23 minute read
DIVERSE ORGANIZATIONS WORTH WATCHING
Their Diversity Is in their DNA …
The organizations featured in the following pages live their commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity every day … and in everything they do. Diversity, inclusion, and equity are preordained when it comes to recruitment and hiring, promotion and advancement—in fact, every aspect of career advancement and professional growth. Profiles in Diversity Journal is proud to honor these diversity high achievers and share their stories, their strategies, and their successes with you, our readers.
We invite you to peruse the following profiles and get to know these admirable organizations. We think you’ll like them as much as we do. We’re sure you will also encounter pearls of wisdom, be moved by deep insights, discover best practices, and take delight in creative ideas that your company, school, or nonprofit organization may be able to benefit from and apply in your own workplace.
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Organization Name: Sephora Headquarters Location: San Francisco, California Organization Website: www.sephora.com Industry: Retail Number of Employees: 13,510 CEO: Jean-André Rougeot Diversity Leader: George-Axelle Broussillon Matschinga Diversity Leader Title: Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion
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1. Number of minority, women, or members of other underrepresented groups that are currently C-level executive at GEI:
Five.
a. Number of members of the above-mentioned groups that have been added in the past three years: One.
2. Number of minority, women, or members of other underrepresented groups that currently serve on the GEI board of directors:
Sephora does not have a board of directors. We do have Equity advisors and partners, a group we have created, consisting of leading individuals and top social justice and civil rights organizations that work at the intersection of race, equity, and culture. Their counsel helps shape our work on equity and the way we show up as a retailer in the beauty industry and beyond.
Taken together, the Equity Advisors and Equity Partners represent some of the most influential voices in these spaces in the country. Sephora is working with Values Partnerships, a leading social-impact agency, to manage this effort.
Sephora has 23 equity advisors and equity partners, including these: • The National CARES Mentoring Movement • The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) • National Coalition for Black Civic Participation/ Black Women’s Roundtable (NCBCP/BWR) • National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) • National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC)
3. The diversity make-up of Sephora: • 64% people of color • 16% Black or African American • 83% Female Identifying • 9% Black or African American leadership across our stores, distribution centers, and corporate offices • 11% Black or African American Store Director representation 4. Sephora’s Pipeline-to-Leadership program for women and members of minority and other underrepresented groups:
Sephora has developed three Emerging Talent Programs to help us build a strong pipeline of external underrepresented candidates of color. We implemented internships for undergraduate students, a Rotational Management Program in our corporate offices, and a scholarship program for students pursuing a licensed career in beauty. 1. Internship program: This summer, Sephora hired 43 interns from diverse backgrounds, including students from the Drexel Co-Op program. Over 50% of these early career professionals self-identify as talent of color.
2. Rotational Management Program: New this year, 2021 summer interns will be eligible to apply for a fulltime position in our newly created Rotational Management Program, which launches in mid-2022. This program is designed to support a diverse talent pipeline and build our future inclusive leaders. Applicants who are hired will be offered a role in each of the three participating functions of Marketing, Merchandising, and Inventory Management to learn our core business processes and store operations. 3. Sephora Scholarship: The Sephora Scholarship Program is designed to empower BIPOC students pursuing a licensed career in beauty through professional training and education. This annual, year-long program provides participants with tuition for cosmetology and esthetician school, a paid internship at Sephora, firsthand industry experience, mentorship, and access to open roles following graduation. A total of five states are participating, and the program has welcomed 33 scholars in 29 different stores.
Additional Support Programs
In May 2021, we launched the Sephora Talent Incubator Program (STIP), our first-ever structured mentoring and coaching program inclusive of underrepresented talent of color. This one-year program is designed to build the next generation of culturally competent and diverse leaders by readying them for next. In addition to mentoring and group coaching tracks, STIP offers a culturally oriented individual coaching track. The cohort consists of 50 mentees and 27 mentors, who are women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups.
