Operating in a socially responsible way strengthens an organization’s brand reputation. Job seekers and consumers today want to support organizations that stand for something important and that are making positive impacts on society at large. Investors are putting more emphasis on sustainable development goals with a significant increase of focus on social impact. Human rights and environmental regulations are increasing rapidly. All of this demands a more sustainable approach from CEOs and business leaders.

People, Planet, and Prosperity

When you hear the word sustainability, the first thing you may think of is recycling or environmental sustainability, but sustainability is about so much more than eliminating single-use water bottles and reducing fossil fuel consumption. A holistic approach to sustainability incorporates social, environmental, and economic sustainability – or people, planet, and prosperity.

Organizations are increasingly recognizing the need to be as focused on social, or people, sustainability as they have been on economic and environmental sustainability – all three together support and drive business sustainability. People make up society, impact the environment, and power the economy. People are at the heart of any strategy to make progress on sustainability goals. In today’s workplace, HR has both the opportunity and responsibility to ensure that people are at the center of work by creating an environment in which the workforce, and the organization, can thrive.

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Defining People Sustainability

People sustainability focuses on treating people – those within an organization’s workforce, across their supply chains, and in the communities in which they operate – ethically and fairly.

Just as environmental and economic sustainability require careful preservation and use of natural and financial resources, people sustainability requires treating people and human potential as precious resources that must be supported and valued to drive resilience, agility, and achievement of sustainability goals.

Companies that prioritize people sustainability, by creating social impact and building a more diverse and inclusive culture, are able to boost employee engagement and productivity. They’re also better positioned to attract and retain talent. Penny Stoker, global talent leader at EY, unpacks how .

Unpacking the Six People Sustainability Pillars

The 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors HR Research team has identified six distinct areas, or pillars, that comprise people sustainability. Although the areas are distinct, it is also clear that there is overlap between these pillars. At the center of them all, of course, is culture – as it drives so much behavior both within and outside an organization. Let’s unpack these areas a bit in the context of HR and people processes.

Health and Safety
At a minimum, you need to ensure the workforce is safe from physical health and safety hazards and has access to basic necessities. Does your onboarding process provide new hires with appropriate safety training and equipment from day one? Do you have visibility into your total workforce, including their locations? Knowing who and where your workforce is at all times allows you to react quickly in times of crisis and provide support where needed.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Here the focus is on treating each individual, regardless of social identity group or belief system, fairly and equitably and ensuring they feel a sense of true belonging. Are you able to attract and engage job seekers from diverse backgrounds? Do you have a standardized selection and interview process? Do you provide pay transparency? Are you measuring and tracking diversity, equity, and inclusion goals?

Well-Being and Balance
Beyond basic health and safety, this area focuses on ensuring employees’ holistic well-being – psychological, social, financial, and career – is prioritized and supported with the necessary tools and resources. Do you offer a comprehensive benefits package with compelling options? Do your employees feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work? Have you fostered a culture of continuous dialogue between managers and their reports?

Trust and Transparency
The focus here is on employees having a voice, understanding how key decisions impacting them are made, and trusting their organization to act in ethical ways. Do you regularly listen to your employees and act on the feedback they provide? Have you established policies and processes for the ethical use of intelligent technologies and data privacy and protection? Do you publicly publish diversity metrics?

Empowerment and Growth
Here employees are provided the clarity, support, and tools needed to grow their skills and are empowered to influence their career trajectory. Are you offering inclusive learning options to meet the needs and learning preferences of a diverse workforce? Do you ensure managers provide equitable and actionable feedback to their teams? Are you providing equitable access to development opportunities?

Organizational Purpose and CSR
In this final pillar, the organization is actively working towards giving back and making a positive impact on the world; employees are encouraged to participate and feel energized by the organization’s mission and values. Do you ensure individual goals are aligned to company objectives to increase sense of purpose and meaning in work? Are you providing your workforce the space to pursue their passions?

What Can Organizations Do to Drive People Sustainability?

In most organizations today, different parts of the business lead these efforts with minimal awareness of or collaboration with each other’s strategies. However, we have to start somewhere. The most logical first step is to understand where you are today. Do you have a unified strategy – at least across some of these pillars? Start the conversations and begin to break down organizational silos.

