‘A stronger approach’
Recruiting students is key to diversity efforts, say Conn. companies and universities
Spurred by nationwide protests this summer that reflected the growing influence of movements such as Black Lives Matter, some of Connecticut’s largest companies have pledged to do more to tackle the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in key parts of their organizations.
Recruiting university students and recent graduates is crucial to those efforts, with the coronavirus crisis not deterring companies such as Stamford-based consumer financial-services firm Synchrony and Greenwich-based transportationand-logistics specialist XPO Logistics from launching new programs. Officials at universities, including the University of Connecticut, are keen to support those programs, which they see as vital to their own objectives.
“I do believe that this is a time when we have to take a stronger approach, a different approach,” Seanice Austin, director of diversity initiatives in the University of Connecticut’s business school, said in an interview. “I believe that colleges and universities can be a part of the solution.”
Longstanding relationships with highereducation institutions in the state and across the country through initiatives such as attending career events and sponsoring activities have helped companies to increase their outreach in recent months.
Synchrony, the No. 170 firm on this year’s Fortune list, announced in June that it had formed a senior-level committee to focus on diversity and equality issues across all areas of its business. Its members include the company’s chief diversity officer, Michael Matthews.
“We have ongoing relationships with universities so that when we have opportunities we have a pool of candidates and a pipeline from which we can draw,” Matthews said.
New initiatives have emerged at other companies, too. XPO, the No. 196 firm on this year’s Fortune list, said it has tripled its number of partnerships with Historically Black
Colleges and Universities this year.
In addition, XPO announced last month an alliance with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. The company said it would commit an undisclosed amount of funds to support HACU’s goals, which include fair access to higher education and career opportunities for Hispanic students.
“We want to provide HACU’s students with meaningful career opportunities at XPO that will set them up for success in life, while at the same time adding value to who we are as an inclusive workforce,” LaQuenta Jacobs, who was recently appointed as XPO’s first chief diversity officer, said in an email. “Aligning ourselves with an organization with a proven focus on diversity and inclusion enables us to deepen our talent pool and benefit from the backgrounds and perspectives these students bring to the company.”
Partners in higher education
At UConn, officials said they are seeing companies take a greater interest in using recruitment and talent-development initiatives such as mentorships and internships to help achieve their diversity goals.
“We have seen an escalation in a positive way in companies looking to see ways that they can connect with students where there are gaps and how they can fill those gaps and make changes,” Austin said.
Employees who have been recruited in recent years play a crucial role in helping businesses connect
with students.
Jasmine Davis, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based client development manager at Synchrony, joined the company immediately after graduating in 2016 from North Carolina A&T State University, a Greensboro-based HBCU. Since then, she has been participating in recruitment initiatives at her alma mater.
“Culture is very important to this generation of students in college now,” Davis said. “Especially students coming from an HBCU, they’re looking for a certain culture that is focused on the people and professional development and cares about what’s going on in the community.”
The spread of COVID-19 has significantly reduced in-person networking in the past few months, but universities and companies have adapted by holding events such as virtual career fairs.
“We have to be really flexible in thinking about what our programming looks like,” Davis said. “We don’t see ourselves stepping away from the work anytime soon.”
Ongoing work
Executives and university officials said they are hopeful that the work of the past few months will continue into next year and beyond.
“We at UConn are working hard to be sure that at least going forward we give more and more opportunities to our citizens from lower socioeconomic environments, first-generation college students and minority members,” said John Elliott, dean of UConn’s business school.
“We’re looking to be sure the doors are wide open and welcoming and that we do everything we can to cre
ate an environment where all those individuals feel like full members of the UConn family,” he said.
It will take years to assess the impact of the new corporate initiatives, especially in the top positions where people of color are still underrepresented. Among the 25 companies on this year’s Fortune 1,000 list that are headquartered in Connecticut, nearly all of their CEOs are white.
In the meantime, Synchrony and XPO said that they are making progress in diversifying their ranks.
At XPO, 22 percent of senior management are people of color. The increased awareness of the importance of the transportation industry during the pandemic is helping the company to attract employees from a wider range of backgrounds, according to Jacobs.
“Ensuring we have a robust pipeline of diverse talent is a foundational component of XPO’s advocacy of diversity and inclusion,” Jacobs said. “We firmly believe that this focus strengthens our leadership in an industry that demands great customer service and innovation. Freight is our livelihood, but our people are our lifeblood.”
About 45 percent of Synchrony’s workforce is “ethnically diverse.” But CEO Margaret Keane and other executives such as Matthews said they are mindful of not becoming complacent.
“Margaret Keane is a leader who is constantly striving and pushing us to do better and improve,” Matthews said. “I don’t think that you ever have a finish line where you can just say, ‘That’s it, we did a great job.’”