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Two of Sephora’s nine Employee Resource Groups support female-identifying employees in leadership and career development. EllesVMH seeks to empower and promote the professional development of all women across LVMH by investing in a diverse pipeline Women Who Tech—a network to inspire, empower, develop, and connect women in technology through professional development, mentorship, and connecting with broader communities. There are more than 400 members across the organization, in stores, distribution centers, and corporate offices. a. Employees who have benefited from the program in the last 3 years: Internship program: • 2021–43 interns • 2020–12 (lower numbers due to COVID-19) • 2019–63
Rotational Management Program: 6
Sephora Scholarship (new in 2021): 33 scholars Sephora Talent Incubator Program (new in 2021): 50 mentees
Employee Resource Groups: • 400+ members in Women Who Tech • 500+ members in EllesVMH
5. Pay parity for women, minorities, and other underrepresented groups at Sephora: Sephora engages in ongoing efforts to maintain competitive compensation in each market, and fairly and appropriately compensate all employees, regardless of their gender or race.
6. Sephora posts/publishes its organization values: Our values are clearly communicated to our employees on a regular basis and are posted on our company Intranet platform as well as throughout our corporate offices.
7. Sephora’s Diversity and Inclusion statement: Sephora believes in championing all beauty, living with courage, and standing fearlessly together to celebrate our differences. Even if we stumble, we will never stop building a community where diversity is expected, self-expression is honored, all are welcomed, and you are included. a. How it is shared with jobseekers, employees, and the public: Our statement is shared with jobseekers on our careers page at jobs.sephora.com. It is shared with our employees on our Diversity and Inclusion page on our Intranet platform. Additionally, it is shared with the public on our website: https://www.sephora.com/beauty/diversity-and-inclusion, and in regular press releases, including one of our most recent, in which we shared in our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion report. b. How Sephora’s Diversity and Inclusion statement informs the organization’s hiring practices and interactions with employees, customers, and the community: To ensure that we have structures in place for inclusive and equal opportunities to join or advance at Sephora at all levels going forward, we: • Developed a new hiring toolkit for recruiters and hiring managers to raise awareness of unconscious bias and recruit a diverse pipeline of talent. • Launched the Sephora Talent Incubator program to develop the next generation of culturally competent and diverse leaders, which comprises of mentoring and coaching for 50 managers across our corporate, distribution centers, and stores. • This summer, Sephora hired 43 interns, of which over 50% self-identify as underrepresented talent of color. • To create an environment for our employees and communities that aligns with our D&I statement we have done the following: • Built mini campaigns to celebrate important holiday milestones for a wider range of cultures, such as Lunar New Year and Eid al-Fitr. And, we featured more of our nonprofit partners in our content, creating space for new voices aligned with our values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice from organizations like National CARES Mentoring Movement, Act to Change, and National Black Justice Coalition. • We have cultivated an environment for our customers that reflects our D&I statement in the following ways: • Black-owned brands now comprise 15% of Sephora’s total social and digital content, up from
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11% in June 2020. In addition, in 2021 we implemented dedicated quarterly campaigns to drive awareness of Black-owned brands, including a Sephora. com landing page. • Broadened inclusion for Sephora’s Latinx clients, we have doubled the number of Spanish-language
YouTube videos produced each month. To improve the accessibility of our content, we have also incorporated closed-captioning on all Sephora-produced
IGTV content. • Created 20 new inclusivity training modules, which must be taken by all Sephora retail employees, including a series which trains all Sephora employees to recognize and mitigate their unconscious biases.
8. Programs, policies, or initiatives Sephora currently has in place to ensure fairness and inclusion in the recruitment and hiring process: • Unconscious bias training • Diverse hiring team • Inclusive job descriptions • Sourcing from nontraditional talent pools and diverse groups • Participation in virtual D&I Career fairs like the Black MBA conference sourcing partnerships with HBCUs (Drexel co-op program and Jumpstart)
9. Sephora’s Culture Statement:
We Belong to Something Beautiful
In 2019, Sephora debuted our “We Belong to Something Beautiful” campaign—a public articulation of Sephora’s values and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Through this, the company promised that it would continue working to make Sephora a place where everyone feels they belong.
