Shrms new innovation lab and venture capital arm
SELECT SPEECHES
from
JOHNNY C. TAYLOR, JR., President & CEO, SHRM
Here I have chosen five speeches that are particularly memorable and impactful to me, and I hope to the audiences who heard them. I think they connect directly to the key topics that I have discussed in this book.
Las Vegas, Nevada
The SHRM Annual Conference in 2019 featured the theme “Creating Better Workplaces,” with a strong underlying thread of how untapped talent can help close the skills gap. We designed this presentation as a dynamic multimedia event on a big stage, including recreating the job-seeking experience of people just released from prison, people living with disabilities, and older workers. I was proud to share the stage with special guests who told their stories: criminal justice advocate Alic e Marie Johnson and three inspiring individuals with disabilities who forged career success: Kelly Mac, Kayla McKeon and Adam Gorlitsky.
It’s where people learn, grow, serve and lead.
It’s where attitudes and values are shaped.
It harms the emerging industries of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
It harms the social fabric of our communities, and future generations.
HR professionals are at the center of all that people hope for and aspire to.
Think about it. There are more than 162 million Americans in the U.S. workforce today.
To create inclusive and engaged workplaces;
To create an environment of positivity and productivity;
Those whose military skills don’t directly translate in the civilian world.
Those who may not think like us, walk like us, or talk like us.
Finding the “right” in someone who looks “wrong” on paper forces us to consciously put our bias to the back and look at things… well … differently…
Hello. My name is Alice Marie Johnson.
While behind bars, I lost both my parents. I lost the moments of watching my children grow up. I lost 21 years of my life.
But I was very fortunate.
They have as much—or more—to offer as I do.
By hiring the formerly incarcerated, HR professionals like you can stop the cycle of poverty, unemployment, and recidivism.
She is the 1 in 3 Americans who have a criminal record, and she is a true testament of the potential of all people to share their gifts.
Like people with criminal records, people with disabilities are not who you think they are.
But there are millions more waiting outside our workplaces.
What a waste of talent that we need now.
They are not costly to hire.
They can become leaders, changemakers, and innovators in your organization.
They need to be supported and included equally.
And let me expand that further: People bring challenges to work that are much broader than disability.
Their resumes don’t look like anyone else’s and can be hard to translate into a civilian role. But they have skills you can’t find just anywhere, and they enhance every profession.
And that goes for our profession too.
They experience more discrimination and exclusion in the workforce than just about anyone else. Ironically, they are also some of the most experienced talent you’ll ever turn away.
They’re called “overqualified” Or not likely to “fit in.” Or “unable to adapt.”
Four decades after the ADEA became law, nearly two-thirds of workers 55 to 64 years old say their age is preventing them from getting a job.
And over one-quarter of stable, longtime employees sustain at least one damaging layoff after turning 50.
Ageism is rampant in high-income countries like the U.S. especially.
Here in America, we place a premium on youth, vitality and “newness.” Aging is often seen as a debilitating process that robs people of these prized attributes.
Here is what an older workforce really looks like:
Age is a number. Let’s hire people for what they can do, better and differently than anyone else.
All of these people—and the workers they represent—are the future of work.
If we want our workplaces to flourish, we need to include and develop them.
I am asking you, as HR professionals, to create the workplaces where everyone can thrive.
Where everyone is valued.
Join SHRM as we help create these better workplaces, led by HR professionals like each of you.
Thank you.
New Orleans, Louisiana
Our 2019 diversity and inclusion conference occurred in a year of heightened awareness around sexual harassment and escalating political divisions in our country. Some members had raised objections to our invitation to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees to speak at this event and to our earlier inclusion of Ivanka Trump at our earlier Employment Law and Legislative Conference. It was important for me to challenge the notion that SHRM should reject certain voices because of political differences. Diversity of thought and experience is a valid inclusion issue, and HR leaders must have the courage to identify and explore our own inherent biases.