Prioritize people, and planet and prosperity will follow. This is what it means to be a resilient, results-driven, and people-first organization. One that’s not only equipped to meet the business needs of today, but one that adapts to the business needs of tomorrow.

To learn more, watch a replay of the SuccessConnect keynote, .

Kim Lessley is global director of Solution Marketing at 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors.

This reflective mindset sweeping across every business is driving a diversity of thought that’s shaping the future, widening perspectives, and providing tools to change work for good. And it’s important for every person ‒ regardless of age, role, status, and experience ‒ to be engaged in this global conversation.

The new series ofĚýForward LiveĚýis one of those opportunities for unfiltered and relatable discussions with forward-thinking industry leaders. With a perfect blend of self-discovery and curiosity and a dash of entertaining fun and humor, the 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors video series will uncover how the best possible human experiences at work are created.

Looking Ahead for What’s Next

Each episode ofĚýForward Live will include live and thought-provoking interviews with some of today’s most interesting personalities and brightest thinkers. Viewers will also be treated to panel discussions with 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors customers that are changing the business world in positive and monumental ways, as well as a range of entertaining games and audience engagement.

Explore how to build a more inclusive culture at work in the , hosted by New York Times best-selling author and Emmy-nominated storyteller Baratunde Thurston. Thurston brings his unique blend of humor, wisdom, and compassion to lead the conversation around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI&B).

Thurston will be joined on stage by a panel of leaders featuring NBA Chief People and Inclusion Officer, Oris Stuart; Paramount Senior Vice President of Global Inclusion Strategy, Jason Williams; Tapestry Global HR Officer, Sarah Dunn; and 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors President, Jill Popelka. Together they will explore the topic of DEI&B in the workplace, including challenges they are facing in their respective industries and inspiring approaches they are taking to create inclusive cultures where their employees and customers feel like they belong. The timing of this conversation couldn’t be better now that organizations are devoting over toward resolving people biases compared to process biases.

The series will continue throughout the rest of the year with more inspiring guests and important conversations. Future episodes will tackle topics such as the importance of learning and upskilling for a sustainable workforce, new ways of working and building an inclusive culture and the different skills needed to support them, and how businesses can redefine work in ways that support the whole employee, from personal life and professional ambitions to the need for purpose.

51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors is proud to present this second series of Forward Live. Just like you, we’re inspired to turn work into an extension of every person’s purpose and create a world of conscientious workforces always supported, motivated, and skilled to take on every challenge that comes their way. And we are grateful to our Forward Live thought-leadership partners and 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors customers for sharing the advice, strategies, and stories that will help change work for good.

Catch every episode of the 51ˇçÁ÷original series Forward atĚý.

Kim Lessley is global director of Solution Marketing for 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors.

Employees place a high value on a positive, engaging work experience. To attract and retain the best talent, diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy and tactics should be embedded throughout the entire HR life cycle, from recruiting and onboarding, extending through each individual’s time at the organization.

Fostering a diverse workplace is not only good for workers, but smart business as well. According to , companies that reported above-average diversity on their management teams also reported innovation revenue that was 19 percentage points higher – 45% of total revenue, compared to just 26% – than companies with below-average leadership diversity.

Enabling a Business Beyond Bias

To put diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts into high gear, forward-looking HR teams have deployed . 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors solutions offer the tools to help discover and minimize unconscious bias, so HR can make better decisions about the workforce. These solutions can provide a powerful way to embed inclusion and diversity deep into the organization’s people processes. But to make the most of 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors solutions, it’s critical that the solution capabilities are fully in sync with the overall HR vision.

The diversity, inclusion, and equity review service for 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors HXM Suite was designed to help a business realize the full value of its investment. It’s a modular service that helps discover and assess ways to mitigate bias using HR tools. More importantly, it can give specific recommendations on how to tailor them to leading diversity and inclusion practices, so the business can minimize risk – and maximize inclusion.

Putting Strategy and Technology into Lockstep

Like the solutions it supports, this service spans the entire HR life cycle. Here are just a few examples:

Talent Acquisition

The first touchpoint with potential hires is often a career site, so you want to make sure you are showcasing your organization in the best possible way, including your commitment to diversity and inclusion. 51ˇçÁ÷consultants can review your career site, checking to be sure you’re including pages that highlight anti-discrimination and diversity. We can also assist in checking job descriptions and competencies for potentially biased language that may discourage some job seekers from applying and making sure that the job analyzer feature in 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors is turned on and working correctly.

People Analytics

To make progress in diversity and inclusion, it’s important that your HR team fully understands the makeup of your organization. 51ˇçÁ÷consulting professionals can check the configuration of 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors solutions to help ensure that the fields are in place to collect the data HR needs for demographic reports – and that the data is presented accurately. We can also work with you to help make sure you have the best tools in place to analyze and understand the strengths or gaps in your organization.

Onboarding and Beyond

Once you’ve successfully filled a position, the next step is to make sure your new hire enjoys the best possible onboarding experience. Onboarding is key to socializing an employee to your organization’s culture and values and the relationships needed to succeed. You want to make them feel like they belong – and empower them to thrive in their job right away.

The diversity, inclusion, and equity review service for 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors HXM Suite can examine how you’re using onboarding tools and communications, including checking for , religious preferences, and more, to help new people feel comfortable and valued.

51ˇçÁ÷consultants can support you in removing unconscious bias from processes like performance feedback, development and promotion decisions, and other milestones in the HR life cycle to help ensure your workforce has equitable access to opportunities to develop and grow in your organization.

Powering Real-World Outcomes

What happens when HR strategy, technology, and processes are fully aligned and moving toward a common goal? 51ˇçÁ÷customers around the world have realized some compelling business outcomes while showcasing diversity, equity, and inclusion.

For example, , a major industrial manufacturer, uses 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors solutions to help achieve its mission of hiring more diverse employees while simplifying and streamlining HR-related activities and increasing engagement.

By tracking succession information and making it accessible in real time, Terex can identify more women – and other underrepresented talent – for training, development, and promotion. Today, women make up 16.5% of leadership, with a goal of 21.5% by 2023.

Another customer, international food giant the , was looking to strengthen a culture of open communication that increases engagement, boosts motivation, and encourages its employees to shine. The 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors Performance & Goals solution helps the company motivate employees to perform at their best and foster continuous dialogue that promotes empathy and inclusion.

“51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors solutions enabled us to establish an open culture that feeds our employees’ ambitions and supports their development – and ultimately drives our success,” said Bill Parker, VP of HR and Corporate Communications at Hero Group.

These are just a few examples of what’s possible when you bring together the right tools and strategy to achieve your diversity and inclusion goals.

Kim Lessley is global director of Solution MarketingĚýDiversity & Inclusion at 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors.

From corporations to educational institutions, leaders are exploring how their organizations can strengthen their DEI efforts. Ruettimann recently led a SAPPHIRE NOW panel discussion that reinforced how DEI must go hand in hand with business strategy to achieve real results.

The pressure is on. Both consumers and employees expect organizations to take action and demonstrate tangible impact. Fortunately, tracking and supporting DEI efforts is actually possible today through HR technologies that pinpoint bias in processes and provide data-driven insights that demonstrate progress.

Here are the top four tips for leaders to build an inclusive culture:

Capitalize on Increased Awareness to Enlist Executive Support

One of the positive developments from increased interest in DEI efforts is that they’re no longer priorities solely for the CHRO to address. DEI is – and should be – on the CEO’s agenda, according to April Crichlow, global head of Marketing for 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors.

To enlist executive support, HR leaders should highlight data that shows where organizations can invest in greater efforts to strengthen DEI. With data that provides a single source of truth, HR leaders can make sure chief executives and the entire C-suite have visibility and ownership into progress and areas for improvement.

Influence Key Decisions Across the Employee Life Cycle to Prevent, Detect, and Eliminate Bias

Unconscious bias can hamper the most earnest efforts to promote DEI within an organization. 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors solutions provide decision-makers with tools to help identify and reduce unconscious bias where it occurs, in every part of the employee life cycle.

But where to start? Lauren Bidwell, senior research scientist in HR Research for 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors, suggested recruiting as the ideal entry point. That’s where HR leaders can dedicate their efforts, since recruiting from underrepresented groups and checking for unconscious bias can broaden the talent pool.

