Record numbers of employees are planning to retire as our city and state continues to get more and more diverse. Is Madison ready for the next generation? Are our companies, agencies, and organizations moving towards a more inclusive culture?
These are some of the issues that will be talked about as local professionals of all ages, races, and ethnicities converge on the Monona Terrace Convention Center May 20 for the Urban League of Greater Madison’s 3rd Annual Workplace Diversity & Leadership Summit and Awards Luncheon.
The Workplace Diversity Summit is an event that continues to grow and evolve as the Urban League of Greater Madison (ULGM) brings together leaders in the business, education, nonprofit, and government arenas to explore local, state, and national best practices and learn how to foster diversity, spur innovation, and experience growth.
“The theme of the summit has evolved through the years,” says Mark Richardson, ULGM Vice President of Strategic Partnerships. “Year one was a half-day event and that was about awareness. Year two was about making the business case for diversity. We’ve probably got one of the older workforces in the nation quickly pushing towards retirement and the folks culturally and ethnically that are leaving the workforce don’t necessarily mirror the folks that are coming into the workforce. What are we doing to prepare our organizations, our region, and our city for that change? The theme has evolved from those two years to the next phase.”
“It’s really about how diversity drives innovation that drives growth,” adds Deirdre Hargrove-Krieghoff, ULGM Vice President of Workforce Development. “A big part of this year’s summit we wanted to focus on looking locally but also looking globally and understanding how diversity fits into that.”
Richardson and Hargrove-Kreighoff have been working hard to plan the annual summit that will feature Dr. Steve Robbins who will be doing the keynote speech in the morning and wrapping things up later in the day. Robbins is a powerful speaker who has been called on to inspire, educate, and prepare the workplaces of organizations like Pepsico, Kraft Foods, McDonald's, Disney, Nordstrom, Boeing, Toyota, Honda, Wells Fargo, Mayo Clinic, NASA, the National Security Agency, US Navy, Microsoft, Chevron, and numerous others.
“One of the things that is really cool about him is that he infuses this component of brain science into it – talking about open-mindness, brain science, and brain energy,” Hargrove-Kreighoff says. “The biggest part of his message will be that diversity starts with open-mindedness.”
Dr. Robbins’ unique concept of “Unintentional Intolerance” has captured wide acclaim from numerous audiences and organizations across the United States. It’s an approach that does not blame or point fingers, but challenges individuals and organizations to be more open-minded, mindful, and intentional about inclusion and valuing people for their unique gifts, abilities, and experiences.
“He is talking about complicated issues, but he has the ability to put things so people can understand,” Richardson says. “He makes a very complicated subject very simple to understand. In doing so, he gets everybody to drop their defenses. He breaks things down in a way that people can consciously think about ways that they’ve been behaving.”
“One of the things that is really interesting about Steve is that he talks about folks and their experiences and really how that shapes your perspectives,” Hargrove-Krieghoff adds. “So, as an African American woman moving through space and time, I have my own experiences which shape how I perceive the world. But, somebody that is a white male or white female or an Asian woman might have a completely different experience and a different perspective. So, I enter into the world expecting people to see things the same way that I do and they don’t. Robbins has a really nice way of opening that up for us and seeing things in a different perspective.”
Robbins background is in communication, socio-psychology, and cognitive neuroscience drive his work with individuals and organizations – the core of the work is about understanding human behavior in a world full of human differences.
“The first time I saw Robbins speak, it was transformational for me,” Hargrove-Krieghoff says. “I think anyone and everyone will walk away with something that’s new and something that they hadn’t thought about it.”
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This year’s Annual Workplace Diversity & Leadership Summit will also feature panelists and presenters talking about diversity in the global sense and local people, organizations, and agencies conversing about their own best practices. Morning breakout sessions will tackle various issues around workplace diversity and inclusion. Target Corporation will lead a session called “Diversity is good for business” while Oscar Mayer and St. Mary’s Hospital will share how they have operationalized key parts of Steve Robbins approach to diversity and inclusion. The afternoon breakout sessions will tackle tough topics like “Recruiting a diverse workforce locally” and “Creating equitable and inclusive organizations” as they complement their overall “Best Practices” theme.
