Launchways is excited to announce a partnership with Chanté
Thurmond, a leading Chicago-based D&I Expert and Executive Talent
Consultant, to create a new series of Diversity & Inclusion training
sessions and offerings scheduled to begin Spring 2019.
The goal is to leverage our mutual expertise to help our clients access
diversity, equity and inclusion resources that will empower their workplace
culture. We will develop webinars and training programs that will help leaders
navigate D&I topics such as: workplace inclusion and accessibility, gender
pay gaps, unconscious bias, employee resource groups, and more.
Launchways CEO Jim Taylor expressed his excitement for the new D&I initiative, saying “Diversity and inclusion are vital to the long-term success of any organization. Launchways is dedicated to helping companies achieve sustainable growth through a strong company culture and effective talent acquisition and retention. Chanté Thurmond’s expertise and the addition of D&I consulting to our repertoire is a major step forward in our mission.”
In addition to her consulting work, Chanté Thurmond founded The Darkest Horse in 2018 to change the national conversation about diversity and inclusion by inviting business leaders to share their stories. One of her aims in 2019 is to directly tackle D&I issues in the workplace through her partnership with Launchways.
Of her work at The Darkest Horse and her partnership with Launchways, Chanté Thurmond noted “Together, we stand in solidarity to commit our time, energy and resources to address workplace disparities and workforce inequities. 2019 marks a year of much-needed partnership, in which we forge onwards with strategic partners who share our passions, values and goals to help make workplaces become more inclusive. Jim Taylor and his team at Launchways are the epitome of strategic partners and multipliers.”
Why You Should Care About Diversity and Inclusion
What is Diversity and Inclusion and how can companies benefit by paying attention to them?
Diversity covers the area of inclusion, generally defined by hiring and promoting processes. Diversity trainings have been around for a long time, and many companies do include guidelines or quotas in their hiring protocols to increase gender and racial equity on their teams. However, companies frequently overlook promotion practices and long-term success of employees of different genders and races. The result is that many diversity programs function as damage control to protect the organization from perceptions of bias, and do not result in stronger teams.
This is unfortunate, because physical diversity at every level of an organization is a key driver of success. Recent studies show that greater gender and racial diversity each are directly correlated with increased profitability and value creation. Companies with the most women and minorities in leadership positions are between 20-30% more likely to achieve above average financial performance.
That is why inclusion is a necessary counterpart to diversity. Companies thrive when all employees are full team members with equal opportunities for advancement and share ownership over the company culture and mission/vision. Team members need to feel that they belong and can thrive at the company. Quotas and one-off trainings cannot achieve those results. Instead, leaders need to put every part of their company under the microscope to see how they can best serve all employees. Diversity and inclusion need to become integral parts of the company that are valued and lived by every day.
This can best be achieved through ongoing training and strategic policy changes, under the guidance of experienced D&I consultants. Every organization is different and solutions need to meet each company’s unique challenges. But with consistent, concerted effort and the right expertise, leaders can create more vibrant and successful teams.
Launchways is excited to offer the guidance that its clients need to foster true diversity and inclusiveness through its upcoming training programs, webinars, and consulting services in partnership with Chanté Thurmond.
About Launchways
Launchways provides business leaders with the resources and guidance they need to build scalable people processes to support long-term growth. Founded in 2009, Launchways has helped thousands of companies better approach the people side of their business through strategic solutions for human resources, employee benefits, and business insurance. For more information, please visit www.launchways.com.
About Chanté Thurmond
Chanté is a fierce advocate of equity & inclusion; gender parity and social justice initiatives. She is on a mission to learn the backstories of underrepresented leaders and share their voice with the world. Her expertise is in Organizational Development, Social Innovation, Health & Well-being and Community Engagement. In a previous life, Chanté’s work centered around cultivating strategic alliances between public and private sector leaders to reduce public health inequities and improve population health outcomes. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Mount Mercy University and a M.A. from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN.