Diversity Secrets – Details, episodes & analysis

#33 Welcome back to Diversity Secrets Podcast!

Numerous articles are pointing to what is being called the rise and fall of DEI. After the protests following George Floyd’s murder in 2020, many companies pledged to increase their investment in DEI initiatives, leading to a two-year boom in DEI funding and staffing around the globe. However, DEI initiatives seemingly lost steam in 2023, with many of those very same organizations making pledges in 2020, cutting back on their DEI efforts, in a context of backlash, pushback, as well as political and regulatory pressure targeted at DEI programs. Within 3 years, DEI went from being the right thing to do in business, to being a largely controversial topic in the corporate world and in our societies at large. 

Taking a step, back, is DEI's peak really behind us? How can organizations and practitioners continue delivering on commitments made in 2020? How de we get out of this extreme-to-extreme DEI and ensure sustainable results over controversy? As an industry, how can we regain credibility, and change the narrative to highlight what DEI really is: inclusive and equitable societies for all!

With over 15 years of experience leading DEI initiatives at a global scale, and as former Global Chief Diversity Officer at Google, Sanofi, Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb, Wema Hoover, shares with us her unique insights and perspective to better understand this DEI crisis. (visit Wema's website here)

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#32 Welcome back to Diversity Secrets Podcast!
June is around the corner and companies around the globe are getting ready to celebrate Pride Month.
 
While more and more organizations are being proactive in their LGBTQ+ inclusion, even LGBTQ+ friendly companies usually focus more on the “LGB” than on the “TQ+.”
So at Diversity Secrets we wanted to mark this year’s Pride Month by slightly shifting the focus. We invited Magda Stega, DEI practitioner and LGBTQ+ advocate, to discuss how to create inclusive workplaces for transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

In this honest conversation, Magda shares with us her personal journey, as well as her HR expertise on building inclusive workplaces. We share concrete tips and advice for organizations to transform their recruitment processes, their management practices, rethink their employee benefits, and their culture in order to support transgender and gender non-conforming colleagues. From the small actions with big impact, to what being an ally really means. 

Tune in to find out!

Additional resources:

• EU Fundamental Rights Agency, 2024 Survey: LGBTIQ equality at a crossroads: progress and challenges
• Harvard Business Review, Creating a trans-inclusive workplace
• Human Rights Campaign, Trans toolkit for employers  
• Human Rights Watch, Germany Landmark Vote for Trans Rights Law 
• McKinsey, Being Transgender at work (includes glossary)

Curious to learn more about Diversity Secrets Agency Training & Consulting services? Get in touch: louise@diversitysecrets.co
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#23 Anyone that’s done it before knows it: deploying a diversity and inclusion employee survey is no side project. It’s a complex endeavour that should not be taken lightly - and that’s an understatement.

That’s why we’ve invited Sandrine Charpentier, CEO of Mixity.co, the first 360 digital platform to assess, manage and monitor DEI in the workplace. We deep in the nitty-gritty of what makes a good DEI survey: from guaranteeing safe and anonymous data collection, to understanding the underlying expectations to deliver on shortcomings revealed in the survey results. Sandrine also shares insider tips on how to guarantee everyone is heard, by making the survey accessible to all employees, no matter if they sit at a desk, or work in a plant or in a store. Beyond measuring the level of diversity and feeling of inclusion in the company, DEI assessment is also about measuring the impact and effectiveness of DEI actions and initiatives by using the right variables and setting relevant targets. As a whole, DEI tracking is a real challenge. It’s a test on an organization’s transparency, humility and accountability for DEI. That’s why Sandrine believes in the power of tech as a tool to help organizations and employees in their DEI efforts. She founded Mixity.co to offer organizations the right platform to conduct their surveys, track their DEI, set clear KPIs and measure progress. She tells us how Mixity.co works and shares with us the best practices she’s observed among users.

Tune in today, and make sure to subscribe in order to not miss our next episode!

You can follow Sandrine’s work on LinkedIn (@Sandrine Charpentier) and Twitter(@SandrineSCC), and find out more about Mixity.co on their website or social media (Twitter: @Mixity_co / @EnMixity LinkedIn: @Mixity / @Mixity International)

This season, we’re partnering with Mixity.co, the all in one digital platform for assessing, managing and promoting DE&I in your organization.
Mixity is offering our listeners an exclusive 2 months free trial for their all-in-one platform. Assess your DE&I footprint, define clear metrics and KPIs, and benefit from customized recommendations and hands-on support from their team of dedicated experts, all in one place.