We don’t appreciate how many of our own employees are watching us—and modeling us—our good and our not-so-good actions.
So this morning I want you to hear what I’m saying… and question yourself.
How do you respond to conflicts around politics at work?
What does being right really mean?
But Drew didn’t commit a crime. He wasn’t accused of harassing someone or discriminating against anyone. He was simply associated with a legitimate non-profit organization that holds a viewpoint that is different than theirs. And according to Drew, these are not even his views.
So he’s got to go? How about that for inclusion?
Let’s postpone the need for public-private workforce development solutions that skill up our workforces.
Let’s sit down instead of standing up for what’s right in pay equity, harassment-free workplaces, and overburdensome policies that make HR’s job so challenging.
Excluding someone—or ourselves—because some people’s views or experiences are different from our own goes against the very focus of this gathering.
You have to wonder—if you feel this way about topics outside your organizations—does this bias show up in the workplace too?
Welcome everyone to Inclusion 2019—the conference formerly known as D&I.
A lot has happened in this space.
Now maybe we should pause and unpack that word, inclusion.
Inclusion is a part of belonging. And belonging is one of the most basic needs in life (according to Maslow), just like food and shelter.
Having a seat at the table and a pathway to growth.
And feeling part of the team.
When people are excluded, here’s what happens:
They won’t do their best work.
Did you know that right now, there are many people at your organization who are thinking about leaving?
In fact, our data show about half of your workforce has considered making a move.
Well, now I want to share with you what I call the five truths about inclusion—fundamental and powerful truths to achieve real inclusion at work:
Proving the Presence of Respect
Respect in the workplace is such an important element of inclusion. And when it is absent, toxicity blooms, and everyone loses.
SHRM’s new report, The High Cost of a Toxic Workplace Culture, shows that toxicity in the workplace is rampant.
Valuing Strengths
Everyone brings different strengths to the workplace, and each are valuable.
Which brings me to the third truth:
Cultivating Inclusive Managers
True inclusion at work doesn’t happen without managers who lead inclusive workplaces.
Aspiring to an Intentional, Resilient Culture
Now, I’m also not saying that everyone should be included, all the time. Attempts to stretch your culture into one that includes absolutely everyone is going too far.
And let’s face it. That coworker who everyone knows should really just quit probably shouldn’t be invited to the meeting anyway. Not to mention those who bring their own brand of toxicity to work.
And sometimes our bias is not only triggered by how someone looks, or where they come from, but also by how someone thinks.
So, when we ask employees to bring their authentic selves to work, do we mean it?
We don’t have the right to be agreed with, but we have the right to be heard respectfully.
Inclusive workplaces encourage authentic dialogue about diversity, inclusion, acceptance, and belonging. They create space to challenge our thinking—yours and my own.
What a powerful example they provided.
Some people didn’t like it. And I would ask those people to accept that this is a damaging bias they live with.
I had to face that in myself. I know better today.
Now what about you? What have you overcome? What have you changed your mind about? How have you evolved?
Let’s put inclusion in action. You can start today to implement real, intentional inclusion at work, putting these five truths into practice.
What is one thing you intend to do right away, when you get home, to put these truths into practice and create a more inclusive culture in your workplace?
These divisions show up every day at work, and what happens at work spills over into home, family and society.
As humans, we are not good at compartmentalizing. That is why it is imperative that we— people who care about culture and our employees’ experiences—do everything we can to fix what’s wrong at work.
And when we create better workplaces, the people we serve can be better spouses, better parents, better friends, better citizens.
They go out and create a better world. Thank you for being part of this movement.
Virtual
In May 2020, businesses were absorbing a new reality: Remote workplaces were going to be a long-term feature of the COVID-19 pandemic, and HR was leading the effort to maintain business continuity through people. I coined the term “workplace first responders” to describe HR’s role during the upheaval. In this presentation, I outlined the short- and long-range future of work to predict what COVID-inspired changes were here to stay, and how HR can strive to balance lives and livelihoods in the difficult decisions we were making in real time.