She pointed out that one of the drivers for ensuring a diverse talent pool can happen as early as the job description. Tools, like the 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors portfolio, can help recruiters create more effective and fairer job descriptions. Companies can also turn to technology to write skill competencies without conditions that tend to dissuade candidates from applying. The job analyzer feature can assess if the description introduces gender biases, for example, through a language checker, then suggests wording changes.

Activate Best Practices and Enable Current Capabilities within Your Human Experience Management (HXM) Software

Companies should make the most of available tools to tackle the complex, often unconscious challenges to improving DEI. For example, Crichlow said more companies should be thinking about equitably rewarding employees by reducing the pay gap across the demographics of a workforce.

Photo-less calibration tools help HR leaders remove unintended bias and provide a comprehensive view of the workforce to distribute fair and equitable rewards.

In addition, with data showing the , more companies should be elevating programs that support a diverse leadership pipeline, said Crichlow. Intelligent mentoring capabilities can eliminate the pain points of a mentorship program by automating key parts of the process. These tools can provide employees with smart recommendations on people they should connect with for an effective match.

Monitor, Report, and Celebrate Progress – and Continue to Innovate

It’s important to celebrate progress, whether it’s doing a better job of retaining a diverse workforce or receiving positive employee feedback about inclusion efforts.

Some executives will say they’ve tried for years to improve DEI in their organizations without progress, despite the best of intentions, said Bidwell. She added that it’s important to remember that culture change is key to growth, but it doesn’t happen overnight.

Instead of expecting one change to “fix” DEI, she said, leaders should approach their efforts on a continuous basis. “Experiment and test,” she said, adding that leaders should share their best practices.

However, organizations could meet every single target they’ve set from a numbers perspective and still fail. If your people don’t feel like they belong, the data doesn’t matter. That’s critical; a strong sense of connection and belonging at work is tied to increases of up to 34% in engagement, 31% in retention likelihood, and 13% in performance, according to the Thrive XM Index.

Employees will feel their best when they can be their authentic selves. It’s on employers to make sure they’re equipped to support a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

To learn more, check out or watch the .

Kim Lessley is director of Solution Marketing at 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors.

Overnight, business leaders found themselves responsible for managing fully remote workforces and employees had to maintain productivity in less-than-ideal working conditions at home or at other remote locations.

As the pandemic continues to impact how and where people work, many employees have grown used to working from home, but several challenges remain.

Adjusting to the New World of Working

In a global , close to 66% of people reported higher stress levels since the outbreak began. In addition, remote workers are 30% more likely to say their mental health has declined, compared to those still employed in any other setting.

In a recent episode of Think Tank radio, “,” HR experts from Deloitte and 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors discussed the work-from-home employee experience and the rise of two key trends among remote workforces: an ongoing struggle to adjust and a desire for more training.

Jonathan Pearce, a consulting principal who leads Deloitte’s Workforce Strategy practice, says the way remote employees feel about working from home has changed as the impacts of the pandemic continue to be felt.

“It started with, ‘This is very difficult.’ It was an adjustment period. [Then] we got into the summer and it was, ‘Virtual work is great. It’s fantastic!’ Eighty percent of workers didn’t want to go back full-time into the office, no matter what happened with the pandemic. [When] we got to the fall, I don’t know if it was people thinking about kids going back to school or it was dragging on too long, but all of a sudden it was, ‘Virtual work is terrible. It’s too stressful.’ Preferences have been shifting around a lot,” Pearce explains.

The fluctuating response to the new world of work isn’t surprising to , the EMEA North marketing lead at SAP. “This pandemic has completely transformed the employee experience,” he says.

Many work-from-home employees have been catapulted onto a steep learning curve when it comes to technology. Some may have stumbled through the process without the necessary supports in place from management or IT, perhaps using new – and possibly less secure technology – just to get the job done. In fact, the is that 59% of employees felt more cyber secure when they were working in an office compared to at home.

The drastic technology transition has left many work-from-home employees wanting more – not just from their organizations, but from themselves – and that has ignited a desire to learn new skills.

“Employees are very eager to reskill,” Niklev observes. “We recently surveyed over 1,500 full-time employees around the world, and three-quarters of them are more motivated to improve their technical and professional skills as a result of COVID-19.”

