Tech & Innovation Blog
Life @ ADP S3EP1: Talent Market Trends and What Candidates Want
Life @ ADP, Career Advice, What We Do
“Sometimes your career may feel like a ladder and sometimes like a jungle gym, and that’s okay.”
Season 3 Episode 1: Talent Market Trends and What Candidates Want
Welcome back to Life@ADP, the podcast that offers career advice and stories from our associates and recruiters around the globe. We’re thrilled to kick off season three with our first episode, featuring Tracy S. and Glenn D. from ADP’s Talent Acquisition.
Tracy has been with ADP for 15 years, leading recruitment worldwide in sales and marketing; Glenn joined in 2016, leading recruitment for executive leadership and tech talent.
In this episode, they join our hosts, Ingrid and Kate, to share their career journeys, offer advice for job seekers, and discuss how ADP helps businesses navigate the modern workplace. Listen to the full podcast episode here.
“Sometimes your career may feel like a ladder and sometimes like a jungle gym, and that’s okay,” Glenn said. “Don’t be afraid to take on new responsibilities, learn new things, and challenge your way of thinking.”
“Be your authentic self and ask questions that are meaningful to you,” Tracy said. “This is how you get the answers and determine if the career path matches you.”
ADP Talent Acquisition
Hearing from the Recruiters
Tracy and Glenn also shared the trends in the job market and what recruiters look for in candidates, highlighting the importance of adaptability, positivity, resilience, intellectual curiosity, and a collaborative attitude. They noted that candidates are looking for good company culture, mental health support, flexibility in their work, and career progression.
“You’re seeing a shift in the market where it’s candidate-driven,” Glenn said. “While compensation is a key factor, culture has become the most predominant thing.”
Recruiters ask themselves: How will the candidates leverage positive traits into this role? They found successful employees take the time to learn, grow, and care about others across the team.
“We have a culture of collaboration and innovation here,” Glenn said. “People bring their full selves to work.”
“ADP values integrity, respect, teamwork, and innovation,” Tracy said. “Supporting each other is what ADP is all about.”
We take pride in creating an environment for associates from all backgrounds, putting diversity and inclusion into practice.
Learning and Growing Together
Glenn notes that candidates are taking the time to research the company and its culture before they even come in for an interview and are looking for consistency between what they see online and what they experience in person.
“As a large company, what can we do to help? Some of it may be environmental work, and some may be helping the communities we serve,” Tracy said. “We celebrate historical events by connecting with communities and diving into associates’ stories.”
Associates are encouraged to join a Business Resource Group (BRG) that is personal to them. For example, ADP’s International Women’s Inclusion Network (iWIN) has a mission to engage, equip and empower women to achieve personal and professional success.
From building career workshops to celebrate their individuality through outreach programs like International Women’s Month, Black History Month, and Pride Month, ADP’s talent acquisition has meaningful conversations internally and encourages external learning opportunities.
“Associates come together and share their experiences on BRG events, networking and exchanging feedback,” Tracy said. “We make sure everyone feels welcomed and valued.”
Life @ ADP is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Music. Listen to the full episode here or on your preferred podcast player!
Interested in the unique culture and career opportunities at ADP?
Visit who we hire and our current openings.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Roberto S. Named ADP Inventor of the Year: This is How We Roll
Innovation, Future of Work, What We Do
We thrive on innovation and turning ideas into action. Anyone can be an inventor and an innovator.
When Roberto S. joined ADP, he never imagined how far he’d “Roll.”
He started his ADP journey by working as a Machine Learning Engineer. In May 2022, he moved from the Brazil Labs to the Innovation Lab in Roseland and was awarded the ADP 2022 Inventor of the Year.
ADP’s Inventor of the Year recognizes an associate who develops products with great features. Tech associates submit a summary of the invention to the ADP Patient Program, providing a unique solution to a challenge.
Roll is the first digital AI/ML HCM solution for small businesses, offering payroll, time and attendance, and more. Everything a small business needs for running HR & payroll in a simple chat-based mobile application. Roberto’s patents have driven Roll from an idea on a whiteboard to a real in-market offering.
“Roberto’s contributions to ADP and, specifically, Roll, has been invaluable, and how he focuses on driving technology forward and innovating to create new technology makes him so successful,” Roberto Masiero, SVP of Innovation, said. “It’s no surprise he’s been named the Inventor of the Year!”
ADP recognizes the hard work and innovative efforts that go into filing a patent application. Every inventor named on a patent application receives a monetary award for each utility and each design. Roberto was chosen based on his contributions, providing technically detailed and sound documentation.
Machine Learning in Roll
The machine learning models Roberto designed for Roll use a chat interface to interact with clients. In the process, Roberto and his team developed a variety of NLPS (Natural Language Processing) technologies for Roll in the intent classification, questioning, and answering domains.
On a weekly basis, the team meets to discuss strategic and tactical developmental ideas for Roll, including a technical paper reading session, in which they collectively brainstorm ideas to help make a better application.
“Developing technologies for Roll is a never-ending process of asking questions and learning,” Roberto said. “This is a team effort. I’m only the messenger and sometimes the guy poking everybody with links and technical articles.” On the team, he gives kudos to Guilherme G., Roberto C., Carlos N., and Juliano V.
The Team’s Patent Process
Roberto sees the patent process as a method to transform ideas into a formal document that will increase ADP’s innovative power on the market. “There is always a great team working behind the scenes to help engineers describe a solution and ensure this initial description will make it to a patent, with all the legal aspects covered,” Roberto said.
As the Inventor of the Year, Roberto encourages other inventors to keep in touch with the patent team to understand the process and give their ideas a try.
Advice for Technologists
“My career journey has been a remarkable, fun 5-year ride at ADP,” Roberto said. “If you’re considering a tech career, I’d encourage you to apply to ADP because this is where you can bring your ideas forward, receive feedback, and try new things.”
Transformation is at the heart of what makes ADP unique. With innovation rooted in our values, ADP continues to provide opportunities such as our patent program, showcasing ideas from associates at all levels.
“It is always important to ask yourself how the idea will benefit ADP,” Roberto said. “Keep your minds open and study new areas and domains. Sometimes the innovation happens in the intersection of domains of expertise!”
#MachineLearning #MachineLearning #HCM #Technologists #Roll #Inventor
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Tech & Innovation Blog
Data Privacy: The Future is Now
Innovation, Tech Trends, Career Insights
As a leader in the industry that collects a wide range of data from employees, we ensure the information is safe with us.
Say you met a technologist at a hackathon and want to connect with the person more. Instead of exchanging business cards like before, you’ll likely pull out your phone and exchange information digitally.
From LinkedIn profiles, Instagram usernames, hometown, and family relationships to mentions in articles from years ago, the internet and digital world do not erase one’s footprints in most cases.
With all information and data becoming digitalized in the 21st century, it’s time to utilize them in a way that’s never been done before. Data is not just your social media photo or where you went for vacation; it can be numbers and confidential information from financial to hospital records.
We recently had the opportunity to speak with Xiaojing W., our Distinguished Engineer who advocates for data privacy and user-respectful interactions. She shared with us some ways she keeps applications safe and secured at ADP.
Why Data Privacy is important
By Xiaojing W., Distinguished Engineer
On September 7, 2017, a consumer credit reporting agency announced that it had breached the data of approximately 143 million U.S. consumers, including customers’ names, dates of birth, social security, driver’s license, and credit card numbers. These incidents resulted in a loss of consumer trust, therefore, future business opportunities.
ADP takes pride in building applications that put customers’ privacy first with holistic security and privacy practices. In fact, our Chief Data Officer developed a holistic privacy framework instilling the privacy culture and centrally managing the practices in daily data operations. 
Here are some of our methods:
- Identification and classification of sensitive information as a part of data governance and management
- Implementation of enterprise-level and system-level data observability/monitoring
- Safeguarding information through various data security controls and advanced technologies such as privileged access management credential choices, secured APIs, file shares, and encryption through data’s entire lifecycle Implementation of Data Management Capability Assessment Model (DCAM) measurement processes to make privacy and security auditable
When it comes to creating a trusting experience for users, we have five best practices to share:
- Engage users in setting the privacy boundaries they want while getting the desired functionalities.
- Build a consistent consent model whenever we collect or use data
- Always include a system of consent receipts for auditing
- Bring full transparency and visibility into why we collect the data, how the data is processed/stored, and with whom we share the data
- Practice minimal data collection and store only the necessary data for future operations
With over 1M clients (about the population of Delaware in the United States), ADP pays more than 38M workers worldwide (about the population of California in the United States), and just in the US alone, we reach nearly 20% of the private US workforce.
As a leader in the industry that collects a wide range of data from employees, we make sure the information is safe with us. At the same time, we pay attention to the design process, ensuring a safe, user-friendly experience for everyone involved.
Here are five design patterns for creating user-respectful and privacy-aware interactions:
- Users must actively opt-in to having their data collected and used
- Users must give consent to every type of data processing activity
- Users must be allowed to withdraw their consent easily at any time
- Users should be able to check every organization and all third parties that will handle the data
- Use just-in-time data collection
Tech Trend: All about Data
Data is always changing, which means more people want ways to keep their information private. This has led to the development of new techniques that preserve user information in large datasets.
Here are four types of technologies that are getting attention in the industry:
- De-identification: we remove or encrypt PII and CII. Multiple techniques, such as tokenization, K-anonymization, and pseudo-anonymization, are provisioned within a Single Global Data Platform (SGDP).
- Differential Privacy: The idea is to add a layer of privacy by adding noise to the original data sets. The new sets make it extremely difficult to infer information about a single individual, while the accuracy of the data analysis and machine learning tasks is not compromised too much.
- Synthetic Data: is algorithmically generated data that mirrors the patterns and composition of the original dataset. Synthetic data can be significant for engineers to test with production-like data. It is also widely used for training the machine learning models used in fraud detection systems and applications with no data or hard-to-get initial data.
- Zero-knowledge proof: Utilizing cryptographic technology, a claimant can validate assertions of confidential information to its verifier without disclosing the details. By leveraging blockchain-based decentralized identity ledger, individuals and companies can easily control who has access to their digital identities. This provides trustful proof of identity, making it easier for users to manage credentials across the web securely.
You may ask, how does the new landscape in data privacy change our product design thinking?
To better understand our clients and the needs of their employees, we must have a comprehensive view of who they are (i.e., profile data) and what they do, and how that impacts their day-to-day (i.e. behavior).
By following HBR‘s new data privacy rules, our products will empower users with trustworthy technology solutions.
Our private permissioned blockchain also safeguards highly sensitive personal data while simultaneously allowing individuals complete control. This innovative technology enables ADP to craft new products and services that benefit employees and clients.
Closing Thoughts
Data privacy isn’t the Privacy Officers’ job; it’s a collective responsibility. As engineers who are often tasked with the technical aspects of securing sensitive data, we must understand the landscape of privacy-enhancing tools and technologies.
Keep in mind that we must stay up to date with the changes in the data industry as our users trust us with their information. Taking care of the trust and protecting the data should be everyone’s top priority.
#Data #DataPrivacy #WomeninStem #Automation #UserExperience
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Tech & Innovation Blog
Accessibility and Tech: Driving Change at ADP
Impact, What We Do, Diversity
“To me, ADP Tech is Complex, Nuanced, and Comprehensive.”
Before we dive in, get to know our author!
Kelsey H., Head of Accessibility, leads accessibility efforts with the mission to ensure ADP’s product teams deliver fully accessible, disability-inclusive experiences to our users. From writing a monologue to performing on Broadway, she went from studying musical theatre to becoming an accessibility professional. She enjoys hiking and bicycling with her husband and Blue Heeler dog Ollie.
