I attended the second diversity session (there was one before, but I was at Boaz’s presentation and I wanted to diversify my attendance (see? it’s already working!)).
This session was a panel moderated by an old colleague from my last company, Enrique Washington. It included Anna McGough, HR leader from REI, & Lee Wills-Irvine from Qualcomm, Monica Simon diversity consultant, and Steven Gutierrez from Holland & Hart, LLC a partner with the law firm of Holland & Hart and current chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group.
They talked about the incredible (and fast moving) changes to the US demographics, and the need to diversify your workforce now, if you want to engage the minority consumer. At this point, many are projecting that in the year 2050 Caucasians will be the minority and the new majority will make up 53% of the US.
What is your company doing to attract a diverse workforce? If you aren’t working on it now, you better get started.
Check out what Qualcomm is doing to attract diverse talent: They were voted one of Outside Magazines top 50 companies to work for, BTW. (Interesting considering they aren’t an outdoor brand…)
Here are Qualcomm’s stats:
That’s impressive.
REI has also done some great things on the diversity side not only for REI employees, but from the perspective of outdoor participation. Anna indicated that REI has had particular success in diversifying its southern CA locations with community outreach strategies.
I have spent quite a bit of my time focusing on diversity recruiting in different roles I held at NIKE. It takes time to make these changes – it takes a long term commitment to a strategy of diversification with genuine dialog within your organization (why, how, etc.) to make an impact in your workforce. (Not to mention strategies for integration and retention…but that’s another blog.) However, the business case emerging today proves that if you don’t get started now – you may be sorry.
This session was a panel moderated by an old colleague from my last company, Enrique Washington. It included Anna McGough, HR leader from REI, & Lee Wills-Irvine from Qualcomm, Monica Simon diversity consultant, and Steven Gutierrez from Holland & Hart, LLC a partner with the law firm of Holland & Hart and current chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group.
They talked about the incredible (and fast moving) changes to the US demographics, and the need to diversify your workforce now, if you want to engage the minority consumer. At this point, many are projecting that in the year 2050 Caucasians will be the minority and the new majority will make up 53% of the US.
What is your company doing to attract a diverse workforce? If you aren’t working on it now, you better get started.
Check out what Qualcomm is doing to attract diverse talent: They were voted one of Outside Magazines top 50 companies to work for, BTW. (Interesting considering they aren’t an outdoor brand…)
Here are Qualcomm’s stats:
- 23% of their managers are women
- 35% of their workforce is minorities
- 43% are over 40
- 51% of all new hires are minorities
That’s impressive.
REI has also done some great things on the diversity side not only for REI employees, but from the perspective of outdoor participation. Anna indicated that REI has had particular success in diversifying its southern CA locations with community outreach strategies.
I have spent quite a bit of my time focusing on diversity recruiting in different roles I held at NIKE. It takes time to make these changes – it takes a long term commitment to a strategy of diversification with genuine dialog within your organization (why, how, etc.) to make an impact in your workforce. (Not to mention strategies for integration and retention…but that’s another blog.) However, the business case emerging today proves that if you don’t get started now – you may be sorry.
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