The three crises that America is undergoing simultaneously–health, economic, and social–have a major element in common: they’ve exposed the painful consequences of inequality and bias. The COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustice and massive layoffs have disproportionately affected people of color, women, and other marginalized groups. While the debate over cause-and-effect is highly politicized, in Corporate America the response has been an unprecedented amount of earnest public statements about striving to be part of the solution.

How is that translating into action? For one thing, companies have tried for years to emphasize diversity and inclusion (D&I), deploying a variety of programs. For a recent webinar, From Day One gathered four advocates of D&I with hands-on experience in promoting one of those tools: employee-resource groups (ERGs), also known as affinity groups. These groups–for women, people of color, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, and more–can reinforce a company's leadership in D&I as well as providing mutual support for ERG members. Among the highlights of the discussion:

Opening up the Conversation

Among seasoned advocates of diversity, the current recession has ominous echoes of 2007-09, when years of progress toward corporate diversity suffered a setback because of layoffs and hiring freezes. “You look at the Great Recession, you look at the impact on the legal industry,” said attorney D.L. Morriss, the D&I partner at the Chicago-based law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson. “Hardest hit African-Americans saw a 13% reduction, Asians and Hispanic Latinos saw about a 9% reduction, even though historically, they only represent about 5% to 8% of the industry.” In an economic crisis, ERGs can be influential voices in helping management navigate the situation in an equitable way.

D&I advocacy groups can take different forms. Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare employs a program called a “diversity council,” in which all the employees who might ordinarily join an affinity group instead mix together with the same mission, said Jo Anne Hill, Piedmont’s executive director of D&I. Council members work together to develop programs around such occasions as LGBTQ Pride Month.

“We all should support Pride, because these are our patients. These are our providers,” said Hill. “So even people who were not a part of that group came together in the diversity-council model because you can be more than one thing. You can be an African-American, male or female, veteran, someone with a special disability, LGBTQ, so many things.”

Intentionality and Accountability

For David Alfini, partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson and co-chair of the firm’s LGBTQ Affinity Group and Mentoring Committee, the transition to remote work this spring provided an opportunity to step up communication with his ERG, launching bi-weekly meetings.

“They're able to ask us questions about what's going on, what's going to happen when we go back to work, when are we going back to work. I actually think that in a strange way, it's really strengthened our ties,” he added.

Our panelists were asked: How do you make sure you have strong leaders moderating these conversations? And who is held accountable for progress being made?

Morriss offered a personal example of leaders committing themselves emotionally and physically being allies: “You have to learn how to get comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Our chairman, he kind of raised me up at the firm. And we've been able to exchange in some very candid conversations where he's able to say, ‘Well, I don't understand exactly [what] I'm supposed to say.’ And we can talk through that. But I think accountability is something that you exemplify that you show physically, so having a leader in charge who is present is certainly important.” (Here is the firm’s latest D&I report.)

Hinshaw & Culbertson celebrated LGBTQ Pride Month last year on the firm’s rooftop in Chicago, inviting all colleagues, including several prior chairmen, to the festivities. Alfini remembers the event fondly. “It really showed how far the firm has come,” he said.

Getting Outside the Comfort Zone

Hill observed that company-wide evolution in the realm of D&I can be uncomfortable, like a tricky yoga pose. “If you ever do yoga, and I do yoga every single morning, some of the positions are uncomfortable, but I see growth and [us] being more agile, and I think that's where diversity and inclusion really is,” she said.

Part of the process involves opening up about personal experience. “I shared this internal memo with the firm a few weeks ago, titled: ‘When Is It OK to Run?’,” said Morriss, whose memo was subtitled, “A Cultural Reflection on Raising a Black Son.” He continued: “It was based on my experience and feeling in response to the Ahmaud Arbery death. My son asked me, can he walk to Walgreens to get some index cards, because he likes to make these little sports cards. And that's his hobby. And my immediate reaction out of fear was, well, no, not right now. It's not a good time,” he said.

