At IBM, diversity plays a core role in the way employees approach their company culture. By employing a group of diversity and inclusion leaders along with an array of business resource groups, the company can scale its strategy while staying true to its belief that a diverse, inclusive workforce is a stronger workforce.
The company’s diversity strategy is made possible by the efforts of team members like Joy Dettorre and Ella Slade, who as key members of IBM’s team, are invested in creating a company atmosphere that’s inclusive and equitable.
Dettorre is currently serving as IBM’s global head of diversity, equity, and inclusion, playing a key role in the company’s desire to advance while innovating through diverse talent.
Slade works as IBM’s Global LGBTQ+ Leader, working with IBM employees around the world to ensure IBM is a place where LGBTQ+ employees can thrive.
Together, alongside numerous other diversity leaders at IBM, they work to uphold the four pillars of inclusion and equity at the company, creating a work atmosphere that gives voice to underrepresented groups.
At IBM, each diversity leader plays a role in overseeing one of the various protected communities.
Dettorre says, “We have a Black diversity leader, a Hispanic diversity leader, a Native American diversity leader. We. have leaders that cover women, LGBTQ+, people with diverse abilities, veterans, and the Asian community.”
She adds, “The reason I am highlighting this is because it’s a really unique structure. IBM has a mission that says, ‘How do we make the world a better place?’ And that is what makes our structure unique. There are not a lot of organizations that have dedicated full-time [diversity] leaders which serve a specific community.”
Outside of the United States, IBM employs diversity leaders who focus their work on implementing effective inclusion and equity strategies that will support their local workforce.
Giving context to the true scale of IBM’s diversity and inclusion efforts, Dettorre says, “When you take what we call “business resource groups” — these are employee groups — we have 300 business resource groups worldwide. They span 47 countries, and we touch about 32,000 employees. That’s how we scale our D&I strategy globally.”
She continues, “When you think about the mission of diversity and inclusion in IBM and our four strategic pillars, everybody has a strategy for diversity and inclusion. But what I think makes IBM unique is that we have dedicated employees focused on our communities, because who’s my number one client? The IBM employee.”
At IBM, creating an atmosphere where employees feel “psychologically safe” is a priority. The roles of Dettorre and Slade ensure that their colleagues feel as though they are “in a trustworthy environment.”
As IBM employees, each individual should feel they have the opportunity to grow within the company. It’s not only about attracting diverse talent but about providing a workplace where such talent can grow and thrive while maintaining their unique singularity.
Dettorre told us the questions they often ask themselves as diversity and inclusion leaders are, “What are the programs? What are the initiatives? How are we not only bringing people in, but enabling talent transformation once they arrive? How are we making sure they have opportunities to develop, to grow, and to lead?”
The hope is that questions such as these will spark answers to improve retention and engagement at IBM.
Dettorre remarks that IBM refuses to accept a “good enough” attitude, and wants to achieve excellence, particularly in their diversity efforts. This is in line with the company’s longstanding history of promoting equality and fighting discrimination, dating back to 1953 when the organization’s first equal opportunity policy was written.
Discussing the importance of the Equality Act to IBM, Dettorre says that the company’s leaders are active advocates for passing additional legislation to protect marginalized communities in the workplace.
She says, “It is not lost on IBM, with corporate headquarters in Armonk, NY, that LGBTQ+ Americans aren’t fully protected from discrimination in 29 States. Our CEO has been a strong advocate. We have senior leaders who sit in hearings with legislators and government officials for four hours answering questions.”
“Although the Equality Act resonates within the United States, its guidelines, principles, guideposts align with our IBM values,” Dettorre continues. “It’s not only about where we do business. It’s about being a good corporate citizen in the communites that IBMers call home”
Dettorre goes on to explain that IBM’s approach to inclusion is consistent across all international branches of the organization.
Dettorre says that at IBM, being advocates means influencing legislation, above and beyond IBM’s organizational priorities. This advocacy aligns with the company’s growth principles and values.
Adding to Dettorre’s comments about diversity and inclusion, Slade offers key information about IBM’s approach to the trans community and its framework for integrating more support for trans individuals into the workplace.
“In terms of our transition framework, it was created quite a few years ago by our trans community, and a team of learning experts, and by [Joy] herself as well. We did a great piece of work last year to refresh and review the content that was part of that framework,” they say.
“The changes were not big, which was actually really reassuring,” they continue. “There were small language tweaks here and there, like expanding definitions. Our understanding of gender is continuously evolving and our language and vocabulary is continuously evolving. So we are mainly expanding some things to incorporate that.”
Slade told us that at IBM, the goal is to help individuals know the workplace offers a place of community and opportunity for trans employees “even before those employees come out.” They add, “We really want them to explore [their identity] and feel they that can have the confidence to come out.”
A major part of IBM’s inclusion efforts for trans employees begins with educating the organization’s members. Through storytelling, IBM offers a basic understanding of gender and identity, structured for individuals who may be newly exposed to the conversation.
Slade says, “I know that lots of organizations are super on it now when it comes to pronouns. And you know, as someone that uses they/them pronouns myself, it’s amazing and it’s really helpful. We’ve had the ability to set pronouns as part of our HR system and on our employee directory for quite a few years. Now, we have it on our email signatures, on our Slack channels, etc. But we really felt we needed something slightly more impactful and to come from our leaders.”
How did they make the impact they wanted? “Last summer, we created a video featuring some of our most senior leaders at IBM, including our CEO,” Slade says. “And it was just an internal video of IBM leaders and community members saying, ‘This is me, these are my pronouns, this is my job, this is why I share my pronouns, and why I feel that sharing my pronouns is important.’”
Their idea worked to great effect. “The feedback [they] got from the community was truly phenomenal,” says Slade. “I think it’s really helped [spread awareness about pronouns in the workplace at IBM].”