Fostering a more diverse and inclusive workplace continues to be a priority for many companies because doing so creates value for customers and better reflects the communities in which they do business. Building such a workforce begins with recruiting, so staffing companies looking to differentiate them- selves should think about how they can cultivate a culture of diversity and inclusion for their clients.
At Bank of America, diversity and inclusion are core to our values. More than half of our workforce is female and more than 40% are people of color. We work every day to be a place where all teammates can come to work just as they are and have the opportunity to be successful. This goal and focus are led by our CEO, who chairs our Global Diversity & Inclusion Council, and carried out by leaders and managers around the globe.
If you’re looking to do more business with any organization, it’s important to understand their priorities and how the work you do can help them realize those goals. Our recruiting activities are critical, so we look for staffing partners that share our focus and commitment to several key priorities, among them ensuring candidate slates for job reqs are diverse, transitioning our military veterans back to civilian and work life, and enabling persons with disabilities to succeed in our organization.
Diverse Slates
We hold our staffing teams and recruitment agencies accountable for presenting diverse slates of candidates for open roles, and we reward partners that help us generate a pipeline of strong, diverse talent.
Hiring Veterans
More than 8,000 veterans work at Bank of America today, and recently we committed to recruiting and hiring 10,000 more into roles over the next several years. We find their experience aligns with our company’s values and helps us serve the needs of our customers and clients. Our network of local and national transition support organizations continues to grow.
Enabling Those With Disabilities
We partner with some great organizations that help us recruit people with a wide range of disabilities into meaningful employment. Once on board, we provide the accommodations they require to perform their job effectively.
These candidate-level priorities are coupled with a continued commitment at the ownership level. We are proud to be a new member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable, which recognizes companies that procure more than $1 billion annually from minority- and women- owned businesses. Presently, nearly half of the partners our supplier diversity and development team engage with are in the staffing industry. We cultivate strong partnerships directly and through our managed service provider.
The bottom line: Know the priorities of your clients as it relates to diversity and inclusion. As a recruiting partner, you have the ability to help achieve shared success.
Clay Lewis is vendor executive for global staffing, Bank of America.
