Despite a strong commitment and initial ideas for making HBP a more diverse and inclusive organization where everyone is welcome, valued, and respected, we needed employees’ perspectives to inform and shape our thinking.

We were guided by the advice of Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei: “First, figure out the problems with your culture, recruiting practices, employee engagement and support, and start fixing them right away.”

We asked employees to share their experiences, concerns, and suggestions about what needed to change, but we did not hear from as many as we had hoped. We realized that we needed to provide anonymous channels where employees could speak more openly and candidly, so we could fully understand the problems to be addressed and the systemic issues causing these problems.

We created an anonymous, open-ended, safe channel for all employees to voice concerns, experiences, and suggestions. Responses are reviewed by the senior advisor for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, and Human Resources.

We engaged with an outside consultant to conduct a comprehensive assessment, which consisted of senior executive interviews, focus group discussions, and a survey. Feedback was synthesized with other data points, including demographic data and previous engagement surveys.

The findings summary provided a clearer picture of the current state of diversity and inclusion at HBP from the employee perspective. The recommendations have enabled us to prioritize initiatives for improving our culture, development, systems, and outreach.

Ellen Bailey
Lauren Palmer