Dawn Jones, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer and Vice President of Social Impact, Intel, is not short on ambition. In recent years, Jones has raised the bar for DE&I leadership across the globe for a number of talent initiatives for groups that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM. In an interview with The HR Digest, Jones explains the crucial importance of DE&I in the workplace.
The HR Digest: Under your leadership, Intel continues to make great strides in the field of diversity and inclusion (D&I). In these past few years, you also implemented several strategic initiatives to build a company that helps people from all walks of life accelerate in the workplace. How do you measure the value these programs bring to the company?
Dawn Jones: Since starting as CDIO in April 2021, I have prioritized employee growth and diversity initiatives throughout Intel. This is primarily measured by employee retention and feedback. For example, our Inclusive Leaders program is designed to equip managers to play leadership roles in growing Intel’s inclusive culture and fostering leadership skills needed to build diverse and inclusive, high-performing teams. Since 2017, this program has reached 2,500 mid-senior grade employees, with 93% participants stating it enabled them to improve their leadership skills and have a positive impact on their teams. To scale further impact, we integrated program content to our managers worldwide beginning in 2021.
What initiatives are you most proud of at Intel?
It is more important than ever to prioritize our employees and ensure we are fostering a culture of inclusion globally. A few ways we do this at Intel is through:
- RISE: In May 2020, we outlined our 2030 RISE strategy and corporate responsibility goals for the next decade to accelerate the integration of responsible, inclusive, and sustainable practices and innovative approaches in our operations and supply chain, across the technology industry, and beyond. All of this enabled through our technology and the passion and expertise of our employees. This is an intentional focus for us companywide to incorporate ESG in everything we do.
- The Alliance for Global Inclusion: In 2021, Intel, in partnership with Dell, NTT DATA, and Snap Inc. started the Alliance for Global Inclusion, which focuses on making progress in four critical areas: leadership representation, inclusive language, inclusive product development and STEM readiness in underserved communities. Today, the Alliance has doubled in size, while collectively developing and committing to adopting a set of guidelines to encourage board diversity through set metrics, transparent reporting and additional recommended practices.
- The Warmline Program: Intel’s confidential employee service, the Warmline, has provided employees in the U.S., Costa Rica, Mexico and Israel with support to work through personal and professional roadblocks and explore different options before they consider leaving the company. The Warmline provides a robust data set to help us identify patterns, locate problem areas, and address issues proactively and systemically. 87% of employees who used the service in 2020 have stayed at Intel and 91% would recommend it to others.
Inclusion@Intel: The global Inclusion@Intel portal provides a community for employees and empowers them to build tangible and actionable inclusive practices into their everyday wok environment. This unique platform provides highlights on inclusive leaders, inclusion training, sharing of best practices, videos, podcasts and scenario cards that can be used to encourage critical conversations.
- Intel ERGs: We offer more than 35 Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and seven Leadership Councils that connected over 25,000 employees in 2020, with 22% of employees now members of an ERG.
From your perspective, what are the most immediate opportunities for companies around cultivating a culture where diversity, equity, and inclusion are woven into its fabric, both internally and externally?
To truly advance inclusion in company culture, it is also important for companies to address D&I challenges through their systems such as onboarding, acquisition, and progression to ensure bias is minimized and support employees throughout their career.
I started as CDIO at Intel during the Great Resignation, which has shown us that employees are not going to stay at a company that does not treat them with respect, equality, and offer the flexibility needed in these unprecedented times.
At Intel, we are leaning into flexible work and hybrid options which is allowing us to engage with employees in new ways. It is going to be critical for all companies to understand what the new way of work looks like and how it impacts all employees, specifically diverse employees. There is a tremendous opportunity to understand the new way of work and lead with solutions focused on the employee.
What experiences, people, or philosophies have most influenced the way you view and practice diversity, and why?
I have had at least 10 mentors and sponsors throughout my career. My first sponsor was the leader who supported me returning to school to finish my bachelor’s degree. Throughout my 24 years, I have connected with people who have advised, coached, corrected and supported me on my journey.
Surprisingly, I didn’t have any women of color as my mentor or sponsor until later in my career. In this space, it’s critically important to align yourself with people who share your work ethic, see and respect your work and advocate for you, especially when you are not in the room.
I have always asked myself: how can I do the best job I can do at whatever job I’m doing? I recommend keeping that in mind at any level. The best and brightest talent are the ones who ask tough questions, are passionate about the work, and share creative insights and solutions to some of the biggest challenges. My current role really forced me to listen more intentionally and listen for understanding, because we can’t create solutions in a vacuum. That mindset can help you grow throughout your career.
Do you have any initiatives or areas you plan to focus on in the coming years?
We plan to release the second inclusion index from the Alliance for Global Inclusions this spring to provide information on current best practices and opportunities to improve D&I outcomes across industries. I look forward to using these insights and collaboration to continue growing and improving our D&I initiatives.