A Focus on Fixing the Ecosystem

Often great leaders are born of necessity. They see something wrong with the current state of affairs and decide that they should make a personal effort to change things for the better. That’s the case with the subject of this installment of our series on DEI leaders—Hallam Sargeant, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer at Avanade.

Sargeant started his career in his native Barbados and came to the United States specifically to study human resources (HR) after being underwhelmed by the state of that function at his previous employer. “The reason I chose HR to begin with was the organization I worked for back in Barbados,” says Sargeant. “I didn’t think we did a really good job of recognizing or maximizing the contributions of our people.”

Once he graduated and entered the field, he says he was soon exposed to a variety of areas and experiences across a wide spectrum of employees from different backgrounds with different lived experiences. This has greatly helped to inform his work and his effectiveness as a leader in this space.

He points to one particularly impactful experience that had a significant effect on him and his career trajectory.

Becoming an Ally

He was facilitating a dialogue with a group of colleagues consisting mostly of men, with only one woman present. The conversation was around determining promotions and assigning new roles for existing employees. The discussion turned to a new mother who was on maternity leave at the time and what roles might work best for her upon her return.

The men in the room assumed that she would prefer a less demanding role. Sargeant, however, paused the conversation and asked if anyone had actually spoken to the new mother to understand her actual preferences. This question was met with complete silence. No one had.

He then posed another question: “How many of you have had someone make the decision to slow down your career when you became a father?” Once again, silence filled the room. This moment highlighted for Sargeant the need for him to intervene and use his voice as an ally to address biases and unfair assumptions.

Another thing about this experience also resonated with him. As the team left the room, the lone woman who was present approached him and expressed gratitude for using his voice as an ally. “She acknowledged that if she had been the one to speak up, the response may not have been the same because her input might have been dismissed,” he says.

This experience was impactful for him. It illustrated the importance of challenging biases, using one’s voice as an ally, and considering diverse perspectives when making decisions that impact individuals in the workplace. The experience led him to delve deeper into the realm of DEI in the workplace and to consider what it could really look like.

He brought his depth and variety of experiences to bear when he came to Avanade in November 2020—in the midst of the pandemic and the social unrest arising from George Floyd’s murder. For Avanade, he says, “inclusion went from a nice to have to a critical business imperative.”

Strategy and Accountability

Brought in as the company’s first Chief Diversity Officer (CDO), one of the first things Sargeant noticed at Avanade was that, while there was DEI-related work being done, that work wasn’t specifically aligned to company strategy or KPIs.

Today, he says, metrics are used to establish direction, ensure alignment, and “hold ourselves accountable.” Metrics are reported to the board and included on the company’s ESG scorecard. In addition, each of the company’s executive leaders was tasked with creating personal DEI commitment frameworks, identifying measurable ways they would contribute to the advancement of DEI at Avanade.

Several Avanade executive team members also serve as sponsors of the company’s employee networks as Executive Committee Champions (ECCs). Their participation and leadership helps to visibly demonstrate their support as well as generate conversations and interest.

Employee Committees Offer Opportunities for Engagement and Development

Membership in employee networks has grown significantly under Sargeant’s stewardship. When he first joined Avanade, the company had four employee resource groups. Today it has 14 groups with 45 chapters globally, and 350 employees leading work being done at the global, regional, or local levels, he says. Over the past year the employee network membership jumped by 641%–one in six employees are members of an employee network.

That’s likely because of the broad reach and intersectionality these groups have. The company and its leaders have worked hard to “widen the conversations about topics that might have traditionally been considered taboo, Sargeant says. For instance, he says, “conversations around menopause and the impact that can have on women in workplace, especially when they feel they can’t acknowledge that experience.” Conversations are also occurring around various types of disabilities—including invisible disabilities.

In October 2022, Avanade held its first global inclusion and diversity awards to honor “the important work that our people deliver on top of their day job,” Sargeant said—330 nominations came in from across the globe.

It’s clear that, at Avanade, the DEI culture is real—and employees can feel that, Sargeant says. “We’re really intentional about broadening the conversation to include everyone,” he says. In addition, he says, “we’ve done a really good job of expanding the conversation beyond what would be traditionally thought of as I&D.”

Sargeant also makes the point that these groups at Avanade don’t just provide support for DEI, but also for employee development. A number of more junior-level employees have been put into leadership roles in the employee networks. “We believe that they’re giving back to the company by serving in these roles, but we’ve invested in them as well because, as part of their development, they’re getting the opportunity to lead teams,” he says. “We believe that we’ve accelerated their development by putting them in these leadership roles.”

Avanade has successfully opened up doors for inclusive opportunities for employees across its organization, recognizing the value they all bring, allowing them opportunities for input, learning, and growth. And, of course, ensuring that their efforts are aligned with business objectives and accountability.

They’re also making an effort to ensure that DEI isn’t focused on “fixing those in underrepresented groups.”

Fixing the Ecosystem

He shares an analogy he initially heard from The Racial Equity Institute.

Traditionally, he says, many companies have approached DEI by trying to fix underrepresented groups—like women, racial minorities, or LGBTQ+ individuals. It’s like noticing a few dead fish in standing water and assuming it’s just a problem with those specific fish. 

Imagine, Sargeant says, walking by a body of water and finding one or two dead fish. It’s concerning, but you may think it’s an isolated incident. Yet, if that same body of water is filled with dead fish, you begin to realize that there’s something fundamentally wrong with the water itself.

Sargeant applies this analogy to company culture. If an organization’s culture forces women and other underrepresented groups to assimilate or leave, then there is a systemic issue within the company. It’s not just about fixing individual challenges faced by specific groups, but about addressing the overall ecosystem.

For Sargeant and his team, the focus lies on transforming the company culture, which serves as the “water” in the analogy. They aim to identify and eliminate barriers and obstacles that hinder people from achieving their career aspirations. By doing so, they strive to create an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.

Sargeant’s story powerfully highlights the need for organizations to shift their approach from merely fixing isolated issues to fundamentally transforming their culture, fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion at every level and across all employees.

Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.

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