Alfini talked about his personal journey to becoming a leader in the LGBTQ community. “I never thought there would be a time when anyone could be openly gay at work,” he said. “I never thought that would happen. And about five years into my time at the firm, the affinity groups were formed, but I wasn't openly gay at work. I didn't join our affinity groups. And it wasn't until younger associates came that I saw that this was a real benefit. I thought that I would lose more by being openly gay than I would gain and I realized I was wrong and I joined the affinity group. And over the years, I've become a leader in it.”

The affinity groups provide another benefit: creating a space to talk about social upheaval like the widespread protests over racial injustice and how they’re affecting one’s coworkers. Our panelists affirmed that the more open and vulnerable they are in these efforts to broaden cultural awareness, the more understood and heard everyone begins to feel.

At Piedmont Healthcare, employees can join its diversity councils by filling out a one-page interest form. People from all levels of the company are encouraged to take part, including younger employees like Kerri-Lyn Kelly, a talent development and learning specialist at Piedmont. “I immediately was drawn to it knowing that I wanted to be a part of something bigger,” Kelly said. “I'm still relatively new to my career. I wanted to be a part of a council and have that opportunity to share my story and to learn from others as well. I believe it's all about education. I know I don't know all the answers, but I want to learn. And I want a safe space to be able to have those discussions, learn from others, and bring my perspective and experience to the table as well.”

Hearing those life stories and experiences offer a good way to get past superficial assumptions about coworkers, the place where unconscious bias lurks. Said Hill: “When we talk about diversity and inclusion, what I often like to say when I speak is: ‘If you stop at what you see, you're going to miss out on the best part of me.’”

We invite you to watch the full video of this webinar here and consult our schedule of future webinars and conferences here.

Mimi Hayes is a New York-based author, comedian, and assistant director of content at From Day One. You can read her work at mimihayes.com, check out her podcast "Mimi and The Brain," or find her first book, a comedic memoir about her traumatic brain injury on Amazon.

