Embedding DEIB in Your Talent Strategy: Attracting and Retaining Engaged, Diverse Populations of Employees

Dr. Jim: [: 00:00:00

Those are paraphrase the words of Kevin Walters. So Kevin is joining us today on the show. He's an accomplished D I B talent acquisition management strategist with over 20 years of experience, empowering organizational change within growth minded companies. He's developed transformative solutions across startups and top fortune five 500 companies like silk road, Amazon, Coca Cola enterprises, Microsoft, and home Depot.

He's got deep expertise in building an inclusive, collaborative culture, enhancing employee engagement, driving adoption of technology products, managing retention and influencing leadership to foster an environment that attracts and retains engaged diverse populations of employees.

Kevin Walters, welcome to the show.

Walters: Thanks, Jim. Thanks [: 00:01:00

Dr. Jim: That is a lot. And I think that provides a great bridge for us to carry the conversation forward. So I know we mentioned a lot of stuff from your professional background in that intro. What else do you feel is important for the listeners to know about you? That's going to inform this conversation that we're having.

Kevin Walters: Yeah, Jim, 1 of the things that's been said about me and that I feel I bring to the table is. Authenticity and credibility. I always speak from life experiences, not only of myself, but of others and bring in that real lens of authenticity and really helping people understand that, we diversity is hard.

nk it's okay. The goal is to [: 00:02:00

Dr. Jim: I like how you brought out the point of being authentic and how you show up in helping guide these conversations forward. One of the things that I'm curious about is that authenticity gets thrown around as a buzzword these days when you're looking at Setting the stage or setting the foundations to actually show up the way that you want to show up.

What are some of the things that you've noticed or you've put into place that's really created those environments where people can bring their whole selves to work, be really authentic?

Kevin Walters: One of the things I try to do and working with leaders is help everyone understand that we're all biased and we're all flawed, that no one is perfect. And I'm not an expert for sure on the entire black and African American community. And so I bring my own personal experiences and experiences I've learned of others.

an agree to disagree, but we [: 00:03:00

We're not going to be judging and we don't want you to feel like this is a, trial by any means people are less likely to be defensive and at least be open. And the last thing I'll say is, I try to be a little engaging. And we talk about engagement, right? Employee engagement, which is a key because you want to keep the attention of your customers as well as your audience.

Dr. Jim: There's something about what you said that I really like how you tied it together. One, you mentioned that it's a, it's completely acceptable and actually encouraged for everybody to recognize that they have biases and approach the world with eyes wide open as far as their own biases.

they might get combative or [: 00:04:00

So if you. As a leader within their organization aren't recognizing your own biases as you enter into conversations and interactions, you're never really meeting the full potential of your ability to meet people where they are. That's the distinction that I like that you've made and I wanted to call out.

When you think about your time as a consultant and your professional career in this space, what's the accomplishment that you're most proud of?

ion on best practices of how [: 00:05:00

I. Sometimes I think it's very limited and we just think about race, gender, but really being a person that, Hey, here's how this can just happen. Really work for everyone right across the organization. And I met with sales operations and our CEO and really worked individually on a one to one basis to show the value benefit of being an inclusive organization.

Dr. Jim: How is that received within a product organization? And here's where I'm coming from. When we look at embedding DEI within an organizational culture, that's best practices. I've talked to a lot of DEI leaders that, that say, Hey, if you want to do this right, it's got to be embedded in every element of your organization.

The reason that I asked that question is that when you're looking at technology organizations or product organizations, they've typically been behind when it comes to adopting DEIB principles.

ers and other leaders had not[: 00:06:00

I think the goal of any adoption is to show the value to not just yourself, but the value to the sponsor or the organization that you're working with. And that's what I did.

Dr. Jim: So I like how you tied that. When you look at most organizations of any size, your customer base is global.

So if your organization doesn't reflect the customers that you serve, you're going to have big problems when it comes to growth and you're probably going to have some biases baked in to how your product is structured and executed. That's going to be problematic as well. I really like how you brought that out . What's the most fun aspect about the, your role as a consultant?

ike what I love about what I [: 00:07:00

It's not work for me. This is like my life. This is what I do. And I have fun every day doing it. I love the work. I'm always trying to learn, listen to different Points of view and also love that the impact it has on people's lives. I'll give one quick story is the company I worked for when I, when we merged the new company, we did not have Martin Luther King as one of the national holidays that they celebrated.

And I was just shocked, first of all, because it, it was an optional floating holiday. And one of my first tasks, I think not even within 90 days of the merger was to talk to my peers. And I want to appreciate them because I didn't have to have a convincing argument, but I've said, we're not going to be able to attract.

Anyone from [: 00:08:00

I really didn't know what he stood for. And I really appreciated that. And it made it meaningful to the employees. It wasn't just a day off, but it was a day of service and people actually value that and participated. So that just, that was one of the things that to this day, I just feel it makes me actually tingle. And tremble when I think about it.

is, this organization, which[: 00:09:00

I think that principle of not, it's not enough to just listen and accept feedback. You need to act on it. And that's really one of the principles of building a high performance organization is your willingness to act as a leader. And put things into action when it's bubbled up from the team, that's usually one that indicates a strong communication and action orientation within your organization.

So really good stuff there. Kevin. I opened the show by saying, high performing organizations and elite teams are built on purpose and mission, but if you as a leader allow productive a holes to be present on your team. You're never going to reach your potential. How does that tie into the game changing realizations that you've had through your career when it comes to building high performing teams?

lent on the team, but if you [: 00:10:00

And you'll see teams that have more collaborative role acceptance. Everyone bought into the vision and purpose win, right? Championships and all everyone's aligned. There's no ego. And so I think the most important thing is to really understand the goal and the purpose of the individuals that are on your team.

And make sure they're aligned to the company values and the purpose of the company. And then also making sure that there's a commitment level. Because what we talk about engagement a lot, you and I on in general, and it's almost a simple equation. If you. Have an environment that fosters engagement.

You're going to have more productivity and it's not going to be work for your employees. They were going to enjoy what they're doing and work hard for you.

d working together towards a [: 00:11:00

That makes sense from both the theoretical and practical perspective, but it can also be taken to the extreme where that sort of environment where people are rigid in their. Role and execution. It doesn't really offer growth. So how do you create a balance where you're still aligned to mission and purpose, understand your role, but you're also baking in that growth opportunity within the organization.

I

Kevin Walters: think what you have to do is you have to have an organization that's thriving and also has purpose and provides opportunities and layer your organization with individuals that are like future state ready for the next step. And that also can prepare and mentor and grow others within your organization.

oles and responsibilities. I [: 00:12:00

This is my main role in my, within my organization. This is like my secondary function. And also, the DEI, Leader can't also be the marketing person, but he can contribute to marketing with ideas around impact and diversity and inclusion and understanding that you have folks on your team that can help contribute to the vision because they have the domain expertise is what we're leaning towards.

Dr. Jim: So taking that forward. So when you look at, A team that's deeply aligned on purpose and mission a team that understands each of their roles and how it fits into the bigger picture, what should your talent strategy look like if you're looking for that deep alignment across the entire employee life cycle?

n skills or aptitude to gain [: 00:13:00

I always look for both. When I talked to folks, I wanted to learn what their aspirations were, what was the next level. And I understood that if I hired someone that had maximized their skills in the area, they're probably going to have limited growth potential in the role. If there were no future opportunities right away, and they're not going to ultimately be happy.

So I always try to found that middle ground of folks that have. At least the baseline of the skills that's required that also, can gain additional skills from the opportunity that were presented and then have growth opportunity and be happy and contribute and also have an organization that can provide.

Other growth potential. You got to think about future state.

y around future state. So if [: 00:14:00

How do you create the space to have those sort of conversations? And be intentional about the development plans.

Kevin Walters: If you're in the leadership position, you really have to have a good vision and to understand, like, where your future of your organization is going. And I'll use myself for the example. When I was recruited to Amazon, my manager at the time was looking for someone that was really good in sourcing and recruiting.

But yet he saw that I had done a lot of training and I had done a lot of diversity and inclusion. And back then it wasn't even a trending Topic, but he knew that the goals of the organization, the three, five, 10 year plan was to be a more diverse and inclusive company. And then he had the vision to understand if I hire this person now, my group and organization within the company will actually have a lot of the skillsets and tools to build a more robust organization.

[: 00:15:00

Dr. Jim: What I gather from that example, and it's a great example, is that if you're looking at both new talent coming into the organization and also existing talent that you have, And I'll make the argument that your time should be spent in having these conversations with your existing talent first.

that you have for them, even [: 00:16:00

So that should be a ongoing conversation and an intentional conversation. It's gotta be something that doesn't stop. After they're hired, it's got to be something that you do on a regular basis so that you're keeping everybody aligned to the big picture. One of the things that I'm wondering about when we're having this conversation, we're talking about embedding D I B into your talent strategy. We're talking about how that shows up when it comes to development conversations and retention conversations. We're also talking about. The ability to recognize your own bias so that you can meet everybody where they're at.

