Bringing Transparency and Accountability to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At global power management company Eaton Corp, Ernest Marshall, chief human resources officer, says that leadership has worked hard to separate the sensationalism often associated with employee data analytics by redefining these numbers to ‘workforce insights.’

Such insights have been analyzed and leveraged in a manner that equipped the organization to drive real change. Shana Lebowitz Gaynor of Insider interviewed Ernest on this subject during a From Day One virtual conference.

Leveraging Workplace Insights

Marshall picked up on the fact that when women candidates get to the offer stage, 90% of them accept the offer–highlighting how gender diversity led to a higher acceptance rate.

Similarly, Eaton has set up an initiative to hire more women globally and increase minority representation into general management roles. Upon further investigation, it was found that the company had a large percentage of diverse employees internally, yet there was a gap when it came to driving these individuals toward management positions.

Marshall highlighted that when data is presented, often in the form of a percentage increase, the full context of the data is rarely clarified. “It’s only one piece of the puzzle. We aren’t looking at what could that number have been,” he said.

When it comes to analytics and workforce insights, he adds that companies must unpack what the easy percentage is trying to tell them. He does this by staging a hypothetical company goal: reaching an employee base that consists of 40% women.

“People could suggest hiring more, but that’s only one variable. You need to control for things like your attrition or your rate of promotion,” he said, and mentions that focusing on such factors enables leaders to control the process and better understand what’s happening in the organization.

The Role of Workplace Flexibility

Desiring flexible work options is a facet of corporate culture that has existed long before the pandemic. At Eaton, some form of flexibility has always existed, such as a hybrid work policy, but the question came down to how it was utilized and whether leaders were supportive of their remote employees.

“Flexibility by definition is the quality of blending without breaking,” Marshall said. “Flexibility is about trust.”

He said that for a flexible solution to succeed, it hinges on the priorities and outcomes for the business and less about why the person wants the flexibility.

“There seems to be this reluctance to have this discussion, because people think when I do [ask for flexibility], someone’s going to think differently about me.”

Historically, people felt the need to prove they deserved flexibility–an approach that is misguided as it adversely impacts the company’s culture. He said that the discussion should be avoided entirely, pointing to sensitive situations such as employees who needed to care for aging parents who lived far from company headquarters.

Such flexible solutions can be adjusted to an as-needed basis, where managers can green light it for a team member and check in periodically on progress.

“We've got to ensure that we stay focused on the main thing: partnering with one another and helping each other drive those priorities and deliver those outcomes, in the best way that the person operates based on our flexible work policy,” he said.

As CHRO, Marshall shares how he brings his personal experiences to the table to inform his outlook on inclusion and diversity as a part of his calling, underscoring how a diverse workforce makes the collective intellect of an organization far better.

“What we all bring to the organization every day is our lived experiences, which is what makes diversity so profound,” he said.

Tania Rahman is a native New Yorker who works at the intersection of digital marketing and tech. She enjoys writing both news stories and fiction, hot chocolate on cold days, reading, live music, and learning new things.