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Are Your Recruiting Candidates Winning at Work? #TheProjectTakeover

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I’m on vacation this week so my friends are taking over the Project! Enjoy their content, connect with them, and share the content with new people! Some amazing voices coming to you this week! 

Enjoy this post by Joey Price!

Want a quick way to evaluate the potential for a candidate to win at work? While there’s no magic bullet for employee experience and retention, success does leave clues. Here, Joey Price (Jumpstart:HR, LLC, and the Business, Life, and Coffee podcast) discuss the four keys to winning at work and how you can incorporate them into the candidate evaluation process.

 

3 Secrets Talent Acquisition Leaders Do Not Want You to Know #TheProjectTakeover

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I’m on vacation this week so my friends are taking over the Project! Enjoy their content, connect with them, and share the content with new people! Some amazing voices coming to you this week! 

Enjoy this post by Jackye Clayton! 

I love technology. I order my groceries online. I am on a first-name basis with my mailman, FedEx, and UPS driver. I have a Google home, a ‘Smart’ TV, and a scale that is connected via Bluetooth. And most of us these days are pretty well connected. I love it so much that rather than just write about it, I changed careers to help others in HR and Recruiting find the best combination of technology to hire better candidates faster in a more efficient way. After dedicating my life to the benefits of using technology I found something I was not expecting. It isn’t just the technology that makes us better. It is the data we get from the technology and how we use it that is the difference between good recruiters and great ones. I have worked now with literally hundreds of recruiting leaders – and there is some stuff they won’t tell you. Here are 3 secrets TA Leaders do NOT want you to know!  (Spoiler alert – these aren’t silver bullets; it is simple math.)

Quality of Hire > Time to Hire = Take Your Time to Find the Best

Recruiters have ZERO control over how fast a hire is made and yet for some reason, we evaluate recruiters based on how fast a hire is made. That is crap and they know it. Of course, they want to get someone in the role quickly. But if they knew that if they waited an extra week, there would be a better candidate in the aisles, they will wait. A majority of companies are looking now for diverse candidates unless you use HiringSolved (#shamelessplug) it will take you extra time to find that ideal candidate. And all will sacrifice speed for a candidate that fits the requirements, the culture, and can solve the problem they are trying to solve. Do not be afraid to ask for more time.

Data > Instinct = Show Your Work

TA leaders want to give their sourcers and recruiters the world. If they had millions of dollars available to spend on whatever they wanted, after a new laptop, they would want to spend it entirely on tools that would help their team hire faster and better. Because they want you to be successful. (I promise.) However, there are so many tools they have no time to research them all and so, they buy the ones either their top recruiter asks for, the one from the salesperson who called at the same time they realized they needed something, or the one an influencer recommends. Until now – Because you can help.

We already established that you know more about what it takes to find the best candidates. That also means you know what tools will give you access to those candidates. Don’t tell your manager that you want what everyone else has. Use the data you have to tell them where the candidates are and why what you are requesting would be a good investment. Don’t have a tool to communicate regularly? Get a CRM. Have too many candidates applying and not enough time? Explain why you need a matching tool. Don’t tell them what you want – tell them what you NEED – then tell them why. Use data to support your instinct. Not the other way around.

Recruiters’ Talent Knowledge > Hiring Managers’ Talent Knowledge = It is Your Job to Educate

The majority of hiring managers have no idea what is going on in the world of hiring. They don’t know what an appropriate job title is. They don’t know what a good salary is. They don’t know what will make or break an offer. But you do. Let your hiring managers know the trends in hiring and how things have changed since the last time they hired. This goes with job descriptions as well. The same old job descriptions from 2018 will not work in this post-COVID, social justice focused world. When they know better, they will do better.

This is especially true when reviewing the job requirements. Is a bachelor’s degree really necessary? Sometimes removing that barrier will give your company access to hundreds of additional candidates. If you think they are making a mistake, use the data to let them know what you think could help them gain better candidates faster.

In conclusion, it is time for recruiters, sourcers, and other talent acquisition professionals to take their power back. The world of technology has some hiring managers thinking that recruiting is a simple job. Go out there with the knowledge and skills you have and go wow your hiring managers! (And your boss!)

Jackye Clayton is recognized as a people expert who puts the Human in Human Resources. An international trainer, she has traveled worldwide sharing her unique gifts in sourcing, recruiting, and coaching. 

