Celebrating 5 Years of Excellence
This is #IncreaseDiversity, a weekly newsletter series + Increase Diversity Toolbox sharing best practices for employers who want to learn how to….well, increase diversity. To see previous editions, visit JenniferTardy.com. | IG: @IncreaseDiversity | Increase Diversity - YouTube
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Several weeks ago we mentioned that our Increase Diversity newsletter reached a huge milestone of crossing 60,000 subscribers (now, nearly 70,000). This week, we wanted to share news that is equally as exciting - Team JTC is celebrating a new milestone - 5 years of service to this community.
Jennifer Tardy Consulting turned FIVE!
This has been an amazing journey in which not only have I tried to share knowledge and expertise with this community, but we have learned a lot from our clients, partners, and the wider team, including each of you.
While celebrating five years of excellence, I decided to pause and reflect on two things that I’m sharing in today’s newsletter edition:
the top 3 lessons learned while running a business, in general
the top 3 lessons learned while running this business (i.e., diversity recruitment training, consulting, and coaching)
Let’s get started!
Here are my top 3 lessons learned while running a business
Lesson #1. You cannot go at running a GROWING business alone
If one truly wants to make a scalable impact through a business and still maintain a personal sense of well-being, it is possible, but very difficult to do so as a “solopreneur.” Over the five years of being in business, JTC started as a one-woman show where I would show up and get the job done. But presently we have grown to nearly 15 employees, contractors, and partners that we work with regularly, fueling Team JTC. There’s no way that we could deliver the content across this newsletter, YouTube, within workshops, and develop our training programs without a team.
Lesson #2. You have to get AHEAD of the day to win the day
This is such an important point for any business owner out there. How I schedule my day, my priorities, and my to-do’s, and the way I teach the team to do the same thing with their day, allows us to be able to support higher-than-normal capacities. This allows us to support more people, making sure they are getting their goals met, while still preserving a sense of well-being on our team’s end. Each day, I enter it with a plan and I rarely deviate from it unless there is an emergency. And protecting that plan also requires a strong sense of boundaries - but that is a subject for another day.
Lesson #3. You have to allow your clients to GUIDE you
If you listen closely, your clients and community will tell you what they need from you. They will tell you what transformations they are looking to achieve. They will tell you what their pain points are. They will tell you what the hurdles that they are experiencing are. You need all of this information. And if your organization can position itself well to solve the pain points, remove the hurdles, and create that level of transformation, then you will always be a favorite among your clients.
And for those who are new to our newsletter, Team JTC is in the business of diversity recruiting training, consulting, and career coaching. We support two audiences: job seekers AND employers. These lessons learned (below) are aligned with both audiences.
Here are my top 3 lessons learned while running THIS business
Lesson #1. Know where YOU hold accountability for the outcome you seek
Job seekers want an outcome of landing a great job or promotion. Employers want an outcome of greater representation and inclusion. Those who are on the front lines of the hiring process like recruiters, hiring managers, interview teams, and DEI program managers as well as job seekers, must understand where they are most accountable. Everyone has a role to play. Understanding the specific actions that are needed to reach said accountability is key. Also, understanding the support necessary to successfully take each action is another key. And, if you can lay out a model for each group in this way, then you will find that there will be greater success in reaching the targeted outcome.
Lesson #2. The hiring process creates an EMOTIONAL journey for job seekers AND employers
If we forget that this is an emotional journey for both audiences, we are missing a significant opportunity to provide solutions. One of the things that make Team JTC unique is that for job seekers, not only do we acknowledge the external tactics (i.e., the steps that a person needs to take to land a job or get a promotion), but we also acknowledge and provide internal coaching and solutions for the emotional journey that job seekers have to take. That is why in Inner Circle, we speak about topics like imposter syndrome, what it feels like to be in a room where no one identifies similarly to you, and what it feels like to not be heard or acknowledged when you speak up.
Likewise, when it comes to employer training and consulting, we discuss emotions too. We talk about resistance and what it looks like to feel that something is blocking you from leaning all the way in during conversations about diversity and inclusion. We talk about how intimidating it may feel to have a conversation with your hiring manager when you observe bias in the hiring process. We talk about the emotions that come along with increasing diversity too. If we miss these opportunities to confront the emotional side of both journeys, then we are missing a valuable part of the solution that employers need to increase diversity.
Lesson #3. It is not about right or wrong; the goal is to be EFFECTIVE
What does being an effective job seeker look like? It means knowing your value AND being able to articulate your value during the hiring process.
What does being an effective workplace mean for employers? It means they are moving the needle in a positive direction to remove biases so that they can increase diversity.
Whereas most job seekers look at success by way of how many job offers they are getting, we look at how much of your life is being transformed positively, because now you know your value and can articulate it to others. So, it is far beyond how many job offers you actually get - we get to the root.
And then with employers, effectiveness comes by looking at if you are moving the needle in the right direction. Do you know precisely where your inequities are and where your biases hide? Only knowing this will allow you to affect change. It is not just about increasing headcount among historically underrepresented populations. It is also about getting to the root and truly making systemic change. And making systemic change goes far beyond an actual headcount.
