Case Study

Becoming morediverse & inclusive:The transformative power offocusing on behaviors andnumbers.

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When Lorie Valle-Yañez joined MassMutual in 2008,there was not much workforce diversity and fewthought that was a problem. Valle-Yañez, hired as thecompany’s first chief diversity officer, had joined asuccessful organization with low turnover and littleawareness about what diversity and inclusion wereand why they mattered to MassMutual’s future. Mostwere risk averse with a mindset of “why changewhen all is working well?” A decade later, afterrunning a complete assessment of their diversity andinclusion (D&I) practices, Korn Ferry consideredMassMutual to be a leader in diversity and inclusionbest practices. The company is more diverse in anumber of ways, has transformed leader mindsetsand behaviors, and infused inclusion into its culture.

“We’re measuring and holding people accountabledifferently. Korn Ferry considered our approach inthis space to be bold, which was great validation forus,” Valle-Yañez said.

ELEVATING ITS PRACTICES

By 2014, MassMutual had elevated its practices,establishing metrics and greater transparency forsenior leaders. A refreshed strategy focused oncultural competence, inclusive leadership and greateraccountability. During the next few years, the numberof employee resource groups (which is about 26% ofthe workforce today) grew from two to eight,positively affecting employee engagement.

ABOUT MASSMUTUAL

Founded in 1851, MassMutual isa leading mutual life insurancecompany run for the benefit ofits members and participatingpolicyowners, serving about 5.6million clients. Headquarteredin Springfield, MA, thecompany employs more than7,400 people in the US, with anational network of nearly8,500 advisors across 85 firms.MassMutual provides financialproducts such as life insurance,disability income insurance,long term care insurance,retirement/401(k) planservices, and annuities. Majoraffiliates include: Barings LLC,Haven Life Insurance Agency,and Oppenheimer Funds, Inc.

MassMutual was ranked 93rd in the Fortune 500 list (as of May 21, 2018). The company paid $5billion in insurance and annuity benefits in 2017, a dividend payout of $1.6 billion in 2018, andhas paid more than $14 billion in dividends since 2009.

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ACCELERATING PROGRESS

Between 2015 and 2017, MassMutual’s progressaccelerated as more than 200 senior leadersattended intensive learning labs and more than2,000 employees participated in inclusion training.D&I was incorporated as a company performancemetric in the annual incentive bonus plan,measuring lagging and leading indicators to focuson behaviors that would drive sustainable change.

Employee resource groups evolved to becomebusiness resource groups (BRGs) moving fromsocial groups focused on engagement andactivities to a strategic business partner drivingbusiness value.

ACCELERATING WORKFORCEDIVERSITY

MassMutual saw relatively little change in itsworkforce diversity over a five-year period from2010-2014. The focus on leader culturalcompetence and unconscious bias led to adramatic shift in mindsets and behaviors, enablingthe company to make the same or greater amountof progress in a two year timeframe (2015-2016).The introduction of the company performancemetric reduced the timeframe for progress evenfurther to one year (2017).

Growth of 1.1% of women in leadership in 2017

BUILDING AN INCLUSIVEORGANIZATION

Under Valle-Yañez’ leadership, MassMutual woulduse the Intercultural Development Inventoryassessment to measure its leaders’ ability to createinclusion and connect with others who aredifferent. MassMutual initially classified asminimization on the Intercultural DevelopmentContinuum, which ranges from denial, polarization,minimization, acceptance, and adaptation. A keywas measuring inclusive behaviors, such as cross-cultural agility and unconscious bias. In the firstassessment, 20% of leaders scored at acceptanceor adaptation. Two years later, half had moved toacceptance or adaptation, a 150% increase. Thiswas in preparation of leaders attending a 3.5-daytransformative learning lab called White Men andAllies.

“The initiatives that have made a difference weretransformative education, measuring andimproving leader cultural competence, andcreating shared accountability,” Valle-Yañez said.

PAVING THE STRATEGICROADMAP

In 2017, Korn Ferry conducted an assessment ofMassMutual’s policies and practices, whichincluded executive interviews and focus groupsrepresenting a variety of demographic groupsacross the company. "The insights gained wereinstrumental in creating a strategic roadmap tomove ahead by 2020," said Andrés Tapia. Theassessment highlighted the need to drive betterconsistency and build D&I capabilities through thelayers of management.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

How can you recreateMassMutual's approach?

