1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,320 Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with krol Messer and 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Tim Stenebec on Bloomberg Radio, and I'm really excited for 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: our next guests. Bertina Chiicarelli, chief executive officer of end Power. 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: She's on the phone from Brooklyn, New York. She's here 5 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: to discuss her new book, Innovation or excuse me, Innovating 6 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: for Diversity. Lessons from top companies achieving business success through inclusivity. Now, Bertina, 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: I know you've been on a mission to advance racial 8 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: and gender equity in the tech industry and disrupt the 9 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: status quo to build a more inclusive workplace. Tell us 10 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: more about your new book. Oh, thank you so much. 11 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: Justin Shott tonight to be back on the show. The book, 12 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: which is co authored with Susayan Tadrick. We took a 13 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 1: look at companies that are smart about applying principles of 14 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: innovation to improving their efforts around diversity. We know what, 15 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: it's well proven, more diverse teams help companies activate their 16 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: innovation and achieve business performance. But what's left talked about 17 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: is how you can flip that on its head and 18 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: use innovation to think very differently in creatively about how 19 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: to make DEI work within a company, and we profile 20 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 1: great companies that are doing just that. Does diversity in 21 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: the payoff for a company? Since we're so focused on 22 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: the bottom line here, without doubt, it has been improven 23 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: that companies who achieve diversity among their employee ranks, their leaders, 24 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:40,119 Speaker 1: their board outperform on a measure of financial performance rankings, 25 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: as well as better improvement or better metrics around employee retention, 26 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: all of which have a direct impact to the bottom line. 27 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: But if not just the business case for diversity that's important. 28 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: If we only focus on that, it becomes a very 29 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: transactional conversation, and we think that there is both a 30 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: social and moral imperative to EMBRACINGDEI as well. Britina, what 31 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: are some of the biggest issues that you found in 32 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: the tech industry specifically, So you know, one of the 33 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: things that we've found in the tech industry, interestingly, which 34 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: I think applies to a number of companies more broadly, 35 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: is that the very tactics that they are applying towards 36 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: innovation and their products and services are lacking when they 37 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: think about their efforts to do something very important again 38 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: for their business, which is creating inclusive and diverse cultures. 39 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: And so what we find is that rather than truly 40 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: innovating for that, we see off the shelf standard approaches 41 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: the light include a lot of activities like employee resource 42 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 1: groups or unconscious bias training. All of those activities alone 43 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: are okay, but if they're not backed up by a 44 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: real strategy to create change, then they're just that a 45 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: series of disconnected activities without real innovation. It gets to 46 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: the core problem a company is trying to solve. Do 47 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: we get to this because it is the right thing 48 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,679 Speaker 1: to do, or do we need to be prompted by 49 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: regulation and legislation. You know, my opinion is the smart 50 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: companies are going to do this because it's good for 51 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: their business. When we see a CEO with an unwavering 52 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: commitment to creating diverse and inclusive cultures, that CEO, his 53 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: or her leaders, the board has a better opportunity of 54 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: tracting great talent. And especially when we think about this generation, 55 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: Generation Z, which is the most diverse generation in the 56 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: history of the country, as they wend their way into 57 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: the workplace, having a jud start on what it means 58 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: to have an inclusive culture is going to help those 59 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: good companies in the war for talent, who's doing it right? 60 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: You know some of the companies we profiles that I 61 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: think are doing outstanding work, companies like City Bank, Gorporate Grumming, 62 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:18,039 Speaker 1: Accenture Tesco, even small companies like an outset out of 63 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: New Orleans Online Optimism, which is a small advertising agency. 64 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 1: It just demonstrates that really good d EI practices can 65 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: be embraced by companies of all sizes. Why is it 66 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:35,479 Speaker 1: that some corporate programs from DI practices end up failing? 