Interested in learning how FindSpark can help you create custom programs and content that’ll help you reach your recruitment, diversity & inclusion, and employer branding goals? Learn more and get in touch with us: findspark.com/employers

It’s been proven that diverse teams outperform ones that are not. If you’re in HR or recruitment and want to make diversity a greater part of your talent strategy, it can be tricky to get initiatives off the ground.

How do you get leadership on board with diversity & inclusion initiatives?

While there isn’t just one way to promote diversity and inclusion at your company, there are certainly best practices to launch your strategy efficiently and sustainably.  

To find out what they are, we sat down with diversity and inclusion leaders from Vimeo, Bustle, Grey Group and Petal NYC at our FindSpark Employer Dialogue at Bustle HQ.

Here are some of their answers on how to build an effective diversity & inclusion strategy:

Want to hear the full interview with answers from our panel? Sign up to get the recording here: findspark.com/employer-dialogue-june

How do you get leadership to support your diversity and inclusion initiatives?

Alex, Bustle: Leadership has been very supportive but we’re constantly trying to innovate and introduce new initiatives. That’s why we work with FindSpark.

How do you get your D&I strategy off the ground?

Katrina, Vimeo: I often start by figuring out the low-hanging fruit–small steps that everyone can agree on. For example, we made all our bathrooms gender neutral at the Vimeo Brooklyn office.

How do you work around people feeling uncomfortable about D&I convos or saying the wrong thing when discussing it at work?

Sue, Petal NYC: We were talking about hiring a male engineer and realized we hadn’t spoken to any female engineers. Flagging that was important to creating awareness about biases.

Internally, how do you get allies for your D&I endeavors?

Katrina, Vimeo: We have a requirement that leaders attend D&I events. We map out a calendar of opportunities to participate. Their participation is baked into their yearly assessment. It’s a business metric just like the others.

Tell us a success you’ve had in building diversity and inclusion strategy at your current or previous company:

Kristen, Grey Group: We partnered with FindSpark to launch FAME–a free portfolio school for people who don’t have access to or can’t pay for traditional ad school, which costs around $5,000 per quarter. Through the program, diverse FindSpark members are learning to build their portfolio and effectively breaking down existing barriers to break into advertising.

Sue, Petal NYC: One success I helped realize was driving female engineering talent to 35% at Venmo (Sue’s previous employer).

Want to hear the full interview and get all our panel’s expert advice? Sign up to get the recording here: findspark.com/employer-dialogue-june

Interested in learning how FindSpark can help you create custom programs and content that’ll help you reach your recruitment, diversity and inclusion, and employer branding goals? Learn more and get in touch with us: findspark.com/employers