SocialHRCamp Virtual 2021 2.0 – Building Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive Organizations

There are 3 main global themes (we'll call them the trifecta for transformation) that are shaking up the world of work - The Great Resignation, The Aging, and Emerging Workforce, and the focus on Social & Environmental Responsibility. And, oh yea - let's not forget about that pesky pandemic!

What if we told you all three of these (and even the pandemic) are connected and point to a larger conversation around justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI)? We'll open the day with an engaging and actionable conversation to ground us for the rest of the event experience to include: 

1. Not just a trend - JEDI IS the future of work: the mounting priority for corporations to be an active partner in justice advocacy and social responsibility. 

2. Passing the baton: to emerging leadership that are holding company's accountable to not just Diversity efforts, but actively changing culture (workplace) and Culture (society) for generations to come.

3. Transformation Trifecta: and how it's grounded in a permanent movement to question the traditional workplace and re-create one that is more inclusive, diverse, and equitable for all.

What needs to change and inspiration for the day ahead: the paradigms that HR and leaders can begin to shift to effectively nurture and prepare the next generation of leaders and boldly respond to the transformation in front of us.

This session will cover the challenges of hiring fast, particularly in a competitive talent market, when building diverse teams. Maria will offer strategies that companies can implement to ensure an equitable hiring process, including interview scorecards, diverse hiring panels and slates, and inclusive language in job descriptions.

These days, there is no shortage of data in the world of HR, and as companies prioritize creating equitable, diverse, and inclusive workplaces, harnessing the power of this data is essential. In this session, we’ll explore how you can leverage your existing data, as well as explore practices and strategies to collect new data, that will help you understand, evaluate and transform your DEI practices.

Sara Lockhart and Pete Morra are excited to share Softchoice’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) journey. While we have been focused on DE&I for years, our DE&I story has accelerated tremendously over the past 12 months. During this session, we’ll share a story of best practices, success, growth – and difficult lessons.  Our candid conversation will focus on what works, and what doesn’t. Together, we will talk about how we are creating an inclusive culture for every single Softchoice team member, all while navigating the barriers that come with implementing change. For those of you just beginning your own DE&I journey, we’ll take you inside our strategy to help get you started. For those well into their DE&I journey, we look forward to sharing ideas and learning about your own challenges and successes. We all share a commitment to collectively shape the future of inclusion across our organizations, and we look forward to meeting you during this session.

Are you ready to think outside the (check) box? There is a difference between "opening the door", and designing a workplace with diversity in mind. Inclusive design is an evolution of design thinking - an innovation process that centers the experiences of those with systemic barriers to enable people from all walks of life to feel seen, respected, and reflected. Through the creation of programs, perks, policies, and processes HR professionals are truly the designers of the end-to-end employee experience. In this session, we provide an overview of Inclusive Design principles and share practical examples to highlight how workplace products, processes, and journeys can evolve to delight and better meet the needs of a diverse employee base.

Something for Monday is intended for first-time EDI practitioners as well as HR professionals who have had EDI added to their portfolios. In this session, Steph will share her experience as the first equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) leader of a large organization explaining her focus and goals over the first 12 months in the role.  She will provide practical tips, ideas, and things to watch out for that you will be able to use at work on Monday. 

The New York Times called it "The Primal Scream." What you heard when working moms threw in the pandemic towel. Child care, school, and work can't all win in a pandemic, SO WOMEN LOST. 5.4 MILLION JOBS, to be precise.

Pandemic Realities:

• 32% of women ages 25-44 said child care was the reason for unemployment

• 9% drop in labor force participation by unpartnered mothers, the largest among all groups of parents

• 48% of Black mothers said the pandemic impacted their ability to pay for necessities, like utilities, housing and food

• Women of color saw the worst unemployment rates of all

• 69% of mothers experienced adverse health effects related to pandemic worry and stress

This isn't burnout, this is betrayal.

HOW CAN YOU CREATE AN EXCEPTIONAL CANDIDATE AND EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE FOR WORKING MOMS? How can you bring them back into the workforce on THEIR terms, not yours?

We cannot see economic recovery and the full potential of business and human performance without addressing this betrayed segment of the workforce. Jess Von Bank drops truth bombs about working moms: how to attract, hire, and keep them and how to create conditions where they flourish and thrive.

For too long -- and with too little impact -- justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion work has been stuffed into an organizational box. This important work has been misshaped and put on the side of the desk by status quo power structures, business norms, and misguided ideas about organizational risk. This problem is hidden by the window dressing of social solidarity statements, rainbow logos, and lunches and brunches that do not lead to real change. We saw this in the notable year that was 2020. Unfortunately, this stream of work -- J.E.D.I - that so many organizations swear allegiance to has yet to materially change the way most organizations make their most important decisions and so inequality continues to grow, created by us all, instead of being fixed. In this provocative talk, Anna Dewar Gully, Co-Founder, and Co-CEO of Tidal Equality and Co-Inventor of the Equity Sequence™, wants you to consider how our existing approaches to J.E.D.I can be transformed and empower all of us to transform decision-making so together, we can build a more equal world.

While compliance is absolutely necessary, it does not always tick the right boxes. Keely will dive into the reasons to work towards being beyond compliance and offer actionable steps on how to do, so Disabled people constitute the largest minority group in the world, yet are the most underserved and underrepresented - often left out of the diversity and inclusion conversation. Becoming a fully accessible, disability-aware organization will help meet your ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) targets, connect with untapped markets and ultimately boost your business performance.

Newcomers face extraordinary challenges in accessing meaningful employment that matches their skill level and qualifications. This is due to a range of reasons ranging from lack of networks to bias from employers. However, newcomers bring with them a diversity of skills and talents that are of high value to employers, especially during a time where we are experiencing major talent supply shortages in tech. This session is an opportunity to dive into some of these challenges and explore innovative and creative ways to attract, engage, and retain newcomer tech talent, with the core focus being on workplace inclusion. 

Dr. Brené Brown defines belonging, “… as being accepted for you. Fitting in is being accepted for being like everyone else.” Diversity and inclusion are cornerstones of thriving cultures but to sustain these elements, we must create a culture of belonging. Belonging means building workplace environments where people feel safe to share their voice, bring their whole selves to work, and create a community that is empowering and inspiring. To truly create a culture where our teams feel they matter and belong requires compassionate leadership: the ability to listen to what's most important, to understand what it feels like to be in someone else's shoes, and to take the extra step to ensure others feel seen, heard, and cared for.

In this session with Lorie, you will learn how to define the key traits and neuroscience of compassionate leadership, discover the research that supports the impact of leading with compassion to create belonging cultures, strategies to become a compassionate leader starting with self-compassion, and discover simple and practical tools to create a workplace culture of belonging with compassionate leadership.