Forum focuses on workforce issues

CEDAR RAPIDS - Participants at the Employee Resource Group Consortium's third annual Diversity Forum Wednesday spent a lot of time discussing barriers and challenges.

Barriers to advancing in the workplace were explored along with challenges to succeeding in a career path and competing in a global economy.

Angela Weekley, community inclusion manager at Veridian Credit Union, said managers must determine and understand their biases. Weekley conducted a mock interview designed to show how an interviewer can unconsciously respond in a certain way if a candidate reinforces their beliefs.

'Biases help to protect us,” Weekley said.

To promote understanding, Weekley said Veridian conducts inclusion training for managers four times a year.

Steve Schulz, director of global talent acquisition at Rockwell Collins, focused on how drastically the landscape for recruiting is changing. Schulz said potential candidates use search engines, social media and mobile technology to find jobs.

'The supply-demand equation is shifting dramatically for top talent,” he said.

Schulz said potential job candidates are looking to see if a company's recruiting tactics are modern and efficient. As an example, he highlighted tools that allow for paperless processing of resume information at job fairs.

For Ashley Reynolds, Wednesday's conference at The Hotel at Kirkwood Center was an opportunity to meet new people and learn more about ways to get involved in the community.

'I'm new to the Cedar Rapids area, so this was really great for me personally,” said Reynolds, a mechanical designer in Rockwell Collins Government Systems who moved to Cedar Rapids in July.

The Employee Resource Group Consortium, established in 2011, focuses on supporting the growth and retention of diverse talent in Iowa's Creative Corridor.

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