An Update on Our DEI Journey 

Largely – and not surprisingly after a challenging year with minimal hiring – it looks pretty similar to the year prior. We have, however, made some meaningful moves that we believe will have a real impact on our organization and our journey toward diversity, inclusivity and anti-racism.

 

And it is a journey.

 

A long one and a steep one. But we are committed to it. Because it’s the right thing to do – it’s who we are and in line with our values. And it’s essential to ensure our future value to our clients in a world that is multicultural at its core.

 

We enter 2021 dissatisfied and restless but still encouraged. Dissatisfied because the data we’re sharing is a far cry from where we want to be … where we need to be. Restless to move swiftly to address issues that are enduring and insidious. Encouraged given the essential, foundational progress we’ve made – and inspired by the people who have so passionately driven it.

 

We say foundational progress because we believe vehemently that any sustainable path to diversifying our organization – and sustainable is the only path we’re interested in – is built upon true inclusivity, where belonging can be found by everyone.

 

So, in a year when we couldn’t make material moves on the numbers, we took important steps to help ensure that moves we plan to make in the year ahead have a lasting impact:

 

• We looked at the hard facts and had hard conversations. With transparency and respect guiding the way, we created safe spaces to listen, engage and learn. Together.
• We worked to open our eyes and minds. From education on the persistent and pervasive structural inequities at every level of our society to mandatory unconscious bias training to cultural competency evaluations of our senior team, we worked to encourage every individual in our organization to understand the hidden hurdles that make it harder for people of color to succeed.
• We audited our internal career development processes for biases and began to implement new approaches to counter these. One such process was introducing training specifically for our Black employees in the U.S. and their managers to help guide and facilitate the productive coaching and constructive criticism conversations that are the bedrock of career development – and often lacking for those in the BIPOC community.
• We forged a path to strengthen our diverse talent pipeline. A path that includes important external partnerships as well as internal protocols to ensure a diverse candidate slate.
• We began to operationalize inclusion. Our Juice workforce program puts flexibility and individual experience at its core.

 

So that’s our 2020 story. Foundational progress. Deep commitment. Unrelenting passion. And a long way to go.