Running Prouder with Tech
How technology marches towards a bias-free workplace
The New York Pride March is the biggest Pride celebration in the world, drawing over 350 marching contingents and more than two million spectators. This Sunday on June 25th in NYC, SAP will participate with a 100+ person contingent, sharing a global message that is authentic to its brand, culture, and employees: it’s time to build a business beyond bias and to eliminate workplace prejudice and employee discrimination.
For SAP, a commitment to reduce bias and be more inclusive is much more than a cultural “nice to have.” It is a strategic component to an organization’s ability to innovate, understand its customers, outperform the competition, and maximize employee productivity and engagement.
On the front lines of Sunday’s March will be SAP LGBT employees and Pride supporters representing technology professionals who strongly believe in the need for all companies to reduce bias in the workplace and the impact of working together to create a bias-free workplace through technology like artificial intelligence, machine learning, collaboration platforms, corporate learning modules and more.
Many people unknowingly harbor biases against various groups of people. Technology is helping to spot and remedy these issues. In situations like job postings, performance reviews and calibration, automation is helping organizations better understand the biases that exist in their workplace. Companies can then take action to remove them to ensure consistent and equitable standards for all employees. When they reduce bias, they are better able to harness all available resources for growth and innovation.
SAP’s support of New York Pride is a demonstration of its commitment to diversity and inclusion and includes:
- Developing technology that can be used to identify and remove workplace bias
- Creating a framework for developing LGBT business and technology leaders
- Joining a variety of consortiums to improve workplace diversity, including the White House Tech Inclusion Pledge, “Equality Is Our Business” Pledge and Human Rights Campaign Equality Index, where SAP was awarded a perfect score.
Some of the SAPers attending the event shared their “why” with us — why are you marching and why is this parade important for you.
Social Media Manager Tyrone Webb, Jr. is marching to represent who he is, and to share that he is proud of who he is and proud of SAP. He said, “SAP is tackling diversity on an entirely different level. We have diversity and inclusion leads in each region and Board area to make sure we are truly staying on track with diversity at SAP. It doesn’t matter who you are, what matters is how you treat others.”
Rebecca Jackson works in Demand Management for the Financial Services industry. She joined SAP a few months ago and shared that she has been going to various Pride events for years. She loves that SAP is bringing the data. She said that, “Rather than painting an all positive picture or merely supporting the community monetarily, SAP is taking serious action on discrimination in the workplace. Our human resources products aim to remove human biases, since we understand that the most innovative companies are the most diverse.”
Cathy Cooper, Senior Director, Big Data Analytics, is marching in support of colleagues, friends and family. She said that, “We are all different but we are all people. SAP is taking action — not just talking about diversity and inclusion. Discrimination against LGBT is frankly discrimination against everyone.”
