The Why: An active member in organizations like WICT, NAMIC and the Society for Human Resource Management, Chan takes inclusive leadership lessons and applies them to her team of more than 100 employees. It’s led to initiatives like Charter’s implementation of a minimum starting wage of $20/hour for all employees—which Chan’s team was central to rolling out—and the introduction of enhanced compensation and career progression for frontline employees.
She Says… “Along with life experiences, personalities and mindset shape a person’s perspective and contributions to an organization.”
What practices should be adopted to make the hiring process more inclusive? I think it starts with ensuring job descriptions and postings are inclusive and the focus is on the job responsibilities and skillsets necessary to do the job effectively. Ensuring that career sites and job searches are accessible to people with disabilities and expanding the talent pool where you promote your jobs is also important.
What is an overlooked aspect of DEI? I think more often than not the focus of DEI can be on the visible differences and similarities. What’s often overlooked is the full range of visible and invisible characteristics, which make each of us unique—such as socioeconomic background, education, parental status, religion, geographic region and more. Along with life experiences, personalities and mindset shape a person’s perspective and contributions to an organization.
How has advocating for DEI benefited your company or department? At Charter, we are committed to D&I in every aspect of our business. And we are committed to being local—so we recruit and hire from the communities where we live and work. We believe that when our workforce mirrors the community around us and the customers we serve, we are able to provide high quality products and services that exceed our customers’ expectations.