“Part of it is bringing experts who have done this, do this, and help others do this…. It’s about banging out new models on how to do business and highlighting those folks who do it,” Richardson says. “It all started after the first summit when we had senior-level leadership come to us and say, ‘You know what? We’re not great at this workplace diversity thing, but we want you to tell us how we can be better?”
Interesting ideas and innovative ways to collaborate have been born from previous diversity and leadership summits. For instance, the Featured Employer Job Seminar was a result of companies coming to the summit admitting that they had a hard time recruiting candidates of a diverse nature – even for entry level positions. “Our featured employer series was born out of a past summit where we opened up our place to companies for a 4-5-hour period and we recruited individuals and reached out to our networks to find people for your place of employment,” Richardson says. “We have the networks, the space, the credibility, and the relationships. We have local companies that now come to us to help them recruit and fill staffing positions.”
Target, American Girl, Alliant Energy, MMSD have all taken advantage of this idea that came out of a past Summit. In that way, ULGM tries to build on each event and keep working on new, innovative ideas. “You figure out what is needed, you cut through the red tape, and you do it,” Richardson says. “You promote those companies as innovators and then you get other people to do it.”
Last year, the Urban League had 400 people registered for the event. This year, Richardson says, they would love to hit 500. “One thing we know for sure is that whoever attends will have a very thought-provoking and interesting day that will help their organization,” Richardson says.
“Networking is a big part of it, too,” he adds. “The learning is one thing. Having the relationships to leverage the learning and make it work is critical to getting any traction in any organization. If you don’t have the relationships built and the networks don’t intersect then you continue to bounce off each other and get nowhere as far as progress.”
The day will conclude with a networking happy hour where people will get a chance to make those vital connections and to keep the conversation going beyond just one day.
“It’s about being in an environment where you can see other professionals that look like you, but it’s also about seeing and meeting other professionals who don’t look like you, “ Hargrove-Krieghoff says. “Unfortunately for Madison, although we are pretty diverse, you would not know that at first glance [in the workforce. So, to be able to have this kind of summit and to bring all these different kinds of people together really is an example of the kind of diversity that we have.”
“We’re talking about an issue that if you take it in the micro, it’s about diversity in the workplace and how and why it’s a good thing,” Richardson says. “The macro issue is that areas and cities that operate like that and are attracting talent, attracting dollars and venture capital and are retaining students that come to a college….. it’s the creative economy. We’re moving away from straight manufacturing. We’re moving away from the types of jobs in Wisconsin that we used to have and because of the computer and the Internet and all things arts-related, the creative economy – also known as the knowledge economy – demands diversity of thought. If you want to attract and retain your talent and you want to grow your city and your region, you need to operate in a fashion that attracts people.”
Richardson says that the diversity goes beyond just color or gender or age. “We’re talking about diversity of thought,” Richardson says. “We’re talking about all kinds of diversity. You’re going to have a better chance at more and different solutions to any problem if you have diverse thought.”
“Young people who are coming up can live where they want, because you can work remotely,” Richardson continues. “So, is [Madison] a place I want to live? The bigger issue is do we value everybody? Is this an attractive place to call home? Do I want to establish my roots here…. Or do I want to go to Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, etc. We don’t want to lose folks to Minneapolis or Chicago. We want talented folks who will be an asset to our community to be here and to stay here.”
In just three years, the Annual Workplace Diversity & Leadership Summit and Awards Luncheon has become Wisconsin’s premiere gathering focused on preparing organizations for a more diverse workforce.
“More and more people are realizing that their customer doesn’t look like them,” Hargrove-Krieghoff adds. “We are there already. We’re there as a community, but our organizations are not there yet in terms of being able to service them in a way that is culturally competent.”
“It’s about valuing everybody and harnessing the energy of everybody that is here to drive this region,” Richardson adds. “We’re not going to get there as a community overnight, but we hope that the event produces greater interest and greater engagement in solving some of our organizational challenges around workforce diversity. I hope that this event spurs organizations and individuals to be proactive about having the conversations and that, eventually, we’d like to work ourselves out of having to have something like this. That we’ve reached a point where the community is where it needs to be as it relates to diversity and cultural competence and really understanding and embracing all of the differences that every community member brings. That really is the ultimate goal.”
