Report: Companies making cuts to DEI programs
Summary
TLDRDr. Arthur Langer from Columbia University's Teachers College discusses the concerning trend of companies cutting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs despite their importance. As the founder of Workforce Opportunity Services, a non-profit that matches talent with companies, he emphasizes the need to integrate diverse workforces to reduce risk and enhance business. The organization helps companies assimilate talent by providing training and support, aiming to create a clear value proposition for diversity that resonates with line managers and business leaders.
Takeaways
- 🌐 Companies are increasingly cutting their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs according to a report by Development Dimensions International.
- 👨🏫 Dr. Arthur Langer, a professor and founder of Workforce Opportunity Services, discusses the corporate trend of reducing diversity initiatives.
- 🔍 The challenge is to assimilate diverse talent at the operating level within organizations, which can be difficult for line managers focused on margins.
- 🤝 Workforce Opportunity Services helps organizations by providing talent with healthcare insurance, schooling, specific training, and professional skills.
- 🛡️ Hiring a diverse workforce is identified as a way to reduce risk, with the organization acting as a bridge between talent and companies.
- 💡 The importance of diversity is emphasized, with the value being in not just having a diverse workforce, but being diverse and leveraging that diversity.
- 🎼 Dr. Langer suggests that winning over day-to-day managers is key, as they are more likely to request diverse talent once they see its value.
- 🏢 The nonprofit Workforce Opportunity Services was born out of a research study at Columbia University, focusing on job placement for diverse groups.
- 🏭 The study involved individuals from The Drew projects and aimed to understand the cultural transformation needed for successful job placement.
- 🎓 Workforce Opportunity Services has expanded its focus to include high school students, college graduates, and veterans, recognizing the talent in each group.
- 🔑 The organization's approach is to prepare individuals for the workforce and create a fair playing field, highlighting the need for cultural adaptation and risk management in hiring.
Q & A
Why are companies cutting their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs according to the report by Development Dimensions International?
-The report does not explicitly state the reasons, but Dr. Arthur Langer suggests that operating units or line managers might be driven by profit margins and the need to get things done quickly, which could lead to a reduction in such programs.
What is the role of Workforce Opportunity Services as founded by Dr. Arthur Langer?
-Workforce Opportunity Services aims to help organizations assimilate talent at the operating levels by providing diverse workforces with health care insurance, schooling, specific training, and professional skills development.
How does Dr. Langer describe the difference in approach between Workforce Opportunity Services and traditional talent finding methods?
-Dr. Langer emphasizes that Workforce Opportunity Services not only finds the right matching talent but also hires them for a period, provides them with benefits and training, and works closely with line managers to ensure a smooth integration.
What is the importance of having a diverse workforce according to Dr. Langer?
-Dr. Langer believes that having a diverse workforce is valuable because it reduces risk and brings in different perspectives and talents that can be harnessed for organizational success.
What does Dr. Langer mean when he says 'it's one thing to have diversity, it's another thing to be diverse'?
-Dr. Langer is highlighting the difference between merely having a diverse workforce in terms of numbers and actually leveraging the value of that diversity to create a truly inclusive and effective work environment.
How does Dr. Langer describe the challenge of cultural transformation in the context of hiring a diverse workforce?
-He mentions that while the talent is available, the challenge lies in the cultural transformation within companies, especially public corporations, which can be risk-averse and may not readily embrace change.
What was the origin of Workforce Opportunity Services?
-Workforce Opportunity Services originated from a research study at Columbia University conducted by Dr. Langer, which focused on providing job opportunities for individuals from The Drew projects.
What was the initial target group for Workforce Opportunity Services when it started?
-The initial target group was high school students, but the organization later expanded to include college graduates and veterans.
How did the involvement of PSEG, the Energy company, influence the direction of Workforce Opportunity Services?
-PSEG's involvement led Workforce Opportunity Services to discover a pool of diverse college graduates who were struggling to find jobs, prompting the organization to extend its services to this group.
What was the catalyst for Workforce Opportunity Services to start working with veterans?
-The catalyst was a request from Prudential, who wanted to engage with veterans, recognizing the potential and the value these individuals could bring to the workforce.
How does Dr. Langer view the talent pool among veterans?
-Dr. Langer sees veterans as a rich source of talent, each educated and trained in various fields, and believes that they can significantly contribute to the workforce if given the opportunity.