The New World of Working Demands New Skills

The shows that business leaders also recognize the need to upskill their workforce. Deloitte surveyed nearly 9,000 business and HR leaders in 119 countries, and approximately 53% of respondents said that between half and all their workforce will need to change their skills and capabilities in the next three years.

It’s a massive undertaking that many agree is critical, but preparation is lacking. In fact, according to , 74% of organizations say reskilling the workforce is important or very important for their success over the next 12 to 18 months, but only 10% say they are very ready to address this trend.

Trying to Manage the Skills Shortage

The Deloitte report shows that businesses are indeed struggling to navigate the fast-changing skills landscape, and the panelists tend to agree.

“Companies need a lot more education on how they need to handle this new world of working,” according to Niklev. “In some cases, training programs are actually being overlooked at a time where they have never been more critical, despite employee motivation to reskill.”

Learning adjustments are to be expected, according to , principal scientist on the 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors HR Research team. She says many corporate training leaders had to instantly switch focus as the pandemic spread.

“Of course, they were putting out fires initially. All those in-person learnings needed to go remote and, admittedly, a lot of learning budgets got slashed – the discretionary, development programs – and [they] focused more on compliance-based needs when it came to learning because policies were changing or things along those lines. So, I can see the downside of that going forward as it relates to trying to shift to online learning.”

Niklev sees some downsides as well and believes virtual learning is not the best approach. With so much time spent online these days, he says employees need a more personal approach.

“Organizations need to look beyond just online courses,” Niklev points out. “They need to pair employees. They need to set up coaching and mentoring. And, really, that needs to become a key part of upskilling and reskilling.”

Being “Always On” Turns Employees Off

The always-connected corporate culture is an obstacle for learning and other areas, such as innovation and onboarding new employees.

Niklev continues, “With digital programs, there is also the lack of social interactions with colleagues. That can pose a big challenge for new joiners to feel comfortable to ask questions to their colleagues. That is something that is very much facilitated in an office environment with on-the-fly learning.”

Pearce echoes Niklev’s concerns, saying that opportunities for innovation are also lost simply because employees can’t interact with people from other areas of the business.

“What has happened is a sort of concentration of those interactions amongst teams around work outputs – very much a sort of productivity push,” says Pearce, “But what’s been lost is the broader networks across the enterprise that actually sometimes do spur the innovation.”

Technology doesn’t simply alter the social and innovative aspects of work. According to Dr. Krauss, it can also alter the corporate culture and present a psychological paradox.

“It’s a cultural issue; it’s not a technology issue,” explains Krauss. “We have three psychological needs at work that technology can serve for us. It can make us be more autonomous, which is a good thing. It can make us be more productive; again, a good thing. And it can increase social connectivity if employed in certain ways. The paradox is that even though it can create all those things, it also can hinder those exact things, too: make us feel less autonomous, less productive, and less connected. ĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýThe real challenge for organizations is to figure out how to create those conditions where work technology facilitates those psychological needs rather than hinders them.”

The Silver Lining: Building a New Future of Work, Together

While there is an expectation that organizations should do more to address technology training and other skill shortages in the workforce, employees seem to understand that they play an important role with their willingness to upskill.

The Deloitte survey of global business and HR leaders revealed that both businesses and individuals need to take responsibility for workforce development. When respondents were asked to select the top two entities that should be primarily responsible for workforce development, organizations topped the list at 73%, followed by individuals at 54%. Educational institutions were a distant third at only 19%.

According to the , “What is needed is a worker development approach that considers both the dynamic nature of jobs and the equally dynamic potential of people to reinvent themselves.”

Participants in the agree that reskilling today’s remote workforce is a shared responsibility.

“I see a great upside, as I see the democratization of learning and development,” says Krauss. “What we know about good leadership, good culture, and what employees want from their experience, we just have to apply that going forward. These concepts have been around. They’ve just increased in intensity.”

Pearce adds, “We have to forget some of the things that have become the habits of how we work, the habits of how we build culture, and the habits of how we lead. We have to learn new ways of working. That’s going to be a challenge for organizations and for each of us as leaders and team members.”

Pearce goes on to say, “I think what we’re seeing now is some really creative thinking about not just how we react but how we can build a new future of work in terms of the way work gets done, where we get it done, how we get it done, who works together, and how we collaborate. I think that’s really exciting and a new frontier. If anything, it’s the silver lining of what’s been a very difficult year.”

