Walking the Talk – Our Anti-Racism Plan

In early June, I shared a message regarding my feelings amidst the social unrest in our country. I made a commitment to follow up after some time of reflection and planning, because as we’ve all come to know, listening is important, but actions are much better.

In my original article on this topic I acknowledged the work that I need to do as an individual – not only as a CEO, but also as a dad and an active member of the community. While that work will never be done, I wanted to follow up with an update on where we landed as an organization, and how the team at Radio Flyer are vowing to do better.

The first step in this process was to listen to our Flyers. We needed to get their honest (and anonymous) feedback about how we are doing on the D&I front, because none of this critical work can be done in a vacuum. From there, the leadership team and I got to work on categorizing our efforts into five buckets: Hiring, Leadership & Education, People Practices, Organization Culture & Benefits, and External Partnerships.

Accountability is key when it comes to major undertakings like this one. It should be mentioned that as with all formalized goals at Radio Flyer, these D&I initiatives will be directly tied to our compensation. I am looking forward to hitting the ground running and executing on the plan laid out below. I would also love to hear how your organizations are addressing anti-racism. There is so much value in sharing perspectives as we set out to make a positive change.

RADIO FLYER DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION ACTION PLAN

HIRING

Goal – To promote racial and ethnic diversity by removing potential barriers in the hiring process and actively seeking out qualified candidates of color for positions from the internship to management level. 

How We’ll Achieve This – 

• Review & improve selection process including training, composition of selection teams, and sourcing in order to increase awareness of unconscious bias and improve outreach to diverse candidates
• Identify additional partners that are minority owned
• Recruit at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to identify intern candidates
• Reach out to diverse organizations at universities
• Host or sponsor student event targeting diverse student populations (i.e. NSBE)

LEADERSHIP & EDUCATION

Goal – To provide education and support for an anti-racist culture at Radio Flyer, influenced by company and individual goals to increase diversity.

How We’ll Achieve This –

• Update Mission Statement to include “Relentless commitment to building a great diverse team”
• Increase accountability by adding diversity action steps to all Manager goals at mid-year.
• Extend Inclusive Leadership training and conduct as an annual course for all managers
• Continue to prioritize our Inclusion, Voice & Growth training
• Facilitate diversity discussions in 2020 to inform additional actions
• Educate Flyers through diversity and inclusion through email, videos & homework
• Set expectation that Flyers independently educate themselves on anti-racism and add this as an action step in all Flyers’ personal development goals at mid-year

PEOPLE PRACTICES

Goals –

• To provide individual support for diverse Flyers through our career development process
•  To train our leaders, minimize unconscious bias, and continue in the fair and equitable treatment of all Flyers

How We’ll Achieve This –

• Conduct one-on-one career development follow up meetings between Flyers and their managers
• Introduce additional diversity education into the Manager Development Series

ORGANIZATION CULTURE & BENEFITS

Goals –

• To increase our focus on the needs of diverse employees by providing additional ways to share their voice, concerns, and ideas
• To create more safe spaces for open dialogue
• To include diversity education in the on-boarding process

How We’ll Achieve This –

• Formalize the Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (DIB) Committee and increase communication with Flyers
• Collaborate with the Vision Mission Values Committee and other Radio Flyer committees to build on Taste of Radio Flyer, our annual event that celebrates different backgrounds represented at the company
• Execute a Slice of My Life virtual event to promote more sharing and understanding about individuals, backgrounds and influences
• Add a “Diversity and Anti-racism at Radio Flyer” course to New Flyer Orientation 2021
• Continue to assess benefits to meet diverse needs of Flyers

EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS

Goal – To work with more organizations that support diverse members of our community in our various philanthropic and partnership efforts.

How We’ll Achieve This –

•  Donate $10,000 to Chicago nonprofit that focuses on underprivileged youth
• Increase support (donations, service, etc.) for groups in the Black community
• Review our purchasing practices and vendor partnerships for minority owned status

Radio Flyer recognizes that individual differences strengthen our organization. We value all backgrounds and welcome the diversity of people, cultures, and ideas. Radio Flyer is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants are given consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, or disability. We are committed to an inclusive environment and to creating a best place to work for all.