This consumer health company wanted to improve their intern and new-hire experiences in light of an ongoing problem with the early retention of employees. Leaders wanted to determine why new employees were leaving and find a way to fix the issue. The company felt that their DEI practices were strong, but were curious whether shortcomings therein had something to do with this negative trend.
The company assembled a cross-functional team to solve the retention problem using ExperienceInnovation Apply. Through interviews with staff, they discovered that the issue was indeed rooted in ineffective DEI. Small inconsistencies in management created marked differences in how new employees were supported. These inconsistencies often seemed negligible but, together, amounted to larger inequalities, and the cumulative impact was felt most acutely by historically marginalized voices.
Talent teams built a new-hire program that provided freedom for people to craft their own career paths. This plan gave the company a competitive advantage over their major competitor, who had an extensive, but rigid, playbook for new hires. The company also created a system to surface and document employee concerns, so that pain points could be addressed immediately. Leaders committed themselves to building a level-playing field that ensured equitable practices across the organization.