Niklev sees a silver lining to the struggles as well, saying, “People actually have enjoyed some of the benefits of working from home and it has been identified as a talent magnet for the future, so I think we would never go back to a world where you can’t work from home at all. I think the future is here, and I think it’s here to stay.”

Ready to learn more? Listen to the “” radio show to hear the full discussion or visit our dedicated page for .

Kim Lessley is global director of Solution Marketing at SAP.

They know the benefits: Research has repeatedly shown that diverse companies have more effective teams and are more likely to out-earn their industry peers, according to . But many leaders acknowledge there has not been enough progress when it comes to having a truly representative workforce and eliminating implicit or explicit biases.

The issue is not a problem with the talent pipeline since there is more diversity in college graduates than ever before, for example. It’s a process problem, shared Judith Williams, chief diversity and inclusion officer of SAP, during a live-streamed leadership discussion, “.”

Williams explained that critical challenges lie in employee life-cycle processes that are riddled with bias, like recruitment, onboarding, development, retention, and succession. Unfortunately, the awareness of unconscious bias and training to mitigate it are not enough.

“We know that unconscious bias awareness training doesn’t affect behavior,” Williams said. Glaring racial economic inequalities are persistent in many facets of life, including the labor market. Managers, for example, often disproportionately offer development or career advancement opportunities to the “go-to” people on their teams. We overdevelop some talent and under-develop other talent, she acknowledged.

“This is a natural thing for us to do as managers,” Williams said. “We want to get the work done, and we want to have that person we can rely on.”

Technology – artificial intelligence (AI) in particular – can play a pivotal role in correcting bias and helping companies make better decisions when it comes to scenarios like these and throughout the entire employee life cycle.

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“An intelligent algorithm can remind us who haven’t we given an opportunity to, how can we encourage them, and how can we nurture them?” Williams said. “How can we mentor all the talent on our team and also think about technology helping us provide just-in-time training?”

Williams said she does not think technology is solely the answer, however. “We are people, and we are going to continue to work with people. But what technology can do is to help us work better with people.”

How Technology Can Support DE&I Efforts

Kamal Ahluwalia, president of , explained that AI can help support companies to hire, retain, and upskill a diverse workforce by using equal-opportunity algorithms that do not rely on sex, age, pedigree, or other factors that can trigger bias.

. To help mitigate bias, Eightfold’s deep learning technology uses billions of data points from more than 100 million talent profiles. Eightfold built a capability matrix that helps determine the jobs that people are capable of doing in the future. Eightfold’s technology, for example, can help by breaking down veterans’ resumes into skills and match them with skills needed by employers. Without AI, veterans’ job titles in the military may be insufficient to show employers their potential.

Eightfold’s talent intelligence platform can also flag or validate skills that are not explicitly stated in resumes, so recruiters can pay attention to otherwise ignored candidates and broaden the talent pool.

, a leading connectivity service provider, uses Eightfold’s language search capabilities so the organization can quickly assess candidates’ skills and projected career trajectories to meet ambitious hiring goals.

Companies Leading the Way

Organizations across sectors are transforming their processes with technology in pursuit of true DE&I. , a manufacturing company in Connecticut, for example, used social media and to deliver inclusive messaging for recruitment. The company also used to reduce internal hiring bias so it could do a better job at evaluating female and underrepresented candidates for managerial and director positions.

, an international food company in Switzerland, wanted to build a culture that is more attractive to diverse, young talent, including millennials. The company used to create continuous dialogue around performance, track performance, and provide feedback.Ěý The leaders at Hero Group realized that their passion for honest, authentic food and quality needed to be supported by a sustainable workforce that was diverse and younger.

According to Jill Popelka, president of 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors, while technologies can support diversity, managers can work on driving everyday inclusion by making sure they listen to all their team members’ voices.

SAP’s own company initiatives include its Autism at Work program, which focuses on hiring employees that are on the autism spectrum, embracing the abilities of all people, and making sure they feel included in the organization. Beginning in 2013, it was one of the first initiatives of its kind to place an intentional emphasis on hiring differently abled candidates. Through this and other programs, including one that supports the visually impaired, 51ˇçÁ÷has been able to support and incorporate more employees.

with a suite of solutions to recruit and retain diverse talent, including highlighting bias in decision-making and supporting an inclusive culture. Popelka also established a DE&I council to ask tough questions of the company’s culture and its human resources (HR) technology solutions. The council is working on initiatives for products across the entire employee life cycle and for underrepresented minorities.