Outlines
📊 Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Challenges
The script discusses a concerning trend where companies are reducing their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, as reported by Development Dimensions International. Dr. Arthur Langer, a professor at Columbia University and founder of Workforce Opportunity Services, is interviewed to explore the reasons behind this trend. He explains that while companies want to do the right thing, operational pressures and the drive for immediate results often lead to a focus on short-term margins over long-term diversity benefits. Dr. Langer emphasizes the importance of assimilating talent at the operating level and the role of Workforce Opportunity Services in helping organizations find and hire diverse talent, providing support such as health care insurance, schooling, and professional skills training.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Diversity
💡Equity
💡Inclusion
💡Workforce
💡Assimilation
💡Talent
💡Margin
💡Professional Skills
💡Non-profit
💡Risk-Averse
💡Veterans
Highlights
America's diversity is being threatened by companies cutting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Development Dimensions International report indicates a trend of reduced investment in diversity initiatives.
Dr. Arthur Langer, a professor at Columbia University's Teachers College, discusses the issue.
Workforce Opportunity Services, a non-profit founded by Dr. Langer, aims to assimilate talent at the operating levels of organizations.
Line managers are driven by margins and may not prioritize diversity programs.
Dr. Langer's organization helps find and match diverse talent with companies.
Workforce Opportunity Services provides temporary employment, healthcare insurance, schooling, and training for diverse candidates.
The organization works closely with line managers to understand their needs and perform background checks.
Dr. Langer emphasizes the importance of demonstrating the value of a diverse workforce to managers.
There is a need to create a clear value proposition for diversity in the workplace.
Dr. Langer shares his experience as a 'poor kid from the Bronx' to highlight that talent is everywhere but needs to be discovered.
Workforce Opportunity Services originated from a research study at Columbia University.
The study focused on transforming the cultural challenges faced by individuals from diverse backgrounds in finding jobs.
Public corporations are becoming more risk-averse, which affects the hiring of diverse candidates.
The non-profit started by focusing on high school students but expanded to include college graduates and veterans.
Veterans are highlighted as a group with diverse talents that are often overlooked in the job market.
Dr. Langer encourages companies to seek out and value the talents of diverse individuals.
For more information on Workforce Opportunity Services, visit cbsnewyork.com.
Transcripts
America is one of the most diverse
countries in the world but a new report
from the management consulting company
Development Dimensions International
shows more and more companies are
cutting their diversity equity and
inclusion programs to learn more about
why that is I'm joined by Dr Arthur
Langer he is a professor at Columbia
University's Teachers College and the
founder of the non-profit Workforce
Opportunity Services thank you doctor
for being here thank you so much what is
behind this corporate trend of starting
to cut these programs well it's hard you
know
companies like to do the right thing one
of the things we do at Workforce is we
really try to help these organization
fundamentally assimilate the talent at
the operating levels so so why do you
think we're seeing this happen well uh
it's hard and and operating units or
line managers uh you know they're driven
by that margin yeah they're going to be
lean in me right and uh you know how how
do they Embrace this at a time when
they're also trying to get things done
quickly so
so employees to hire diverse Workforce
we reduce the risk first of all we're
Talent finders we go into the systems we
find the right matching talent but
here's the difference we hire them for a
period of time we provide them with
health care insurance we provide them
with schooling and specific training and
even what we call Professional skills or
soft skills and we're working closely
with that line managers the first thing
we say to them is what do they need to
know the first day they show up and
we're doing the background checks we're
like offensive linemen right if
anything's in the way we're going to be
dealing with it as a non-profit
organization what what can we tell
companies as far as statistics and the
importance of having a diverse Workforce
well one of my favorites uh sentences is
it's one thing to have diversity it's
another thing to be diverse and what the
value of that diversity truly is and if
you can win over that day-to-day manager
music to my ears is when someone in an
organization that's running a business
is I want to know the wos kid I want
another WS veteran and but they need
help and we need to create a way in
which the value is clearly seen and if
there's anything I know from myself poor
kid from the Bronx
the talent is there yeah you just have
to go find it
um tell us a little bit about that more
about the nonprofit that you started
well WS came out of a research study at
Columbia that I did for five years where
we took 50 plus people from The Drew
projects on 135th Street on a grant and
the concern was would they get a job and
we did in this five-year study
understood that the talent was there but
the transformation culturally is always
the challenge and companies being less
risk-averse uh you know being more
risk-averse specially public Universe
corporations that it creates a problem
to have that time so how do you prepare
those individuals and create a fair
playing field
any sort of like age range or that you
we started with high school stuff okay
but then we discovered in a job for PSEG
the Energy company where they wrote the
jobs for college graduates that we found
tons of diverse candidates coming out of
universities that couldn't find a job
all right and then of course in 2010 a
Prudential came to us and said we want
to do something with these veterans and
that was a whole other transformation
but tons of talent every veteran comes
out educated and trained in something Dr
Langer thank you so much for you for
what you and your whole team works on
it's such an important issue
learn more about Workforce Opportunity
Services just head to cbsnewyork.com
we'll be right back
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