Back to General Resources

House Financial Services Subcommittee Hearing on Inclusion

House Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion

“Promoting Inclusion: Examining the Need for Diversity Practices for America’s Changing Workforce”

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Key Topics & Takeaways

  • Hiring Practices: Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) asked the witnesses to describe successful hiring practices that help limit unconscious bias. Patricia Mota, Hispanic Alliance for Career Advancement, explained that it is important to ensure there is diversity on selection committees, adding that organizations with successful diversity practices have diverse hiring teams representative of country of origin, gender, industry background and career pathways.
  • Retention: Asked how companies can retain diverse talent, Dr. Laura Sherbin, Culture@Work, said that diversity mandates ensure that people are “in the chair,” but not that their voice is heard, they are valued and are able to contribute. She said inclusion is necessary for companies to benefit from a diverse workforce, which ensures they remain at a company and advance. Ruchika Tulshyan, Diversity and Inclusion Strategist and Author, added that equity is central.
  • Recommendations: Rod Graves, Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation, said a commitment from leadership is essential to successful diversity initiatives, adding that diversity must be intentional. Sherbin noted the importance of measuring the leading indicators of diversity and inclusion, creating transparency, and placing a high value on accountability. Mota stressed the importance of being aware of individual biases in order to combat them.

Witnesses

Opening Statements

Chairwoman Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio)

In her opening statement, Beatty said diversity efforts cannot focus solely on recruitment but must also prioritize the retention of diverse talent, saying retention efforts are often neglected in favor of a focus on pipelines. She said women and people of color are “woefully underrepresented” in leadership positions and that leadership often underestimates the challenges diverse employees face in advancing. Beatty noted that a lack of women and people of color in leadership positions will reduce companies’ ability to capture new markets and yield greater financial returns, which will take a competitive toll on organizations. She said the committee must identify and discuss accountability metrics and strategic interventions to deliver real results.

Ranking Member Ann Wagner (R-Mo.)

In her opening statement, Wagner said that companies with a diverse workforce outperform their less diverse competitors. She noted that diversity and inclusion are separate issues that must be addressed, but part of the problem is often diversity and inclusion are “lumped together” and assumed to be the same thing. She said it is one thing to hire diverse talent, but inclusion is essential in order to reap the benefits and ensure retention. She noted the subcommittee will continue to examine best practices to foster inclusion including sponsorship, mentorship and resource groups.

Testimony

Bernard Guinyard, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Goodwin

In his testimony, Guinyard explained initiatives his company has undergone to improve their diversity and inclusion practices and promote diversity within the legal profession more broadly. He said companies need to work smarter and faster on their diversity goals, focusing on retention, advancement and leadership. He noted two “bold initiatives” Goodwin is participating in, the Mansfield Rule and the Move the Needle Fund. He explained that the Mansfield Rule requires the consideration of diverse slates for influential and leadership roles, adding that thanks to their participation in the program, most of their senior leadership committees are 35 percent diverse, calling this a significant achievement and proof of progress. He said the Move the Needle Fund brought five law firms together in a joint venture to collaborate, utilizing metric-based diversity goals. He noted that Goodwin also engages in practices such as bias disruption campaigns, inclusion training, sponsorship initiatives, and robust engagement by affinity groups. Guinyard stressed the important of setting bold goals, creating transparency and accountability, fueling innovation and enabling opportunities for collaboration.

Ruchika Tulshyan, Diversity and Inclusion Strategist and Author

In her testimony, Tulshyan focused on four key areas where women of color face barriers to retention and advancement at work, saying that although multiple studies show women are graduating college at higher rates than men, they remain “severely underrepresented” in leadership roles, adding that women face harmful stereotypes about their competence, leadership ability and behavior. Tulshyan said the first barrier for women in the workforce is the challenge of working motherhood, noting that the U.S. is the only developed country in the world without guaranteed paid maternity leave. She said that women do not just need mentors, they also need sponsors, saying it is essential for women to have leaders who are personally invested in their success who can offer top jobs and high visibility projects. Third, Tulshyan highlighted the importance of making “office housework” more equitable, noting that tasks like taking meeting notes, ordering lunch and mentoring interns disproportionately falls to women and people of color. Finally, Tulshyan said that leaders must address their own personal biases and actively champion equity, saying that leadership buy-in is essential to successful diversity and inclusion strategies.

Patricia Mota, President and CEO, Hispanic Alliance for Career Advancement

In her testimony, Mota said she works to positively impact the American workplace by fostering a pipeline of talent, working with employers to ensure they remain competitive by helping them attract, retain and develop Latino talent. She explained the Hispanic Alliance for Career Advancement does this through talent acquisition, program services, pipeline and leadership development, and thought leadership and branding services. She noted that Latinos are disproportionately underrepresented in highly compensated professional and leadership roles across corporate America, and employers must focus on the recruitment and retention of diverse talent in order to build a more inclusive workforce. She made a number of recommendations for improvement, including requiring bias inclusive diversity training, requiring a diverse slate of candidates for all positions, and supporting employee participation in affinity groups and leadership programs.

