Diversity, equity, and inclusion at Ceridian in 2022 and beyond

Working toward greater diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a never-ending task. But the end of the year has given us a chance to reflect on our DEI initiatives at Ceridian over the past 12 months. Now, we want to share these successes and provide further insight into how your organisation can move the needle on DEI.

Ceridian’s 2022 DEI initiatives

In 2022, one of our largest and most successful DEI initiatives was the launch of our Achieving Corporate Equity, or ACE, program. During this 16-week program, 10 participants from across our organisation attended leadership lectures, worked with career coaches and mentors, and created capstone projects. ACE participants dedicated an average of six hours per week during the program to personal and professional development.

After all the hard work and dedication this year’s graduates put in, we’re proud to share that 80% of ACE participants have received a promotion or stretch assignment since starting the program. Furthermore, one-third of the women participating in the program have been promoted to manager or senior manager roles.

In addition to launching the ACE program, we made quarterly DEI training a requirement for all employees in our organisation. By requiring employees to routinely engage with diversity, equity, and inclusion content, we continue to infuse DEI into our company culture and raise visibility on these topics for employees at every level.

While we implemented new, required DEI programming every quarter, we also offered DEI content throughout the year via microlearnings. In our organisation, we had a great adoption rate for this smaller-scale content. Our learning development partner, Blue Ocean Brain, was a frequent collaborator, helping our team write learning courses, promote DEI articles, and co-host DEI-focused webinars.

Our final and significant DEI win in 2022 was the creation of a brand-new employee resource group, or YOUnity group, as we call them at Ceridian. The Ceridian Parents Network joins our list of eight other groups, including the Ceridian Black Employee Network, Ceridian Women’s Network, and Ceridian Pride Network, to name a few. These voluntary, employee-led resource groups help create a sense of belonging, and we’re excited to keep these networks growing.

Our DEI plans for 2023

After seeing the impact of our first ACE cohort, we are committing to two more cohorts in 2023. By scaling up our program, we hope to build more momentum toward our DEI goals and help underrepresented minorities* in our organisation meaningfully grow their careers.

Our next steps with the ACE program will be what we call ACE 2.0, a collegiate version of the program. By collaborating with one of the United States’ Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)–to be named in 2023–we aim to connect with the broader community via quarterly visits to their campus for ACE 2.0 learning sessions. It is our hope that these efforts will help us intentionally recruit future talent in differentiated locations.

As previously mentioned, our first cohort of ACE participants completed a capstone project designed to effect more DEI change in our organisation. The winning project has now turned into a planned DEI campaign for 2023: the “I Belong” campaign. We want to hear from the diverse voices in our organisation and share these stories to build cultural humility. This effort will help us emphasise the relational side of inclusion.

In 2023, we plan to continue our required DEI trainings and expand our educational offerings so employees can engage with content that encourages and challenges them.

Finally, we’re looking to expand and support the work our YOUnity groups are doing with monthly educational activities and more regular programming. In the new year, we’ll bring on a new set of resource group co-chairs to engage our organisation internally.

How you can prepare DEI initiatives for 2023

Join us in preparing for DEI growth in 2023. Here’s a list of questions to ask yourself as you plan for and enter the new year:

• Where has your organisation succeeded in diversity, equity, and inclusion in 2022? What led to this growth, and how can you replicate it next year?
• Where has your organisation fallen short on DEI metrics and initiatives in 2022? What caused these shortcomings, and how can you draft more holistic goals for next year?
• How do employees in your organisation feel about your progress on your DEI goals? How can you improve employee sentiment towards diversity, equity, and inclusion?
• Who are the key leaders in your organisation whom you can partner with for success next year?
• What external partners could you collaborate with next year? How could they support your current DEI initiatives?
• What are others in your field doing to move the needle on DEI? What inspiration can you draw from their activities?

These are just a few of many possible questions that can guide your DEI projects for 2023. Whether you’re focusing internally, externally, or both, having an actionable plan in place will go a long way toward DEI success.

* We define an underrepresented minority as a subset of a population that holds a smaller percentage within a significant subgroup than the subset holds in the general population.