How to Use Skills Data to Power Development and Achieve Business Objectives

The skills required for success are constantly evolving and organizations are struggling to adapt without clear visibility of the strengths and skills gaps in their workforce. This uncertainty leaves talent management and employee development journeys to guesswork, resulting in lost opportunities and strategic missteps. Being armed with skills data and then acting on it is a key strategy to keeping employees happy, loyal, and developing.Organizations that utilize data about their talent's skills, or catalog and organize the skills workers currently possess, as well as identify the skills needed for future roles, are actively preparing their workforce to tackle new challenges as they arise. During a From Day One webinar, leaders discussed how talent skills data can transform your approach to talent management.As a first step, companies must identify which skills are the most relevant to their business’ present and future, the panelists shared. This decision should not be made just by HR, senior leaders, and stakeholders, but by employees at other levels too, says Marquisa Nash, Head of HR, performance materials at BASF. “[There might be a gap between] what leadership thinks is important and what people think is important,” Nash said.Tomislav Vujec, director of learning at Red Hat, says it’s easier for HR to get a buy-in from business leaders when discussing employee skills as opposed to competencies. “We get to be closer to their problems and we open a door to validate what we can actually do, which is develop a skill. As opposed to risking too much by promising a business change, which often does not only depend on the skill being developed, but other factors,” he said.The rapid changes brought about by the pandemic also emphasized the need to focus on skill-building, says Didem Onem, Head of TA operations and programs at Eaton Corporation. “That made us look at our talent and skills availability and ask ‘where are we headed – and are we ready for that?’ It meant bringing a new type of talent into the organization,” she said. For Eaton, this meant an initiative for upskilling in digitization techniques so that employees would be more prepared for a digital way of doing business. Her team mapped out the new skills plan based on manager feedback, honest self-assessments, and forecasted what would be needed down the line.Those self-assessments, though, can be tricky. “Oftentimes people are not terribly good at assessing their own levels of facility with certain things,” said moderator Lydia Dishman, senior editor for growth and engagement at Fast Company. “Is there a way to make sure that what people are reporting is actually where they are?”The panel of industry leaders spoke about "How to Use Skills Data to Power Development and Achieve Business Objectives" in a session moderated by Lydia Dishman of Fast CompanyLarger companies, especially, must work hard to not lose track of each individual’s growth. “With 600,000 employees all around the globe, it’s hard to know who can do what and what they are good at,” said Abbe Partee, VP, head of global certified learning at DHL. So DHL created a Career Marketplace, which integrates both its learning and performance system. It includes an individual’s skills data not just from self-assessment but also manager feedback, succession planning meetings, and the combined skill profiles of their current and previous roles.“We want to build a culture of learning and continuous education,” Vujec said. That begins at onboarding and continues throughout an employee’s entire career journey, regardless of their level. It’s also important to recognize, he says, that “the foundational skills of today might not be the foundational skills of tomorrow.” In turn, the onboarding itself should serve as a mindset shift to prepare employees for continuous learning, rather than the expectation that development will stop after a few months on the job.Skills data should be something that is embraced by employees. “We know employees want to grow with the organization, and skills is a great conversation to get that going,” said Lucy Beaumont, solution lead, manager and leader at SHL. The biggest shift she is seeing is that the skills conversation during reviews is less about how employees are succeeding in their current roles, but rather where they want to go in the future. “What is your skills potential, and therefore, what is the right career path for you where can you lean into those strengths? If you do have those gaps, and they're relevant to the job you're doing or the job you want to do, how can we get around that and support that?” she said.Post-pandemic, individuals are more acutely focused on whether they are happy in their current position, so it’s important for employers to facilitate those conversations early and help workers move and grow internally, rather than externally, to boost retention.Beaumont says organizations should not only be measuring skills as they stand, but also tracking how those skills gaps are then bridged over time. While pulse surveys are helpful, they can sometimes have a tough time measuring soft skills, such as leadership. Therefore, the hard data must then be analyzed with a human approach. “We do take broad strokes, but then that aggregate view allows us to prioritize and see what it’s hinting at,” Vujec said. HR can allow the data trends to drive what areas will require a deeper, more complex dive.Nash notes this “human skills” area is, ironically, where emerging technology can be the most useful during employee surveys. “We use AI to go back into the comments to extrapolate, to see what other additional data points we can obtain to understand what skills employees are looking for,” Nash said. Then those themes are linked back to the organization’s business strategy and core values.What skills do the panelists see as most valuable going forward? All of them are tied to transformation. They include data analytics, to boost agility in reacting to needs; digitization, to make business more efficient; a digital mindset when it comes to problem solving; and an overall change in agility. And lastly, the skill of learning itself is vital. “Re-skilling potential: what does it take to be willing and able to learn new skills,” Beaumont shared, is integral in today’s rapidly evolving workforce.Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost and several printed essay collections, among others, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.

