Hartford Business Journal

27 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | March 28, 2022 We are your expert in demolition and asbestos abatement services. Women Owned Small/ Minority Business Enterprise, certified with the State of CT "Department of Administrative Services. SBE/WBE in RI. Meeting the demand of women owned minority Business to fill the void in the construction industry. Contact Us Today! 860-519-0266 1000 Old County Circle #118 Windsor Locks , Ct 06096 FOCUS: DIVERSITY Staff Software Engineer position available with Hartford Fire Insurance Company located in Windsor, CT. Position will develop and solve complex coding challenges in Java and Gosu; and, work closely wirth client management to idlentify and specify the complex business requirements and processes for diverse development platforms, computing environments (,e.g., host based, distributed systems, client server), software, hardware, technologies and tools. 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"If you don't have a DEI environment in your workplace, you will stay exactly where you are," Washington said. She took on the role of leading its "JEDI" initiative, an acronym that's become increasingly popular with organizations looking to expand their DEI efforts to include "J" for justice. The firm hired Indelible Impressions to help set priorities and goals, reshape policies and implement meaningful practices. A first step was the company determining its own cultural competency, with all employees participating in a confidential online survey. From that data, new training was rolled out last year through virtual interactive sessions led by Alston and Washington together with groups of 20 to 30 employees. They engaged in four months of conversation around topics like bias and microaggressions. Then all employees participated in online training modules and activities related to JEDI awareness, Washington said. This year, JEDI training for company leadership is the focus; the next step in the years-long process is forming specific employee resource groups to further engagement, with one group devoted to women already underway, Washington said. Launching the initiative has already paid off. HRP recently signed on a new international client, whose due diligence required checking the DEI box for new partnerships. "If we hadn't had JEDI in place, we wouldn't have won that contract," she said. Outside help In the summer of 2020, Community Health Resources — a Windsor- based behavioral health nonprofit with over two dozen locations throughout the state and 800 employees, including therapists, clinicians and administrative staff — rolled out a systemwide DEI initiative. Turkessa Antrum, CHR senior vice president for human resources and its first chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, teamed with Leading Culture Solutions, which helped CHR strengthen some existing DEI strategies — such as celebrating diversity events — and implement a larger, more coordinated effort, including a revitalized DEI committee with more than 30 employees. Hiring and retaining a diverse workforce has always been a priority, Antrum said. But in reality, the organization falls short of mirroring its diverse patient population, she said. Its DEI goals include making new hires from underrepresented groups and adding more people of color to senior leadership positions. So far, the organization is on the second "L" of a four-phase "4L" model implemented by Hawkins and her team as a DEI framework. The first phase, "listen," included an online survey completed by all employees to assess the organization's readiness to move the initiative forward. The second phase, "learn," is now underway, and includes monthly virtual community conversations with all employees invited to participate and unpack issues related to DEI, said Antrum. Employees are also splitting into separate focus groups depending on their interest, with men's, women's and LBGTQ groups, among others, now established and working on DEI issues. In future years, CHR intends to progress to the last two L's, "lean-in" and "live," as final stages of the initial implementation. "One of our major goals is to really embed DEI in all of our practices and processes, that includes hiring, promotions, diverse perspectives from all our staff in our decision making," Antrum said. Entrepreneurial spirit Penn Globe, a North Branford manufacturer with 15 employees, is an example of a small employer working on DEI efforts without an outside consultant, said company President Marcia LaFemina. As a result of sitting on several workforce and manufacturing industry boards and committees, LaFemina said she's gleaned knowledge about DEI topics and has integrated practices into her company's overall business strategies. The hiring policy has always been pro-diversity, she said, and she's reviewing ways to promote an inclusive work environment as well. "We work to incubate little ideas to see if we can make a difference," LaFemina said, including a current project, creating a shorter work week for a working mother and collecting data around its impact on productivity. With so many women leaving the workforce during the pandemic, particularly due to child- care conflicts, she said, "we want to see if we can make inroads to bring women back." LaFemina said she sees small businesses as a catalyst for lasting changes around DEI, given the number of people this sector collectively employs. Turkessa Antrum

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