WS-4 - Operationalizing Recruitment, Retention, and DEI the Baldrige Way

Creating and sustaining a thriving workforce and workplace is critical to a successful recruitment, retention, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) organizational program. If operating in a pandemic taught us anything, it taught us just how solid and interwoven our strategic processes were or, well, were NOT. Thankfully, it has been proven over and over that an operations model steeped in the Baldrige Excellence Framework (BEF) is resilient, reliable and survivable when tested. BEF offers a solid approach to gap analysis and cycles of improvement and when combined with effective workforce and workplace strategies that focus on authenticity, transparency, innovation, data, culture and the heartbeat of our employees-leaders and operators can also THRIVE in the face of pandemics, generational workforce changes and cultural sensitivities.

In this session, we will break down recruitment and retention strategies focused on: understanding the importance and role of workplace culture; leveraging vendor partnerships for data and capturing the voice of the employee; developing and defining roles for strategic workforce committees and focus groups; develop effective employee engagement with feedback loops; and devise career development pathways through P.U.R.P.O.S.E. Driven mentoring and the #unboxme approach. Lastly, we will address developing an authentic and trustworthy DEI strategy focused on: identifying and understanding current demography in the workplace and how that impacts culture; examine what DEI in the workplace encompasses; and provide action steps on how to create a thriving, inclusive workplace culture where all employees feel safe, valued, and heard. Participants will leave with sound strategies to self-assess, create or redefine, and deploy or redeploy their own recruitment, retention and DEI programs.