Member Perspective: Rosa Torres

Guest Commentator:Rosa Torres, IT Manager, Avendra (Division of Aramark), Aramark @Aramark

How can businesses leverage Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to promote inclusion of employees who are minorities?

Imagine your ideal employee. You know, the one in your organization that takes a chance and shares his/her ideas, who speaks up, is proactive and looks for opportunities to collaborate with others. They are the person asking “How can I help? Or replying with “I can help you with that, here is how.”

This energy comes from a certain place. It comes from feeling purposeful and included.

Company leaders understand that employees who engage with their co-workers, clients, and customers and have opportunities to be innovative in how they solve problems and serve others will feel purposeful.

These purpose-driven employees are more likely to be proactive, go above and beyond their responsibilities and look for opportunities to contribute.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, when an employee does not feel included or feels that their differences set them apart, they disengage. They do not take the risk to stand out and instead, fall back, becoming invisible to management.

At Aramark, people are at the cornerstone of everything we do, from running our business and engaging our employees, to empowering healthy consumers, building local communities, and sourcing in an ethical and inclusive way. Our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are voluntary, employee-led groups made up of individuals who come together based on common interests, backgrounds or demographic factors such as gender, race or ethnicity. In my experience as co-founder of Aramark’s Latinx ERG, Impacto, I saw first-hand how direct engagement from executive sponsors, business leaders, and members created a more inclusive workplace.

Implementing and aiding such initiatives begins with understanding what diversity and inclusion are.

Having diversity in the workplace is having a range of employees with various backgrounds, experiences, and interests. Diversity is, therefore, a company goal. Inclusion is an action, taken to include others into a group.

Being inclusive begins when we, individually, are open to embracing other’s differences and proceeds with us, collectively, creating an environment where people are given opportunities to participate and contribute.

Having all this knowledge is great, but developing an executable plan for inclusion initiatives takes dedication from a team of people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and roles. These diverse team members can often be found in ERGs. These groups should be seen as critical resources.

Businesses should seek to fully leverage the “resource” piece of the employee resource group by including their members in company initiatives.

Because when companies tie their ERGs to business goals they are advocating inclusion.

These goals may include efficiency of operations, customer service engagement, innovation, employee retention, and other business objectives. Inclusion can make a positive impact on business goals, as I saw directly with Impacto.

Impacto was established to support our clients, customers and employees, with a mission to provide impactful contributions that build a multicultural and adept workforce, inclusive workplace and be a valuable resource for Hispanic market place insights. We have served as advisors and business partners to our clients, who manage a predominantly Latinx customer base. We have also provided support and resources to our managers who are responsible for a large Latinx workforce, and we have connected, engaged and created growth opportunities for our members and board officers.

Our message, Impacto is everyone, has led our mission for inclusion from its inception. It is for everyone who wants to learn more about the growing Latinx population, workforce and consumer markets and their influences.

Impacto has expanded nationally with hubs in Philadelphia, Southern California, Dallas, Chicago and South Florida, and through its success, has created a more inclusive work environment.

The Chamber’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative (DEI) focuses on workforce, workplace, and marketplace diversity as keys to economic competitiveness while working to highlight diverse employee populations that are underrepresented in the region.

Activating Neurodiverse Workplaces: A Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program
Tuesday, February 25, 2020 | Conference Center at the Chamber

Meet employers who are updating their recruitment practices to accommodate a neurodiverse workforce that respect and acknowledge neurological differences.