Salary.com values diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging — with pay equity at the foreground of their services for other businesses. Lenna Turner, director of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB), spends her time focusing on strategic programming, including educational and awareness events, promoting pay equity, and external thought leadership. Her role at the organization supports a work culture that retains employees through multiple methods:
- Equitable pay structures – These are essential for managing compensation and fostering trust in pay equity. This requires transparency in data and an unbiased business environment, eliminating subjectivity. Additionally, benefit packages can be designed to fit the needs of a diverse employee population as a part of a strategic total rewards program. As Turner summarized, being “market-driven” means thoroughly evaluating all job roles and their structures, being open about the data behind pay ranges, and other compensation elements which ultimately build trust in the entire compensation management framework.
- Virtual and in-person diversity events – At Salary.com, the team strives for events once a quarter, which could entail a formal required learning event, like a music diversity discussion, or a fun, less formal event, like a Kahoot! game for Juneteenth and Pride month. Additional ways to support teambuilding include internal team meetings regularly or semiregularly, as well as Turner’s quarterly DEIB Calendar and personal monthly recap to staff of upcoming holidays or heritage months, to bring awareness to coworker availability.
- Platforms for elevating personal stories – Turner’s team has multiple employee resource groups (ERG) learning events (e.g., new moms, women) where they ensure there are no recordings, so people can safely share their thoughts and experiences. Additionally, they have had a Diverse Voices series where professional life stories are presented, encouraging other employees to open up and advocate for themselves. “Storytelling initiatives: They work great in helping to build an inclusive environment and make people feel like ‘Okay, maybe my story matters,’” Turner shared.
- Emphasis on belonging – Simply put, a lack of belonging creates turnover. Every employee wants to be seen, heard and supported, especially in the workplace where they spend the majority of their time. This does not have to only involve large events but starts on the interpersonal level by how you build relationships with coworkers. However, when it comes to the DEIB space, Turner emphasized it’s important to “listen before you implement anything, but if you listen and ask people for their input, be prepared to act on it.”
At the end of the day, Salary.com implements strategies to value its employees and encourages embracing uniqueness among staff. Oftentimes, developing practices and strategies that balance employee and workforce/environment goals and business goals is the best route to crafting a memorable workspace that is ripe with diversity, equity, inclusivity, and belonging. After all, “All the money in the world won’t keep employees if they don’t feel a sense of belonging and inclusion.”
Learn more about Salary.com’s DE&I efforts or visit the MI Chamber’s page for 2024 DE&I programming.