Career Path Services is Getting REDI

Written by: Amy Trosine, HR Manager

REDI FOR WHAT?

Race, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion! Career Path Services has been known for our amazing dedication to connecting job seekers and employers, for helping people achieve their goals, and for performing heart-work to break the spirit of poverty through the dignity of work. At the heart of what we do, we empower people to achieve, we enhance the workforce system, and we enrich the communities we serve. It goes without saying that we help people break barriers.

But some barriers are tougher to break through, like the barriers of racial inequality, systemic racism, and other inequities just because people are different.

Career Path Services recognizes that if we are to disrupt poverty and put people to work, we must understand and help fix the underlying issues that keep people in poverty. So, we are doing just that… educating ourselves and working to build a more just society. A society where all people have access to services regardless of their backgrounds, culture, or experiences. A society where all are served by people who understand diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging to make our customers, our workforce, and our communities stronger than ever.

The events of 2020 such as the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the many other racially driven events over the past year have caused us to pause and evaluate ourselves. It starts with looking in the mirror. We have done some internal work – taking a deeper look at who we are and what we stand for. We have discovered that we can do better. It is time for a culture shift.

We want to be leaders in this movement and to do so we must educate ourselves and strategize. Our focus is on improving ourselves. We have always been driven to disrupt poverty, increasing access and opportunity. Externally, we are evaluating how to ensure we are serving in a way that better understands people with lived experience. Internally, we are looking at our employee experience. We must ensure our practices are aligned with our Mission, Vision, Values, and our Guiding Aspiration.

We know we need more education on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and our strategy will include how we will conduct and implement
training. This type of work isn’t always easy and at times can feel uncomfortable. We do recognize that growth often comes from
discomfort and we challenge ourselves to have open minds and be open to learning about other perspectives.

We’ve got much, much more to do in this REDI work, and we are committed to the work. Culture shift doesn’t happen overnight. We are in it for the long haul because it is the right thing to do. We are committed to creating equity and inclusion for all.

Are you with us? What can you do to help us shift our culture? We invite our employees and our stakeholders to share their ideas and suggestions for policy and process adjustments. This can be done by using the JotForm suggestion box, by speaking with your supervisor, director, senior manager, or HR.

So then, what has Career Path Services done so far?

• We created a “REDI” (Race, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) team, in partnership with FreshVue, a local consulting agency. Work has consisted of completing the Intercultural Development Inventory and analyzing our current state, as well as creating a Race, Equity & Justice Initiative.
• We have begun the work of reviewing our internal policies and procedures from a REDIand anti-racist lens, looking for ways to bring more inclusion and create spaces where every employee can bring their authentic selves to work. This includes reviewing our GlobalPolicies, Unit Policies, and procedures.
• We hosted a Learning Zone discussion group by following the YWCA’s 14-day challenge. Over 7months, participants were able to discuss a variety of topics such as systemic racism, microaggressions, redlining, voter suppression, inequities in the justice system, and more.
• The management team has taken on an EquityDesign Challenge, where teams are working on ways to promote equity in our service delivery.
• We have conducted a REDI survey of our staff to learn more about their attitudes and perceptions about diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and obtain staff demographics to understand our organizational makeup. We plan to discuss the results with our teams and obtain feedback and ideas.
• We have added a Diversity and Inclusion policy section to our Employee Handbook (GP 13).
• In our recruiting practices, we have added an application question on Diversity, Equity, andInclusion (DEI); hiring managers will now ask 1-2DEI related questions of candidates; expanded our posting resources to include more underrepresented groups, and monitor open positions for a wide mix of candidates.
• Our Exit interviews now include DEI-related questions.
• Our social media posts include Did You Know? topics related to DEI, using a diversity calendar to include timely topics.
• We are working on a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Philosophy statement that will permeate into our Mission and our Values; and a definitions list so we have shared meaning in the language we use.

Check out some of these resources: