After 17 years with TEKsystems where he developed and executed innovative workforce strategies and managed external partnerships with key strategic diversity organizations and institutions, Ian Moses decided it was time for a new challenge. He shares with ClearEdge CEO and Founder, Leslie Vickrey, that, “It was difficult leaving TEKsystems, but knowing I was coming to an organization that had a genuine desire to integrate inclusion within the fabric of all that we do, was a compelling reason for me to make the move,” Ian said.

The organization Ian joined? Allegis Global Solutions.

Ian and his AGS counterparts believe that a diverse workforce brings together a collection of talents, minds, experiences and backgrounds to help organizations break new ground. Many employers see the value in growing their diversity and inclusion efforts, but they often underestimate the strong experience and relationships required to build a successful program.

“Since my time in joining AGS, we’ve started to build out a structure that’s encompassing of the global landscape of the communities in which we serve,” he noted. “And so, that structure or strategy is very familiar with many organizations like TEKsystems and Aerotek and where we focus this is on workforce, workplace and marketplace.”

Developing a Roadmap for Diversity and Inclusion Programs

Ian believes there are numerous focus areas for companies, or individuals tasked with developing diversity and inclusion programs, to consider in order to be successful. For AGS, they break it down in three distinct areas:

  • Global Executive Inclusion Council – Senior-most leaders within the organization and this group of global leaders is in place to ensure inclusion and diversity is embedded into our overall people and business strategy.
  • All4 Council – Members act as a liaison for various projects focused on diversity and inclusion within different parts of the globe and provide feedback to the executive team, communication and solutions relative to I&D that align to the overall business strategy.
  • Employee Resource Groups – Regionally-focused resource groups that exist as a platform for employees to share their ideas and to ensure that everyone can bring their “whole selves” to work.

And while Ian believes AGS has made a ton of progress on the diversity and inclusion front, especially with these focus areas, he understands that there is still plenty of work ahead. Before organizations can dive into creating a similar roadmap, Ian says each organization needs to understand their own reasons “why.”

“Why are they wanting to focus on this? What is the impact to the organization and the impact to the business?” says Ian. “Some of the first steps that can be done is working with your HR business partners. Most organizations have HR business partners they can align with and with those HR business partners, you want to proactively identify areas where inclusion needs to exist or where it may not exist as you would like it to be.”

Creating Awareness About What Diversity Means

In an industry where metrics include speed to fill, number of candidates submitted, and placements, Leslie asks Ian how can we do both successfully—achieve our metrics/goals while ensuring candidates are placed in the right environments and clients are achieving their diversity hiring goals?

“I take a step back and answer the question in two parts: when you look at the journey of most organizations, you have to see where they are. And along that journey there are roughly five stages: awareness, early engagement, application stage, integration stage and transformation stage. So, knowing where you are as an organization can definitely help with some of those challenges you just mentioned,” Ian says.

Ian believes that conversations around diversity and inclusion are still very limited, but when we understand that there are many other dimensions to the issue, we can pull other ideas into the conversation. So, by creating awareness around what diversity means from different points of view, you better position yourself to creating a more inclusive environment for your employees, and your organization as a whole.

Tune into this episode of TheEdge to learn more about how you can make change for your own organization.

 

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