Do’s and Don’ts for Social Media Engagement! #TheProjectTakeover

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I’m on vacation this week so my friends are taking over the Project! Enjoy their content, connect with them, and share the content with new people! Some amazing voices coming to you this week! 

Enjoy this post by Lex Kremer! 

When I helped market recruiting events that centered around HR tech vendors I noticed a trend: vendors aren’t great at marketing themselves or their resources on social media. 

Sure, there are a select few that take the time to share their content but mostly they just pump out resources and hope people will find them. I see it all the time. Companies with anywhere from 5 to 500 employees on LinkedIn – but not one of them is sharing the content. 

Imagine, a company of 200 people where even a third of those people took a few minutes every day to share a post and type one sentence about why their audience should check it out!

Why has a resource center if you’re not even sharing your resources? Why appear on a webinar if you don’t tell anyone about it? Why blast your email list if you’re not actively following up with people and connecting with them? What’s the point of a blog post if you only post about it one time? 

Seems pointless, right? So, my goal is to make it easy for companies and their employees to share their content across their social networks so they can grow their audience and attract buyers. It’s about that bottom line, baby!

I’ve compiled some DO’S and DON’TS with examples you can steal and use as templates to make life easier. You don’t have to be in marketing to get people to notice content. It’s not rocket surgery. People notice engagement – and that’s what social media is all about.

DO’S and DON’TS for sharing company content on social media:

DO’S:

  • Like the post. 👍 
  • Share the post [Just make sure you do more than click share or retweet. If you can include a call to action or give a reason as to why the information is valuable it’ll carry more weight.] 

“Check out our @YouTube channel – we’re going to be posting free tips on upping your social media game so you can learn how to add value to sharing your company’s content.”

“Have you seen the newest blog on our site? It talks about [insert topic] and is sure to give you some great insights.”

“Our company is a leader in [fill in the blank]. Learn how we help by [fill in the blank].”

“We pride ourselves in providing [fill in the blank] so here is an article I recommend.”

  • Shout out your co-workers. If you’re not retweeting or sharing an existing post then be sure to include a link so people know what you’re so excited about.

“Great post from @name about [insert subject line]. Check it out.” [link]

“Our newest blog from @name covers [subject] and it’s well worth the read.” [link]

  • Share a post without a link. Direct people to your company’s site without a link so they have to take the venture themselves. It’ll help with organic search stats.

“If you haven’t had a chance to see all of our resources surrounding #diversity head over to our website and get your learn on.” @companyname #diversitymatters

“Did you know that our resource center has blogs AND video tips on how to improve your company’s D&I initiatives?” @companyname #diversity #inclusion

  • Use relevant hashtags. If you’re sharing a post about diversity then hashtag it! If you’re not sure what to hashtag search it first. LinkedIn and Twitter will formulate options for you in the search bar that way you have a few to pick from and know what other people have been using or searching as well.

DON’TS:

  • Just click share [see above in the DO’S] or JUST retweet. When you don’t provide content or a call to action then you’re not showing the value of the post. 
  • Share the post and retag the company. People will see the company name in the post you’re sharing. When you retag the company it’s redundant. The same goes for hashtags – sharing and hashtagging the company name isn’t helping reach or engagement. Remember, tag the company if you’re typing an original post but if you’re sharing something FROM the company, people will see it in the reshare.

It looks weird to share something from a company and retag them in the post:

  • Just post a link. If you aren’t providing context it’s like throwing a baseball into an empty field. [No one will catch it.] Always provide some context.

For more tips and examples check out this video with 5 tips for sharing company content.

If you feel like you don’t have time to work social into your daily routine there are free tools you can use to schedule your posts. Pull a few pieces from your company’s resource library and schedule them out for the week. Buffer is a great tool that’s free and really user friendly.

If you’re nervous that someone will say you’re not prioritizing your ‘real’ work because you’re spending time on social, remind them that sharing company content is creating VALUE. It helps with employer brand and outsiders that see current employees actively engaging in the content creates meaning.

Not everyone will be on board with using their personal accounts to share company content. I get it. But if a handful are willing to share – that could help attract top talent to apply at your company and attract buyers. Plus, it’ll make your marketing department a bunch of happy campers. They don’t spend time creating resources for people to not enjoy them. Remember the baseball analogy – they aren’t throwing out content for no one to catch it. That would be pointless. 

Lex Kremer is the CEO of Dashing Media Management, a small social media agency aimed at helping startups, small businesses, and HR tech vendors get their resources seen. From webinar marketing campaigns to Instagram stories – it’s full-time social media management without the associated full-time costs. Quality content management that won’t break the bank.

