Before You Start Your First DEI ERG, DailyPay Has Some Tips

Not all companies can show that they’ve prioritized diversity and inclusion from the early days, but DailyPay can.

Within its first year of business, the payroll platform hired its first woman as employee No.5 in 2015. (Google didn’t hire its first woman until reaching 20 employees.)

An employee resource group (ERG) dedicated to advocating for women employees soon followed, and two more ERGs: DailyGay, for LGBTQIA+ team members and allies, and DailyNoire, for Black/African American team members and allies, formed in 2018 and 2019, respectively. 

Now, to ensure the needs that come out of the ERG meetings are not only heard but also acted upon, the company has introduced a new committee to work alongside leadership in creating practices and processes that uphold those requests. 

It’s great to have a safe space for employees, however, what is even better is empowering your ERGs to generate programming that will better the ERG members professionally and personally.”

Called the Diversity Leadership Committee (DLC), the group launched in spring 2020 in an effort to optimize existing DailyPay practices; address current diversity and inclusion realities, opportunities, and practices internally; and to evaluate how they can leverage their diversity to enhance the business.  

“Our first goal was to implement more diverse initiatives into our recruitment process,” Accounting Manager Alora Alexander, who serves on the committee and is the co-lead of DailyNoire, said. 

In the months that followed, Alexander said the company piloted a series of recruiting strategies that led to the hiring of three employees that are not white cisgender males.

“It’s great to have a safe space for employees, however, what is even better is empowering your ERGs to generate programming that will better the ERG members professionally and personally,” Alexander said. 

Alexander shared with Built In NYC why teaming with leadership on ERG initiatives is integral to driving real change.

How did the DLC come to be?

The Diversity Leadership Committee was created by DailyPay’s leadership team at the recommendation of our DailyNoire ERG. At the time, DailyNoire had just completed our first diversity recruiting event in conjunction with DailyPay’s talent acquisition team, and the leadership team was interested in hearing more of what DailyNoire thought was needed at DailyPay from a diversity, equity and inclusion perspective. Leadership then created an application process for interested parties to fill out. 

How has it been received?

The DLC has been accepted greatly by the company. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been in meetings with the CFO discussing hiring initiatives and he asks, “Are you receiving a diverse slate of candidates?” Tone at the top is key in every organization. Since DailyNoire has brought awareness to the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, the entire organization has committed to creating a culture of DEI and diverse perspective. 

What was the DLC’s first goal, and what outcomes followed?

Our first goal was to implement more diverse initiatives into our recruitment process. DailyNoire, in partnership with DailyPay’s talent acquisition team, held a number of discussions with ERGs from other companies, like AirBnB, LinkedIn and Indeed, to get an understanding of industry best practices. These conversations led to a pilot within our sales recruitment process that included the following: requiring a diverse slate of candidates for each open position; blind resumes; candidate coaching; and ensuring the interviewing panel is diverse. 

As a result of the pilot, DailyPay has brought on three people to the sales team that are not white cisgender males.

What future initiatives and goals does the DLC have set?

In addition to releasing the new recruiting best practice across the rest of the company, the DLC is focused on retaining our diverse employees. We don’t want to spend all of our time recruiting folks and then when they get in the door, they are unhappy. As a result, the DLC will be launching a diversity, equity and inclusion survey to the company to get an understanding of what our baseline is. From there, we can create goals for 2021 and have an accurate benchmark to measure against. 

We will also be launching a companywide training on unconscious bias at the start of 2021 as well as a “train the trainer” initiative for hiring managers, new hires and overall management to receive continuous unconscious bias training.

Lastly, why is a committee like DailyPay’s DLC important, especially in the context of ERGs?

Every ERG needs a leadership team champion. Someone who has influence with their peers and can advocate for their group. This will lead to one of the biggest things that most ERGs struggle with, which is budget. It’s great to have a safe space for employees, however, what is even better is empowering your ERGs to generate programming that will better the ERG members professionally and personally.