Beyond Buzzwords: Diversity at the Soul of the Workplace.

Ashly Williams, Senior Director of People Operations at Veri-Tax is the recipient of the Best Practitioner Presentation Award of the 2019 Creating Healthy Organizations conference. Her presentation, BECOMING A “TOP WORKPLACE”: THE STEPS, THE SCIENCE, AND THE SOUL outlined many diversity and inclusion initiatives implemented by Veri-Tax, which contributed to company’s recognition as one of the top workplaces in Orange County.  We asked Ashly Williams several questions about her work and her passion. 

CHO Conference: What is your motivation for doing your work, your big WHY?

Ashly Williams: I feel a strong drive and passion to advocate for Diversity in organizations. I believe in the power of optimizing diverse perspectives and voices in order to drive innovation and a company’s bottom line. Diversity also an enhances organizational culture and can make for a very fun and lively work environment if managed correctly. 

CHO Conference: What do you think is the next step we as a society could take toward creating healthy organizations?

Ashly Williams: Too often Diversity is simply a buzz word and is only seen as tokenism, falling short of true inclusivity that draws upon every individuals’ unique contributions. We as HR leaders have to ensure that we carefully manage conflicts that can arise in order to ensure that everyone has a voice. We can continue to drive organizations in the direction of truly embracing and promoting diversity at all levels of the organization and removing institutional and interpersonal barriers that inhibit progress in this direction. 

CHO Conference: What would you tell someone who feels discouraged with the pace of the progress in this area?

Ashly Williams: This is a difficult question, because I believe women and minorities have felt discouraged about the progress towards truly inclusive work environments for a long time. It would be hard to make a general suggestion as this can be such an individual and personal experience for each person. Overall, I believe connecting with your community (specifically people who may share similar experiences of disappointment) to help you navigate and reconcile your feelings. Some may also look for ways to connect with others that are interested in truly supporting Diversity and Inclusion to form affinity groups and/or committees to promote greater adoption. This can benefit both the individual and the organization. It should be noted that these suggestions are also supported by the research in terms of healing from workplace discrimination.

CHO Conference: Congratulations to Ashly Williams and Veri-Tax. Thank you for your commitment to healthy organizations, diversity, and inclusion.  

Ashly Williams: I want to again thank you for the tremendous opportunity to be a part of yet another incredible CHO conference. I am honored to represent the things we are doing at Veri-Tax and to have won awards for the ways in which we are striving to practice creating a healthy organization.