There has never been a better time for the mission of Paragon Labs. SHRM launched this new division late last year as a conduit to discover, engage, and invest in start-up technologies that will empower HR to create better workplaces through innovation.
Even before the massive disruption of the pandemic, the workplace was changing drastically— and faster than many could plan for.
Everywhere I look, I see hardworking HR professionals rising to the challenge, even as they strive to balance their own families, health, and remote work.
In just a matter of days, we ushered our workforces into a COVID-19 world of telework, virtual meetings and, unfortunately, furloughs and layoffs.
We cannot underestimate this last point. Things are bad out there right now, and they will get worse. But they are going to get better too.
As difficult as it is, all business leaders must look at the current economic climate with clear, unflinching eyes.
Let me put that 1.3 trillion in perspective.
A stack of 1 million hundred-dollar bills would be 3.3 feet high—the height of a chair.
This is our reality—and it underscores the urgency as we move to safely reopen and return to work, here in California and across the country.
This is HR’s time to be strategic and lead our people and our society through this struggle. We are the ones who will put our workplaces back together—better than ever before.
Every employer is being asked to make critical, seemingly impossible trade-offs during this time, so they must be equipped with the best data available.
That’s why SHRM’s research team has been working overtime, surveying HR professionals, employers, business leaders, and others, to find the best approaches to ramping up again and adapting to the new realities.
More imperatively, remote work will become a widely accepted alternative to onsite work.
Twitter and Slack have announced that their workforces can permanently work remotely, and other tech companies will probably follow suit.
Let us remember what happens in the office. This is where diverse individuals come together to strategize, collaborate, and generate social interactions that turn the office into an idea factory.
That’s how sparks of innovation catch fire.
When you have a full understanding of your organization’s true culture, you can own it, recruit for it and promote for it.
COVID-19 is also teaching us new strategies for talent management.
Now I am going to challenge HR leaders directly on the subject of innovation.
Workplace technology, including HR tech, has been booming for years. But the HR profession still has a reputation for being tech-averse.
Finally, let me leave you with this.
Back in the 2009 financial crisis, everyone turned to chief financial officers to lead business recovery.
We’ve Seen This Movie Before: Why Diversity Efforts Fail
Good afternoon everyone, and thank you so much for inviting me to this very important Summit.
When I received the offer several weeks ago, I had a much different speech in mind.
I am going to talk to you for a few minutes about the realities of inclusion and diversity in today’s difficult climate. But then I want to spend just as much time listening to you. So I will save as much time as we can in this hour for your questions and concerns about what’s happening in our workplaces and our world.
First. I want to share that I am not a diversity expert. People make assumptions about me because I am a black CEO of an HR association.
And it keeps happening.
Almost 30 years ago, it was Rodney King.
Until it falls down the priority list once again.
That cycle of outrage, then promises, then amnesia is the real tragedy.
And in the majority of discrimination cases that make it to court, the employer knew about the unacceptable behavior and either chose to do nothing to end it, or even participated.
Today, all over the country, leaders, managers, and coworkers are trying to have difficult conversations about race—and I commend them. We are all trying to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Effective I&D also requires investing in the right expertise. Now, more than ever, organizations need to spend money and time to hire smart, academically prepared, and experienced Inclusion & Diversity experts. It’s not something people should just get promoted into because they are an HR person of color.
Look at it this way: When you hire a chief financial officer, it’s going to be a really rigorous process. You may start with an executive search firm that specializes in financial leadership. You may look across your networks and industry to see you can recruit the best in the business. And if you are a Fortune 500 company, you are going to pay them at minimum $500,000.
Diversity isn’t the goal. It’s the outcome of the organization’s efforts to cast a wide net for talent and to value people’s unique capabilities in whatever package they come in.
You see, without the I, the D is never going to be possible.
