Creating a Culture of Belonging in a Tech-Based Workplace
BY Lauren Castro February 26, 2023“We have to continue to move forward, and at Dell, we think about work as an outcome. It’s not a particular time or place anymore,” said Vanice Hayes, Dell’s chief of culture, diversity and inclusion, referring to the typical 9-to-5. “So it’s important for leaders to think differently about how work gets done, and be supportive, and make sure they're flexible.” Hayes provided insight into the secrets of being purposeful in a remote, ever-changing workplace alongside moderator Dan Goodgame, editor-in-chief of Texas Monthly. As the world continues to play catch up, intentionality and sense of belonging has become more important than ever. Goodgame and Hayes discussed “Creating a Culture of Belonging in a Tech-Based Workplace,” a fireside chat during From Day One’s Austin conference, touching on ways to foster inclusion without losing productivity. Hayes, former math teacher in San Marcos, is armed with the idea that leaders should meet their peers and employees where they are–a sentiment she has taken from the classroom. As more and more companies move into a more hybrid-friendly space, the idea of intentionality paired with the new waves of flexibility has opened doors for those underrepresented and unheard. Hayes shared the story of a recent new hire who had the chance to go virtually anywhere, but chose Dell due to the fluidity of remote work that ultimately eliminates relocation worries. Furthermore, the decision to be more open to remote work sets an important precedent in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. “Enabling that choice is really, really important not only to people of color, but we’re finding it’s true for our team members that are part of the LGBTQIA+ community or team members with disabilities,” Hayes said. “Being hybrid has really helped us to attract people that we might not have ever been able to meet before.” Hayes was interviewed by Dan Goodgame, editor-in-chief of Texas Monthly Creating the space for organic interruptions, virtual check-ins, and collaboration is how Hayes suggests keeping up with the company culture in a more tech-forward environment. Asking crucial questions such as ‘How are you doing?’ and ‘How can I help?’ opens the flow of communication between all ranks of employees, and can be the difference between a positive or negative experience. “Now that we all are equal squares on a page, you’re starting to hear more and more from these folks that may have historically been quiet,” Hayes said. “Now, they’re speaking up and kind of sharing ideas and best practices on how to get work done.” A common misconception Goodgame identified is most managers and leaders believe productivity must have dropped due to leniency in location. However, Hayes said that there has been no meaningful difference and instead, the hours of work have shifted. In an effort to further diversify their roster, Hayes shared that Dell’s 2030 goals have had a great start as about 34% of its workforce and 28% of global leaders identify as female, and roughly 15% of U.S. employees hail from underrepresented groups. A major contributing factor to “casting a wider net” has been consolidating energy at the source–young people in school. “We have a program called the Student TechCrew with a local high school here where we train students to be the tech support for their schools,” she said. “It’s huge because we’re getting them interested in STEM, we’re getting them that hands-on experience, and while they may never end up working at Dell, we’re doing what we can to contribute to building those skills and getting people interested.” Goodgame added that for Texas Monthly, opening hybrid positions was the difference between 30 people applying versus roughly 300. At the end of the conversation, Hayes instilled the idea that inclusion has become more widely found at companies like Google because of the hybrid model allowing access to a whole new set of benefits, including constant innovative advances. Barriers that often halt other talented individuals have disappeared and have opened a world of opportunities for corporate America. Lauren Castro is the social media editor at Texas Monthly, whose writing has appeared in other publications including Flaunt Magazine and Alcalde. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.
