Mitigating Bias in Hiring & Development

Challenge

To enhance the care we provide to our millions of diverse members by intentionally seeking and hiring talented individuals and purposefully building teams that reflect the communities we serve.

Actions

Our Diversity of Slate practice, for director and above positions, is designed to increase diverse representation at leadership levels by including at least one woman and one person of color on candidate slates. Centene coupled that approach with diverse interview panels for directors and above positions to ensure representation and diversity of experience throughout the entire process. To nurture talent, we leverage and create programs targeted to support people of color and women, including:

  • McKinsey Leadership Executive Program and Management Accelerator.  Designed to help companies diversify their talent pipelines, accelerate the careers of under-represented leaders, and increase their representation in the most senior ranks of the organization.
  • Louis Business Diversity Initiative Fellows Experience is a 12-month program that addresses the interests and challenges of professionals of color.
  • Harvard Women in Leadership explores emerging research and best practices, shares experiences and insights, and tries out new ideas in a supportive environment.
  • Diverse Leader Collaborative engages Centene participants of external leadership programs through networking and continuous career development.
Outcomes

Our combined efforts led to Diversity of Slate for nearly 65% of director and above positions, engagement scores at or above average in comparison to the Fortune 100 Top Quartile, and over 160 employees graduating from targeted leadership development programs. The DEI Office partnered with Talent Attraction (TA) to implement: 

  1. Diversity Hiring Champion Pledge to support leaders in being knowledgeable of their role in supporting best hiring practices
  2. 4 workshops intended to support our Diversity Hiring Champion Pledge by promoting hiring best practices across the organization
  3. A diversity focused talent sourcing role intended to reduce positions categorized as Under Utilized for certain job profiles
  4. A process that will focus on attracting external, diverse talent by leveraging diverse partnerships & organizations
  5. A process to care for and promote talent referrals coming from diverse partnerships & organizations
  6. Certified Diversity Recruiter training to new members of TA and re-certifying existing TA’s.

At Centene, diversity, equity, and inclusion are an intrinsic part of who we are. Taking part in this pledge shows our commitment to embracing and respecting the range of experiences and viewpoints that our employees bring to work every day. Our diverse and inclusive workforce is a vital part of how we serve our members and communities to shape a better world of healthcare and deliver on our purpose of transforming the health of the community, one person at a time.

Sarah London
Chief Executive Officer, Centene
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