This statement was also one of the main drivers behind our diversity & inclusion statement, as we recognized that racially biased and unfair treatment exists broadly in our society, affecting all retailers, including our own stores.
We continue to share this message with jobseekers, employees, and the public through: • Sephora employee uniform branding • Artwork and branding throughout our stores, distribution centers, and corporate offices • Sephora consumer website language • Packaging on Sephora shipments • Our careers website
10. Current ERGs supported by Sephora: Sephora supports nine Employee Resource Groups, called our SephoraIN Communities: • EllesVMH (women-focused ERG) • Working Parents Group • Women Who Tech • Mi Gente (Latinx Community) • Green Team • INspirasian (AAPI Community) • SephoraNOIR (Black & African American community) • SephoraPRISM (LGBTQ+ community) • All Abilities (launching in Q4 this year and focused on employees with disabilities)
11. Sephora’s Supplier Diversity program:
At Sephora, supplier diversity means building a strong
base of suppliers, with 51 percent of the ownership of designated diverse background. This is a priority because it encourages the growth of underrepresented businesses; promotes innovation through new products, services, and solutions; and drives competition among the company’s existing and potential suppliers.
Starting in 2020, we gathered baseline data to analyze our current supplier profile and spend, and updated our sourcing policy to include a focus on supplier diversity. Additionally, Sephora collaborated with the National Minority Supplier Development Council, a nonprofit advocacy group, to establish best practices and start building our Supplier Diversity Portal, which we launched in July 2021. New suppliers are encouraged to register at this portal, which will increase visibility and help reach our goal of doubling our current diverse spend by the end of 2022.
12. Honors/recognition for the organization’s diversity efforts awarded during the past three years:
Forbes
• America’s Best Employers for Women 2019, 2020 and 2021 • America’s Best Employers for Diversity 2019 and 2021 • America’s Best Employers for New Grads 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 In 2021 Forbes ranked Sephora out of 500 employers: • #2 as a Best Employer for Women, up from #116 in 2020 • #31 as a Best Employer for New Grads • #52 as a Best Employer for Diversity, up from #247 in 2020
Human Rights Campaign: Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index is the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices, and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer employees • 100% Corporate Equality Index: 7–30 update • One of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality Disability Matters 2021 Marketplace Award: recognizes corporations around the globe that are leading the way in mainstreaming disability in three categories: Workforce, Workplace, and/or Marketplace in an annual awards ceremony and conference.
Runway of Dreams’ Pioneer of Change Award: The Runway of Dreams Foundation (RODF), a nonprofit or-
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ganization working towards a future of inclusion, acceptance, and opportunity in the fashion industry for people with disabilities.
The Arc 2021 Catalyst Award: The Arc of the United States is an organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization was founded in the 1950s by parents of people with developmental disabilities. Since then, the organization has established state chapters in 39 states, and 730 local chapters.
WEBBY Awards: The Webby Awards are the leading international awards honoring excellence on the Internet. • We Belong to Something Beautiful Winner in Social: Diversity & Inclusion and Best Social Video Series 2021 • Bold Beauty for the Transgender Community Winner in Social: How To & DIY in 2019 • Sephora Saved My Son Winner in Peoples’ Voice: Winner in 2019
LVMH IDEAL Awards: The IDEAL Awards recognize extraordinary projects and teams, as well as exemplary innovations, experiences, and agility in digital activities among the LVMH Maisons. • 2020 Award Winner for 15 Percent Pledge & The Racial Bias in Retail Study • LVMH Inclusion Index Awards: recognizes programs that serve as pillars of inclusion within all 75 LVMH Maisons and fights against discrimination against LGBTQAI+ individuals. • 2021 SephoraIN Community Prism initiatives was one of five winners recognized out of 65 projects submitted • 2020 Classes for Confidence: Bold Beauty for the Transgender Community was one of three winners
13. This year, Sephora published its first-ever Diversity & Inclusion Progress report, highlighting our efforts in racial inclusion since we made the PullUpforChange and 15 Percent Pledge commitments. It is available to view here: https://static1.squarespace. com/static/5cd4841aaf4683aecca854d0/t/ 60fedce4a35273540e1f727f/1627315429362/Sephora_ Fact_Sheet_June_2021_v5%5B10%5D.pdf.