67 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: So I think I think the answer to that question 68 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: is for the same reason that their attempts at innovation fail. 69 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: For example, we know that successful new ideas are rarely 70 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 1: the purview of a chief innovation officer, So how can 71 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:56,040 Speaker 1: you expect a chief diversity officer alone to sometimes and 72 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: do decades of fixed practices. But we just got to 73 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: have the support of the CEO and piers HR and 74 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: middle managers. Second, we rarely expect innovative through products to 75 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: just brought up overnight. They require research and market intelligence, 76 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: planning commitment. Similarly, any new DI approaches the benefit of 77 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: input from those underrepresentative employees requires piloting, iteration, and support 78 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: if where real change can happen. Yeah, as we sit 79 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: here in the studio, it's funny we watched the tour 80 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 1: groups go by a lot of young kids, especially here 81 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: at Bloomberg. So I'm going to do a shout out 82 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: for my own company. How much of this mentoring that 83 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: sort of thing is How does that figure into this? 84 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: How important is that? So we find that any one 85 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: of these strategies like mentoring or creative employment practices like 86 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: apprenticeships can be really powerful ideas, particularly when they're thought 87 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,480 Speaker 1: about in a way that specifically addresses a core problem 88 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 1: a company is looking to to address. So, for example, 89 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: City was looking to bring in more veteran talent, those 90 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: who had served our country in the military, and they 91 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:13,159 Speaker 1: found that by launching a very different kind of an 92 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: apprenticeship program that really targeted veterans who had some baseline 93 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,600 Speaker 1: technology skills where they could spend six months to a 94 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 1: year at the company, really refining and learning that particular 95 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:28,040 Speaker 1: tech stack at City that they found over a ninety 96 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: percent conversion rate and opened up a whole new opportunity 97 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: for talent growth and again a very hot market where 98 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,239 Speaker 1: they were seeking to bring people in outside of Dallas. 99 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,159 Speaker 1: What about Target, because you were writing about how it 100 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: did succeed in retaining more diverse talent as well. Target 101 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,159 Speaker 1: is such a good example of a company that's really 102 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:54,479 Speaker 1: embraced mentorship and you know, not just as an idea 103 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: to connect people to have conversations, but really to do 104 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: it in a sustained way and really creating the kind 105 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: of environment and culture that allowed for authentic interactions to 106 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: happen and to help particularly underrepresented individuals within the company 107 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: learn what it would take to advance in their career. 108 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: So it was mentoring with a real purpose to help 109 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: advance talent up the rights the companies I think you 110 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 1: do actually mention a small company. I'm sorry I've forgot 111 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: the name. But is this just a big company or 112 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: can small companies? I mean, is it important for them 113 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: this diversity push? Can they do it? Do they have 114 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:40,160 Speaker 1: the resources? Well, we know that over ninety percent of 115 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: Americans work for small businesses, and so we think our 116 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: point of view is it small businesses are missing the 117 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 1: boat if they early on in their founding think about 118 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: how to create inclusive cultures. And I think that's exactly 119 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: what Online Optimism to small advertising agency who we spoke 120 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: to their founder recognized early on that to be responsive 121 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: to the needs of their advertising clients, it would benefit 122 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: them to be able to drop from a broad mix 123 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: of ideas, backgrounds, experiences to bring all that goodness to 124 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: bear on the campaigns for their clients acrost the nation 125 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: and they've been profoundly successful. Do you have the resources 126 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: of it? I mean, can they contact you for you know, 127 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: because there's so few resources available I feel for a 128 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: lot of small businesses absolutely. In fact, Innovating for Diversity 129 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: dot com is a website where you can contact myself, 130 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:38,439 Speaker 1: my co author Suzanne Tadrick would certainly be happy to 131 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: discuss this issue if anybody interested in improving their TOYEI 132 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: practicers and creating a better role for everybody. And what's 133 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: your finals big takeaway from your book? I would say 134 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:59,080 Speaker 1: the unwavering support of the CEO is necessary, but not sufficient. 135 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: Now we've heard in the past couple of years a 136 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: lot of big claims for how companies are going to 137 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 1: make dramatic progress in diversifying their workforce, and without the 138 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: commitment of HR and all the way through middle managers, 139 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: those kind of proclamations fall flat. So really operationalizing all 140 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: the tools and systems require to bring the EI deep 141 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: into an organization and making it a part of the 142 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: everyday culture is what works. Bertina, that was a pleasure. 143 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: Appreciate it. Very interesting. Bertina Chicarelli, the chief executive officer 144 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: and power joining us from good old Brooklyn.