The Urban League of Greater Madison will host the 2013 Workplace Diversity & Leadership Summit and Awards Luncheon Monday, May 20, 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.
For more information visit www.ulgm.org/summit2013 or call Deirdre Hargrove-Krieghoff at 608-729-1208.
Past presenters have included Renea Murphy, Director of Diversity for Coca-Cola Company; Maria Campbell, former Chief Diversity Officer for S.C. Johnson Company; and Kwame Salter, President of the Salter Group.
The theme of the first Summit essentially centered on market awareness. Awareness about how diverse the professional talent pool is becoming in our area. The theme for last year’s Summit was making the business case for workplace diversity. Economists and Business Leaders warned of the looming retirement bubble, and the different demographic make-up of current and future employees. This year’s theme takes us from “Best Practices” to actual practices. We’ll hear from an expert on how to clear the hurdles that might be holding our organizations back, and from local leaders who have had success starting to move their organizations toward a more inclusive culture.
“We are excited about this year’s Summit” said Kaleem Caire, President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Madison. “Each year the event has evolved. This year we’re bringing in Steve Robbins to guide us through a great day of learning, he is Nationally renowned in the field of Diversity & Inclusion; and delivers content in a very engaging way ”.
A powerful storyteller with a powerful story to tell, Dr. Steve L. Robbins has an unmatched ability to inspire people even in the midst of disrupting and challenging the way they think about the world. Born in Vietnam, Dr. Robbins immigrated to the United States when he was five years old. He and his mother faced many challenges as Vietnamese immigrants in a new land, during a time when there was much anti-war and anti-Vietnamese sentiment.
Steve Robbins has worked with corporate giants McDonalds, Honda, Boeing, Wells Fargo, and Kraft to name a few. More locally, St. Mary’s has been working with him for several years.
“Steve provided us with the needed mindset to jumpstart our innovation journey and helped us to reframe our business case for diversity and inclusion” said St. Mary’s Regional Director of Organizational Development, Steve King.
In additional to global strategies, this year’s attendees will here from local businesses that have begun to think and act differently when it comes to how they look for talent and where they look for talent. Come learn from these successes, start your own journey at the 3rd Annual Workplace Diversity & Leadership Summit and Awards Luncheon.
“It would be great to come away from this event having more people than last year talking about the event and talking about things that they are going to do in their companies differently and blowing up our phones the following week saying, ‘How do we work together with you more?’ Richardson adds. “That’s what we would hope for with this event..”
It is hardly a secret that demographics in the workplace in the United States are rapidly shifting. And Wisconsin is not immune to that shift. With that in mind, the deeper conversation on workforce diversity will be happening at the Urban League of Greater Madison's 2012 Workplace Diversity & Leadership Summit and Awards Luncheon May 16 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.
The event, now in its second year, will provide a valuable shared learning experience, networking opportunities, and ideas for employers and professionals who desire to advance workplace diversity, grow their businesses, and have a positive impact on the community at the same time.
The Workplace Diversity & Leadership Summit will be a showcase of the what’s, why’s, and how’s of building, retaining, and growing a diversified workforce.
“We have professionals who are doing great work in the city but they may not be on the radars of HR professionals and hiring managers because their networks never intersect,” Richardson says. “This year, we are stepping it up beyond just 'awareness' and we are all about the how-to's.”
Networking is always a key to success in the workplace. “This particular type of networking is crucial to what this marketplace looks like going forward and what kind of opportunities are available for professionals of color and young professionals,” Richardson says. “Because we are, in effect, throwing together markets that don't generally intersect.”
People find out about jobs through their networks and if you don't network with people who don't look like you, Richardson says, then you're never going to start to build relationships with professionals of color. “We're essentially taking the Dane Dances philosophy of bringing people together,” Richardson says of the very popular multicultural event on the Monona Terrace Rooftop on Fridays during the month of August. “This is the Dane Dances for professionals.”
But why is workforce diversity so important?