Redeem your free trial here with the code ‘DiversityPodcast’ : Mixity.co

Curious to learn more about Diversity Secrets Agency Training & Consulting services? Get in touch: louise@diversitysecrets.co
Your feedback helps us grow: add a review wherever you’re listening to this podcast!
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#22 When we think of ‘diversity hiring’, we often think of the result: new diverse talents joining our organization. But if we wind up a bit, how do we get there?

In this episode, Yasar Ahmad, Global VP Talent at HelloFresh meal-kit company, explains what it takes to actually attract, hire and retain diverse talents. He shares insights, anecdotes and best practices from many years of experience in talent acquisition in the Tech sector.
There’s no sugar coating it: reaching your objectives when hiring diverse talents is no piece of cake. Standing your grounds is the biggest challenge. We cover the hard work that needs to fall into place in order to guarantee that your hiring processes are as inclusive as possible, and that your values and work environment are welcoming to all - no need to risk the revolving door effect where talents walk in, and right back out the same door.
How do you diversify your talent pool and partner with the right recruiters? What should your assessment process look like and how can you track diversity throughout your pipeline?
As Yasar shares his personal stories, we talk about the ‘back to office’ trend and how it’s affecting diversity too. Finally, Yasar tells us that culture and values are two very different things that shouldn’t be confused… tune in to find out why.

Tune in today, and make sure to subscribe in order to not miss our next episode!

You can follow Yasar’s work on LinkedIn (@Yasar Ahmad) and Twitter( @YxSxR), and find out more about DE&I at HelloFresh on their website.

This season, we’re partnering with Mixity.co, the all in one digital platform for assessing, managing and promoting DE&I in your organization. Mixity is offering our listeners an exclusive 2 months free trial for their all-in-one platform. Assess your DE&I footprint, define clear metrics and KPIs, and benefit from customized recommendations and hands-on support from their team of dedicated experts, all in one place.
Redeem your free trial here with the code ‘DiversityPodcast’ : Mixity.co

Curious to learn more about Diversity Secrets Agency Training & Consulting services? Get in touch: louise@diversitysecrets.co
Your feedback helps us grow: add a review wherever you’re listening to this podcast!
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#21 We’re kicking off the year with a brand new Diversity Secrets Episode!

'Diversity hiring’ and ‘inclusive culture’ take up a lot of space in the DE&I discussion. But beyond recruitment and culture, a lot needs to be in place in a company setting to guarantee that all employees can truly achieve their full potential. So how do you guarantee inclusion and equity are embedded in all stages of an employee’s life cycle in your company?

To gather answers, we are joined today by Miguel Castro, Senior Director and Global Lead for Diversity and Inclusion at multinational software company, SAP.
Is your on-boarding process giving employees the right keys to start building their network? Are DE&I trainings delivering on expected results? Are feedback loops, up-skilling programs and career advancement processes clear, fair and equitably accessible? Are compensation and benefits equitable and inclusive?
Miguel shares insights as well as best practices at SAP that guarantee a fair, equitable and inclusive career for all employees.

Tune in today, and make sure to subscribe in order to not miss our next episode!

You can follow Miguel’s work on LinkedIn (@Miguel A. Castro), and find out more about DE&I at SAP on their corporate website.
Cited resources: Fair Talk: Three Steps to Powerful Feedback, Sergey Gorbatov and Angela Lane.

This season, we’re partnering with Mixity.co, the all in one digital platform for assessing, managing and promoting DE&I in your organization.
Mixity is offering our listeners an exclusive 2 months free trial for their all-in-one platform. Assess your DE&I footprint, define clear metrics and KPIs, and benefit from customized recommendations and hands-on support from their team of dedicated experts, all in one place.
Redeem your free trial here with the code ‘DiversityPodcast’ : Mixity.co

Curious to learn more about Diversity Secrets Agency Training & Consulting services? Get in touch: louise@diversitysecrets.co
Your feedback helps us grow: add a review wherever you’re listening to this podcast!
Find us on LinkedIn

#020 What does it take to be a good Diversity, Equity and Inclusion leader?

