Hiring diversity
On the employee side, the Packers put emphasis on considering female, minority and LGBTQ candidates, providing opportunities and training for workers to advance, and diversity training for the entire organization, Ledvina said.
The team has taken an active approach. It adjusted its recruiting guidelines to cast a wider net, and the human resources department has conversations with the hiring supervisors at the beginning of the process.
“Then, when it’s time to do the interviewing and selection, we can help remind people of that focus, but always looking for the best candidate for that position,” Ledvina said.
The Packers have about 265 full-time employees, including coaches but not players. They also have 240 part-time workers, and on game days, the total tops 1,000.
Anderson knows from experience what successful inclusion looks like. She grew up seeing few who looked like her on television, especially in positive settings, such as in families or business. One of her favorite sayings is that if you are not at the table, you are on the menu. She’s spent her life creating spots at the table, where she believes positive differences can be made.
“Having diverse staff in your organization, where they can be in the room when discussions are happening, can help educate and inform other people in the room about things they may not have thought about,” Anderson said.
She believes a younger generation is more comfortable discussing diversity than were their parents and grandparents. She looks forward to the day when diversity is a given, not a subject of the first this or the first that.
“So I think it will just become a way of life as opposed to something on a list of things that some organizations see that they have to remember to pay attention to,” she said