We are also working on a more comprehensive Diversity and Inclusion Report, which will be available every year.
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Organization Name: GEI Consultants, Inc. Headquarters Location: Woburn, Massachusetts Organization Website: www.geiconsultants.com Industry: Consulting–A&E Number of Employees: 985 CEO: Ron Palmieri Diversity Leader(s): Co-Chair D+I Committee Tom Daigle; Co-Chair D+I Committee Daphne King Diversity Leader(s) Title(s): Co-Chairs, Diversity + Inclusion Committee
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1. Number of minority, women, or members of other underrepresented groups that are currently C-level executive at GEI:
Our 6-member executive team includes one woman and one minority individual (16% women and 16% people of color). a. Number of members of the abovementioned groups that have been added in the past three years:
One minority member was added.
2. Number of minority, women, or members of other underrepresented groups that currently serve on the GEI board of directors:
GEI’s Board of Directors comprises ten people, including three women and two members of a minority group; current board make-up is 30% women, and 30% people of color. a. Number of individuals from these groups added during the past three years: Two new women and one minority were added in the past three years, although a smaller number of women and minorities have served longer. According to Deloitte, in 2020, among Fortune 100 companies, boards consist of 28.2% women and 20.6% minorities on average; GEI meets or exceeds these statistics as a privately owned mid-size firm.
3. The diversity make-up of GEI: • female–35% • ethnicity–17% • disability–1.56% • veteran–2% • LBGTQiA–.93%
a. Pay parity for women, minorities, and other underrepresented groups at GEI:
GEI has achieved pay parity and performs an annual review to make sure there is no disparate impact. 4. GEI posts/publishes its organization values: Organization values are published on GEI’s external website and at various locations internally, including these: • https://www.geiconsultants.com/careers/ possibility/ • GEI Company Culture video on YouTube: • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= po0AP5IXLhE
5. Programs, policies, or initiatives GEI currently has in place to ensure fairness and inclusion in the recruitment and hiring process: • Unconscious bias training for HR team members and hiring managers • Cultural competence training for HR team members and hiring managers • Diverse hiring team • Inclusive job descriptions • Sourcing from nontraditional talent pools and diverse groups • Use of AI
6. Current ERGs supported by GEI:
GEI X2–ERG supporting women in the company The organization is currently developing a framework to greatly expand ERGs, in 2022 and beyond.
7. Honors/recognition for the organization’s diversity efforts awarded during the past three years: Five Women Worth Watching®: Francine Dunn & Gill Gregory in 2018; Amber Ahles, Ileen Gladstone & Rachel Hayden in 2019
8. GEI produces a Diversity Annual Report
A FOUR-STEP STRATEGY to
Battle the Great Resignation
By Donald Fan, Senior Director, Global Office of Culture, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for Walmart
T
he last several months have witnessed a tidal wave of resignations in the United States and worldwide. On November 12, 2021, the U.S. Labor Department announced that 4.4 million people quit their jobs in September (roughly 3% of the nation’s workforce,) up from 4.3 million in August and far above the prepandemic level of 3.6 million.
And it’s not over. Gallup’s research reveals 48 percent of employees are actively looking to make a change, and Personio research shows nearly one out of four employees will do so in the next six months.
Corporate America is struggling on two fronts: record attrition numbers and a severe worker shortage. In August, more than 10.4 million positions remained unfilled across the country. Many organizations seek a quick fix—increasing pay, offering bonuses, and adding perks—to fight the war. If organizations behave as if this is their only ammunition against checking out and walking out, they unwittingly send the wrong message to their people—that their relationship with them is transactional and that the only reason for employees to stay is a paycheck. Research uncovers the motivational effect of pay raises is short lived.
Many employers don’t fully understand why employees are leaving. A recent McKinsey study indicates that employers seem to overlook the relational elements that are driving this employee exodus.
The better move for organizations to pivot on is respecting, recognizing, and valuing the contributions and impact of their people. They need to develop a comprehensive strategy in the workplace, starting with understanding their people’s needs and demands—the real drivers of attri-
tion. The finding from McKinsey’s research reveals that the top three factors employees cited as reasons for quitting were these: employees didn’t feel valued by their organizations (54%) or their managers (52%) or they didn’t feel a sense of belonging at work (51%). Noticeably, employees of color were more likely than their white counterparts to say they left because they didn’t feel they belonged within their teams or organizations. It’s a worrying reminder of the underrepresented groups of employees.
To help stem the tide, I recommend the 4-step strategy to the left.
1. Engagement. Explore various channels for listening, learning, and understanding employees’ top-ofmind issues and the state of their discontent, especially among women and employees of color. More important, be responsive to employee feedback and make changes to course correct. If employees don’t see any changes made after listening sessions, they believe their input, experience, and knowledge aren’t valued.
Employees want to be respected as individuals, so it’s important to acknowledge various needs and wants within the workforce and appreciate diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Provide psychological safety for employees as a resource for sharing, exchanging, risk-taking, vulnerability, and emotional response, instead of an end state that prioritizes “being nice” while stifling dissent and honesty.
Harvard professor Amy Edmondson defines psychological safety as a shared belief among employees that they can bring their whole self to work without fear of humiliation if they speak up with ideas, questions, concerns, or even mistakes. Google’s People Operations team finds psychological safety is the number one indicator of successful teams. And it has a direct tie with the great resignation. For those looking for a new job,
their sense of psychological safety rating is significantly lower (3.1/5 vs. 3.6/5) than those not looking.
Communicate the realities of challenge and its impact on your people. Create space for them to step up, participate, and inform the way forward with innovative ideas. Engage them to shape the plan, so they have a sense of ownership while executing projects, removing career barriers, and resolving issues. This practice sends the crucial message that they are trusted and valued. Your outcomes are better when more ideas are included, fuller representation is present, and diverse voices are heard.
With dramatic shifts in where work gets done, clear, consistent communication should be a top objective for organizations and leaders, as it helps employees stay on track and maintain priorities. According to the Workhuman survey, when workers have weekly check-ins, they are twice as likely to see a path for growth within the organization, find meaning and purpose in their work, trust their manager, and have a strong sense of belonging at work.
End Game
A myriad of touchpoints to engage employees and align their experiences with the organization’s purpose and culture
Enabler
Connection, respect, psychological safety, sense of belonging
2. Leadership. According to LinkedIn, 75 percent of people quit their jobs to get away from their manager at some point in their career. Non-inclusive behaviors by a manager remain the number one reason people quit their jobs. People exit because they don’t feel fairly treated, respected, and valued. Business leaders must set an exceptional example of inclusive behaviors. A habit-breaking approach to racial and gender bias leads to behavioral changes and an improved work climate.
Amid an influx of resignations, genuine displays of empathy from leaders and managers can make an enormous difference. Teach inclusive leadership (commitment, courage, curiosity, cognizance of bias, cultural intelligence, and collaboration)—a cornerstone of effective management that fosters trust-based relationships. An inclusive leader lifts overall engagement and performance, and strengthens talent retention—even in times of crisis.
CEOs and C-suite executives must walk the talk. In their effort to lead by example, they can start with self-reflection to identify biases and actions that either support or undermine change. Executives who ignore the empathy gap risk losing talent to competitors amid the Great Resignation.