Today on the Diversity Secrets podcast, we hear from DE&I coach, fellow podcaster, and keynote speaker, Ashanti Bentil-Dhue.
Ashanti tells us that if you want to have real impact as a DE&I professional, passion and lived-experience are not enough. Being a DE&I know-it-all either! So what skills do you need to succeed in this job? Well, that depends on the task at hand in the organization you work in… We cover change management, and stakeholder management skills, facilitation and negotiation, among other central DE&I skills.
One thing is sure: to be a good DE&I professional, you need to be self-aware and honest about your own skill-set and demand the external help that you need in order to deliver results!

Tune in today, and make sure to subscribe in order to not miss our next episode!

You can follow Ashanti’s work on LinkedIn (@Ashanti Bentil-Dhue), and listen to the Confessions of a DEI Pro Podcast on your favorite Podcast App for more insightful conversations with Ashanti and experts in the DEI field.

This season, we’re partnering with Mixity.co, the all in one digital platform for assessing, managing and promoting DE&I in your organization. Mixity is offering our listeners an exclusive 2 months free trial for their all-in-one platform. Assess your DE&I footprint, define clear metrics and KPIs, and benefit from customized recommendations and hands-on support from their team of dedicated experts, all in one place.
Redeem your free trial here with the code ‘DiversityPodcast’ : Mixity.co

Curious to learn more about Diversity Secrets Agency Training & Consulting services? Get in touch: louise@diversitysecrets.co
Your feedback helps us grow: add a review wherever you’re listening to this podcast!
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#019 There’s a lot of talk and literature out there about how important DEI is for employees, and for companies. But when it comes to finding out what initiatives actually work to build diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces, it suddenly becomes overwhelming, with a lack of benchmarks, an overload of resources and literature and no clear one way to go.

That’s why today we are joined by Julie Coffman, Chief Diversity Officer at the global consultancy firm, Bain & Company, and author of the Bain & Co and Grads of Life 2021 study, ‘10 Proven Actions to Advance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’.

This study constitutes a real blueprint for effective actions that drive real impact and results for DE&I. Together, we take it apart and take a deep dive into its learnings as Julie summarises its main takeaways for our listeners. We learn about 5 DE&I best practices which companies have been missing out on, and 5 others, just as important, that companies have been putting into practice but not in the most effective ways. Each of these 10 actions resulted in verifiable positive outcomes for an organization’s diverse or underrepresented talent!

If you’re looking for actionable recommendations as well as concrete examples and case studies from organizations that have tested these actions, look no further!

Tune in today, and make sure to subscribe in order to not miss our next episode!

This season, we’re partnering with Mixity.co, the all in one digital platform for assessing, managing and promoting DE&I in your organization. Mixity is offering our listeners an exclusive 2 months free trial for their all-in-one platform. Assess your DE&I footprint, define clear metrics and KPIs, and benefit from customized recommendations and hands-on support from their team of dedicated experts, all in one place.
Redeem your free trial here with the code ‘DiversityPodcast’ : Mixity.co 

Resources cited in this episode: 

• Read the Full study cited in the episode on the Bain&Co website. 
• Learn more about DE&I at Bain & Co on their website page, as well as on LinkedIn (@Bain & Company). 
• Finally, don’t hesitate to follow Julie Coffman (@Julie Coffman) for more precious insights on DE&I. 

Curious to learn more about Diversity Secrets Agency Training & Consulting services? Get in touch: louise@diversitysecrets.co
Your feedback helps us grow: add a review wherever you’re listening to this podcast!
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#018 Embark on a time travel with Leïla Grison, DE&I Director at Publicis Groupe, as she takes us back to her first day on the job and tells us how it all started.
Leïla takes us back in time and shares her family story, the social ascension  of her grandmother and mother, a story of social inequality and a real obstacle course.
Fast forward and it’s Leïla’s first day as DE&I Director at Publicis. She tells us how the role got created, how she managed to gather support and commitment from the executive team. So where do you start the work? Which stakeholders do you involve when creating your very first DE&I strategy? How do you build a team and secure a budget to implement the goals you’ve set out to achieve? Leïla tells us everything about how to kickstart your DE&I work!
 
Leïla also shares with us two success stories from her first year on the job:
1. How they developed and rolled out an employee survey on DE&I thanks to the help of Mixity.co - the first thing to do, according to Leïla, if you want to pin point your priorities for your strategy and convince stakeholders with facts and figures. 2. How they launched their first equal opportunity program, ‘Publicis Track’ - going full circle with her family history, social mobility and equal opportunity is at the heart of what Leïla has set out to do at Publicis!