Innovative and Engaging Approaches for Leadership Development

“The war for talent is over, and talent won.”This was a quote that resonated with Miguel Oliveira, senior HR director supporting the brand management and marketing teams at Danone North America, he said during a recent From Day One webinar.Leaders are now being evaluated “not only on the results they bring to the business, but on results from engagement, well-being, and retention,” he told moderator Lydia Dishman during a From Day One webinar about supporting tomorrow’s leaders.Amanda Grow, director of customer success for ETU, says the company has leadership training programs centered on skills related to values such as authenticity and courage, emotional intelligence, and psychological safety.“I always want to see inclusive and emotionally intelligent leaders, because that really does have a major impact on every organization and your culture and what you're trying to instill in your employees,” said Grow.Things have changed tremendously in the workforce in recent years, which impacts what leadership looks like, says Johann Laville, the chief learning officer at Merck.Remote work is becoming more commonplace, the workforce is younger and more diverse, and “technology is driving our future at light speed,” he said. As a result, leaders are listening more and focusing more on leading with humility, he says.Tips for Training Future LeadersEarly talent programs are a way companies can develop future leaders, says Minh Pham-Costello, vice president of business management at Santander. Employees can get an endorsement from their manager when applying.It’s crucial to make sure the employee is committed to the program “because sometimes you push programs to people and they either don’t have the capacity or the desire,” Pham-Costello said. It is also important to have programs that cater to senior leaders’ professional development needs.Programs for future leaders shouldn’t be one size fits all, according to Grow.“It’s great to have a global skill set that we’re trying to adhere to, but we also need to dig down and go to the level deeper and really understand how those skills show up at different role levels, different proficiency levels, and more, so that you really can personalize some of the training,” said Grow. For example, a senior leader who takes a junior-level course probably won’t find it engaging.The panel of leaders spoke about "Supporting Tomorrow's Leaders: Innovative and Engaging Approaches for Leadership Development" (photo by From Day One)Oliveira compared leadership training to trying to teach someone how to ride a bike. You can have trainees watch a movie on how to do it or “put them on a bike and have someone hold the bike to let them understand how it works,” he said.When exposing employees with leadership potential to management fundamentals, “It’s really important to create ways and mechanisms to give them visibility to what it looks like without the responsibility of leading someone directly,” Oliveira said. “I still see today many people stepping into their first managerial leadership opportunity and they still lack those fundamentals, and unfortunately, those suffering are those reporting to the individual.”How Employees Can Demonstrate Leadership SkillsAlthough organizations are investing in leadership development more than ever before, individuals still need to take the initial steps toward getting to the next level, says Pham-Costello.“Of course, other people can help you, but when you take the initiative with your career, you are not only developing your skill but also showing the organization that you are committed to the company and to your growth,” she said.Business resource groups (BRG) are essential when it comes to leadership development, says Pham-Costello. A BRG “gives you that visibility. People see you leading and influencing.”Laville said Merck has a true gig economy. This means if an employee wants to demonstrate their capability of being an effective leader and there’s something they are passionate about – whether it’s a topic, division, or product – they can apply internally, be interviewed, and be selected.That employee would then have support from the leader who releases them into the gig and the leader who would accept them “to come in and provide a new value,” Laville said.Seeking mentorship is another way for those who wish to be leaders to get to that level. Mentors are “subject matter experts that you can have some really open conversations with to help guide you on that path,” he said.Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, ETU, for sponsoring this webinar.Mary Pieper is a freelance writer based in Mason City, Iowa.