In Pursuit of Talent, ‘Everyone in Your Company Is Evangelizing for You’
BY Lauren Castro November 25, 2022The American Dream promises “a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement and not birth or wealth.” In introducing a panel discussion at From Day One’s Austin conference, Sayar Lonial, associate dean of communications and public affairs at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering, cited the phrase coined by NYU Tandon alum James Truslow Adams as inspiration for creating opportunity for workers who might otherwise be overlooked. The panel of five expert speakers discussed “Improving the Talent Pipeline, From End to End,” moderated by Austin Business Journal Managing Editor Will Anderson, identifying ways to expand their talent searches to be more inclusive and innovative. To start with, laying the foundation of an honest and transparent public image will make a company better able to attract and retain skilled talent, said Lynn Marie Finn, president and CEO of the talent-management platform Broadleaf. Indeed, an inclusive company culture has become increasingly important in the new, hybrid workplace, whether you’re a big company like Google or a fast-growing startup like the news organization Axios. Standing Out From the Corporate Crowd Israel Gutierrez, VP of talent acquisition at Axios, said that for an emerging employer, showing up at job fairs and other events that are aimed to expand diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a great way to stand out and prove your company is taking that extra step. “We were the only ones who were at every single one of the five underrepresented conferences, which spoke heavily to our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, but also around how we want to get our name out there,” he said. “We’re only five years old, but growing rapidly, so it’s important to get our name out there in front of candidates at every single possible opportunity.” From niche strategy to broad goals, Google Cloud’s executive recruiting practice leader Melissa Santarcangelo made the assertion that talent starts with instilling shared values in recruiters. “It just takes people who are willing to have these conversations internally to create consistency and how we’re having those conversations with candidates,” she said. Whether it be social responsibility or a cause important to the company, every level of employment should be on the same page. In a 2016 study cited by Broadleaf’s Finn, 64% of millennials polled said they would not take a position at a socially irresponsible company. “You need to make sure that you are encapsulating your culture as you”re putting that brand out there in all of the different areas: your website, job platforms, all kinds of recruiting tools, as your authentic self. And again, what’s in it for them?” Sayar Lonial, an associate dean at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering, introduced the session Moderator Anderson noted, however, that most potential hires create an opinion of the company before anyone reaches out to them. Just as companies seek information about potential new hires through multiple avenues, interested candidates do the same with the company they’re applying to, Finn said. Jeremy Schiff, CEO of the recruiting platform RecruitBot, shared his perspective on the backend of recruiting: reaching out to potential hires, choosing the right language, and following through with DEI efforts. “Everyone in your company is ultimately evangelizing for you,” Schiff said. “[Employers should make sure] that you’re having conversations across everyone and balancing, having a consistent message with one that’s authentic to the person.” Broadening the Funnel Schiff asserted that when trying to meet DEI efforts, a company cannot forget that this starts with confronting biases and steering clear from tokenism. In order to do this, any identifiable demographic traits would be cleared before the recruitment process began. “You can literally, with a toggle switch, get rid of names, which can really mitigate a lot of the bias. We also use machine learning that will automatically find people who are similar to what you’re looking for, but it’s all focused on the position,” he said. “I've literally spoken to people that are like, ‘Can you add photos? I know what a person who looks smart looks like.’ Those sorts of statements terrify me, so no, you can’t do that on our platform. We make that really difficult on purpose.” For all these leaders and companies, a major part of their mission is to reach their diversity goals. Jeanine Steele, head of global talent acquisition for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), said their team achieved better results in the past year after becoming more purposeful in their outreach. Added Broadleaf’s Finn: “If you don’t have a very strong DEI and B initiatives in your company–B being belonging–you’re not going to get the right talent pipeline, it just won’t happen. The way you develop that is you have to do it with your staff.” Leading With Humanity Google’s Santarcangelo stressed that in the recruitment process, honesty is a crucial factor in ridging the gap between recruiter and potential candidate, as well as an effective way of boosting employee retention, positive company culture, and most importantly, belonging. The speakers after their session, from left: Gutierrez, Santarcangelo, Steele, Schiff, Finn, and Anderson (Photo by From Day One) “It was honesty and human forwardness,” Santarcangelo said. When hiring at Google slowed during its recent hiring “reprioritization,” leaders were encouraged to be transparent in order to bring a more humanistic approach to the process. Maintaining an open dialogue with candidates can help with keeping a good reputation as an employer, and eventually, reaching out to the candidate when space allows it. “But it’s really, truly just being human and respecting people’s intelligence.” A company is only as good as its staff, and according to Santarcangelo, spending large amounts of money isn’t the only way to entice and retain good working relationships within the company. “You don't need a lot of training, you don’t need extra budget. You need a little bit of extra time and people who care to do it,” she said. “There’s nothing more authentic than to have somebody who’s doing that job, say why they’re there, or why they believe in what they’re doing.” The speakers stressed how important it is for HR leaders to study the data from their DEI initiatives in order to identify deficiencies, while also celebrating the successes. “Having that data about the entire pipeline will help those DEI initiatives across the board,” Gutierrez said. Lauren Castro is a freelance writer and photographer with work in Texas Monthly, Flaunt magazine, Alcalde, and other publications.