Accessibility and Tech: Driving Change at ADP
By Kelsey H., Head of Accessibility
Kelsey and her husband
Coming to ADP
I came to ADP because it was an opportunity to impact the disability employment divide directly and positively. As an HCM software company, we can empower people to obtain and maintain employment through inclusivity. This is an important goal for me, recognizing a significant number of people in the disability community are un- or under-employed. Technology can be empowering – we have such an opportunity to use technology for good!
Designing for All People
I firmly believe qualifying the word “people” with “all” is important. We’re always designing for *all* people because we want to include everyone. I wish we didn’t have to qualify for that, but we live in a world where we are still breaking down barriers. It’s time to recognize our differences and learn that different ways people exist make our world work – the voices we each have bring meaning and enhance our understanding of community.
My Story – How it Began
I’m not sure if how I got here was entirely “intentional.” My path has been long and winding – it wasn’t planned, and it’s changed at many junctures. There’s something special in seeing a door open and pursuing it wholeheartedly, even if it’s not what you originally planned or saw yourself doing.
I have disabilities and medical conditions, which certainly have both indirectly and directly guided me on my path to my current career – I grew up surrounded by disabilities in a variety of ways. A big part of my background has informed how I show up as an advocate in the disability community and an accessibility professional.
I was trained as a speech-language pathologist, teacher of the deaf, assistive technology specialist, and language/literacy professional. During my career journey, I’ve worked in various sectors, such as early intervention, K-12 education, community transition, sub-acute rehabilitation, higher education, and at large corporations.
The disability community has nurtured me through every opportunity to grow, and I thrive on learning something new every day. The late Stella Young said, “Having a disability doesn’t make you exceptional, but questioning what you think you know about it does,” and truer words have not been stated.
This is not a field for “ego.” Accessibility is a space of constant learning. I arrived at this work by following the path that unfolded before me, trusting myself and the community, and always being willing to wonder, “what if?”
Leading the Accessibility Team
Accessibility is a critical and foundational aspect of the user experience.
I love conceptualizing the positive impact we at ADP can have on disability employment. There is so much work to be done in this space, and this is work that matters. It directly impacts people’s lives.
Accessibility professionals are unique – many of us are members of the disability community or have loved ones who are. The path is both great and challenging. It can be difficult to advocate for your rights and the rights of those in your community while living in the world as a person with disabilities.
The level of empathy accessibility professionals have is unmatched. I also find so much creativity, mindfulness, love, and care leading accessibility teams because the work is often so misunderstood early on that it takes strong comradery and partnership. It’s such a joy leading and growing accessibility teams!
Getting Involved in the Tech Community
At my previous employer, I co-founded their Disability-focused Employee Business Network, DIG (the Disability Inclusion Group). I was so excited to know ADP has a Disability-focused Business Resource Group (BRG), Thrive. I am currently the Vice President of North America, serving Thrive! As for conferences, I attend many – because of my certifications, I must keep up with many continuing education hours.
Here are the conferences I usually attend. I hope to see you there and if you see me, make sure you say, “hi!”
- Assistive Technology Industry Association Conference (ATIA)
- CSUN Accessibility Conference
- ICT Testing Symposium
- Disability: IN Annual Conference
- Inclusive Design 24 (#ID24)
If accessibility is new or something you are curious about, here are three pieces of encouragement I have for you:
- Keep learning – just when you feel like you’re figuring things out, assume there’s more to learn about disability and accessibility (and that’s okay).
- Progress over perfection – accessibility is never done. It’s a forever journey that makes products better, stronger, more usable, and more innovative.
- Never lose your wonder – I cannot stress this enough. Wonder about disabled people. Wonder about accessibility. Never stop asking questions, even if you don’t get concrete answers. I fear many professionals, particularly in corporate environments, have lost their ability to wonder. I think this is dangerous!
Photo credits to Disabled And Here Project by photographer Chona Kasinger
It is okay not to know everything and to sit in wonder – it reminds us life is complex and nothing is entirely sure. This is true of accessibility sometimes, too. And I think there’s beauty in working in a field that does not always have a concrete answer. Sometimes we must pave the way through a great unknown!
Leadership: Making an Impact
Kelsey and her husband
I’ve shared my journey and how I entered this impactful role at ADP. So, what does the future look like? Well, I hope to be a catalyst for people’s understanding of accessibility. Everyone has a stake in creating accessible and inclusive experiences – whether it’s due to a person or a peripheral connection. The disability community is the largest under-represented population in the world, and it’s also the one anyone can become a part of at any time.
With age often comes disability. Accidents happen that change how people navigate the world. We are a highly connected society that expects physical and digital access. I remember a non-disabled designer once telling another non-disabled designer, “You’re not designing for the current you; you’re designing for the future you.”
Disability is a natural part of any living being’s community and experience. It is a way to exist in the world. If I do nothing else, I hope I can help impact people’s understanding of disability and the role(s) they must play in making or breaking someone’s ability to show up and engage.
Listen to and learn from the disability community. Understand their experiences – include them in conceptualizing and building products. Don’t assume their needs and make choices on their behalf of them. Make mindful choices with them.
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
Search for your next move, and visit Who We Hire.
#Accessibility #Disability #Community #DesigningForAllPeople #Technology
Data’s Power to Inform Decisions in Business and Work
When faced with decisions to make — no matter the topic or implication — it’s human nature to seek data. We all want information to help us make the right choice, to prove our assumptions, to validate the courses of action we’re about to take. In business, data is driving important decisions in marketing, operations, logistics and other essential business functions. We’ve seen that the insights drawn from data can provide a reliable path to better outcomes.
But data about people has perhaps never been valued like it is today. People data is propelling better assessments about the workforce and the global economy. From hiring to compensation to promotion and everything in between, each data point reveals a truth that can help business leaders and human capital management (HCM) professionals make better choices when it comes to their workforce. Collectively, such data-driven decisioning can unlock the doors to a more diverse, equitable and inclusive world of work.
How Data Can Inform People Decisions
With the technological tools we have today, we can mine and use real-time data to track important HR metrics, but more importantly, we can proactively help solve HR issues like turnover and retention. Through aggregated and anonymized real-time data, we can start to see trends emerge and even predict the likelihood. Data detailing how long people stay at a job, how much they earn and how often they get promoted can help businesses get a clearer picture of where they stand against the backdrop of the global economy. For example, analyzing their people data enabled one company to discover the reasons for involuntary turnover in their organization. Using these insights, they changed processes, procedures, and policies, which resulted in a 20% reduction in turnover.
Benchmarking data – knowing what other businesses in your industry or geography are paying – can also mean the difference between attracting talent to your organization or losing them to a competitor. Today’s labor marketplace has more jobs than candidates and is in constant flux. Companies need to know how they compare to others on compensation, benefits, and other key employment factors. In this environment, having up-to-date HR intelligence is crucial.
Data as a Flashlight
There’s no question that having access to this level of detail in your people data can help make your organization more competitive in the talent marketplace. But perhaps more importantly, this transparency into your people analytics can help you identify gaps in representation and equity and take meaningful steps to close them. There’s a need in society to continue to push forward with creating an inclusive environment for everybody, and the first way to advance that goal is by measuring progress. If you can’t measure progress, then you can’t adequately assess whether you’re making improvements to people’s situations.
Examining a critical DEI challenge, let’s consider pay equity. At the end of the day, there’s nothing more important than making sure that people are paid correctly and fairly for their contributions. In the past, it’s been difficult to accurately assess differences in compensation. We’ve known for some time about gender pay inequities but they’re often too high-level for companies to tangibly action against. The resulting discussions around the root of the issue and how to fix it also become too high-level in response. This doesn’t help leaders and HR professionals who want to reduce pay inequity in their organizations. By analyzing internal HR data and then comparing it to benchmarks across industry, demographic, geography, function and job titles, companies can now pinpoint where their organization is missing the mark.
One misconception is that hiring people at a better rate of pay will help close the gap. If you bring people in, you’re not actually creating upward mobility inside of the organization. By examining compensation across a wide range of job titles and companies and evaluating what it really means for somebody to move up, organizations can better understand where they might need to adjust course.
Pay transparency is another important and often forgotten element to closing pay gaps. Data can empower and giving employees more information about the pay of their colleagues and for similar roles in their industries can help workers across underrepresented groups gain negotiating leverage.
Data can help organizations resolve these inequities proactively, resulting in higher employee retention and better talent acquisition. Data helps you see around corners and acts as a flashlight into dark places on your path forward. We can use data to identify when people aren’t paid to the level that they should be paid. We can create tools to plan and budget to adjust for those pay gaps. Ultimately, the goal is to turn real-time data into actionable insights and workplace solutions that help businesses and people thrive. By February 2022, 75% of clients using the solution have shown improvement in pay equity, making a $1.1B impact on communities in the US.
Driving Change through Data
It’s important for organizations to reflect on what’s visible within their people analytics, looking for the context and connections that create uneven effects. When patterns emerge, examine what happened earlier to understand potential causes and tailor proposed solutions. When it comes to creating a better, more equitable world of work, focus on removing barriers to progress and building programs and policies into your workplace culture that allow your employees to show up as their best selves. By using data to channel your efforts, you can effect meaningful change and become part of the benchmark that challenges others to follow suit.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Forrest Gump Teaches Everything That Matters About Networking
Career Development, Voice of Our People, Career Advice
Whether you are networking to expand your connections, interviewing, or having a career discussion with a mentor, create the best experience possible.
Forrest Gump Teaches Everything That Matters About Networking
By Liz Gelb-O’Connor, Global Head of Employer Brand & Marketing
Earlier this fall, I had the pleasure of attending one of ADP’s HR Master Classes led by Jason Delserro, our Chief Talent Acquisition Officer. The class was a quick thirty minutes and presented incredibly useful tips on intentional networking. All fast and insightful tips presented under the context of lessons learned from Forrest Gump.
Most people have seen the 1994 Academy award-winning movie featuring a younger Tom Hanks. Not only does Forrest extend himself to strangers, but he greets his old friend Dan with the exuberance he feels based on what he perceives as the value of their relationship. Because of Forrest, Dan ends up in a much better place. Forrest goes on to inspire millions with his run across the country.
There is something so simple yet powerful about how Forrest sees and interacts with the world and draws people in. Whether connecting with new people to expand our personal networks, requesting an exploratory discussion about current or future career opportunities, or actively interviewing for a new job, how can we harness the same magical power and incorporate it into successful and enriching interactions?
Reinforced during the talk was the intentional nature of great networking, including a cognitive exchange of ideas and information between people, leveraging commonality, special interests, and/or opportunity.
Four Questions suggested that you should ask yourself before networking or interviewing:
- What can I learn about this person before meeting with them?
- What do we have in common?
- What’s important to this person, or is there a problem I can help this person solve?
- What can I offer this person?
Here are some common pitfalls Jason mentioned that people should be aware of, especially when meeting with senior leaders or in the context of career discussions. Just remember, preparation and effort pay off in forming positive and lasting impressions.
Things to avoid:
- Not preparing or doing your research
- Not respecting people’s time
- Coming in too casual
- Lengthy and dense presentations
- Not following up on takeaways!
Researching a person you plan to meet with can be quick and effective. Use LinkedIn and study the profile of the person you are meeting before connecting or interviewing. Pro tip: They can see who has viewed their profile and will know you invested the time. For internal resources on colleagues, look at internal collaboration portals and internal profiles. If you are meeting with an executive, they might have been featured in company videos or blogs. Review their work. 
Whether leveraging a LinkedIn profile, article, or even their Instagram account, a well-placed comment or observation can go a long way in making a meaningful connection and creating commonality.
To summarize, whether you are networking to expand your personal connections, interviewing, having a career discussion with a mentor, or just someone willing to give you thirty minutes of their time, create the best experience possible.
Remember to do these things:
- Research/prep
- Find common ground
- Schedule for 30 minutes and plan for 15
- Be authentic!
- Ask, “How can I help you?”
- Follow-up
- Send a ‘Thank You’ note for their time.
Based on Jason’s advice, it’s that simple. Or, to quote Forrest, “That’s all he has to say about that.”
Interested in a tech career at ADP?
Click here to search for your next move, and visit Who We Hire.
How Technology Is Evolving to Bridge the Gaps of the Dynamic Shifts in the Talent Landscape
JOBS & UNEMPLOYMENT
Bridging the Talent Gap With Data-Driven Technology
CONTRIBUTOR
ADP
PUBLISHED
OCT 20, 2022 1:53PM EDT
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By Don Weinstein, Corporate Vice President of Global Product and Technology at ADP
With their priorities shifted by the pandemic, today’s workforce wants more from their employers, including greater flexibility, better work-life integration and a heightened focus on diversity, equity and inclusion – and they are willing to make a change to get what they want. We’ve seen more workers re-evaluating their place of employment, with seven in 10 workers saying they’ve considered a career move in the past year. Despite anecdotes to the contrary, we remain in a tight labor market, and the best way to get in front of the ongoing hiring challenge is to start by holding onto your experienced workers. By leveraging new data-driven technologies to create engaging work environments, today’s business leaders can confidently bridge the talent gap and create a more engaged workforce.
In this age of the employee, it is critical HR leaders continually assess their employment brand to find ways to improve the worker experience. Is your workplace environment truly inclusive? Are you giving employees challenging work that leverages their strengths? Are you taking care of their health and welfare needs? Leaders need to ask themselves these questions, while deploying data-driven HR technologies that can help identify the right solutions. For example, personalized worker surveys can help employers better understand their workplace culture and predict potential retention challenges. Another important tool is skills mapping, which breaks down jobs into a set of inter-related skills, enabling employers to mine internal applicants for potential fits as well as career development opportunities. The same technology can also assist your external recruiting function, by broadening potential talent pools to look at all relevant candidates, including those from non-traditional backgrounds.
The evolution of HR tech accelerated when our ways of working were upended a couple years ago. But these changes have kept the industry dynamic and ignited new innovations. As we look to the future, we see a lot of promise in these areas of HR tech:
AI and machine learning for sourcing talent in hard-to-fill jobs: Algorithms are being deployed to find novel talent pools to source candidates through skills matching and retargeting. These algorithms also play a bigger role in upskilling tomorrow’s workforce, providing insights on skills-based learning and career pathing that can help guide and advance employees’ careers.
Technology-driven advancements for building more diverse and inclusive workforces: Skills matching can help uncover capable candidates from non-traditional backgrounds. Sentiment analysis can be used to assess employee perceptions on the overall level of inclusiveness in the workplace. And machine learning can help identify and correct workplace equity gaps.
Of course, these approaches will be effective only if companies remain agile during times of change. Leaders need to ensure that the right systems are in place to optimize their teams’ ability to deliver good work and to adapt as the environment shifts. Essentially, businesses need technology designed for how work gets done, so they can more easily adjust at the pace of change.
You can hear more about these emerging HR technology trends, what’s to come and how to stay agile in my Nasdaq TradeTalks interview below:
Tech & Innovation Blog
Accessibility: Designing for All People
Impact, What We Do, Diversity
The pandemic has shifted many activities online, and if groups are not taking action to support those who need access, we are losing valuable opportunities to connect.
Accessibility: Designing for All People
By Amy H. Chiu, Tech Brand Content Developer
“Good design, when it’s done well, becomes invisible.
It’s only when it’s done poorly that we notice it.” – Dieter Rams
Through connecting with developers, UX designers, and product managers, I noticed one thing in common – our vision and efforts in designing and making tasks easier for people.
When we use the term “for people,” we go through mindful discussions on what it means to include everyone. We celebrate each other’s unique traits and identify our groups, shedding light on the stories behind every smiling face.
Photo Credits to Disability:IN
For a long period, my search history was filled with “what is inclusive design” and “why is accessibility important.” As a content creator, the best thing I could do is to educate myself and be mindful of every published word.
Why do I do the things I do? A sense of purpose behind every task, every connection, and every blog is essential. Ensuring people with disabilities have access to digital spaces is just as critical as writing the content itself. I learned accessibility is a group effort.
Practicing inclusiveness in today’s workplace is not a “have to do to make your image look better” instead, it’s making a difference in real people’s lives.
I had a long conversation with my engineering friend the other day. He drew one big circle on the left side of a whiteboard and a smaller circle on the right.
“This is the amount of information a person without a disability can get in our current world,” he pointed at the bigger circle.
“What about the small one?” I asked with curiosity.
“The small one is the amount of information currently available in the world for people with disabilities,” he said. “Designing a piece available for them and contributing to the smaller circle creates a huge impact.”
The conversation had almost gotten philosophical, but I got his points. In other words, many articles are not available to our friends with disabilities.
According to the 2022 WebAIM Million Report, 96.8% of home pages had detectable Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 failures. They analyzed over one million web pages and reached an upsetting percentage.
As human beings, we can do better for each other. The pandemic has shifted many activities online, and if groups are not taking action to support those who need access, we are losing valuable opportunities to connect.
Kelsey H.
I connected with Kelsey H., Head of Accessibility, to learn more about belonging. She leads accessibility efforts and the mission to ensure ADP’s product teams deliver fully accessible, disability-inclusive experiences to our users.
Kelsey is an anti-ableist accessibility professional and educator, living and thriving with several non-apparent disabilities and diligently working to ensure the idea of ‘belonging’ includes the disabled community.
“My journey to anti-ableism work and accessibility has been long and winding,” Kelsey said. “Ultimately, as a person with disabilities surrounded by the disability community, it is no surprise disability, accessibility, and inclusion work are at the core of my profession.”
Kelsey’s team works with designers, developers, product managers, and leaders at every level across ADP to bake accessibility into the fabric of our work and the products we deliver. Her goal is to shape ADP’s overall strategy in providing products that are not just always designed for people but always designed for all people.
“This is important for ADP’s product & technology teams with an opportunity to further drive thought leadership on disability and accessibility,” Kelsey said.
We look forward to having Kelsey share her work and career journey in an upcoming article series.
Stay tuned and subscribe here to receive monthly newsletters.
Tech & Innovation Blog
Moving Forward, Welcoming & Connecting: A Leader’s Journey
Women in STEM, Voice of Our People, Innovation
‘¡Bienvenidos! ¡Pase, Adelante!’ – Welcome, come on in! Feeling connected and belonging allows us to feel comfortable and bring our authentic selves.
“We must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things.
That is what we are put on the earth for.” – Dolores Huerta
ADP is proud to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month (NHHM) by recognizing the cultures and the histories Hispanic Americans contributed through generations in this country.
This year’s theme is Unidos: Inclusivity for a Stronger Nation, which means making positive impacts together. We connected with Isabel Espina, Vice President of Product Development, WorkMarket. She’s a dog-lover, a traveler, and a leader who always focuses on paying it forward.
Here’s her lens on giving back to the community.
Moving Forward, Welcoming & Connecting: A Leader’s Journey
By Isabel Espina, VP of Product Development
Isabel and her family in Abu Dhabi
Adelante, in Spanish, means to move forward. It is also commonly used to welcome someone into your place. ‘¡Bienvenidos! ¡Pase, Adelante!’ – Welcome, come on in! Latinos value family as a source of strength and protection. Welcoming others and making them feel at home is part of our DNA. The sense of family and belonging is intense and is not limited to the immediate family but the extended grandparents, cousins, friends, and friends of friends.
These families very often extend to our work families. Feeling connected and belonging allows us to feel comfortable and bring our authentic selves to the experience. ‘Estás en familia’– you are part of the family. You are safe, and we have your back. These values were core to my experience growing up.
I was born in Cuba during the height of the Castro Revolution. My parents were the first from their respective families to leave, seeking freedom of expression and opportunity. They left their homeland and family for a better life in the United States. They wanted their daughter to grow up with freedom and opportunities.
We arrived in Spain in December, a time of year meant to be joyous and surrounded by family. Instead, we were alone in a foreign country. Fortunately, we had kind neighbors who welcomed us into their homes, helped us with warm clothes, and invited us to ring in the New Year. They even showed up on January 6 (Feast of the Epiphany) with a small gift that ‘Los Reyes’ had left in their home for ‘Isa.’ This kind gesture from our Spaniard neighbors meant the world to my parents. We were not alone. We had support and felt a sense of belonging. The sense of inclusion gave us tremendous comfort.
This connection quickly grew into a community that gave us insight into navigating employment in Spain. Although we were not Spaniards, we connected to our neighbors through language, ancestry, and family values. With the help of the newly established community, we thrived in Spain and prepared ourselves for the next leg of the journey to the US.
The values ingrained in the Spanish culture of family, support, and solidarity translate directly to how we lead organizations.
ADP’s Research Institute has studied the data and developed a measure of Inclusion Measuring the ‘I’ in D-E-I. They define connection as one’s feeling of being seen, feeling heard, and feeling valued for their uniqueness. The study found that strongly connected people are 75x more likely to be fully engaged at work.
Isabel and her family traveling to Alhambra
It’s been 25 years since I first came to ADP. Key to the culture here is the sense of inclusion, which is why I stay. I joined to create innovative products, and I did. Every time I hear there are millions of users now with the ADP Mobile Solutions app, I think of the days when I brought it to life with my previous team. Although the app has evolved beyond what we did, I find it rewarding to hear how much people love it today.
The more comfortable one feels with the team, the better the ideas flow. The creativity and excitement then lead to an amazing product. We must attract a workforce representative of our clients and the communities where we live and work. These communities allow us to understand and provide insights into building better products.
One way to gain a sense of community is to join and attend events sponsored by a Business Resource Group (BRG). I am an active member of Adelante, a Hispanic community that allows us to connect based on shared values. These may be direct connections because you are Latin American/Spanish or have shared interests in the music, the food, and the culture. What matters is we can come together and share in a community. I can’t think of a better way to grow one’s professional network and learn.
Isabel Espina
In the course of my time with Adelante, they invited me to do a panel to support STEM women and mentor young students. I also recently attended the Grace Hopper Celebration, where I met wonderful women technologists from diverse backgrounds working together to support each other. It was an extremely rewarding experience! I’m reminded of that sense of inclusion I felt when my family first came to the US. I’m inspired to give back to my support network.
As a technology leader, I always think about attracting great talent in this highly competitive environment. Digital transformation and advanced technologies continue to shape current and future jobs across industries. I encourage my team to grow together, meet other associates across different communities, and always support one another.
Giving back to our communities is good for not only our business but for all of us. I invite you to explore ADP and all we offer, including our BRGs. Be a role model, grow professionally, and pay it ‘Adelante.’
We look forward to continuing sharing stories from Latino and Spanish technologists.
Interested in Product Development?
Learn more about what it’s like working for ADP here and our current openings.
#nationalhispanicheritagemonth #givingback #careerjourney #productdevelopment #ADPTech
Podcast: Using Data to Advance Diversity
Podcast: Using Data to Advance Diversity
Transcript
Mark:
Welcome to PeopleTech, the podcast of the HCM Technology Report. I’m Mark Feffer.
My guest today is Bob Lockett, chief diversity and talent officer at ADP. He’s responsible for the company’s diversity and talent strategy and oversees performance management, leadership development, engagement and culture, among other things.
We’re going to talk a lot about data and its relationship with DEI, from helping determine where a company’s at, to initiating new programs. That’s on this edition of PeopleTech. Bob, welcome. It’s great to meet you.
How does one attack the task of leading on diversity for a company the size of ADP?
Bob:
Well, Mark, the first thing I’ll tell you, it’s a very challenging task, because you have so many different constituents and everybody wants their own piece of the pie. What about us? What about us? What about us?
As you can imagine, DEI is a very emotional topic, for that reason. So, the approach that I’ve taken, that we’ve taken at ADP, is really tied to doing a couple of things.
Number one is using the scientific method. You know that thing, Mark, that we learned about back in middle school, that many of us did those experiments?
You would say, develop your hypothesis. Then from the hypothesis, you allow data to prove or disprove your beliefs. And then once you do that, then you really define the problem.
After you define that problem, then start to put plans in place to achieve the outcomes. You tweak as you go, as needed, based on feedback.
So what we’ve done is taking that exact approach and say, let’s take the emotion out of it as best we can. Let’s focus on the data. Let the data be our guiding light, to help us understand where we need to focus and what we need to do.
Now, this doesn’t just apply from a US standpoint. Think about it. This is a global opportunity that we’ve embarked upon. The way I view it is, there are needs everywhere, for people to feel like they are seen, valued and heard for all that they are.
So, not only do we think about diversity… You can measure diversity very easily. You can look at demographic data. How many of these do you have? How many of those do you have?
You can measure equity by looking at pay, but the key is also to measure inclusion. So, we take this holistic approach, all data driven.
The inclusion piece is all sentiment driven, but it’s really leveraging the scientific method and leveraging data, to help tell our story.
Mark:
Can you expand a bit on how data is used in DEI work? I mean, you mentioned that this is a pretty emotional subject. It always strikes me as interesting when you apply data to an emotional subject. How do they work together? So can you talk about that?
Bob:
Sure. I could tell you the stories of how we landed where we are, with some of our things.
The first thing that we did as an organization, when I took over the role, I wanted to understand how we looked, because I have a vision that our associate population in our company is reflective of the communities in which we operate and the clients that we serve. That’s very specific and very clear.
How do you test that, your hypothesis about that? How do you make it a realistic vision?
We looked at about three or four different datasets. One dataset was a census data. And as you know, the census data doesn’t mean that everybody’s working.
So, we looked at the census data and we say, “What’s the representation for African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, white women, everybody in our organization?” Let’s lay that out to understand it.
Then we looked at the Bureau of Labor statistics data. Of the people in the workforce, let’s take a look at how that compares and then let’s compare that against our information.
So, we compared it against our information, I’m talking specifically in the US and said, “Huh? Where do we have gaps?”
My hypothesis was that we didn’t look like the communities in America, but the reality of it was, we did. So, I was really impressed. I was like, wow, this is great news.
But as you look at the data, we also found that when you look up in the organization, you don’t have parity in representation for two populations in particular, which were African Americans and Hispanics.
We said, they represent 15% of the overall workforce in the US, for Hispanics. Let’s say it was 11% for African Americans.
Well, we noticed a gap in our company of about four percentage points each way, for African Americans and Hispanics.
We said, well, we should close that gap, because as you come to an organization, you also want to be able to see if there are opportunities for you to advance.
If you don’t see anyone that looks like you, in management level positions, then you start to wonder if you have a real future there. So, that was our quest.
This is how we use data to really understand and tell our story and to put plans in place to do it.
Now, notice the nuance here. Because again, if you go back to my original hypothesis, that we didn’t look like that, we did, but then we pivoted very quickly, because the data told us a different story. We said, that’s where we’re going to focus our efforts.
Now, some people use, Mark, data to try and boil the ocean. You can’t do everything. You can’t be all things to all people. That is a recipe for failure, particularly in DEI.
So, that’s why we have a very narrow focused approach. We have multiple initiatives that we work on, but suffice it to say, that was our main effort, for us to be able to say, we’re moving the needle when it comes to leadership representation in our company.
Mark:
Now, do you think your company is an outlier in that, or do you think that more corporations are starting to get on board with the idea of using data in this regard?
Bob:
Yeah. I think it’s a mixed bag, Mark, is probably the best way to describe it. Most organizations will take a look at their data. They’ll focus on where they think their opportunities are.
But it depends on where they are in their journey, their DEI journey, which I always talk about, that not everybody’s at the same place.
For us, I believe we’re an outlier. We’re an outlier because if you think about DEI, it’s one of our values. The things that really resonate in our organization, is that each person counts. In order for each person counts, by default, you have to have a DEI strategy.
Some organizations don’t put as much interest or effort into it, so there at varying stages.
It became a great corporate buzzword two years ago. Prior to that, many organizations weren’t making headway, with respect to that. So, my belief is, we’re certainly an outlier with our use of data.
Of course, Mark, that is our middle name. So, we use data to make sure that we can tell our story, to solve the problem, to understand all of those things. We’re all about measuring success. How do you measure the effectiveness of what you’re doing?
Having said that, I think we’re a bit of an outlier. I think there are other organizations that are doing great things, but I think there are some that are not doing anything because they don’t know where to start.
If that’s the challenge for them, then a great place to start is, understand your data at least. Then, think about where you want to have an impact.
Mark:
Can you think of any particularly surprising things that you’ve learned from data?
Bob:
I can give you a couple of examples of things that I think we’ve learned. Number one is that it’s never enough. Here’s what I mean. We had to put plans in place to do this.
I’ll just give you this example, Mark. We launched our talent task force. It was a specific focus on the African American and Hispanics/Latino community.
Well, as soon as we put that out, the first question that came was, hey, what about the Asian community? I said, “Huh? I’ve got a story for you. Asians represent 5% of our population, but yet they represent 8% of leadership.” So, there’s no problem there.
Then the next call came from the LGBTQ+ community. I said, “Huh? Tell me what the data says.”
The reason we couldn’t make a decision and put a plan in place to improve representation for that community, is because we didn’t have any data. So, that’s one of the things that will surprise you about that.
And when you don’t have enough of it, everyone wants to do these things, which is back to my point about, people get involved in this. They want to represent their constituents.
But at the same time, without the data, you can’t get involved and create corporate programs to improve something.
The second piece still ties to self-ID. If you take this to a global scale, so typically in numerous countries, they don’t collect the same data that we do in the US. They don’t collect it because their philosophies are different. It could vary, country to country.