Redefining Recruitment: The Advantages and Challenges of Skills-Based Hiring

The HR industry is abuzz with a new phrase, “skills-based hiring,” but according to recent research, relatively few employers are actually following through with it. Why the gap? One major factor is inertia–hiring managers just keep doing what they’ve done in the past.For companies that hire white-collar workers, employers have been slow to look past four-year degree requirements and Fortune 500 employment pedigrees. Even for frontline workforces, where four-year degrees aren’t typically required, hiring managers may favor familiar brand-name employers, specific training programs, or familiar resume histories. The results are much the same.Now, companies are turning their attention to skills-based hiring in which capabilities and potential are given greeter credence than any professional pedigree. How skills-based hiring and talent management affects the frontline workforce was the topic of discussion during a recent From Day One webinar on the advantages and challenges of skills-based hiring.Getting Started With Skills-Based HiringNicole DeLue joined DISH Network, the satellite TV company, about nine months ago. As the new head of talent acquisition and frontline recruiting, one of her first projects has been overhauling the company’s recruitment process. Not an easy feat for a company that hires more than 800 locations. To boot, DISH hadn’t updated its hiring practices in two decades. Her goal has been to update the process into one that prioritizes skills and potential over employment history.Up against a stale process and long-held habits, DeLue evaluated the entire employee experience from application to talent development. “It was important for me to peel back the layers for the end-to-end candidate and employee lifecycle,” she said. “I wanted to take a deep dive and understand, what are we attracting for? How are we evaluating those skills? And are we actually developing those skills? Is what we’re attracting and qualifying candidates for is what we’re actually developing? Are employees being evaluated on the skills they’re being hired for?”The move to skills-based hiring helps level the playing field for applicants, and for the business, it helps solve the ongoing problem of talent scarcity. “The workforce has really changed over the past couple of years,” said panelist Lori Mix, SVP of talent acquisition at customer experience outsourcing company ibex. “Some specialized areas, like healthcare and finance, have moved to the skills space because there just aren’t enough workers.”Prioritizing skills and potential is also good for the bottom line, Mix pointed out, because it equips the company to grow and adapt in the future. “We want to have choices and give people opportunities to come into the company,” she said. “And as we grow, and are solving our customers’ hiring problems, we want to put people in that are going to be good leaders down the road. So we have to make sure we’re hiring the right skill set from the get-go.”Journalist Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza spoke with Dan Sapir of JobGet, Nicole DeLue of DISH Network, and Lori Mix of ibex during the From Day One webinar (photo by From Day One)Dan Sapir, general manager of frontline job platform JobGet, says this new approach to hiring has proven to motivate and energize a part of the workforce whose upward career potential has long been limited. “What we see in our own ecosystem is that as we expose job seekers to jobs that they had no clue they’d be a good fit for, they’re more excited to apply. They’re more excited when they go through the application process. And when they talk to the hiring team, they come off more personable. And because they’re more excited about that role, they stick around for a longer time.”Breaking Old Hiring Habits to Find the Best CandidatesSkills-based hiring is still a relatively new practice for many organizations, and many recruiting leaders have a long road of habit-breaking ahead of them.DeLue found that hiring managers at DISH were so involved in the hiring process, some were even reviewing resumes. Not only is that a time-waster, it can bias the managers, who may be inclined to evaluate candidates on past employers or jobs rather than future potential.Now, she’s waiting until the interview stage to show candidate profiles to hiring managers, and they’ve experimented with removing candidates’ names and previous employers altogether.“There are so many different ways that you can do it, but I think that it boils down to instilling confidence in your customer,” she said. “It’s about getting alignment on the skills you’re screening for, and not the profile. The minute that you let [managers] go back to ‘they worked at this company, and we just had five people a trip from that company,’ you’re going to get in that vicious cycle.”At ibex, Mix uses resumes to start conversations that can help her evaluate sought-after skills. For instance, she doesn’t let an employment gap disqualify an applicant. “There are so many life events and real-world issues driving reductions in force and employment gaps. I want to leverage the interview by focusing on what their attitude is on overcoming all those challenges,” she said. The company needs people who are good at problem-solving, are quick thinkers, have good attitudes, and possess the flexibility to overcome challenges—these aren’t skills that can be deduced from employment history.Skills-based hiring expands the internal talent pool as well, making it easier for the company to recruit and retain from within. To this end, ibex has coaching and mentorship programs that open workers to new jobs and careers with the company. “Our frontline workforce understands that they can take different paths,” Mix said. “They can pursue the leadership trajectory or they can be a subject matter expert, but either way, you know that there’s growth potential.”In frontline jobs, where turnover is typically quite high, giving workers the opportunity to move around can keep them there for longer. Career growth is a retention strategy, JobGet’s Sapir says. “There are a lot of job seekers that have transferable skills from one role to the next, and the more you can encourage them to look at other opportunities that they could be a great fit for, it actually helps make your company sticky.”Sapir pointed out that as promising as skills-based hiring is, workers and job seekers aren’t accustomed to this new way of doing things. Used to traditional job requirements, they may be self-selecting out of great positions, so companies need to budge their audience, he said. “You want to encourage more people that, if you think you’re a good fit for some of this stuff, please apply.”Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, JobGet, for sponsoring this webinar. Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about work, the job market, and women’s experiences in the workplace. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Quartz, Fast Company, and Digiday’s Worklife.

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