Connect with her on Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Do you need more Diversity Representation at your organization? (free resource)

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First, let me start by saying, I am not, nor do I try and portray myself as a D&I expert. I am an expert in finding talent. Do you need a black female .Net developer with a computer science degree? I can find that, but you better be ready to pay a lot, because 10,000 other organizations are also looking for that smart lady!

I get asked frequently how can we hire more diverse candidates so I created an eBook that lays out some strategy around acquiring diverse talent for your organization. You can download it for free here:

Free eBook on 5 Strategies to Strengthen Your Organization’s Diversity Representation

What I find is most organizations want an easy button. “Oh, isn’t there a website that will just allow us to post our jobs and it’s full of diverse candidates!?” No. Someone will tell you there is, but they are lying.

I also find a ton of staffing and recruiting firms who claim they “specialize” in diversity recruiting. Again, this is mostly a lie. Now, they might only take on positions where the client only wants a diverse candidate, but this isn’t a specialization, that’s just market segmentation. Either you can find talent, and specific talent, or you can’t.

Increasing your diversity representation takes good old fashion recruiting. It takes work. Why hasn’t Facebook changed its diversity representation in five years? They didn’t want to do the work. They didn’t want to hold folks accountable for doing that work. This isn’t magic. It’s solid sourcing and recruiting. It’s calling out those hiring managers who refuse to hire a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Enjoy the free eBook!

Chief Crisis Officer – The newest c-suite addition in 2020!

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The c-suite has expanded over the years. Originally you had basically the CEO, COO, and CFO. Next, depending on the industry came the CIO/CTO (IT), CMO (marketing), and CHRO/CPO (HR and Talent). Some organizations have added depending on need c-suite roles for strategy, diversity, safety, client/customer support, etc.

Basically, the c-suite is a little like empire building. If you’re a CEO with a decent head on your shoulders you want to surround yourself with people who complement your lack of certain skill sets, or skill sets that need more emphasis.

Don’t be surprised if you start to see another addition to the c-suite roster that I’m calling the Chief Crisis Officer!

Think about the crisis’s that many organizations have had to deal in the past couple of years:

COVID – Work from Home/Remote transition

Social Justice/#MeToo/BLM

Major Client issues (social media blowup, bad press, freak of nature accidents, etc.)

Major Employee issues (labor supply, harassment, D&I, pay equity, etc.)

Supply chain issues

IT Hacking issues

Environment Issues

Stuff we haven’t even thought of yet…

If I’m a CEO today, of course, I expect my c-suite partners to own crisis, but I also need a point person who I’m 100% sure their job is to work through crisis and help us mitigate crisis fallout. Ownership of crisis is critical, as it’s a nature of organizational dynamics to want to push crisis off onto other functions.

We continue to hear stories of organizations that handled COVID and most recently the uproar around social justice with great poise and response. We also continue to hear about the organization that totally mishandled these situations. Leadership, and the ability to have someone high enough in the organization to push back, seems to be critical in getting the proper response all the way around.

Where would your “Chief Crisis Officer” come from? I think it’s definitely a personality set vs. a skill set, in terms of coming out of one functional area over another. You would probably want a person who is more of a generalist, than a specialist, but someone who has a keen understanding of how your operations are run. I don’t think you want someone from outside since part of great crisis management is knowing the history.

The person has to be all in on the organization. I want someone who loves the company, our mission, our employees, our customers, all of it. That person will own it all during a crisis. They’ll take all the stakeholder’s viewpoints into consideration. I need someone who is high details, low rules. Get it done. Don’t miss anything. I don’t really care how it gets done in a crisis, as long as it gets done correctly in the end.

I’m not sure I want someone from legal. They get too caught up in risk aversion. Crisis management is about mitigating risk, not eliminating it. This person will have to be confident, as we’ll need them to push forward with not much information or certainty. I tend to believe the best folks at in crisis situations, in the workplace, are female. Confident, good detail orientation, but not cocky. Quick to move, but not so fast stuff will get missed that doesn’t have to be.

Keep your eyes out, the c-suite will be growing in 2020 and beyond, and many organizations across the Fortune 1,000 will be hiring Chief Crisis Officers!

E22 – HR Famous Pod: Where do you get your HR News?

