During 2022, Asplundh promises to continue to bolster its goals around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts to address racism and promote inclusion.

Current initiatives and areas of focus include:

Employee Attraction & Outreach

• In addition to employee referrals, we use strategic sourcing options that include multiple diversity, disability, and veteran oriented job sites.
• Asplundh partners with DirectEmployers Association, a non-profit organization that distributes our job postings to many diversity job sites that include federal and state-level workforce agencies.  These sites specifically recruit women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.
• We continue to develop and set specific hiring goals related to diversity and inclusion based the strategic objectives of both our company and the client.

Outreach & Workforce Development

• Our regional offices conduct additional diversity recruiting by posting jobs directly with agencies that work with individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.
• Additional local efforts include partnerships with various educational institutions (high schools, universities, and technical schools), introducing, and attracting diverse talent proactively into trade and professional development programs (particularly veterans and women).
• Regional support of events introduces students to industry career paths in utility vegetation management and power line maintenance with Asplundh. These programs are geared toward helping students in underserved communities who face significant challenges to reach economic and academic success.
• Asplundh leadership provides sponsorship through development of curriculum, in-class training, and other support activities.

Corporate commitments are one thing, but equally important is how individual Asplundh employees can help make a difference right now in key areas such as leadership, commitment, perseverance, and role-modeling.

We also know that having a diverse employee base alone will not achieve benefits such as higher rates of innovation and profitability if our culture is not inclusive. “It is essential that Asplundh be both diverse and inclusive,” says Robert Donegan, CHRO. “We are addressing root causes to drive lasting change and make diversity, equity, and inclusion a true lever for competitive advantage.”

To help Asplundh leaders make meaningful changes, we have identified critical areas of focus for 2022 and beyond:

• Assess the current state of DEI through organizational data and focus groups and establish ways to listen to our employees from underrepresented groups;
• Define a DEI strategy to include clear roles and accountabilities along with specific goals and initiatives that are customized to Asplundh’s DEI needs and challenges;
• Commit resources to hire and develop diverse staffs and deliberately seek vendors owned by underrepresented businesspeople;
• Implement inclusive leadership behavior training;
• Utilize sponsorship programs and expand campus recruitment strategies to more diverse schools;
• Collect and report on basic diversity metrics and provide an annual progress update to the Executive Leadership Team, customers and the board of directors.

We know that diverse teams make better decisions. As we continue to gather data, we gain insight into where our greatest opportunities are to make progress. Developing a plan that is backed by our DEI data and analysis gives our efforts credibility and visibility and allows translation of good intentions into concrete, tangible actions.

DEI is an ongoing process, and an inclusive organization does not happen overnight. There’s still a long way to go. On this effort, we will advocate for pursuing progress above all else. Small moves can be the start of big change. If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. Boards and leadership teams should “expect and inspect” diversity data.

Looking ahead, the continued focus of management, especially executive leadership, will be critical for the success of our DEI initiatives.​