Role Model Event
Zurich, February 27, 2020

Research shows that managers at organizations with advanced D&I strategies are about 30 percent more likely than others to feel highly loyal, innovative and set up for top performance. At the same time, taking a check-the-box approach to D&I leads to worse outcomes than doing nothing at all. Getting D&I right is therefore a topic that business & HR will need to tackle together, and every line manager will need to be prepared to work on it and to take it into consideration when building their talent strategy.

At the last Advance role model event, on top of learning about the payoff of getting D&I right and the specific approaches and investments companies can make to advance faster, we also received great practical advice from Alessandra Abate, Managing Director and co-leader of the Reynolds Associates’ Diversity & Inclusion practice, Petra Jantzer, Managing Director at Accenture and Advance President and Kathrin Choffat, Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Zurich Insurance on how to create a more inclusive culture, where everyone can thrive. From the countless insightful examples and anecdotes they have shared, we have picked for you key insights that you can start implementing right now.

START THE MEETINGS AT 8:30, NOT 8:00

Are you working on building an inclusive culture but don’t seem to have the results yet? Oftentimes, simple actions we take send messages that are in contrast with our best intentions. Alessandra Abate, Managing Director and co-leader of the Reynolds Associates’ Diversity & Inclusion practice, warns us against unintentionally excluding colleagues from important meetings. If your office culture is to start the meetings at 8 in the morning, when many parents are busy with the school runs, they might not be able to join. Rethink your approach, and similarly, try avoiding scheduling meetings late in the afternoons.

BENEFIT FROM REVERSE MENTORING

For seasoned leaders, one of the best ways to connect with younger employees and to develop a set of behaviours and initiatives that will let the future leaders feel heard and included, is to explore the benefits of reverse mentoring. Petra Jantzer, Managing Director at Accenture and Advance President, explains that in reverse mentoring, compared to the traditional mentoring, it is the younger employee giving feedback to the more experienced leader. Looking at the world and our own actions through the eyes of a more junior person, provides the leader with valuable insights on what is important to her/his colleagues and how to motivate and retain the best talent.

INTRODUCE SPONSORSHIP

Whereas there are countless benefits of mentoring, setting up sponsoring programs is shaping up to be crucial for promoting talent that is often overlooked. Alessandra Abate explains that whereas a mentor gives you feedback on how to perform better, a sponsor is your best Ambassador in the room when you’re not there. The sponsor will look out for opportunities for you, highlight your achievements internally and use her/his network to help you get the high impact & high visibility project that can accelerate your career. And: once you are in the position of power yourself, remember to give back.

BE MINDFUL AND DON’T FALL INTO THE TRAP OF ‘KNOWING IT ALL’

The older we get, the quicker we think we know what is going on and the quicker we draw our conclusions, explains Petra Jantzer. Years of experience give us the advantage of recognizing patterns, but they can also make us fall into the trap of believing that we have dealt with something like this before, and that we therefore already know how to tackle it best. This prevents us from listening actively and potentially uncovering the real issue and the best approach. It’s important that in situations like these, we take a moment to re-centre and put our assumptions away, so we can truly listen and learn.

ASK ‘WHY NOT?’

Asking ‘why not?’ instead of ‘why?’ can be transformative for your hiring and promotional practices. Instead of asking why somebody is the right candidate for the big job, ask why a person standing out but not fitting in smoothly isn’t. This can help us to shift perspectives and uncover hurtful biases or practices that belong to the past. According to Kathrin Choffat, Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Zurich Insurance, being an inclusive leader and getting the diversity in your team you aspire to have, means opening up for less traditional set up, like flexibility, job-sharing or remote working and embracing talented individuals, who have walked less traditional paths.

If you are looking for more data and inspiration, head over to Russell Reynolds Associates and Accenture or check out the Advance & HSG Gender Intelligence Report.

A BIG THANK YOU

A big thank you goes to the Russell Reynolds Associates team for organizing this insightful event with us from A to Z: Katharina Hesse, Stine Ohlendorff, Claudia Muehlberger and Alessandra Abate – thank you for your engagement! Thank you as well to Kathrin Choffat from Zurich Insurance for making us all ask ‘why not?’ and to Petra Jantzer from Accenture and Advance for sharing the Accenture D&I framework. The event wouldn’t be complete without Anne Halbritter’s excellent moderation.