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In episode 22 of The HR Famous Podcast, long-time HR leaders (and friends) Tim Sackett and Kris Dunn are joined by Shana Lebowitz Gaynor to discuss her work at Business Insider and specifically her articles about SHRM’s handling of BLM statements and top HR innovators. The crew also talks about Tim’s Utah adventures, the CHRO move of the week, and KD’s many ideas for HR-related articles at Business Insider.

Listen below and be sure to subscribe, rate, and review (iTunes) and follow (Spotify)!

1:00 – No Jlee this week! We hope she’s having fun on her beach vacation!

2:00 – Tim just got back from another (socially distanced) Southern Utah vacation. Tim and KD talk about how to get into Zion National Park and how Tim works the system to get into Zion the easiest way. KD thinks Tim is getting spoiled with views.

4:50 – Check out Tim’s Instagram for all of his cool Utah excursions and his most recent jet ski and cliff jumping adventure.

7:20 – New segment alert: CHRO move of the week! Eileen Moore Johnson is the new EVP and CHRO at Scientific Games. Johnson moves from an operational role at Caesars to this new role. KD and Tim break down what they like about the move.

12:00 – Time to welcome our guest for the episode! Shana Lebowitz Gaynor is the correspondent and HR insider writer at Business Insider.

14:00 – Where are most HR people getting their news from? Shana thinks most HR people are getting their news like many other industries, on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn.

16:00 – Tim asks Shana about her experience at Business Insider and what she sees people are connecting most with their content. She says that people respond the most to articles about what to do if you hate your job.

17:50 – Shana says that her time at BI has taught her to get to the point and be succinct in her articles. KD praises BI for this formatting.

20:00 – Tim asks Shana about her article about SHRM and their response surrounding BLM and the response she got to the article. She says she learned about the passion of SHRM members

22:00 – Tim discusses his and KD’s criticism of SHRM and how the toughest critics are often the ones that want to see an organization succeed the most. Shana talks about how she sees the criticism of SHRM as a microcosm of what’s going on in the business world.

24:20 – KD asks Shana what surprised her about SHRM and the HR community that she learned in the writing of her article. She responds by saying that she doesn’t see the demands from racial injustice and other injustices going away.

27:00 – KD has a lot of requests for HR reporting! He brings up an idea to create a list of HR companies that are doing the best work to take meaningful action to get results.

28:30 – Tim brings up Shana’s article “HR innovators who are transforming company culture”. Shana talks about FedEx’s program to hire young tech talent and a tech startup’s effort to make a non-homogenous workforce.

34:00 – KD asks Shana about any grassroots efforts she’s seen that she is excited about. Shana talks about PWC’s training program for new employees and their commitment to better mental health programs for employees.

36:30 – Tim asks Shana about how she foresees company culture changing in our new WFH environment. Shana takes an optimistic view and sees a better and more flexible company culture and increased humanism in the business world.

42:00 – Check out Shana on LinkedIn, Twitter, or read her articles on Business Insider! Thank you to Shana for joining us this week and for all of her great work about the HR industry! Check out their paid membership for all of their content.

This Was Not Plan A!

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My son Cam Sackett graduated from college in May from the University of Michigan. He’s an amazing young man.

His plan A was to start his career in Communications/Marketing/Social Media with a global media company (Viacom/Disney/Netflix/Apple/HBO/NPR/NBC/CBS/Etc.) in a great city like New York, L.A., Chicago, D.C., San Francisco, London, etc.

He has an education. He has the internships at big brands, doing the right things, and getting the right experiences. He’s a thousand times more prepared and ready than his old man coming out of college.

This is not Plan A. 

It’s rare that you have once in a lifetime things happen. It’s called a one-hundred-year flood for a reason. It usually will only happen every one hundred years, and there’s a good chance it won’t happen to you. But, it’s going to happen to someone.

Millions of college graduates graduated from college this spring and early summer. They all have hope and aspirations of starting their careers in great jobs they’ll love and will stay with for the rest of their lives! This is their plan A.

Plan B – which we don’t talk about outside of maybe Mom and Dad, was they would accept a job outside of their desired companies, but still in one of my target cities and in their chosen career field. At which point, they would kill the game, and eventually end up at their dream company and in their dream job!

This is not Plan B.

Plan’s C – Z all suck. At least that’s what they believe. Plan C isn’t in the location I want or the company I want or the job I want. Nope. It’s a job. It’s a company that needs your help. It’s in a location that is where the job is. They might not even care that you went to college and graduated, or that you were Summa Cumma Laudda whatever.

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. – Mike Tyson

Covid-19 is a world champion heavyweight boxer in his/her prime. And it’s punching the vast majority of folks right in the mouth.

So, you wobble back to your corner and you sit down on that stool. Head still ringing from the shot to the head you took. You instantly get pissed at folks around you. Your school. Your government. Your parents. Your friends. How could they not prepare you for that punch! Why didn’t someone tell you that you were going to get punched right in the face!?

The bell rings and you must get back into the ring and prepare yourself to get punched in the mouth again. There is no throwing in the towel. The older you are the more you smile at this. It’s because you’ve taken punches. You’ve got knocked out. You’ve gotten back up, and you stepped back into the ring. We all will take punches and it sucks! It sucks super hard! I’ve tried with all of my might and wisdom to put my kids in a position where they would not have to take a punch. God damn it! They still are taking punches.

That is not Plan A, but it is the plan you’ve got. Welcome to the show, kids.

The Weekly Dose: @VaultPlatform – Workplace Misconduct Reporting Tech

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Today on the Weekly Dose I take a look at a timely technology in a world of #MeToo #BLM #Covid-19! Vault Platform helps organizations resolve workplace misconduct including that related to Me Too, Black Lives Matter, COVID-19, and all other workplace issues with a safe speak-up app for reporting incidents.

Let’s be clear to start, this isn’t your parent’s workplace 1-800 hotline, where you called some third-party company that would listen to your story, filter it, and then pass it along to HR, who then call you in. Vault is a technology, mobile-first, platform that allows employees to report any type of workplace harassment, fraud, corruption, racism, etc., and document their experience. Then, when they feel the time is right, they can actually send this forward to be responded to.

Each time an employee reports it is dated and time-stamped and the employee has access to their actual record the entire time. Once an employee decides to move forward it gets sent to the appropriate parties within the organization to resolve the issue.

What I like about Vault:

– “Go Together” – when talking about things like sexual harassment and racism, many times an employee does not feel comfortable reporting on their own, but they also don’t trust others when they say they’ll also report. Vault’s “Go Together” allows an employee to report, but only move it forward once another employee reports the same or similar behavior, so they are not making these accusations on their own. It’s really a brilliant idea!

– Vault dashboard works as a case management dashboard so HR, legal, D&I, etc. can check and track that reports are being resolved and how they are being resolved. It allows executives to instant insight access to the real problems that are going on in their organization, unfiltered, right from their employees.

– It allows employees to communicate in a way that is most comfortable to them, mobile messaging, not a phone call talking to a stranger.

– Employees can record for as long as they want without reporting and always have access to their own words, an organization can not delete or edit the employee’s own records. Many times something happens to an employee but they aren’t sure if it’s actually harassment, but as they see a pattern of behavior begin to happen, it becomes clear. Keeping these records makes it easy for the employee to give proof of how long and how much this is happening.

Right now every single organization on the planet is concerned with the experiences their employees are having. Me Too, BLM, COVID, etc. have shown us that our employees are having very drastic differences in their experiences, and we need to give our employees access and the ability to share these with us quickly and easily if we want to truly make changes and improve their experiences.

I first saw Vault at the HR Technology Conference right after Me Too and I liked it. With the additional social and health issues today, it’s even a more relevant technology. Vault Platform happens to be the perfect workplace technology at the perfect time. I highly recommend you take a look and a demo.

Random Rules of Leadership

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Leadershipping is hard. You try as you might to do and say the right thing, to the right person, at the right time, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it fails miserably. That’s life. Mostly we try to be the best version of ourselves, and not f*ck up to bad!

We love rules. Rules are safe. If you follow them, mostly things work out. If you break them, mostly things don’t work out as well, but every so often, you’ll be just fine. I think the trick to breaking a rule and having things work out is if you still follow your moral compass when determining which rules you’ll break and which ones you won’t.

As a leader, we are both rule-maker and rule-follower. In my time as a leader here are some rules of leadership that I try to follow:

– Never expect an employee to care as much about the department/function/company and the job as you do, but if they do, show that respect.

– Starting a new project is awesome and the feeling is great, but surround yourself with finishers because that’s what really matters.

– No one wants to hear what’s wrong, they want to hear what’s your plan to fix it. Any idiot can tell you what’s wrong.

– Always be prepared for your largest customer to kick you to the curb. It likely won’t happen, but when it does you won’t panic and your team needs that more than anything at that moment.