Rod Graves, Executive Director, Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation

In his testimony, Graves discussed his work with the Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation to champion diversity in the NFL through education and to provide members with resources to help them succeed. He said it is his vision to see diversity of leadership in every sports team, saying diversity is good for the game. He noted the Rooney Rule, which requires NFL teams in search of a head coach or general manager to interview multiple diverse candidates. He said the efforts behind rule have been extremely successful, resulting in a record number of diverse head coaches and general managers as well as a strong pipeline. He said sustained success requires a commitment by those making the decisions.

Dr. Laura Sherbin, Managing Director of Culture@Work 

In her testimony, Sherbin said she believes it is a core responsibility of leading companies and the government to ensure that one of the nation’s greatest assets, its talent pool, is fully engaged to its greatest potential. She noted that although financial services companies were among the first to embrace the cultivation of greater gender diversity and women are achieving degrees in record numbers, there are no women running major financial services companies and fewer than one in five have C-suite roles. She explained that diversity-focused tactics do not work without an effort to create a truly inclusive culture that not only attracts women, but makes them feel valued and welcome. Sherbin said that the first critical factor to consider is the value proposition of the industry, saying that financial services careers are known for lucrative salaries and benefits packages in exchange for high demand careers and that these roles are often unsustainable for women with children or anyone with caregiving responsibilities. She said that women are considerably less likely than men to receive advice on how to advance and be invited to the “very critical tables,” and because networks are notoriously closed, women do not get critical opportunities to position themselves for success. She said achieving diversity and inclusion goals will require a commitment and modeling from leaders, saying leaders need to be visible in their participation in diversity goals. She also stressed the importance of measuring what matters and focusing on accountability, conducting regular pay equity audits and ensuring that employees are being paid fairly for equal work.

Question & Answer

Hiring Practices

Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) asked the witnesses to describe successful hiring practices that help limit unconscious bias. Mota explained that it is important to ensure there is diversity on selection committees, adding that organizations with successful diversity practices have diverse hiring teams representative of country of origin, gender, industry background and career pathways. She added that it is important for hiring committees to undergo implicit bias training before they engage in the hiring process.

Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.) asked about historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), calling them a “critical pipeline” for diverse talent. Guinyard said that his firm is focused on exploring additional law schools, including HBCUs, that tend to be overlooked in order to expand their pool of diverse job applicants.

Retention

Wagner asked how companies can retain diverse talent. Sherbin said that diversity mandates ensure that people are “in the chair,” but not that their voice is heard, they are valued and are able to contribute. She said inclusion is necessary for companies to benefit from a diverse workforce, which ensures they remain at a company and advance. Tulshyan added that equity is central.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) asked about accommodations for working mothers to help them succeed in the workforce. Sherbin explained that flexible work arrangements must be “one size fits one,” not one size fits all. She continued that another “critical success factor” is that flexible work arrangements should not be positioned as accommodations for working moms, as this reinforces the stereotype that moms cannot work as hard as their counterparts. Sherbin said that when flexibility is positioned as a way for everyone at a company to work more efficiently and effectively, it benefits not just moms, but everyone at a company.

Dean asked about best practices for recruiting and retaining employees with disabilities. Sherbin said that there any many people with disabilities in the workforce with so-called “invisible disabilities” that do not feel comfortable asking for the accommodations they need to be successful. She said that companies should proactively ask about and address accommodations in a respectful way in order to make strides in this area.

Mentorship

Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.) asked about the importance of mentorship and networking. Sherbin explained that mentoring, networking, and sponsorship is essential, and that leaders must be invested in the success of more junior colleagues. She said that many companies have made great strides in this area and that training and education of both potential sponsors and proteges helps cultivate these relationships.

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) asked Mota about her work connecting diverse talent and leadership and skill development programs. Mota said that many of the individuals her organization works with are the first generation in their families to earn college degrees and enter the professional workforce. She explained that she helps them develop strong multigenerational support networks they may not otherwise have access to so they can seek support and advice and catapult their careers.

Unconscious Bias

Reps. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Al Green (D-Texas) and Adams asked questions about bias. Tulshyan said shedding bias requires education and personal awareness building. She said many leaders operate with good intentions but must examine how their actions are driven by bias in order to affect change. Graves noted that there must be more diverse people in the rooms where decisions are made in order to change the approach to diversity and inclusion. Sherbin pointed out that a good area for future research would be to examine and address the challenges the “frozen middle” managers face when trying to champion diversity.

Rooney Rule

Kustoff, Gonzalez and Gottheimer asked various questions about the effectiveness of the Rooney Rule. Graves said this work is evolutionary, saying that prior to the Rule’s implementation there were six ethnically diverse head coaches in the NFL compared to the 19 that have served since. He said that a number of improvements have been made to the Rule since its implementation, including recordkeeping requests, an increase in the requirement from one diverse candidate to multiple, and a requirement for the ultimate decisionmakers to be involved in the entire hiring process rather than at intermittent points.

Recommendations

Beatty asked the witnesses for their recommendations on actions the committee and companies can take to improve diversity and inclusion outcomes. Graves said a commitment from leadership is essential to successful diversity initiatives, adding that diversity must be intentional. Sherbin noted the importance of measuring the leading indicators of diversity and inclusion, creating transparency, and placing a high value on accountability. Mota stressed the importance of being aware of individual biases in order to combat them.

For more information on this hearing, please click here.