At the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national conversation on systemic racism brought on by the killing of George Floyd and protests thereafter, awareness and acknowledgment brings credibility to an organization, Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Delta Dental of New Jersey and Delta Dental of Connecticut Claude Richardson explained during an NJBIZ webinar panel discussion on diversity in the workplace on Tuesday.

If you appear to be tone-deaf to whats going on, if you appear to be tone-deaf to the plight of others in your organization, youre going to lose credibility of your workforce that you understand what it is that theyre going through, what their needs are, and that you perhaps even have their best interests at heart, Richardson said.

Agudosi

Richardson was joined by fellow panelists Amy Flynn, human resources specialist for HR business Insperity; Hackensack Meridian Health Director Diversity and Inclusion Avonia Richardson-Miller; and Genova Burns LLC Partner Rajiv Parikh to discuss how diversity and inclusion have become centrally important in todays business world.

New Jersey Office of Diversity and Inclusion Chief Diversity Officer Hester Agudosi moderated the discussion.

D&I is at the forefront of everything and at the core of everything right now, more than ever, Richardson-Miller said, noting the disparate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color, specifically Black communities; and her and other CEOs responses to the killing of George Floyd.

Richardson-Miller

HMH Chief Executive Officer Robert Garrett put out a statement on Floyds death, unarmed at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis, shortly after it happened. His statement was compassionate, Richardson-Miller said, and really acknowledged what was going on and [had] a level of empathy and cultural intelligence around what the team members within the organization were feeling. His statement wasnt just a statement, she said, importantly, he also made a commitment to action going forward.

Parikh noted that an organizations leadership team should have goals with their D&I work, rather than just conversations; and that the goals arent one size fits all.

Parikh

Everybody knows you have to have them and you should have them, but at the end of those conversations, what do you want to have as your goal? Do you want a more communicative workforce? Do you want less tension, he said. Theres a question [in the Q&A] about internal staff division Do you want to try to alleviate that type of staff division? I think that all of those goals can be accomplished just, you know, by creating kind of a custom methodology for your organization.

Flynn noted that, with COVID-19, it may seem hard for organizations to put a timeline to the implementation of D&I policies and programs.

I know some of our clients are overwhelmed and thinking, this is massive. How am I going to accomplish all of this? she said. Her advice? Start somewhere.

Be able to start with a couple of initiatives that we think, okay, I can start with this and then we keep growing, she said. But really being able to make that commitment.

Part of D&I is managers or employers making sure theyre amplifying diverse voices.

In the age of the perpetual Zoom meeting, Richardson noted that while someone might have something valuable and constructive to offer, being reserved and having others chime in might dissuade them from doing so. Richardson recommends managers go around the squares of any Zoom call, giving participants the opportunity to share what they wanted to but didnt get to.

Richardson

Especially if they know in your meeting thats a routine of yours on and they definitely dont miss the opportunity to contribute, he said. [It helps them] not to be tone-deaf whats going on and helping them to express kind of where do we stand as an organization? and making sure that we dont lose the voice of those that may not otherwise speak up in this type of environment is really important.

As many companies continue to work partially or fully remote, keeping employees connected to one another is a challenge. Flynn suggested that employers offer their employees the chance to come together for varied discussion groups, and shared that one of the employers she works with has started a book group.

After all, the business case for focusing on diversity and inclusion is manifold: According to census data, Agudosi noted that New Jersey is on track to be majority minority in 20 years, banks that had a higher percentage of women on their boards fared better than their peers during the financial downturn of 2008, and diverse companies are more adaptive and innovative than their counterparts.

Flynn

According to Flynn, close to 70 percent of job seekers now are seeking out employers that make D&I a priority.

A webinar attendee from a mid-size conservation-based nonprofit told the panelists during Q&A that his or her organization was having trouble recruiting Black and Latinx people, and asked what could be done to attract that talent.

Richardson-Miller asked them if they were reaching out to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutes, and Black MBAs or Latino MBAs.

What are your intentional efforts in going after this talent? I think that there just has to be a very thoughtful methodical and intentional approach and making sure that your recruitment efforts are targeting agencies and organizations where that talent exists and where you can connect with that talent, she said.

Everyone matters. Diversity is organic, but inclusion is intentional, Agudosi said.

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NJBIZ panel: Diversity is organic, but inclusion is intentional - NJBIZ - NJBIZ