With job opportunities for people with disabilities lagging, banks and credit unions are consulting with advocacy groups and entering partnerships to ensure recruitment provides equal employment opportunities.
Credit union executives have begun addressing the potential and existence of unconscious biases within hiring practices, member-facing services and other operations.
Ronaldo Hardy, chief people officer and co-owner of the credit union consultancy CU Strategic Planning in Tacoma, Washington, recently helped the firm found a diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and accessibility institute for institutional board members that fosters discussion about existing biases in the workplace and helps develop a plan to mitigate the problem.
"One of the things that I saw over and over again is credit unions have been trying to figure out how to advance this conversation [of DEIBA] at the board level in a more meaningful way. … And not necessarily just put a PowerPoint or talk about a particular subject matter, but how do we get deeper conversations going and how do we deepen the knowledge that is being gained at that level," Hardy said.
CU Strategic Planning also uses the Harvard Implicit Association Test, which is designed to gauge preferences in demographics such as race, gender and career, disability, sexuality and more. Data gathered found that "Consistently across the board, whether it's in leadership or in non-leadership, disability has been the area that has been ranked the highest in bias over and over again," Hardy said.
After a two day in-person workshop, CU Strategic Planning follows up with the credit union each quarter to track the progress made on the framework developed as a result.
Raiz Federal Credit Union in El Paso, Texas, recently partnered with CU Strategic Planning as it sought to begin its DEI campaign but was subject to blind spots in areas that needed improvement.
"Fundamentally, it's good business to try to be inclusive of particular groups, I think that's key. … One of the best arguments that I can make is when you have a diverse team [that is] heterogeneous, they're going to come up with a lot of different ideas, because they have an understanding based on their life experiences that's different from yours," said Max Villaronga, president and chief executive of the $909 million-asset Raiz FCU.
When hiring staff, banks and credit unions are attempting to reduce the time spent manually reviewing pools of applications by instead scanning for desired skills and other qualifications using artificial intelligence. According to a
But by potentially reducing the stress placed on hiring personnel and preventing human bias within the choice of candidates, financial institutions also run the risk of
Opportunities for people with disabilities is lower than for those with no disabilities, regardless of education status, according to the
Both banks and credit unions are trying to address this gap. JPMorgan Chase has
The $210 billion-asset Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati recently started conducting internal reviews of how the bank is sourcing talent for job openings. That includes participating in the
"We realized that we have always been accommodating our employees" by providing them with "whatever they need," said Stephanie Smith, senior vice president and chief inclusion and diversity officer for Fifth Third, adding that may mean different work screens or other workspace tools. "We've made accommodations in order to achieve that," Smith said.
"Because of our participation in the Disability Equality Index survey, we leaned in and formalized that policy," Smith said.
Fifth Third is additionally working with the
"We want to be an employer of choice and a bank of choice, so we have to make sure that we are attracting all the talent that's necessary as a leader within the banking industry," Smith said.
Associations such as the National Industries for the Blind have launched divisions aiming to connect applicants with banks, credit unions, financial institutions and other employers.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is examining whether artificial intelligence discriminates against minorities and other applicants. But GreenState Credit Union in Iowa says the technology can be harnessed to make lending fairer in underserved communities.
When compared to staff with unafflicted sight, vision-impaired professionals tend to stay within a role that has been tailored to their skill set and physical condition, according to Marianne Haegeli, program director of learning and leadership for NSITE.
"Typically, blind and low vision individuals are very loyal to their employers, and given the current situation in the job market, this is what you're looking for" in a candidate, Haegeli said.
The organization has since recently developed its own platform for job postings called NSITE Connect that allows vetted employers the opportunity to list positions that are a best fit for people with disabilities, while additionally working with the vendors to review what accommodations — if any — are needed.
"With the technologies that we have available today, being efficient and productive is really not a challenge for somebody who is well versed in the use of whatever assistive technology they use, and then adapt that to whatever the job requires. … This is really not a difficult transition to make" and "I think the challenge is for sighted folks to recognize that," Haegeli said.