However, there’s renewed emphasis on understanding your workforce and being inclusive. So, just imagine, you’re a multinational corporation and you don’t understand the dynamics that exist in operating in Tunisia or the dynamics that exist in operating in France or Italy and who the underrepresented groups are. So, we’re trying to capture new data.
That’s one of the surprising things, is that we’re beginning a journey globally, to do a self-ID approach.
It’s not just us, by the way. There are multiple companies now showing renewed interest in this, to say, how do we understand our workforce? How do we become more inclusive, so we can appeal to the needs of various communities where we operate?
Mark:
Are you satisfied with the kind of data that’s available to you today? What could be better?
Bob:
Yeah. I’m in a unique position, Mark. I tell people this all the time. At ADP, because we’re a data company… again, it’s in our middle name, I have the unique opportunity that we have our own department that does all of the analytics, pulls the data, does the comparative analysis, the sensitivity analysis to whatever we want to do.
Now, for companies that don’t have that, we do have a diversity dashboard, that gives them insights into their own information, that they may not have thought about before.
They may not have the luxury of having a large DEI department, like we do. They may not have the luxury of having the analytic capability, but we can provide them with some insights about how their organization looks, what their leadership makeup is. Oh, by the way, with pay equity too, we can take a look at that data as well.
So I think I’m in an enviable position. I’ve got all the data that I need. The key for me, is staying focused and executing, to ensure that we make a difference with our DEI efforts.
Mark:
What are your overall goals for your DEI efforts? I mean, what kind of changes are you hoping to enable or enact? What has to happen for you to be able to get there?
Bob:
Yeah, it’s a great question, Mark. I’ll go back to my vision. The vision that, we want our associate population to be reflective of the communities in which we operate and the clients that we serve.
That is the most important thing, because I believe that the efforts that we take to do that, will have a great cyclical impact on the environment.
Here’s what I mean. I’m not in the DEI business because I’m a social justice warrior. I’m in the DEI business because I believe that there are economic opportunities in a capitalistic society, that we can get everyone to participate in and grow the pie. I firmly believe that.
In many cases, it starts with employment. So, what do we do as part of our DEI, some of the work that we’re doing? Well, we want to hire in those various communities.
We have outreach efforts to every community, to make sure that we’re attracting the best and the brightest for our organization.
Then of course, once you get there, you have to walk the talk. So, culture is really important, Mark, in this space, to ensure that if you said you’re going to do it, then you have to do it.
My saying is, don’t talk about it. You have to be about it. So, if you’re about what you said you are, by bringing everybody together and giving everybody an opportunity, so they can be their true authentic selves, then that makes a tremendous difference.
So, that’s the talent piece of it. Getting them in, giving them the opportunities to grow and develop, and then seeing them get promoted and being able to contribute.
Now, I also talk about DEI from a business practice standpoint. Oftentimes in the past, organizations that I’ve worked for, DEI was all about some of the HR practices, which I just talked about briefly. It was all about talent practices,
But I also incorporate business practices. Business practices are really about, well, how do we tap into the ecosystem of businesses and communities?
Oftentimes, you have underserved communities, that don’t have the same opportunities to understand things.
Give you an example. We have a company that we partner with. What the founder shared with us, was the fact that for many minority-owned businesses, they only have one way to finance their business. That’s through loans from family members or debt.
So, they don’t get the full spectrum of how to do revenue-based financing for their business, or how to think about the debt market very differently, that others have had exposure and access to.
So, giving them exposure and access to the full gamut is really important, but that also requires some education. So, we partner with organizations, to do that, just so businesses can finance it.
Now, selfishly, because I am a capitalist, I believe that we should be able to capture some of that market.
We should be able to say, we’ll help them. There’s no guarantee that they’re going to come back and nor is there an expectation, but just imagine if we’re the ones that help them understand how to run payroll.
I said, “We want you to focus on your business. If you make pizzas or if you have a restaurant, we want you to focus on what you do best. Let us do what we do best, which is run payroll, help you do time and attendance and help you with all of those other things. That’s what we do”
So, I think it’s important for us to extend our reach into the underserved communities, such that we can help raise the tide for all boats. That’s really the impetus here.
Say, if we do this the right way, DEI becomes much more holistic, so it’s focused on the economic empowerment.
If you do that by getting people great jobs, what do they do? Well, they go spend money in their communities. If they spend money in their communities, businesses grow. And if businesses grow, for us it’s a great thing, because that means you have more people to pay from your payroll systems and the like.
So, this ecosystem approach that I think is really critical and important, when we think about DEI.
Now, the other piece, Mark, that I’ll share with you about DEI is, I’ll share two other avenues of this.
One is the environment. Our environmental practices now, have become relevant in the DEI equation.
Let me back up and give you the broader view. Most companies talk about ESG, environmental, social and governance. The environmental piece is really critical. That’s where you have, what are you going to do for greenhouse gas emission reduction?
This S is all DEI. The G is board governance or governance of whatever programs that you take a look at. So, that’s something else you have to consider as you think about DEI.
We have practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The good news for us is that, we don’t manufacture anything. Probably, our facilities and employees driving to work are our largest contributors to this. But what we also focus on is, what can we do to meet target? We put together plans to do that.
The last thing I’ll mention is what we’re doing as an organization, to make a difference, as we think about DEI and the like.
We have the ADP Foundation. We make contributions to a variety of 501(c)(3)’s nonprofits, to help support them in the communities in which they operate. So, there’s this holistic view that we have about, we can do well and do good at the same time.
Mark:
Bob, thanks very much. We appreciate your time today.
Bob:
Thank you.
Mark:
My guest today has been Bob Lockett, chief diversity and talent officer at ADP. This has been PeopleTech, the podcast of the HCM Technology Report.
We’re a publication recruiting daily. We’re also a part of the Evergreen Podcasts. To see all of their programs, visit www.EvergreenPodcasts.com.
To keep up with HR technology, visit the HCM Technology Report every day. We’re the most trusted source of news in the HR tech industry. Find us at www.HCMTechnologyReport.com. I’m Mark Feffer.
Image: iStock
