Читать книгу Hiring for Diversity - Arthur Woods - Страница 9

Diversity and inclusion may seem like recent buzzwords in the business world. In fact, these concepts trace their origins in corporate and military organizations as far back as the 1940s, when President Harry Truman desegregated the U.S. military. Meanwhile, in the last 20 years, we have watched business owners, shareholders, employees, consumers, and policy makers all increasingly agree that diversity and inclusion are important investments—for almost every company imaginable.

This is for good reason: The talent pool available to founders and leaders is becoming more diverse than ever. Women now outnumber men among U.S. college graduates, and representation among people of color continues similarly to expand. Ten years ago, it would have been difficult to find a technology start-up that mentioned diversity or inclusion in its IPO filing, and very few Fortune 500 public tech companies discussed the topic with their shareholders.

During those ten years, I've spent my career as a leader in the DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) space. Two poignant observations stick out.

First, the key to successfully building inclusive workplaces and high-functioning diverse teams is to think more like a businessperson and less like a diversity person. What do I mean by that? In all aspects of business, we are constantly looking for data from which we can glean any meaningful insight. Diversity is no different. When your business has the right data systems in place, it is easier to operationalize the processes that result in more diverse hiring. It also becomes much simpler to build and cultivate the culture that you want for your company.

Second, when we talk about diversity and inclusion, we are talking about the largest attempt in modern history to fix outdated standards and practices in the field of human resources.

The reason for this is simple. Building diverse workforces and inclusive workplaces is not a new function of human resources. Instead, it is simply a rethinking of the precepts built into some of HR's oldest functions. Indeed, a more recent trend across Fortune 500 and other high-performing companies is to see the head of HR or head of people role also incorporate the title “Head of Diversity.”

This can make the solution seem easier than it is. Like many experienced heads of DEI, I am often asked to “rebuild” HR. A common analogy in this situation is “changing the wheels while the car is still in motion,” but it's actually even scarier than that. As every executive and founder knows, human resources is a critical operation to the health of a business and not to be messed with capriciously. (Sensitivity to this risk may be another reason HR organizations and practices have remained unchanged for so long.) A wholesale rethinking of HR is not just a significant investment for your business; it's also scary.

The good news is it's doable, and the map has already been made. In more than 20 years designing, building, and overseeing human resources operations, my advice for all leaders is to see how attention to data and a passion for process can yield powerful, scalable results. As entrepreneur Ben Horowitz has written, a great head of HR “must be a masterful process designer.” Process design is the key to success. While many business functions require constant innovation, HR in this era simply requires this one significant yet transformational change in process: hiring and supporting diverse teams, implemented via time-tested methods of thoughtful, operationally sound, measurable, and scalable process.

What follows in this book is exactly that. Arthur and Susanna, with their team at Mathison, have trudged the start-up trenches familiar to many of us to build the insights and tools we need as the next generation of founders, executives, and HR professionals to grow diversity in our organizations.

In DEI, many of the challenges we warn founders and executives about have names like “unconscious” bias, meaning some part of the problem we are setting out to solve may require software that eliminates our human fallibility. Other challenges, however—the ones founders face in an era of increased awareness like hiring diverse teams—are just good old-fashioned HR implemented in a new way. What follows in these pages are practical recommendations for founders, executives, and HR professionals and the broader team to implement exactly those systems for their organizations.

As a passionate believer in the power of good HR policy and operations to help companies succeed, it is clear to me that one day, what we call diversity and inclusion won't need a name. We'll just call it HR. I believe this because I believe human resources, people operations, or any name we choose to call it will retain the same core function: helping businesses and employees build a healthy, safe, and mutually thriving relationship. I believe this because 200 years of U.S. history show us that when workers are thriving—no matter what their model of unionization, autonomy, or equity—the standard of employee-employer relationship changes our broader culture, too.

Which is to say, if you'd like to see the future of the United States, to quote a trite phrase of middle management everywhere: You'll need to talk to HR. If you are interested in building the future of our workforce, however, I'd like to personally invite you into the pages that follow. I am certain it's a brighter future, and I'm continually inspired by everyone who aims to make it that way. I can't wait to see you there.

Judith Williams

Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, SAP