Diversity In Action

Aerotek looks at staffing for the future

The company’s business is to help people find jobs and help employers fill jobs. Its mission is to help promote the hiring of diverse talent

Vinay Nayak: “A high level of awareness around all aspects of diversity.”

It all begins with Aerotek’s internal diversity initiative, says Vinay Nayak, VP of sales for life sciences and diversity board chair. “Our initiative is to create a high level of awareness and education around all aspects of diversity, including diversity of thought. We’re currently running programs to continue to educate our employees, recruiters and leadership on why diversity is important, not only in our workplace but for our clients as well.”

As the workforce begins to shrink, diversity in the workplace becomes even more important. “We want everyone to understand why diversity of thought is important in recruiting candidates,” says Nayak.

To facilitate that, the company has developed diversity workshops at a number of levels. All Aerotek employees attend a full day of diversity training. A cross-section of employees, mostly management level, attend a three-day “diversity champion” program, “to help them achieve an appreciation for diversity and serve as role models for other employees in the company,” Nayak reports. In 2008 more than 200 people will go through the champion program.

The goal is to create awareness at all levels of the company, Nayak says, and to make sure that internal employees understand why both the company and its clients need diverse workforces.

“Our clients consistently ask, ‘How are we going to recruit a diverse workforce?’ And, relating to supplier diversity, ‘What are you doing to help minority-owned companies within your own industry?’

“We recognize that M/WBEs may not have the resources we do, with our many office locations. It’s hard for them to fly people all over the country to meet with prospective customers. So we’ve built our Most Valued Partner (MVP) program, a consortium of M/WBEs that we mentor,” says Nayak.

Aerotek arranges to partner these companies with larger companies that have developed a benchmark for minority spending. Aerotek’s role is to facilitate the initial meeting between the two companies. Then they develop their own relationship that meets the goals of both parties.

“It’s part of our value proposition, knowing that this is an important aspect to a lot of our clients,” Nayak says. “We make them aware that, as a major entity in staffing, we feel a responsibility to mentor these organizations and help them.”

Supplier diversity aside, Aerotek’s mission is to help people find jobs and help employers fill jobs. The company has an internal database of more than 10 million candidates, and it posts available jobs on job boards. When candidates apply, Aerotek works with them to find a position that fits their skills and job requirements.

“We realize that each candidate has unique needs,” says Nayak. “If the individual is not the right person for a position we are trying to fill, we continue to work with that individual as a career counselor to find a job that is the perfect fit.”

The company also has more than 50,000 contractors employed on various assignments. “Once they complete their assignment, we work with them to update their resumes and find their next job opportunities in similar areas.”

Because Aerotek values the idea of a diverse workforce, the company strives to provide qualified diverse candidates for every job. To find this group, the company checks out job boards on the Web and minority-serving organizations. “We also attend trade shows and events that attract diverse candidates,” Nayak notes. Aerotek is a sponsor of the Black Engineer of the Year awards, and it’s affiliated with historically black colleges and universities and other groups.

“We intend to continue our efforts to create awareness of the importance of workforce diversity, and to continue to mentor our minority partners,” Nayak declares. “We believe it is the right thing to do for our company and our clients.”

D/C