Since arriving, she has listened to the stories and experiences of Seismic executives, team leaders, and employees. These conversations, conducted as “listening sessions” help form the foundation of her strategy for building an inclusive culture. 

In this post, we’ll chat with Donna to learn more about listening sessions, and share tips for building a more inclusive workplace. 

TS: Tell me about your first several months as the VP of Global Inclusion at Seismic.

DD: My first several months at Seismic have been focused on building relationships, analyzing data, and conducting listening sessions with our employees about their experiences at Seismic. 

I’ve been working on a bottom-up, top-down inclusion approach that involves all of our employees as stakeholders. It starts with getting insights and recommendations from our employees and engaging our leadership team in inclusive culture strategic planning. 

When we think about being successful in attracting, recruiting, and retaining a diverse workforce, creating a culture of inclusion is critically important to employee experience. 

TS: What have you learned as you’ve met with Seismic’s leadership, management, and employees?

DD: As I’ve met with Seismic executive managers, and employees, I’ve learned that our executive team is vulnerable, authentic, and transparent about what they know and what they don’t know about DEI.  They are 100% committed, individually and as a team, to continually creating a culture of inclusion. 

They are absolutely committed to the process, what we’re doing, and what we want to accomplish. They want DEI to be part of the culture and values of the company and they’re always asking what they can do to help.

Managers and team leaders are interested in building their inclusive leadership competencies so that they can fully engage and lead diverse teams. As we attract and recruit more diverse employees into our workforce, it’s important for our leaders to leverage these inclusive leadership competencies to optimize performance and build strong teams.  

TS: Since joining Seismic, you’ve hosted “listening sessions” with different underrepresented communities. Will you explain what a listening session is?

DD: A listening session is similar to a focus group. It’s a facilitated discussion with a group in order to gather information about people’s unique experiences. Listening sessions are designed to learn what we can do better as a company, identify gaps, and take recommendations from employees regarding our initiatives around diversity, equity, and inclusion.

TS: What communities have you and the DEI Council been able to connect with during listening sessions?

DD: I’ve conducted listening sessions with Black, Latinx, International employees, people with disabilities, women, LGBTQIA+, and AAPI groups. It was important to drill down into specific demographics to get feedback on challenges and insights on their unique workplace experience. These communities’ insights provided us with the opportunity to create an equitable plan in seeking ways to elevate the employee experience.

TS: What are you looking for as you host listening sessions?

DD: I’m looking for specific things like common themes that arise from the discussion. We discuss these themes in our executive meetings. It was important to drill down into specific demographics to get feedback on challenges and insights on their unique workplace experience. These communities’ insights provided us with the opportunity to create an equitable plan in seeking ways to elevate the employee experience. They also help us create a strategy based on the top areas where we need to focus in order to make us a better company for all. 

TS: How does giving voice to employees help shape DEI in organizations like Seismic?

It gives employees opportunities to express their ideas, concerns, and perspectives with authenticity, and without fear of social or workplace consequences. That means employees have the ability to influence decisions at work through their feedback. Giving a voice to your employees helps shape company culture and values which are critically important to hiring and retaining talent. 

When employees feel like their voices are heard, it represents inclusion at the highest level.  

It shows that our company cares about the things employees care about. 

TS: Why should other organizations include listening sessions as part of their DEI strategy?

DD: In order to attract, recruit and retain your talent, organizations should create listening sessions as a part of their overall business strategy. Employee feedback should go beyond an engagement survey. You need to build trust with employees by having an engaging dialogue about their unique experiences. Employee experiences are not “one size fits all.” Listening sessions support the overall goal of the organization and give employees an opportunity to be authentic and transparent about their experiences. These sessions focus on listening, learning, and understanding.

Seismic is committed to building an equitable and inclusive culture. If you’d like to join us on this journey, check out our careers page. 

The post The importance of listening to diverse employee experiences appeared first on Seismic.

The Enableship program is launching at a time of rapid growth within the field of enablement. Between May and June 2021, employers on LinkedIn posted nearly 16,000 open enablement roles. Yet, enablement—like many other careers in the tech sector—lacks talent from diverse backgrounds. 

Why we’re launching Enableship

We’re on our own journey to become a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive company, and we’d like to work together with the wider enablement community to do the same. With the support of our executive leadership team, we decided to champion a program that will promote diversity and inclusion in the enablement industry, and help close the income inequality and wealth gap. 

We believe that Enableship is an opportunity to ensure that the pipeline of future enablement talent is diverse, inclusive, and reflective of the evolving American population. 

Partnering with Sales Enablement Society and SV Academy

SV Academy has a mission to empower one million underrepresented job-seekers to forge career paths in the tech industry. They’ve been recognized by Fast Company as the #2 Most Innovative Education Company in the World for 2020, and our partnership with SV Academy gives us the best opportunity to tear down barriers to entry into sales enablement careers. This isn’t about philanthropy — it’s about equitable access to jobs, opportunities, and wage expansion.

Students at the SV Academy are already building the skills they need to jumpstart careers in the tech industry. Through our partnership, students who attend SV Academy will have an opportunity to specialize in sales enablement. 

Sales Enablement Society (SES) is the flagship organization for sales enablement professionals. It is the largest global nonprofit organization for sales enablement and the most active network of sales enablement professionals. As a founding partner, SES will support the program’s mission by validating content, connecting mentors and employers to the program, and ensuring Enableship is truly an industry-wide program available to all who want to participate. 

Democratizing opportunity through learning and mentorship

Entry-level enablement roles, while historically rare, are now increasing in popularity. Sales and marketing are typical feeder pools, but these career functions also struggle with diversity. We have a unique opportunity to change this cycle at a time when the demand for entry-level candidates is accelerating.

The goal of Enableship is to offer training, coaching, mentorship, and a community network to help underrepresented candidates begin their enablement careers.

The program includes training in the competencies needed for an entry-level enablement associate role. SV Academy offers its students 300 hours of technical skills and leadership training. Through Enableship, learners will have an opportunity to specialize in enablement. Program graduates will have the opportunity to apply for paid apprenticeships and full-time roles with employer partners. Upon placement, graduates will have access to 12 months of coaching.

How to participate in Enableship

Candidates who are interested in participating in Enableship can apply today. Seismic, Sales Enablement Society, and SV Academy are looking forward to welcoming the initial cohort soon. 

The post Enableship: Training underrepresented candidates for careers in enablement appeared first on Seismic.