So what can you do to advance DEI in your organization? The following are three proven strategies.
1. Attract and Keep Diverse Talent
There is a mountain of research that shows the extreme lack of diverse talent in leadership positions. Here are a few concerning stats. Only 8% of American CEOs are women. In the Fortune 500, there are less than a handful of black CEOs.
Changing these facts will require astute DEI recruitment and retention practices.
An essential early step is eliminating any bias in job descriptions. If your internal recruitment team doesn’t have the time or capacity to do this kind of work, enlist an external search firm. At TRANSEARCH, we offer talent scouting solutions that enable us to build a more diverse slate of candidates. For instance, if a business aimed to hire a woman of color for an executive position in the financial services industry, we have the resources to scout possible candidates from a global talent pool.
Bridget Papanicholas
As head of the project delivery team, Bridget Papanicholas leads a team of senior recruiters and researchers as she oversees all the TRANSEARCH Chicago searches. She partners directly with executives to provide terrific insight on candidates and outstanding service during the interview and on-boarding process. Her passion for process and consistency has been instrumental in streamlining and improving our search process and project timelines. Executing projects throughout North America and beyond, Bridget has managed projects at the CXO, President, Managing Director, Vice President, and Director, levels. Bridget has done much of her work in the following sectors: Engineering (civil and electrical), Construction, Finance, Renewable Energy (manufacturing and development), Real Estate, Non-Profit, and Health Care. Bridget attended John Carroll University.
John Ryan
John is Global Practice Leader for Power, Renewable Energy and Cleantech and US Regional Vice President for TRANSEARCH International. With a career that began in 1989, John has worked with over 250 public and private companies. He has led numerous C-suite, Vice President and director level searches across North America for public and privately held companies. He has also worked closely with private equity firms, supporting them with critical portfolio company needs. He has also provided executive coaching and leadership assessment services. John holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics from the University of Chicago. He speaks Japanese and conversational German. Although he grew up in Boston, he and his family call Chicago home.