So tune in today, and make sure to subscribe in order to not miss our next episode!

You can stay informed on Publicis’ DE&I work by following Leïla on LinkedIn (@Leïla Grison)
Learn more about DE&I at Publicis here: DE&I at Publicis Groupe

This season, we’re partnering with Mixity.co, the all in one digital platform for assessing, managing and promoting DE&I in your organization. Mixity is offering our listeners an exclusive 2 months free trial for their all-in-one platform. Assess your DE&I footprint, define clear metrics and KPIs, and benefit from customized recommendations and hands-on support from their team of dedicated experts, all in one place.

Redeem your free trial here with the code ‘DiversityPodcast’ : Mixity.co

Curious to learn more about Diversity Secrets Agency Training & Consulting services? Get in touch: louise@diversitysecrets.co
Your feedback helps us grow: add a review wherever you’re listening to this podcast!
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#017 For our first episode of Season 3, “How to Succeed at DE&I”, we are thrilled to welcome Sarah Cordivano, Head of DE&I Strategy and Governance at Zalando, a fashion e-commerce headquartered in Berlin.

Sarah published her first book in August 2022 “DEI: How to Succeed at an Impossible Job”, a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to impactful DE&I work. Whether you are a practiced professional in the space, or new to the field, this book is a must-have resource. Akin to the book itself, this episode feels like a friendly chat with one of Europe’s most competent DE&I experts. Sarah lays out for our listeners the 5 building blocks for setting up your DE&I work for success:

1. Finding the right executive sponsor to bring your DEI work forward
2. Creating a strategy with the right people in the room
3. Getting DEI ranked highly among other business objectives
4. Measuring the success of DEI work
5. Avoiding burnout and emotional fatigue in DEI work

Tune in today, and make sure to subscribe in order to not miss our next episode!

You can purchase Sarah’s book here:
Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0B7QDV6CX/
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B7QDV6CX/
NL: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0B7QDV6CX/
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7QDV6CX/
Follow Sarah on LinkedIn (@Sarah Cordivano) and Twitter (@mapadelphia) or visit her website: https://www.sarahcordivano.com/ 

This season, we’re partnering with Mixity.co, the all in one digital platform for assessing, managing and promoting DE&I in your organization. Mixity is offering our listeners an exclusive 2 months free trial for their all-in-one platform. Assess your DE&I footprint, define clear metrics and KPIs, and benefit from customized recommendations and hands-on support from their team of dedicated experts, all in one place.

Start your free trial here with the code ‘DiversityPodcast’ : Mixity.co

Curious to learn more about Diversity Secrets Agency Training & Consulting services? Get in touch: louise@diversitysecrets.co
Your feedback helps us grow: add a review wherever you’re listening to this podcast!
Find us on LinkedIn

#016 Welcome back to the Diversity Secrets Podcast !

We’re excited to be back with a brand new season called “How to Succeed at DEI” - a blueprint for real impact and effective results.
In the past 2 years we’ve seen a wave of corporate and CEO statements reaffirming their DE&I values and commitments. Billions of dollars are spent on DE&I trainings, programs and initiatives around the world. Now we want to see real results.
Join us for this series of interviews as our guests share with us their unique experiences and best practices for building diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces. They’ll tell us what initiatives prove most effective, for real lasting impact and results. A hands-on, practical toolkit to help YOU set your DE&I work up for success!
We’ve gathered an exciting line-up of DE&I leaders from businesses of all lines and sizes, such as Bain&Company, HelloFresh, Publicis, SAP, Zalando, and more.

In oder to get results, you need to use the right DE&I assessment and management tool. That’s why we’re extremely proud to be partnering with Mixity.co, the all in one digital platform for assessing, managing and promoting DE&I in your organization. Mixity is offering our listeners an exclusive 2 months free trial for their all-in-one platform. Assess your DE&I footprint, define clear metrics and KPIs, and benefit from customized recommendations and hands-on support from their team of dedicated experts, all in one place.

Redeem your free trial here with the code ‘DiversityPodcast’ : Mixity.co

Curious to learn more about Diversity Secrets Agency Training & Consulting services? Get in touch: louise@diversitysecrets.co
Your feedback helps us grow: add a review wherever you’re listening to this podcast!
Find us on LinkedIn