We've talked about a lot of stuff up until this point. Let's set that aside and say, we're dealing with an organization or a leader that wants to make this pivot and wants to build this sort of organization where it's highly aligned with mission and purpose. A low diva factor, a low, lone wolf factor.

hat are the things that they [: 00:17:00

Kevin Walters: Look at the person that you're engaging and look at your potential hire and see what their purpose and values are and see what, how they assess themselves, how they see themselves within the organization, how they see their growth potential, see if they have a very me, me attitude versus a we attitude.

And, as situational behavioral situational type questions to see how an assimilated type, environment, how they would react to certain things or what they, do they talk about how they, are they looking for, opportunities for just themselves to shine in their role, or they look for opportunities to, excel.

As well as having their organization itself and meet goals within the organization. So I think you really have to start to the front end when you're engaging talent to ensure that you have the right fit and you have the right type of person.

hat you said actually struck [: 00:18:00

Kevin Walters: One that probably most people don't think about, and it's the gatekeeper, the person that's actually doing a screening, doing the farming, looking for individuals when your organization, if they're biased, or they use in biased mechanisms to do so, then the inputs are going to yield those outputs.

U or someone's name or their [: 00:19:00

If you can't find someone that has that unbiased filter, then I would say use technology. There's plenty of technologies out there. That will cover names backgrounds and just present skills. So you can present, quality candidates regardless of demographics to your

Dr. Jim: leaders. I like your call out about, technical solutions to de biasing your hiring process. Hiding names, previous companies Universities that they've attended, all that sort of stuff falls into into that space. But the other thing that you can do from a practical perspective that doesn't involve technology is shift the conversation that you're having when you're thinking about your ideal candidate profile.

ed conversation, I think you [: 00:20:00

Kevin Walters: Let me say this, Jim, to that one of the pushbacks and challenges I'll say with that. And I, say when I was recruiting at Amazon. Amazon is the largest enterprise in the world, right? As far as e commerce company, and there really wasn't any equivalent, like maybe Google or, apple and such.

But from an environment standpoint, we were swapping talent back and forth with what I call like the big fang companies already. Once I felt like in certain job roles that was maxed out, you really have to focus on again, Future state talent, people that, Hey, even though they may have worked in a mid cap, midsize organization, they may work on large enterprise projects, supporting clients so they understand the, your environment that are robust and how to operate within that.

, what needs to be done, but [: 00:21:00

Kevin Walters: First of all, they can call me and I'll help them. But really Understand where you are in the journey. So understand the maturity of your organization. And I think that's the hardest part for a lot of companies to understand. The first thing I do when I encounter a client or customer or look at a company, I don't have to speak with them.

I can look through the lens of their website. I look at their collateral, look at their brochures. I look how they show up. In the industry and who represents them and what they have, and then I could, speak to him intelligently about, Hey, let's talk about, your plan, like where you are, your vision, your purpose.

of ERGs or people within the [: 00:22:00

So I think it's really doing a self assessment and the audit and seeing like. Creep walk, run right and seeing exactly where you are and focusing on those specific years and having some metrics and goals aligned with that and holding people accountable within your organization to make sure they're fulfilled.

Dr. Jim: Last couple of things before we wrap up where can people find you?

Kevin Walters: You can find me primarily on LinkedIn. I do a lot of communication through my LinkedIn account. I have several newsletters and newsletters that are published directly for CEOs, giving tips, best practices, and free information articles that I circulate that I've, I'm constantly the funnel for this information and going out and absorbing and, providing that information to executive leadership.

to that newsletter. And then [: 00:23:00

Dr. Jim: And for those who are listening, who happen to be in the Vegas area, that's that's where Kevin is. So make sure you hit them up if you're out that way to continue the conversation. So Kevin appreciate you hanging out with us and sharing your insights. I think when I. Think back on this conversation.

There's a couple of things that stand out to me as best practices. One is the point that you made early on in the conversation that for leaders to be effective, they have to start with themselves first and recognize and own their own biases. That's actually, what's going to put you in a position to meet.

I think that's an important [: 00:24:00

And some of your comfort is rooted in bias. So you have to be aware of that and make sure you're intentional about eliminating that from your talent attraction and hiring process and be more outcomes focused versus attributes focus. So really great stuff, Kevin, appreciate you hanging out for those of you who have listened to this episode, make sure you leave us a rating and then tune in next time where we'll bring on another great leader sharing with us the game changing insights that they had, which helped them build high performing teams,