In recent years, many companies and organizations have reexamined strategies within Supplier Diversity programs to improve outcomes and advance diversity, racial equity and inclusion. One of the companies at the forefront of these efforts is Partnership member JPMorgan Chase.  The financial services firm showcased how it has transformed strategies to be more intentional during the Partnership’s One Houston Together Spring CPO Convening. Improving outcomes for Minority Business Enterprises is one of the two priorities of One Houston Together alongside talent advancement and board representation for people of color. In 2020, JPMorgan Chase committed $30 billion over a five-year period to advance racial equity. The firm is harnessing its business, policy, philanthropy, and data expertise to reduce the racial wealth gap in Black, Hispanic, and Latino communities. Part of the bank’s commitment includes $750 million in additional spending with Black and Latinx suppliers.  JPMorgan is using five focus areas to drive a comprehensive strategy across the entire supply chain that includes:  Billion Dollar Roundtable membership  Tier 2 Program  City/Local Market Strategy  Supplier Diversity and Strategic Sourcing  Education and Development of Diverse Suppliers  Jim Flynn, Executive Director of Global Supplier Diversity at JPMorgan, said implementing a place-based strategy has allowed the firm to understand the ecosystems and cities where targeted minority business enterprises (MBEs) reside to either bring them into the procurement process or connect them with other community partners or resources. Houston is one of five cities where JPMorgan is implementing the place-based strategy.  “The old supplier diversity model was all about finding diverse suppliers and asking them to spend,” Flynn said. “The new model is about ‘what are all the things you can do within your organization to uplift those businesses and do more.’” One example is what Flynn calls the now, near and far strategy, which focuses on what the JPMorgan Global Supplier Diversity team can do for MBEs depending on the MBEs’ needs and where they are as a business.   “Many of these MBEs are corporate ready now, they just need access. So [it’s about] how can we help them break down barriers and become a disruptor in a convivial way with our colleagues to open a door,” Flynn said.  Flynn said measuring outcomes has been key to ensuring the sustainability and success of the program. JPMorgan’s Global Supplier Diversity team includes a business development group that is tasked with managing a portfolio of newly onboarded Black and Latinx businesses. Their job is to connect them to resources and be their internal champion. In addition, JPMorgan has started to measure the economic impact on an individual business level by collecting feedback from MBEs through a survey that asks questions such as:   Did your sales increase? Did your staffing levels increase? What other good things happened?  Flynn said asking businesses what they need on an individual level has allowed them to learn that it is important to create multiple pathways “because each journey is different.”   Learn more about One Houston Together and take the 2023 Equity & Inclusion Assessment. 

As part of an ongoing effort to showcase success in the retention and advancement of racially diverse talent, the Partnership’s One Houston Together initiative hosted its first roundtable of 2023 featuring a conversation with senior HR leaders from Chevron who discussed the company’s journey to develop a formal employee sponsorship program. Increasing racial equity in the corporate talent pipeline and board leadership is one of the two priorities of One Houston Together alongside increasing spending with Minority Business Enterprises. The roundtable discussions are designed to share best practices and showcase Partnership members that are leading change.  Joyce Beaugh, Senior Manager of Strategy, Planning and Analytics and Michelle A. Snoddy, Senior HR Manager in Petrotechs, shared details on the development and evolution of Chevron’s sponsorship program now in its third year at the energy company.  While traditional mentorship often involves a senior professional providing advice and guidance to a junior professional, sponsorship requires more active advocacy by the senior for  the junior professional’s career advancement, supporting  their aspiration for growth opportunities and a leadership role within an organization.   “In its simplest form, it’s the difference between advice and action,” Snoddy shared with the roundtable participants. “It’s a senior person actually sticking their neck out for another and utilizing their brand to influence that person’s brand.”  Chevron’s journey in sponsorship began several years ago when benchmarking data suggested junior employees might benefit from a formalized sponsorship program that paired them with Chevron’s senior leaders. The company reviewed research and reached out to other businesses and organizations to get examples of successful sponsorship initiatives and decided to pilot their effort with three divisions to gauge effectiveness. They began with a cohort in Finance in 2021 and expanded the program to the Downstream and IT divisions in 2022.  Chevron uses a data-driven approach to identify junior or sponsored employees with strong and sustained performance who may be experiencing headwinds in their advancement. Sponsored employees must be nominated to participate. Each sponsorship cohort runs for a full year and matches between seniors and juniors are done in part through a proprietary software program, with input from business unit leaders to ensure strong matches. Each cohort begins with formal onboarding for both sponsors and sponsored employees to define expectations and foster productive connections.  The size of cohorts and focus vary depending on the business unit, but in one example of positive results: of the 60 matches over two years in Finance, the promotion rate among participants is 44% higher than non-sponsored employees.  Beaugh said it’s important that the senior leaders involved in the program be in a position of power to influence the junior person’s career trajectory and growth opportunities. The company’s extensive data informs where there are breakdowns in advancement within business units and where sponsorship might be most effective. Long term success metrics for the sponsorship program include increased depth and diversity of talent pipeline and measuring participant career progression and employee satisfaction. “No one is successful without help,” Snoddy said. “Informal sponsorship has been happening for generations, but it hasn’t happened for everyone. We’re taking that informal relationship and formalizing it so that others who might be experiencing headwinds on their journey get the same opportunities.”  In addition to the conversation with Chevron, the roundtable also featured a presentation by Sadie Funk, National Director of Best Place for Working Parents®. The Partnership is the Houston region sponsor for the campaign that enables companies to assess the family-friendliness of their policies and receive a special designation based on their results.  The brief 3-minute survey allows companies to self-assess across 10 research-backed policies that benefit both working parents and the company’s bottom line. Houston companies on the whole ranked high in more than half of the categories in the organization’s 2022 National Trends Report. Best Places is currently active in 14 cities across nine states. Funk highlighted why Best Place for Working Parents® policies are important in today’s post-COVID working environment and they will be in the future:  60% of non-working parents say childcare is the top reason they do not participate in the workforce.  Only 27% of families have the father as the sole breadwinner. 73% of highly credentialed women who leave the workforce say they would have stayed had they had access to flexibility at work.  83% of millennials say they will leave one job for another with stronger family policies and supports.  Replacing an employee costs a business six to nine months of that employee’s salary on average.  Learn more about One Houston Together and read about other case studies.  Want to join the Talent Roundtable? C-suite and senior HR/Talent/DEI leaders from Partnership member companies, please email DEIAssessment@houston.org.