I urged the SHRM Team to commit fully to the work we do for our members every day to help them bring about positive change in workplaces that spills out into the world.
That includes rooting out bias in the workplace, standing against pay inequities, standing with people and groups who have been traditionally locked out of the workplace, elevating the importance of inclusion, and using our platform for good, around the U.S. and around the world.
I am most proud of what we call SHRM’s “Culture Club”—a hand-picked group comprising a diverse representation of the employee population the provides input directly to me on what they are seeing in our internal culture. And I will tell you that these conversations can be both uncomfortable and incredibly enlightening.
Some organizations can’t succeed because, although their workforce is diverse, they are not inclusive. Others are focused on being inclusive, but their leadership makeup tells another story.
Sure, this company, like almost every major U.S. employer, has African-American leaders on their board. And that is great. But besides the CEO, the board of directors doesn’t hire people.
You know who does? The CTO. The CFO. The chief marketing officer. And every People Manager below them.
She recognizes the hypocrisy. And she is angry. She is sad. She loses confidence.
I have been there.
And it brings up extremely complicated issues. Not only around race, but also religion, gender, culture, and so many more.
We have rampant ageism in the workplace. But it’s one of the most subtle and prolific types of discrimination.
If I may, I’d like to humbly offer some advice to the many women leaders who are on this call:
Continue to cultivate and support other women leaders. But you can achieve your objective by also including men in your mentoring.
Be intentional about both sides of inclusion and diversity throughout your organization.
Commit fully, be accountable, and be authentic.
We have that opportunity now. We can use this moment as a catalyst. We can use this moment to all do our part to fix our company cultures to be what we all want them to be.
Remember, we have been here before.
You can help stop bias, at least in your workplaces. Those of you who are executives—you can stop it. Those of you who manage people——you can stop it. Those of you who are “just” employees—You can stop it.
We can stop it.
Virtual
It was the end of a strange, difficult year. Lives had been turned upside down by a global pandemic. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement had sent outraged citizens into the streets. And the most divisive election season in living memory still had everyone on edge. High emotion flooded our workplaces, and people were trying to have difficult conversations about injustice and ideology. The lack of empathy in our society was very much on my mind. I truly believe that if businesses, led by HR, can build the empathy muscles of our leaders, managers, and employees in workplaces, we can mend the gaps of a larger society torn apart. We can create better workplaces and a better world.
The SHRM team adjusted quickly, reimagining projects and functions, having difficult conversations about injustice, and forging ahead into the unknown.
We invented new ways to keep our remote workforces engaged, and new ways to ensure we could return to work safely and confidently.
I have never been prouder or more grateful for Team SHRM. Each of them are integral to the work we do to bolster your efforts and support your work as volunteer leaders. We will continue to provide everything you need to guide you throughout the year—every year.
Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening—from wherever you are tuning in.
And this year’s award goes to a true human resources superstar—and as close to an HR household name as there is. Of course, I am talking about Dr. Dave Ulrich.
His work has shaped the HR profession as we know it—he’s been called the “father of modern HR” for his thought leadership in HR outcomes, governance, competencies, and practices.
My friends, this has been a year for the books.
Looking back to where we were in January is truly surreal. And can confidently tell you that the State of our Society is agile, resilient and ready for the future.
As you just heard from Wendi Safstrom, the SHRM Foundation has been a major player in these efforts to bring attention to untapped talent like older workers, veterans, people with disabilities, and the formerly incarcerated. I’m really proud of the incredible fundraising and partnerships the Foundation Team has gone after this year.
I also want to tell you how excited we are about Paragon Labs, SHRM’s new innovation lab and venture capital arm. By partnering with startups in the workplace technology space, we will unlock the potential of individuals and organizations to shape the future of work in areas like performance management, learning and development, and the employee experience.
I have also been able to bring SHRM’s thought leadership on the COVID response, DE&I, Second Chances and other issues to many more external audiences, nationally and globally, from the EEOC and National Association of Manufacturers to YouTube influencers and the International Organization of Employers.
One thing is clear: CEOs and CHROs across industries are hungry for our guidance in creating safe, inclusive, better workplaces.
For the first time in SHRM certification history, more than 30,000 people were granted eligibility to take either the SHRM-CP or the SHRM-SCP exam.
In another milestone, we achieved 111,000 total certified professionals, with 72 percent recertifying their SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP this year.
Thanks to all of, you, I know you each had some hand in these great numbers.
On the policy front, many of you heard earlier this week from Emily Dickens, head of government affairs, sharing our policy platforms and plans going forward.
Together, I believe we have profoundly elevated the profession, and demonstrated how HR is the key to better workplaces for a better world—in times of prosperity and adversity.
Now, I’d like to move from the State of the Society, to the state of our own, lower case, society.
Reports of domestic violence have risen sharply.
One in four people SHRM surveyed feel down and depressed often.
This is not just because of the Black Swan events of this year.
It’s not just the disruption of a global pandemic, as terrible as it has been for so many. We know there is an end point coming. People are going back to their workplaces, and as many as 40 percent never left them.
We have a truly American problem.
We have an empathy deficit.
We are increasingly tribal as a society. And we live in a world of separate identities.
If it’s not red vs. blue.
Blue collar vs white collar
Millennial vs. Baby Boomer
“Someone like you hurt me—so I’ll hurt you back.”
Lack of empathy is widespread because lacking empathy is extremely easy these days. It takes no thought and it takes no sacrifice to reject or invalidate someone else. Much of it can be done quite handily on the anonymous Internet.
Look, no one ever changed anyone else’s mind by convincing them they are wrong.
This is why SHRM’s Together Forward @Work platform focuses so much on having difficult conversations with smart guardrails.
But deep down, we really want the same thing. To make a decent living. To take care of our families. To enjoy personal freedom. To end this [damn] virus.
But we each want to do it our way. Although we have the same goals, we aren’t unified by them.
That’s because we as human beings naturally want to find shared ground.
I bring this up a lot when I talk about DE&I and the nature of inclusion. When you meet a stranger, what’s the first thing you do?
That search for commonality is what enabled early humans to survive as a species, when isolation meant death and extinction.
It was about including people in the tribe, discovering commonalities, as well as unique skills
Empathy is not a soft skill. It’s a business skill. It’s what enables people to work cooperatively with others who have very different experiences, preferences, styles, and opinions.
In measuring empathy in organizations, researchers focus on the behavior found there. And it’s on a downward slide.
That’s not it. It’s because, you, volunteer leaders, have the position and power to close the gap and build up the atrophied empathy muscles of our organizations and workplaces.
So what can you do?
79 percent would choose an empathetic employer even if it meant changing their role, industry, or career path.
83 percent would consider leaving their current organization for a similar role at a more empathetic organization.
When asked who has the most impact on building a culture of empathy, employees’ top response was their manager—not their CEO, their co-workers, or their HR leaders.
That’s why empathy is such a large part of SHRM’s People Manager Qualification.
An empathetic manager’s actions can be as simple as:
Watching for signs of overwork and stress in others.
Earlier this year, SHRM had all of our employees take the Clifton Strengths assessment. It was a great exercise to learn about the gifts and passions of each of our team members.
One member of our HR team had the idea to connect together the 20 or so employees who scored empathy as one of their top three strengths. And they meet every other Monday on Zoom to talk about manifesting empathy and understanding into our day-to-day work.
What is empathy but guiding difficult conversations about racial justice and equity at work—conversations that can change lives?
What is empathy but making sure that inclusive workplace cultures extend to differing political opinions?
Thank you Volunteer Leaders, for giving me the opportunity to talk about this issue that is so important. I hope you will take it out into the world with you.
You are the pulse of the profession, the heart of SHRM, and the empathy coaches who can build the muscles that ensure our workplaces are restored and ready for anything.
