Diversity & Inclusion
We truly understand that nurturing and sustaining diverse and inclusive leadership is a proven way for companies to make smarter decisions.
We help our clients realize organizational outcomes and business objectives by building more diverse teams and inclusive cultures. Our proprietary data shows that employees at companies with a D&I strategy experience higher levels of creativity and engagement, indicate a stronger intent to stay in their jobs and feel a stronger sense of belonging. Through both our work in the market and conversations with leaders, we have seen that engaged, inclusive and diverse leadership is critical to D&I success.
We understand the nuances of diversity across industries and geographies. At Russell Reynolds Associates, we approach our research, search and advisory work with the recognition that diversity can be inherent or acquired, ranging across gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, generations, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, veteran status, political affiliation, education, experience, age, work style, communication style, socioeconomic background, cross-cultural competency and perspective.
Inclusive Search Process to Recruit Diverse Talent
We recognize that finding the right talent is the ultimate goal.
We have decades of experience successfully recruiting exceptional board members, executives and function leaders from diverse backgrounds. We feature diversity through every aspect of the search process by understanding our clients’ specific diversity goals; leveraging our diverse networks, consultants and proprietary database; and broadening our search strategy to enhance the diversity of the candidate pool. We focus on accountability and credibility, and we continuously monitor the diversity of the candidate pool from the initial to the final stages. We also counsel clients on the creation of a more inclusive search process.Chief Diversity Officer Search
We understand the impact of outstanding D&I leadership and strategy.
We have an extensive network of cross-industry D&I professionals and advise clients on hiring chief diversity officers and how to position them for success. From our proprietary data and our experience in recruiting D&I leaders, we have seen that companies with a chief diversity officer who sets the D&I strategy are better at attracting, developing and retaining talent. These results are even stronger when the CEO partners with the chief diversity officer.
Culture Assessment
We help clients build inclusive organizations and develop inclusive leaders.
Our Inclusive Culture Advisory services present our clients with thoughtful, bespoke counsel on how to build more inclusive organizations. Our proprietary Inclusion Index is a tool that supports this service and allows CEOs and boards to quantify their organizations’ levels of inclusion, which is critical to ensuring that an organization reaps the full benefits of its diverse talent.Authentic D&I Networks and Relationships
We have decades of experience with D&I organizations and initiatives.
Our dedication to building a premier network of world-class board directors is exemplified by our founding partnership with Ariel Investments to sponsor the annual Black Corporate Directors Conference—the only event of its kind in our industry—an annual conference established over 15 years ago as a call to action for more effective corporate governance and increased diversity in organizations. This is attended by 200 African American directors and notable Hispanic directors from Fortune 250 companies.We have partnered with Stanford Women on Boards which is an alumni association of women from the Graduate School of Business, Engineering School, Medical School and Law School at Stanford University to enable increased levels of board diversity. The partnership has involved our consultants in a series of events to demystify the board search process for experienced female executives. Through this partnership, we aspire to make possible the goal that publicly traded companies headquartered in California place at least one woman on their board of directors by the end of 2019.
We are a sponsor of the 30% Club, which advocates for improved gender balance on boards and co-hosts events for women on (or aspiring to be on) top boards. Our own D&I statistics for gender diversity on boards reflect our efforts in this area—42% of our board placements in 2018 were female.
We are accredited for the FTSE 350 category of the Enhanced Voluntary Code of Conduct for Executive Search Firms, which specifically acknowledges those firms with a strong track record in and promotion of gender diversity in the FTSE 350 companies against the scope of the Davies Review. Executive search firms accredited here have collectively, since 2011, fueled the progress made against the target of having women make up 33% of FTSE 350 boards by 2020.
Our CEO, Clarke Murphy, joined a prestigious group of more than 650 CEOs in signing the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, the largest business commitment to advancing diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are proud that Clarke was the first in our industry to sign the pledge.
Our consultants are affiliated with D&I organizations across the world. We regularly host events on both the broad topic of D&I as well as specific categories within it. Our leaders are affiliated with prominent organizations, such as the Robert Toigo Foundation, the Hispanic IT Executive Council, the Women’s Foundation and the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.