Popelka noted how 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors solutions can be used to advance DE&I efforts in small and big ways. From a writing assistant that can detect bias in written communication to a calibration tool within 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors Compensation, these solutions can provide a more equitable and inclusive employee experience.

What’s Next?

Technology can make a major impact on DE&I in organizations, but Popelka and other leaders reemphasized that we need more than technology. Eightfold’s Ahluwalia said that more uncomfortable conversations need to take place. He believes tying executive pay to progress in diversity efforts, or lack thereof, would be an important consideration.

Leaders modeling behavior and accountability are key, which is why companies need to set targets and track progress with transparency. Customers are watching, and they are demanding that companies make tangible progress to bring true DE&I to more workplaces.

Watch the replay of the webinar, “,” and learn more about how the 51ˇçÁ÷ecosystem of solutions and partner apps, like , can support a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Kim Lessley is the director of Solution Marketing for 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors.

Had the pandemic hit 10 or even five years ago, the response and recovery would look much different. Individuals and businesses have responded with remarkable resiliency providing hope for a better future.

Every organization, no matter its size or business model, has had to reexamine how it does business and keeps its workplaces safe. Ensuring hand sanitizer is readily available, surfaces are regularly disinfected, and layouts are configured so employees and customers can maintain proper social distancing are just the basics. Introducing touchless door systems for conference rooms, bathrooms, and even elevators; offering flexible work schedules; and making it possible for workers to pre-order meals from the cafeteria so they can really “grab and go” and not spend extra time waiting in lines are further examples of what companies are doing from an infrastructure point of view.

These changes impact the employee experience. Think of the experience of workers returning to their jobs on the factory floor or in the office. Will they be required to have their temperature checked daily? If so, how long will the wait be and will they end up lining up outside in unpleasant weather to do so? Or how are employees handling the added stress of so much change and uncertainty? They may be caring for a sick parent, trying to homeschool their children, or dealing with a partner whose income has been cut. On top of that, the interactions employees have with others that make work more enjoyable have changed or gone away. Lunch together at the cafeteria, an impromptu coffee meeting, or simple chitchat between office mates or workers on the production line are different post-pandemic.

For HR leaders, it is necessary to take all of these things into consideration to keep employees engaged and productive.

Luckily, technology has advanced to the point where it is possible, for the most part, to remain connected, productive, and healthy. Technology – apps in particular – are helping to adapt to living and working in a pandemic. Maybe it is an app to have a face-to-face virtual party with friends, a food delivery app to get meals delivered, a grocery store app to stock up on staples, or streaming services to access more shows, movies, and music.

Just like adapting to new lifestyle technology, employees are experiencing a change as well. Whether they’re working through crisis, working from home (while working through crisis), or working to reestablish momentum, employees need to be ready for anything. They must be ready to switch gears and, if necessary, switch roles. They must be ready for challenges at all levels and change from every direction.

51ˇçÁ÷can help put technology and tools to work and adapt HR to fit this current reality – all while putting pieces in place that can support when business is down and when it’s booming. The 51ˇçÁ÷partner ecosystem is comprised of innovators and disrupters that have accelerated and nurtured more than 250 partner apps in the human experience management (HXM) space focused on critical people topics, such as diversity and inclusion, mental health, well-being, skills development, purpose, recruiting, and more.ĚýThese partner solutions offer seamless integration into 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors solutions to leverage and expand the investment and to discover, try, and buy on . Quick implementation and fast time to value allows the agility to find solutions that work.

Examples of these incredible apps include solutions that:

• Give employees the power to instantly track and to dial down financial stress.
• Enable HR to quickly find, assess, and to fill gaps during a time of rapid re-skilling, filling roles in high demand, or with new opportunities.
• Offer employees for stress management, emotional support, and actionable guidance.
• Allow organizations to manage security risks to systems, facilities, areas, critical assets, and people with unified .

Explore the open ecosystem of partner apps to learn how these solutions can easily extend the 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors portfolio to help solve business challenges and delight employees.