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Earlier this year, Uber hired its first chief diversity officer after the brand faced a series of sexual harassment accusations and other public relations crises. Last month, after a year of controversy, the NFL posted a job opening for a director of diversity and inclusion.
Diversity officers have also emerged at many other high-profile companies. The titles may vary – “Director of Diversity and Inclusion”, “Chief Equality Officer” or “Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging” – but more and more organizations are realizing how important it is for employees important. It’s even worthy of an entire post (and sometimes its own department).
According to Indeed, demand for these positions has increased significantly over the past few years. Indeed’s diversity and inclusion job openings increased by nearly 20% between 2017 and 2018.
But what does a diversity officer do?
Three-pronged approach
Diversity and inclusion roles require expertise in three important areas: employee recruitment, retention and engagement. Diversity and inclusion go hand in hand, which is why you see them in many of these roles. In the process of diversifying a company’s workforce, leaders must also ensure that employees from underrepresented groups feel welcome.
“All of these efforts have to be connected,” said Mary Pharris, director of business development and partnerships at Fairygodboss, a job site for women. “Because then you lose touch with what you’re doing in the recruiting process, which ultimately affects how you retain employees.”
Focusing on diversity and inclusion isn’t just a good PR move, it’s one that’s implemented after a crisis. Rather, Faris said, it’s a proven investment in the company’s success.
“Study after study shows that diversity is good for the bottom line,” she said. “So by investing in this, companies are doing the right thing. Not only will it make your employees happy at the end of the day, but if your employees are happy, they’re more likely to stay.”
make yourself unemployed
Ciara Trinidad, Inclusion and Diversity Program Manager Netflix (NFLX)has learned to pay close attention to it all.
“This is not just limited to recruiting and HR departments,” she said. “That’s how we talk and target the people who end up being our customers in sales, and that’s how we treat the people who serve us lunch…The goal of this job is to eventually put yourself out of a job.”
This means focusing not just on recruiting, but also on training and developing the talent the company already has—especially those in positions of influence.
“The problem solvers are our functional managers,” she said. “They set the pace for their employees’ personal development. If you don’t invest in them as much as you can, it’s not going to work.”
Netflix strives to be diverse not only in its employees, but also in its programming. A typical day for her might include meeting with talent partners, production managers, and employee resource groups to discuss what they want in the workplace and what would be better for people like them.
She admitted “putting herself out of a job” might not happen anytime soon.
In the past, many companies relied on employees from underrepresented groups to inspire grassroots change. Trinidad said her focus now is on listening to these employees, raising their concerns at the highest levels and implementing policies to help.
“They don’t need to be distracted from thinking about how to survive in this workplace and how to make things better for people like them,” she said. “They just need to focus on their jobs, (and) I need to focus on building the infrastructure so they feel like they can be themselves.”
CNN Business (New York) First published August 21, 2018: 11:07am ET