Staff Diversity: Leading by Example

Challenge

The diversity and inclusion challenges facing Corporate America are real and measurable.
According to a New York Times article, only 6.4% of chief executives of Fortune 500 companies
are women, and only two are minorities: one Asian and one Hispanic. Of the four black chief
executives, all are men. INROADS took on the challenge of showing organizations how to diversify their executive leadership using training and recruitment techniques.

Actions

INROADS utilized its own talent pool of interns, mid-level executives and top leadership to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the organization. The organization made bold moves to make sure positions within the company have qualified and diverse leaders. The CEO pledged to:

• Make the organization’s work environment safe and welcoming to all.
• Provide training to promote continuous discussion throughout the organization and give exposure to not just top executives but to everyone in the company, including INROADS interns. • Optimize unconscious bias training with partner Diversity and Inclusion Television (DITV) to facilitate stronger internal awareness and communication — see DITV Video.
• Introduce a policy model that provides accountability for inclusive behavior.

INROADS has been a front-runner in corporate leadership for nearly 50 years, and these actions only reinforced its commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Outcomes

Of the six Executive Leadership Team members, 50% are female and 5 out of 6 have diverse backgrounds. Of INROADS’ corporate staff, more than 90% are from diverse backgrounds in 26 offices in 30 states across the U.S. and in Canada. Because INROADS recruits and trains diverse leaders for tomorrow, their internal corporate examples serve as a model that corporate leaders can use when looking to advance diversity in their organizations.

Contact

Harland Abraham

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