“You walk into big companies and generally you don't see a lot of faces of color with a lot of the big employers,” Richardson says. “Diversity is important for the well-being and the quality of life in this city to make sure that all parties and all parts of the city get opportunities and [are] involved with what it means to make a living here — to have a job with advancement opportunities, to get involved with volunteering, etc.. There are a lot of things that make Madison great, but everybody needs to be able to participate in that.”
And from an economic stability and growth standpoint, diversity is one of the major things that young professionals look for when they look for a job. “They don't necessarily want to jump into a workplace where everybody looks like them,” Richardson says. “They want to see diversity. And if we're going to attract talent to this market and retain talent in this market then we're going to have to get serious about making sure this is a place that young professionals will want to come to.”
The face of the world is changing and advancing Madison’s cultural competency is vital to its growth as an economic market, both in providing opportunities for the emerging workforce and in retaining world-class talent. More often than not, successful organizations and their managers are watching, learning, adapting, and making plans with that in mind.
“A lot of horsepower, a lot of great minds, a lot of talent, and a lot of great energy leaves this region because once they leave the campus, they don't have the same feeling of being welcomed, the same feeling as far as having opportunity, and they don't see the same quality of life that they would like to. So they go to Austin or they go to Atlanta or they go to Chicago … or even the Twin Cities,” Richardson says. “They look for a place that values diversity. This Summit one of the ways that we can attack the brain drain.”
Expanded from a half-day event in its inaugural year, the full-day summit will offer workshops, presentations, and networking opportunities for everyone from young professionals to CEO’s. Topics will range from diversity planning and best practices, to understanding the next generation of employees and finding, developing, and retaining diverse talent.
“We will be seeing more breakout sessions this year because it's a full day,” says Janet DesChenes, marketing consultant for ULGM. “We're looking at pushing up to 400 people. Last year, we had just under 300 people. People can register online right up to that weekend and they can also register on site.”
There will be panel sessions on “The 2010 Census — A Madison Area View,” “Hot Topics in Human Resources,” “Cultural Competence vs. Compliance,” “A Real-Life Treasure Hunt: Finding and Keeping Diverse Talent,” “Breaking Through Bias,” “The Business Case for Mentoring and Retention,” and more. In addition to the educational and networking sessions, the Summit will include the presentation of the 2012 Workplace Diversity Awards and the Urban League Whitney Young Jr. Award for Public Service.
“This year, we're finding that there are a lot more registrants coming from other than sponsored companies,” Richardson says. “In other words, folks that will be there because their company sponsored it is one thing — and we love to have those folks — but we're seeing a big push of people whose companies aren't sponsoring it but they want to be there for the format and the content.”
Interest in the event is already higher than it was last year.
“That tells us that the subject matter is getting traction in the market … that there is value in what we're doing and that people enjoyed the last one,” Richardson says. “The word traveled and connections were made. That's what this is all about.”
ULGM has gathered some of the most notable leaders and innovators in the Madison area as presenters, as well as nationally recognized experts. There will be four general session speakers including Kwame Salter, a retired senior vice president of human resources at Kraft Global Supply Chain and author of “Striving While Black… In Corporate America.”
“We're happy to have Kwame back. A lot of people here know Kwame,” Richardson says. “He's living proof of what can be obtained if given an opportunity. Just an incredible man. The work that Oscar Meyer does now on the diversity side they do in large part because of Kwame.”
Oscar Mayer was the winner of last year's summit's large business diversity award.
Once again, one of the distinguished speakers will be Madison native Maria Campbell who serves as director of diversity for SC Johnson, a family-owned and managed business dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. The event will also feature Rebecca Ryan, founder of Next Generation Consulting and author of “ReGENERATION — A Manifesto for America’s Next Leaders” and Terry Ludeman, who was the chief economist of the Governor’s Office of Economic Advisors.
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The Urban League of Greater Madison’s mission is to ensure that African Americans and other community members are educated, employed and empowered to live well, advance professionally and contribute to the common good in the 21st century.
We are committed to transforming Greater Madison into the Best [place] in the Midwest for everyone to live, learn, and work. We are working to make this vision a reality through a comprehensive strategic empowerment agenda that includes programs & services, advocacy, and partnerships & coalition building. www.ulgm.org