End Game
Inclusive leadership and future-ready leaders with empathy and humanity Enabler
Inclusion, trust-building, caring, leading by example
3. Environment. Without an equitable culture, engagement won’t sustain. Today’s talent market has shifted. Employers need to treat their employees as human beings first and cultivate a fair environment to retain them. Teach allyship across levels at work: learn by observing, listening, and hearing other people’s lived experiences, leading the change, take action to correct unfairness and injustice, and remove barriers so that everyone can rise and no one is unfairly held down. This commitment helps slow attrition and even achieve growth.
By building a level playing field, everyone has a fair chance to develop and grow, enjoys access to information and resources, and contributes to decision-making processes. Integrate equitable and inclusive practices through critical moments of the talent lifecycle, including hiring, onboarding, development, promotion, performance review, and total rewards. In such a work environment, people share a common purpose, enjoy connectivity and collaboration, and experience a strong sense of belonging.
Given that the nature of work is changing so dramatically, it’s vital to provide equitable opportunities to get people trained and upskilled on new technology, data analytics, communicating, and cultivating new relationships. Other nonmonetary incentives include increased
recognition and access to mentors, executive sponsors, and the like, for additional development support.
End Game
A culture with equitable policy, practice, and process emerging throughout the employee life cycle and critical career moments
Enabler
Fairness, allyship, learning, development
4. Wellbeing. Organizations are responsible for improving their employees’ wellbeing. When leaders and managers cultivate the whole person at work—not just the employee—they invest in the success of every individual in the organization. According to Gallup, 28 percent of U.S. employees experience burnout on the job very often or always. Among survey respondents who had left their jobs, 45 percent cited the need to take care of family as influential in their decision. A similar proportion of people thinking of quitting cited the demands of family care. Expanding childcare, nursing services, or other home- and family-focused benefits could help keep such employees from leaving and show that you value them as whole people.
The Gartner study shows that 74 percent of human resource leaders mentioned that their organizations offer more flexibility options to employees to address employee turnover. This includes the option to work remotely on certain days during a week and work remotely occasionally upon approval from the employee’s manager.
Supporting “the whole person at work” means investing in the physical, mental, and financial wellbeing of every employee. Commit to incorporating physical wellbeing into all health and benefits programs, and actively communicate the offering to employees. Support employees’ emotional wellbeing by enabling new ways of working, building psychological safety, and contributing to a workplace for all. Evolve financial wellbeing with a focus on pay-for-performance and incentives that support new business areas, enabling the organization to attract and retain talent.
Focusing on wellbeing should not be a one-off practice but an everyday habit. Small steps go a long way. For example, encourage leaders to take time at business meetings to share what they’re doing to prioritize wellbeing and encourage peers to discuss how they’re caring for themselves. Through Thrive Global, employees can download a free app that provides tools and tips from experts to improve sleep, understand meditation benefits, and find gratitude. The app also offers healthy eating, weightloss support, debt management, and financial wellbeing resources.
Design a paid time off (PTO) plan that gives employees the flexibility to take time off when they need it most. Studies show that people who take time off have lower stress, less risk of heart disease, a better outlook on life, and greater motivation. With PTO, employees have the freedom to focus on their wellbeing however they choose.
The Great Resignation is a severe challenge that penetrates across industries—no organization is free from it, where employees are stressed and burned out. If your organization wants to mitigate that stress and the potential turnover it can lead to, practice engagement, promote inclusive behaviors, cultivate an equitable environment, and invest in employees’ overall wellbeing. This committed effort will not only help your organization maintain a steady course in a sea of uncertainty, but set you up for winning the talent war by sustaining a culture in which people feel at home. PDJ
End Game
Employee wellbeing using the “whole person” approach at work
Enabler
Drivers of physical, mental, and financial wellbeing; flexibility (where, when, how to work); work and life integration Focusing on wellbeing should not be a one-off practice but an everyday habit. Small steps go a long way. For example, encourage leaders to take time at business meetings to share what they’re doing to prioritize wellbeing and encourage peers to discuss how they’re caring for themselves.
Donald Fan serves as Senior Director in the Global
Office of Culture,
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Walmart Inc.
