Description: In this episode, we’ll explore the August edition of MRA's monthly Talent Report: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We’ll hear from Jim Morgan, Vice President of Workforce Strategies, on best practices, including: Attracting the next generation of customers and staff Employee engagement and experience Recruiting and the candidate experience AI platforms Implementing company-wide DEI initiatives  Uncover C-Suite priorities, top creative HR strategies, and more! Resources: August Talent Report  Talent Report+ Webinar Series  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Jim Morgan  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler  Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:03UnknownHello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:41:24UnknownNow it's time to thrive. All right. Well, welcome, everybody, to this episode of 30 Minute Thrive. I'm excited to go over this month's talent report with Jim Morgan, MRA. Vice president of Workforce Strategies, as we go into what he's been seeing in the world of business in the month of August. So thanks for joining us again this month, Jim. 00:00:42:01 - 00:01:08:16UnknownAlways a pleasure to come back. Well, for August, it looks like the special topic was on diversity, equity and inclusion, specifically working on efforts in organizations. So why did you choose this DEI topic for this month? Well, I think, you know, it's a topic that we could probably do just about any month, and we hadn't done it yet this year on the talent report, and that now would be a good time. 00:01:08:16 - 00:01:32:19UnknownAnd with the talent shortage and what we've talked about the last six or seven episodes, all of the issues around diversity, equity, inclusion also play into the talent pool as well. And we know what are companies doing in order to to figure that out. And so, Diana, what we brought in from our Ohio office talked about and we talked a little bit more a little bit later about the results. 00:01:32:19 - 00:02:15:13UnknownBut, you know, she started by talking about, you know, why are we doing this in the first place? And we had just done a survey of our Chief Diversity Officers roundtable. And that's sort of what drove this month's topic. And she had brought to it. Well, you know, here's what they were saying were the reasons that they had a DEA program in their company to build stronger teams, to foster collaboration, to make employees feel valued, to enhance productivity, to create a welcoming environment, to build trust among employers, to attract top talent, to increase retention, to increase business development, and to ensure the production of new ideas. 00:02:15:15 - 00:02:38:24UnknownSo that list of ten, I thought, well, okay, well, people aren't interested in those ten things and we're really in trouble. So that's kind of what we focused on, was sort of yea, the positives that come out of that, and especially in terms of engaging and retaining. And I can talk a little bit about our elite program here at Amara, but really it's it's just a strategy that I think almost every company is utilizing now. 00:02:39:00 - 00:03:06:15UnknownWe're just trying to help them see some of the best practices that are out there. Yeah, that was a great list of benefits that you just talked about. And this episode will kind of be a good leeway in to our next week's episode. After this, we're talking about how belonging fits into the diversity, equity and inclusion mix. So understanding that one, yeah, let's kind of go into what's happening in recruiting an