The NCWUS 125th Anniversary Conference
On Friday, March 28th I had the privilege to moderate a panel titled, Unfinished Business: The Business Case for Women’s Economic Empowerment at the Conference Unfinished Business: Exploring New Horizons For Societal Change held at The Cooper Union in New York City. The conference marked the 125th Anniversary of The National Council of Women of the U.S. and celebrated its work to end sexism and racism by bringing together women and men from all backgrounds
The Process, Part 4: Developing Inclusion by Finding Your Hidden High-Potentials
Now that you have effectively recruited the best and the brightest talent, used an inclusive hiring process to assure that your impressive recruits became employees, and welcomed them on board in an informed and culturally conscious way, how will you develop them so that they stay long enough for you to realize a healthy return on your investment? Timing Matters When does employee development begin? Employee development begins on the day your offer
The Process, Part 3: All Aboard! Now What?
People are usually thrilled when they start a new job. The ‘new job feeling’ is not unlike the ‘new date feeling’ or ‘the new car feeling’. It takes most of us a while to decide whether the date will become a mate and if the car is a keeper or a lemon. Most new jobs have a three month ‘honeymoon’ period, although many people begin to feel disenchanted much sooner than that. On-boarding is the
The Process, Part 2: Help Wanted – Diverse Candidates Only Need Apply
Scanning job postings one can find thousands of ads with the statement: “Diverse candidates encouraged to apply.” Employers also include the phrase: “An EOE Employer,” indicating that they do not discriminate in hiring. This certainly has not always been the case. There are many examples of discriminatory want ads to share with you and, although some of them may seem amusing now, they were quite serious when they were published. There are many
The Evolution of Inclusion
“The Evolution of Inclusion” is an article that I wrote in 2008 and is a tutorial on how the field of inclusion has evolved since I entered the world of EEO in 1988. I have gotten enough feedback on my recent blogs to see that this is still a relevant and necessary discussion, so I hope that you find this post interesting and helpful! This blog post violates one of my rules not to exceed
The Process, Part 1: Inclusive Recruitment Is NOT Affirmative Action!
As it is early in the year, I thought it would be interesting to start delineating some inclusion strategies in chronological order, in terms of an employer’s relationship with an employee. Recruitment marks the beginning of every relationship between employer and employee, think of the first accidental glance across a room exchanged with someone who later becomes a friend. Employers are recruiting all of the time without being aware of it: manufacturers are recruiting every
Wishing You a Year Filled with Diversity and Inclusion!
NYC July 4, 2012, C. Wark In my last blog entry I asked, “What’s in a word?” I examined words used in hateful, specifically racist ways. Now, as we begin a new year, our thoughts tend to focus on how we want this year to be an improvement over last year. We wish each other good health, prosperity, happiness, and peace. Being in the diversity and inclusion business, I wish people greater diversity
What’s In A Word?
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” My mother, like many mothers of children who were ostracized and tormented for being different, used this expression to assuage us – to no avail. We still got into physical fights with the kids in our building who called us the S-word and other Hate Words because our father was Puerto Rican. One hundred years earlier, in March
The Women’s Empowerment Principles: Equality Means Business
I want to let you know about some of the great work that the UN is doing to advance women’s equity in the workplace and beyond, and about an amazing and dedicated woman who is helping to make our world a better place, one woman at a time! Thanks to a recent U.N. initiative, businesses worldwide now have guidelines that spell out seven principles that create a gender equitable workplace environment. In just three years
A Brief History of U.S. Women’s Rights
Some friends have asked me to provide a brief history of women’s rights in the United States. I am tempted to reminisce about my own involvement with the women’s movement, but that is not the assignment. This kind of exercise is always a good opportunity to review, remember and assess how far we have come while remaining mindful that we do not have full equity yet. As one trained as a historian, I really should
