Success in an organization is never a given, and without a clear pathway, it becomes almost unattainable for employees. Creating inclusive pathways for employee growth is a strategic imperative that fosters engagement, trust, and long-term retention. Five panelists spoke on this during From Day One’s LA conference in a conversation moderated by Nick Wolny, columnist for Out Magazine.

Leverage Employee Resource Groups

One way that companies can create inclusive pathways for employee growth and success is to make the most of their ERGs. Panelist Antonio Hairston, VP of recruiting, diversity outreach & early career talent for William Morris Endeavor, says that leaders should join ERGs. That way, leaders can participate, advocate, and promote them. 

“Over 2,000 members are a part of them, and it’s an authentic way to really build community,” he said. “Four of my team members are either a part of the leadership board or a part of a committee, and so as we think about our conversations and quarterly reviews or semi-monthly reviews, we talk about their personal development, and we talk about ways in which we can stretch them, ways in which we can give them stretch assignments.”

This kind of collaboration and skill-building is instrumental in helping employees grow. Taking it a step further, Hairston became a mentor as part of the company’s ERG mentorship program. “It gives me the opportunity to connect with someone outside of my direct team,” he said. “We’re bouncing ideas off of each other, and I get a fresh new perspective from someone  far removed from my direct team.”

It’s really a win-win for both, with the mentor gaining insight, while the mentee learns from a leader in the company.

Create Sharing Opportunities

At Chedraui, previously Smart & Final and El Super, where panelist Joseph Tischbern is VP of talent development and engagement, they focus on looking at employees as individuals. “We’re not just going to train you. We’re going to help you find the skills that exist in you, and we’re going to coach you until you believe that you can do whatever’s possible,” he said.

Everyone comes to work wanting to be successful, but success may look different depending on each person. In order to feel comfortable to do that, there must be an environment of trust. To do that, companies need to create sharing opportunities.

When Chedraui acquired Smart & Final, the company went from 12,000 people to 25,000 overnight. Tischbern said while many of the employees shared some commonalities with regards to Spanish language and culture, they needed to bond as employees and speak a common company language. 

“We put them in as many learning environments together as we possibly could,” he said. They also focused on developing consistent language. That included putting everyone through the Gallup Strengths Finder and the Seven Habits for Highly Effective People. From that, employees began speaking a common language, which ultimately helped them to trust the environment. 

One company leader, an immigrant from Iran, shared stories of hardship living in his home country. Soon others began sharing their stories. “Him being so transparent in that learning environment started breaking walls down,” Tischbern said. “Forty leaders in a room started to talk about their experiences. And that started to transform the culture.” 

Shift to Skills-Based Hiring

An inclusive pathway always starts with the first step, and that’s hiring. Panelist Christine White, head of talent acquisition, North America, at Alstom, said they’ve changed how they approach getting people in the door. “We created a matrix for the core skills that we needed for all of our exempt and non-exempt positions,” she said. 

Still, letting go of traditional ways of focusing on degrees from specific universities can be hard for some leaders. To help change the mindset, shifting to a skills-based hiring model is a constant topic of discussion, White says. One thing they’ve done is put potential hires through tests, and share the results with leadership.

As they continue to share the results, a pattern emerges. It challenges the educational ecosystem and makes them ask the real question—what makes a person ready to work? If a person took the SAT or graduated from a prestigious university, does that automatically make them better? White concluded no. That’s a bias that needed to be challenged. 

This mindset shift to skills-based hiring has created an inclusive pathway for success. “We've been successful dealing with the education issue. It’s pretty much nearly gone in terms of a four-year degree,” White said. “Without the educational [barrier], we’re having them undergo a few more skill assessments in the pre-screening phase.” And any skills they still need, they teach, allowing for growth and success. 

Embrace Diversity

The current environment is a collision between DEI and talent development, says panelist Katie Oertli Mooney, managing director at Seramount. No matter what you call anything related to DEI, the focus is diversity, and it’s only going to become more important as time goes on. 

“Representation matters,” she said. “When we think about the future of work, students and those of younger generations are two times more likely to turn down a job if they don't see diversity in the organization.” Equitable access and opportunities is required so everyone can compete and move forward, Mooney says.

Data from EEOC shows a 10 percent increase in new charges, meaning if inclusion isn’t at the center of an organization’s focus, there will be risks organizations would need to manage. Alternatively, leaders can proactively create a diverse workforce. 

“Having inclusive leaders, involving curriculum of that magnitude, leads to more effective, efficient workplaces,” Mooney said. A culture of belonging reduces attrition risks. 

Use the Power of AI for Job Matching

Large corporations especially can find creating inclusive pathways challenging. That’s where AI can prove a useful tool, says panelist Michael Watson, senior director at Eightfold. There, they try to remove bias by not requiring an education and looking more at skills with the help of AI.

“Every day I go to work, I’m trying to level that playing field for veterans, for working moms that didn’t have a chance to go to school, dads, everyone across the board that just hasn't gotten a fair chance,” Watson said. Some of his best recruits, he added, were baristas or servers without a formal education but plenty of skills in talking to people and dealing with rejection. 

“We’ve ingested over a billion and a half career paths. We’ve ingested over a billion roles,” he said. “Because of the size of our dataset, we can see those adjacent skills that you have.”

Originally, Watson interviewed for a different position with Eightfold, and they turned him down for that role. But they came back and told him he’d be perfect for a different position—something he never would have considered, but thanks to AI the company matched his skills with what they needed. 

“Never in a million years did I think I would be running customer success,” he said. “But because we’re using these large data sets, we can see these anomalies, and we can see these patterns, and then we can lay those out for our employees.”

By fostering inclusive pathways, companies can unlock the potential of their workforce by emphasizing trust, collaboration, and shared growth. Organizations that prioritize these efforts will not only build stronger communities within but will also drive sustainable success.

Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.