Why this tech veteran doesn't want to be just 'on par' with industry diversity numbers

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Here's why this tech veteran doesn't want to be just 'on par' with industry diversity numbers. (via CNBCMakeIt)

Some of the biggest changes will come from hiring and building a more inclusive culture, she says: "You have to identify talent and have an employment value proposition such that talent from diverse backgrounds want to work with your organization. You have to have inclusive policies and a reputation that embraces difference."

But one initiative Williams will turn her focus to is SAP's Project Propel partnership, in which the company teaches its software to undergraduate and MBA students at historically black colleges and universities. The hope is that participating students can use these learned skills to start a career with the company or one of its enterprise partners after graduation.

"We measure everything," she says. "We measure employee engagement scores, leadership trust scores, the lines of code our software engineers produce. Everything we do in our business has a number attached to it — that's just how business works. If someone said to you, 'this quarter we're going to sell more,' you'd probably fire them, because that's not acceptable.

Williams's commitment to stating numbers-driven goals follows years working in the tech industry when, as recently as the early 2010s, she recalls her employers were resistant to share diversity numbers. But even after companies released employment reports and the public called for greater accountability, many organizations responded to calls for more diversity through what Williams calls a programmatic approach.

 

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