Leadership Partnership &AlignmentEducationMetrics and TransparencyAccountability

KEY TAKEAWAYS

What did MassMutual learn thatcould be applicable for yourorganization?

Refresh Your StrategyExperimentStay the CourseBe Courageous

People of Color People of ColorLeaders

Voluntary Self-ID

2010-2014: +1.2% 2010-2014: +2.5% N/A2015-2016: +2.5% 2015-2016: +2.5% 2014-2016: +0.4%2017: 2.3% 2017: 2.9% 2017: 1.6%

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"Based on Korn Ferry’s recommendation we decided to take a targeted approach to address areas of thebusiness that had the most opportunity,” said Valle-Yañez. A targeted approach puts a brake on goingafter everything all at once.

ESTABLISHING A GREAT FOUNDATION

MassMutual’s D&I team continues to evolve its strategy to achieve its goals. Among the strengths thatwere identified:

Diversity and inclusion is at the forefront of strategy and work at MassMutual. The D&I team continuesto “push the agenda” and give diverse employees a chance to be voices and champions.

"White Men and Allies,” which focuses on the systemic privilege of white male culture, is atransformative experience like nothing else. Session attendees felt their perspectives and mindsetchanged as a result.

Infrastructure to support the various aspects of D&I across the organization are in place and improvedyear over year. These include BRGs, training events, and D&I events, among others.

Demographic data and metrics are available and discussed with leadership on a consistent basis.

Also in 2017, Korn Ferry conducted an assessment of MassMutual’s talent practices. As MassMutualcontinues to develop more inclusive leaders, the current leadership competencies are being reviewed toensure the right behaviors, skills and experiences are identified and developed. Korn Ferry’s InclusiveLeader Competencies offered a perspective on which traits and skills were needed to develop andmaintain an inclusive culture. In addition, Korn Ferry noted that there was an opportunity to betterintegrate and align Talent, Talent Acquisition, and D&I. These departments are working much morecollaboratively and have shared accountability, as a result.

The momentum for D&I continues to build across MassMutual. Korn Ferry is now consulting withMassMutual on efficacy training. With a sharper focus on implementing more integrated and systematicprocesses for acquiring, assessing, developing, advancing, and retaining talent, MassMutual is on a clearpath to greater gains in the future.

KEY OUTCOMES

Strong business case for D&I by CEO, board, and executive leadershipteam.Efforts in community helping to identify additional strategic partners.Vision established to provide “financial well-being for all Americans.”High level of commitment to D&I within the HR community.D&I function and strategy focused on training, metrics, and BRGs.Transformative “White Men and Allies” program addresses unconsciousbias.Good management practices are evident.New initiatives change the employee experience.

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4 © Korn Ferry 2018. All Rights Reserved.

About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry is a global organizationalconsulting firm. We help clientssynchronize strategy and talent to drivesuperior performance. We work withorganizations to design their structures,roles, and responsibilities. We help themhire the right people to bring theirstrategy to life. And we advise them onhow to reward, develop, and motivatetheir people.

HOW DOES MASSMUTUALMEASURE D&I?

MassMutual is a majority female organization, anduses a complex weighted formula to ensure gainsin the representation of women and people ofcolor in leadership roles, as well as people of colorand those who self-identify as LGBTQ, individualswith a disability, and veterans in all roles.

“We share two dashboards with executives: onelooks at each area of the business and how itcompares to our targets; a second one focuses onthe right behaviors that ultimately drive theresults,” Valle-Yañez said.

To learn more about unleashing thepotential of diverse talent, go towww.kornferry.com/diversity

ASSESSMENT &SUCCESSION

CULTURE &COMPETENCIES

SELECTING

JOINING

PERFORMING

RECRUITING &ONBOARDING

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

PERFORMANCEMANAGEMENT

ENGAGEMENT &ENABLEMENT

WORKFORCEPLANNING &ROLEREQUIREMENTS

DEVELOPMENT

LEVERAGING ATARGETED APPROACH

By using Korn Ferry’sprescribed targeted approach,other clients can benefit, asMassMutual did, in at least ahalf a dozen ways:

Differentiated developmentfor underrepresented mid-level talent.Cascading accountability.Focus on pipeline diversity.Building manager D&Icapabilities.Leveraging executivelearnings for front-linemanagers.Learning lab to pilot onlineunconscious bias training indecisions and selections.