“Diversity is being invited to the party; Inclusion is being asked to dance.”
– Verna Myers
*Today’s post is provided by guest blogger, Jenny, from our Campus Recruiting Team*
Our Employee Network Groups (ENGs) are one of the many reasons that Protiviti is such a great place to work. This past month, this fact rang even more true as the New York office deemed the month of May to be Diversity & Inclusion month!
The theme of our month was “Share Your Story,” which celebrated the fact that each of us has a different experience and story to contribute to our company, to our clients, and to each other. It is the breadth of these experiences and how they all work together that make our organization succeed. We created a “Share Your Story” wall that allowed everyone in the office to post fun facts like where they are from and the places they have traveled to, their favorite foods, and the things they do each day to promote an inclusive workplace. We also held a series of office events to celebrate diversity and inclusion and featured weekly employee spotlights to share unique stories.
Each of our ENGs, which includes our Experienced Hire Network, Veterans ENG, Parents’ Network, iGROWW, Multicultural ENG, and proPRIDE, all partnered together to put on a variety events that highlighted Protiviti’s commitment to creating a great place to work for all. We kicked off the month with a celebration of Cinco de Mayo and an introduction to unconscious bias. From there we celebrated Mother’s Day by hearing from a panel of working parents who shared their stories on integrating work, family, and the benefits that help them do so! Additionally, we took part in the New York office’s annual i on Hunger event, where 350 Protiviti employees and clients packed over 130,000 meals to donate locally to those in need. We participated in the AIDs Walk and JP Morgan Corporate Challenge. Many of our New York employees showed off their culinary talents at the annual office potluck and played Scattergories with a cultural twist!
As if all of that wasn’t enough, our Executive Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, Susan Haseley, came up from Dallas to close out D&I month with a Meet and Greet where we had a chance to talk to Susan about each of our stories. Across all of the events that took place in May, we had over 400 people participate!
Aside from the amazing participation in the planned events, we were also thrilled to get to hear from many of our employees and gain insight on what diversity and inclusion means to them. Here are just a few of our favorite responses:
“Our differences are the things that make us learn and grow. Protiviti is an open and supportive place. It encourages us to be ourselves and to contribute uniquely in our client work and to all our colleagues.”
– Avi K, Manager, Risk and Compliance
“Having a working environment that is inclusive allows us to soar. Everyone has a unique perspective and being inclusive of many different people allows the team to hear and see things from various perspectives. I have found that being inclusive has only made my teams stronger and better.”
–Chana R., Manager, Internal Audit and Financial Advisory
“Through participating in the D&I activities, we aim to make people aware of their own ‘unconscious bias’ and make moves towards ‘conscious inclusion’. It was through D&I efforts that I found comfort and confidence in being the different one and the one asking the difficult questions. Ever since, I’ve been involved in people initiatives and D&I initiatives. People are my passion and any way I can help one person or an office full of people feel included is a good day!”
–Cassie V., Manager, Technology Consulting
“I believe that being authentic and sharing our whole selves with teammates allows for stronger team collaboration through greater knowledge of individual internal motivators, strengths, areas of development, and personal connection. I think changing the internal dialogue to focus on how you can support a team environment and dynamics can help overcome confidence challenges.”
–Amy C., Senior Manager, Risk and Compliance
Overall, we had a really amazing month and enjoyed being able to celebrate our individuality and diversity with one another. We look forward to continuing to promote inclusivity as a company throughout the remainder of 2018 and beyond!
–Jenny
