Take Charge of Your DE&I Initiatives
Learn the tools and how to create a space to think about what you can do within your organization for DE&I will be powerful. It is where the creativity starts, say panelists at GlobeSt.com’s national Women of Influence conference.
PARK CITY, UT—The issue of diversity, equity and inclusion sits squarely at the intersection of social and governance vectors. Last week at the GlobeSt.com national Women of Influence conference, we heard from some of the individuals and companies who are raising the bar and learn how to make those efforts multidimensional—from hiring to training to board composition, business partnerships and more.
When panelist Lisa Hurd, chief investment officer at RADCO, started in the industry, she began as an analyst and there were very few women at her level, she said. “At the time, I had very little exposure to other women at my level. I am proud to say I have now had the opportunity to build a team of my own, and have hired some diverse ethnicities. I am proud to look at where my dream started and where we are now.”
Hurd explained that it is important to be intentional about who you are recruiting. “For us, we had to branch outside and think about where we can recruit from…It has been great to see it evolve.”
According to Hurd, if she sent out a job post today, 99% of the applications that she gets are incredibly talented, but it is still important to balance qualifications versus the desire for diversity. “You have to be intentional to find those candidates even while things are growing quickly. You have to figure out how to maintain that intentionality and that discipline to really focus on making sure our team has different looks and different views and different ideas.”
The best people in the right seats is a diverse group of people, says Hurd. “While we are doing that, we have to also think about how we elevate diverse people within our organizations,” she said. “You have to talk to your team about issues that actually face them today. And instead of looking at the way things used to be, you have to be thoughtful about who you want to be.”
When talking to the more than 300 powerful women in the audience, she said that in 10 years’ time, she would “love to see that we are getting together because we want to, not because we feel like we have to band together to get what we want.”
Panelist Nashunda Williams, head of diversity, equity and inclusion at JLL, said that this year, there was an opportunity to take diversity to the next level and treat DE&I like a business. “I got the role and reported to the CEO and there is the recognition that this is serious,” she said. “JLL is committed to this change and to progressing our DE&I journey.”
She explained that the firm has made serious investments and has invested in early careers globally. “We are seeing our interns and entry level people be more diverse… We are making better investments into our people.”
Tracking is key, she added. ‘You have to look at whatever aspect of DEI that you are focused on, you have to track it and measure it. If you don’t track it, it will be out of sight and out of mind.”
Outside of tracking it, she said, you have to have the dialog. “Without having that conversation, you won’t make progress. You have to have a dialogue to discuss what is working and what isn’t working.”
It is also key to give yourself grace. “This is a space where you say the wrong thing, so they don’t say anything… We have to change that culture,” said Williams. “You have to have a dialog… This next generation is aware too and expects those conversations.”
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