– You’ll never fully get the full truth from someone who relies on you to get their check. It will be washed and wrapped, and that feedback will be as kind as possible. Unless they already have one foot out the door.

– Keep your expenses low. I don’t need a fourth kind of Kabucha in the office, but I do need that extra salesperson.

– You never have to talk every person in the room into your idea, just the person with the most influence. Before you open your mouth, understand who that person is.

– If “average” is the ceiling of someone working for you, you can live without them on your team.

– Don’t be concerned with overpaying for expert advice that you trust and count on.

– Ship it. You will never really perfect an idea or a project. Put it out in the wild and see what happens, then adjust. Too often we hold stuff until it’s too late because we don’t think it’s ready.

– It’s not your job to make someone who works for you happy. It is your job to help them make a happiness decision. Either they are mostly happy working in the job they have, or they need to go find out where they can be happy.

– Your job isn’t to be the best at whatever function to lead, it’s to put the best team together that will be the best at that function. Great leaders do two things exceptionally well. They recruit great talent onto their teams, and they knock down roadblocks to great performance.

Okay, share your favorite leadership rule in the comments below!

 

Did Your Organization Buy Its Way Out of the #BLM Conversation?

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In the wake of the George Floyd killing many of the world’s largest technology companies in the world responded, with their checkbooks. Only one came out, Reddit, and said we will be replacing a white dude on our board, their co-founder, with a person of color.

The amounts of money are impressive, and don’t get me wrong it will definitely take money and resources to change the racial culture that has built over hundreds of years, but the cynic in me believes most of these organizations wrote checks so we wouldn’t take a closer look at their own hiring issues!

  • AIRBNB – $500,000 to NAACP and Black Lives Matter Foundation
  • Google – $12 million to organizations fighting racial inequalities
  • YouTube – $1 million to Center for Policy Equity
  • Amazon – $10 million to ACLU, NAACP, UNCF, etc.
  • Apple – Matching employee contributions to organizations fighting racial injustice
  • Cisco – $5 million to Equal Justice Initiative, Black Lives Matter, and “our own fund for Fighting Racism and Discrimination.”
  • Comcast – $100 million over ten years to fight racial injustice, 1/4 of that in free media
  • Facebook – $10 million to groups working on racial justice
  • Microsoft – $1.5 million to Black Lives Matters Foundation, NAACP, etc.
  • Netflix – $1 million to the Center for Policing Equity
  • Reddit – Co-Founder resigned from the companies board and requested he be replaced with a person of color on the board.
  • Twitter – $3 million to Know Your Rights Foundation
  • Uber – $1 million to Center for Policy Equity

Technology companies aren’t the only organizations buying their way out of this conversation, or even taking advantage of the climate. Nike within days of the Floyd killing released a powerful commercial titled “Just Don’t Do It” it was watched tens of millions of times and shared all over social media as an example of how corporations should respond.

Nike has 8% of people of color in leadership roles. This coming from an organization that makes billions of dollars a year off the backs of black athletes. Thanks for the commercial, how about a public statement of how many POC you’ll hire in leadership positions before the end of 2020?

Here’s the reality.

The money tech companies are giving is nothing. NOTHING! They blow more than this on their annual spending of Kombucha on their plush campuses. These donations are hush money. “Hey, how much do you need not to talk about how crappy we are at actually attracting and hiring POC?”

Here’s what I know. If technology companies, or any major Fortune 100 company, truly wanted to solve this problem over the past decade it would have been done. Let’s say Google decided we want 1/3 of our software developers, or IT team in general to be POC.

Ten years ago they go out to every junior high and middle school in the U.S. They identify black children who have a propensity for being interested in STEM. They send these children to the best STEM high schools, hell, maybe they even make their own high schools in certain cities!

As these kids graduate high school, Google then pays for these kids to go to the best colleges and study stem. They give them annual summer internships at Google, and then once they graduate they hire them. The problem of “we can’t find POC to hire that have the skills we need” is now solved.

What would that cost? $1 billion? $10 billion? What about Amazon? Jeff Bezos and Amazon made $150 billion during the last 3 months of the pandemic! Bill Gates is spending most of his fortune, multi-billions, to end malaria, doesn’t Microsoft need better representation within their organization?

If organizations wanted to solve this issue, it would have been solved. If the government wanted to solve this issue it would have been solved. There is a simple economic solution to ensuring our organizations have proper representation at all levels.

I’m not saying that the donations supporting equity justice initiatives are not important. They are very important, but that can’t be all that is done.