategy. For an elastic workforce, the diversity of perspectives that come from strong DEI initiatives can ensure the workforce prioritizes the right work and delivers productive results. The studies that offer compelling evidence that DEI improves team performance have reinforced personal experiences where monocultural teams suffered from blind spots and tone-deaf messaging. And because anti-diversity forces are so pernicious and self-reinforcing, you can’t make progress without conscientious commitment to DEI. Only prioritizing these goals with a core tenet encompassing empathy and DEI, will set an organization up to do the right thing and maximize opportunities.

It is also important to recognize that diverse hiring is impacted at every level by unconscious bias. Data-driven hiring practices, which de-emphasize traditional human-to-human interviews, put everyone on an even playing field and leverage the data that workers provide as part of their behavioral assessments and screening questions to evaluate their potential. Scientifically crafted assessments have proven to be better at determining worker performance than human interviews and using these techniques can remove bias and interference in the hiring process. In doing so, workers are judged only on their performance with the complete removal of factors like race, gender, or other protected class.  We are proud that Bluecrew is made up of Crew Members with a wide range of skills, experiences, cultures, and viewpoints. The diversity that they represent is a genuine strength that can only be leveraged when they can bring their authentic selves to work everyday.”

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.”

If you’ve listened to the Contingent Workforce Weekly podcast over the past few years, you may have heard me utter this phrase many times: when it comes to the Future of Work movement, non-technological attributes are just as critical as technology and innovation. Aspects like flexible business thinking, transformative leadership, and an overall agile culture can be just as crucial to an enterprise as the new technology they leverage to get work done.

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 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:

Brian Hoffmeyer, SVP of Market Strategies, Beeline

“Leaders should place the same (or – frankly – more) emphasis on DE&I when compared to other Future of Work topics because, first and foremost, it is the right thing to do; we believe that companies and individuals have an imperative to ensure that historically underrepresented people are treated inclusively and equitably. Second, diverse teams win – study after study shows that more diverse teams and companies out-innovate and outperform those who are not. Finally, based on the first two reasons, there is so much opportunity to drive DE&I initiatives in the extended workforce as these programs often lag their full-time counterparts and companies can more quickly hit their DE&I goals due to the transitive nature of this critical part of the workforce.”

Allison Robinson, Founder and CEO, The Mom Project

“By 2025, millennials will make up 75% of the workforce, and they are the most diverse in American history. If you aren’t actively creating a diverse and inclusive environment for future talent that is front and center in every aspect of your business and culture, you will miss out on this talent. Technology investment and digital transformations mean little without the commitment to a more diverse workforce behind them to drive results.”

David Trachtenberg, Chief Marketing Officer, Workforce Logiq

“For too long, organizations have focused their DE&I programs on dollar diversity – their percentage of spend with diverse suppliers. While important, there must be equality of focus on an organization’s most critical asset: its people. An organization’s talent, both contingent and full-time, must reflect the broader sense of community in which it works – and from which it recruits. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s good for business. For example, our proprietary AI-powered insights quantify how visibility in the workplace impacts employee retention: women are over 1.5X more at risk and open to leaving their current role vs. their male counterparts when there are fewer women colleagues represented in their workplace. So, while technology, innovation and other Future of Work aspects are key areas of focus – DE&I is a proven investment to ensure organizations have the engaged talent with which to succeed.”

Rebecca Perrault, Senior Director, Diversity and Inclusion, PRO Unlimited

“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) has been a topic for the traditional workforce for decades. Research has shown that a diverse and inclusive workplace increases revenue growth and the ability to innovate gives you access to highly qualified talent. Ultimately, we are talking about dynamics that impact people and will see the same amazing results from a focus on DE&I in the workforce of the future. It is long overdue that the contingent workforce be included. The workforce of the future is rapidly expanding and presents a huge opportunity for organizations as they consider their business strategies. Now is the time to embed DE&I —  not after the processes have been instituted. To fully realize all the many benefits of DE&I, we need to seize this opportunity.”

Brooke Stovall, Inclusion and Diversity Marketplace Manager, Allegis Global Solutions

“A strong DEI strategy is vital to an organization’s ability to attract and retain great talent. And in the Future of Work, your ability to leverage technology, innovate and evolve at today’s accelerated pace of change hinges on your ability to attract and retain a talented and engaged workforce.

The challenge that arises from bringing DEI into the conversation as a core tenet of the Future of Work movement is that unlike a lot of conversations around technology and innovation, DEI cannot be automated. Developing, nurturing and prioritizing a truly inclusive culture that prioritizes belonging takes sweat equity. It involves conversations and evaluating processes and cultural norms, and bringing DEI into more conversations beyond HR.

Globally, the DEI conversation has expanded from a focus on talent attraction – sourcing, networking, recruiting – to talent retention. It is not enough to bring diverse hires through the door, if the environment and culture they’re coming into isn’t one that prioritizes inclusion and belonging, which are core to the employee experience. It is a financial and time investment to hire someone, you want (and need) them to be successful.

A challenge to business leaders emphasizing DEI like other aspects of the Future of Work, is that you can’t automate or purchase a technology to do all of the work for you. While quantitative and qualitative data and analysis is required to identify gaps and opportunities, and help you track progress, the real work on inclusion and belonging in the workplace requires sweat equity from people across the organization. Inclusion and belonging is everyone’s responsibility, requiring active participation from the highest levels of the company to people a few desks over.”

Maria Luoni, President, RightSourcing

“The past few years have brought to the forefront that a focus on diversity is only part of the equation.  Inclusion is another. Both of these concepts will remain a top focus for organizations in years to come.  Equity is something altogether different. Many innovative organizations are also focusing on the idea of “equity” as part of their overall strategy. This focus in the workplace will be a magnified topic as organizations are being called to operate with a deeper level of transparency around compensation reporting, board representation, harassment reporting, advancement and other talent management practices.”