Worcester Business Journal

20 Worcester Business Journal | September 18, 2023 | wbjournal.com If you're a business owner looking to learn more about how to successfully exit your business sometime in the future, this special forum is for you! Our lineup of speakers will share both the pitfalls and best practices on how to manage your way through that process. No one owns their business forever, and developing a plan to maximize the value of what is likely your greatest asset is critical in achieving the future that will be the best for the company, yourself and your family. Don't miss this timely and informative event! PRESENTING SPONSORS Wednesday, October 25 AC Marriott, Worcester • 3:00- 6:00PM Cost: $55 Reserve your seat! wbjournal.com/bizforum Speakers (to date): Thomas Bartholomew President & CEO, Bartholomew & Company Terry Shepherd Partner, S&G LLP and ROCG Consultants Ronen Shefer Partner & CEO, ROCG Consultants Matt Alison Partner S&G LLP and ROCG Consultants WBJ A SPECIAL FORUM SELLING A BU $ INESS A Business Owner's Map To Navigating The Journey WBJ A SPECIAL FORUM SELLING A BU $ INESS A Business Owner's Map To Navigating The Journey In this session we'll share helpful tools and best practices, topics to include: • A Personal Objective Planning Process • Scaling Up/Value Growth Strategic Planning • Transitioning Management Roles & Responsibilities • A Pre-Sale Planning Checklist • Planning for the Future: What Comes Next? • Minimizing Taxes in any Transaction • Sale Proceeds: Your Investment Options • The Current Transaction Market Environment • Managing a Deal from Start to Finish • War STORIES from OWNERS who have SOLD: Managing the due diligence process, the sale, and in some cases, working for the new owners *Bonus - All attendees will receive a copy of the bestselling book e Graduate Level of Business Ownership: e Secrets of Business Success and Personal Happiness Worcester's DEI project and the transformative power of transparency V I E W P O I N T BY SUSAN LETTERMAN WHITE Special to WBJ M y team consulted with the City of Worcester on a racial equity audit and strategic implemen- tation for 15 months. Despite significant disruption, this diversity, equity, and inclusion culture-change project was successful. Your DEI project can be too, if leaders pay attention to three details. A substantial financial and time commitmentment Worcester did not seek out the lowest cost provider and instead committed a significant budget to a racial equity audit. Budget size signals leadership's commit- ment, messages the project is not merely performative, and motivates people to devote their time. Budget size builds in accountability for results. Without change, legitimate criticism of the return on investment follows. While leaders of a minimally financed project may be inclined to delay or halt a project aer a disruption, leaders of a well-financed project know delays mean a reduced ROI. Launched in January 2022, Worcester experienced a significant and public dis- ruption when the project's internal leader – Stephanie Williams, Worcester's then chief diversity officer – resigned from the City in March 2022, citing the admin- istration of then-City Manager Edward Augustus as one of the reasons. Following her departure, Augustus le in May 2022 to become chancellor of Dean College in Franklin. Instead of causing a delay to the project, these high-profile incidents caused a heightened awareness of the problems and action by City leaders. Following Williams resignation, her duties as CDO fell to Eric Batista, who eventually became city manager as well, succeeding Augustus. Despite the turnover, Batista still prioritized the DEI project, and our weekly project manage- ment meetings continued uninterrupted. Espoused values of diversity quickly became real when Batista selected Hung Nguyen to serve as assistant city manager and promoted Amy Peterson to be his chief of staff. is early win motivated others to meet project deadlines. First dras of the audit report, strategic blueprint, and recommendations, and an employee resource group toolkit were delivered on June 24, 2022. e final report was delivered at the beginning of August 2022. Energy for more culture change and a budgetary commitment to continue the work led to Worcester's first anonymous employee-engagement sur- vey. en using the survey data, Batista and his leadership team created a DEI vision statement, objectives, and measurable criteria. During this time, the DEI function was restructured under a new Executive Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion with leadership in a new role of chief equity officer and re- sponsibilities for human rights, investiga- tions, and training and development. A narrow focus on human resources Worcester focused the racial equity audit on HR. ese processes deter- mine who is recruited, hired, developed, engaged, and promoted, and whether this be a diverse group of people. Narrowly focusing on HR means evaluating the talent cycle processes with the strongest effect on creating diversity and a culture of inclusion. Evaluations of a person's ability to do a job can be adjusted to elim- inate biases and infuse equity. Decisions about who gets an empowered mentor affect people's sense of belonging, ability to succeed at their jobs, and engagement in their work. Bold transparency and a data-driven DEI project Data-based decisions about problems and solutions make intentional changes possible. Worcester's data suggested a lack of racial diversity, equity, and inclusion in city government. e data were not hid- den or explained away. Instead, the entire report was shared publicly. e benefits of such transparency are: • An awareness of the problem, which fosters a sense of urgency and collective responsibility for improvements. • Encouraging stakeholders to rectify the identified racial inequities. • Community engagement and partic- ipation in discussions about experiences, leading to solutions and initiatives. • Increased confidence in leaders who demonstrate vulnerability by sharing unfavorable results. Overall, publicizing unfavorable audit results can serve as a catalyst for change, promote equity, and foster a more inclu- sive and just workplace. If shared with the public in a thoughtful fashion, the benefits far outweigh the risks. Susan Letterman White leads Letterman White Consulting, an organization development consultancy in Quincy. Susan Letterman White W

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