Worcester Business Journal

Dedicating to diversity Large Central Mass. employers are prioritizing enhanced diversity & inclusion positions to address workplace inequality C entral Massachusetts businesses, against the backdrop of the growing Black Lives Matter movement, are placing renewed focus on diversity & inclusion in their organizations. Worcester Business Journal surveyed the top 30 largest employers in Central Massachusetts in July and, of those who responded, all but two either had an administrative position dedicated to diversity within the company or were in the process of creating one. "What's different in the George Floyd moment is that it has woken up a lot of people," said Amit Taneja, associate provost for diversity, equity and inclusion at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. Black and Latino populations are underrepresent- ed at every career level above the support staff level in comparison to the total population throughout the country, according to a 2020 report international human resources consulting firm Mercer Global, which has an office in Boston. Black employees make up 12% of support staff positions, but only 2% of executive level positions, according to Mercer. at lack of representation can create situations where employees of color are marginalized, Taneja said. "We live in a very divided society and what that means is that the environment is ripe for intentional, and but more oen unintentional, microaggressions, microslights, and miscommunication that further mar- ginalizes people that were already historically marginal- ized," he said. In order to change that environment and reality of such low representation among leadership to create equality within organizations and businesses, having administration positions dedicated to diversity & inclu- sion are vital, said Stacey Luster, assistant vice president for human resources, payroll, and affirmative action and equal opportunity at Worcester State University. "Every organization should invest in a chief diversity officer type of position in order to demonstrate their commitment to diversity as well as to ensure organiza- tional expertise relating to diversity hiring and reten- tion and to maintain an organizational climate which embraces inclusion and anti-racism," Luster said. Worcester State is focusing on increasing minority representation throughout its faculty. "e primary emphasis originally, and it continues to be a significant emphasis, is diversity hiring," said Luster. BY DEVINA BHALLA Worcester Business Journal Editorial Intern 10 Worcester Business Journal | August 3, 2020 | wbjournal.com Amit Taneja, associate provost for diversity, equity & inclusion at College of the Holy Cross Stacey Luster, Worcester State University assistant vice president for human resources, payroll, and affirmative action and equal opportunity PHOTO/EDD COTE

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