Building a More Diverse Workforce in the Partner Channel

Building a More Diverse Workforce
in the Partner Channel
Research-based practice development guidelines and resources
to help partners recruit and retain a more diverse workforce

2
Partner Diversity Guide: Attracting and retaining a more diverse workforce
Copyright © 2019 CollabTalk LLC
Building a More Diverse Workforce
in the Partner Channel
Research-based practice development guidelines and resources to help
partners recruit and retain a more diverse workforce
T
here is increasing pressure on partners to expand the pool of potential workers who can support the
growth of the tech industry. In addition to the sheer numbers of workers needed, research linking
diversity to competitive benefits and profitability are driving change. Those companies with both ethnic
and cultural diversity are 33 percent more likely to experience above-average profitability, according to
McKinsey & Company’s multi-year research.1
Companies can’t expect to transform the workforce landscape overnight. Most partners are small
organizations, and individual effort may feel like a drop in the bucket. But thousands of partners taking small
steps forward can be a powerful force of change.
This guide is designed to help partners take those first steps. These are not reflections of the participating
sponsors, but through extensive research and interviews with a broad range of partners, we’ve gathered
information to help partners understand and address the challenges of building diversity within their
workforces. For most partners, this is the beginning of an organizational conversation.
Through the many lessons learned, one factor stands out: genuine commitment by leadership to foster
diversity and inclusion is essential to success. The challenges are real and there are no quick fixes. It is a
continuous learning process. Building a diverse and inclusive culture can be challenging, but the rewards are
well worth the journey. Let’s get started

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.Contents
JJ The current state of workforce diversity in the channel
Research on workforce diversity within the partner channel plus
lessons learned from other industries.
JJ Perspectives from Microsoft’s Channel Chief
Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President One Commercial
Partner, on diversity in the channel.
JJ Partner diversity and inclusion action plan
Step-by-step guide to foster a culture of diversity and inclusion
including perspective and inspiration from partners.
JJ The partner journey maturity model
Maturity audit to identify organizational strengths and weaknesses.
JJ Helpful resources
JJ Endnotes
JJ Acknowledgments

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The current state of diversity
in the channel
To understand the challenges partners face with respect to diversity,
we conducted a lengthy survey, interviewed partner employees, and
dug deep into industry-leading research. Key findings are revealed
in the following pages, along with some recommendations, to help
partners determine the best place to begin the conversation within their
organization—and how to move that conversation forward.
The top-line should come as no surprise to anyone. Channel partners
share the same diversity and inclusion challenges that most companies
are facing today. The unique challenge is that most partners are
relatively small organizations with very limited resources. The good news
is that for smaller organizations, incremental steps will have a bigger
impact, and can deliver marked improvements faster.
Based on our research, the challenges partners face in building a more
diverse and inclusive culture fall into three general categories: attracting
candidates, hiring the best talent and creating an environment where
talent can thrive and want to stay.
Findings from research
conducted on workforce
diversity within the
partner channel and the
greater tech industry
67%of respondents to the partner survey
said their company had never run a
specific targeted activity or program
to recruit diverse candidates.2

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Challenges to attracting diverse employees
Limited pool of diverse candidates
A common challenge cited by companies is a lack of diversity in the qualified candidate
pool. While many define diversity as the visibility characteristics including gender, race,
and ethnicity, we must remember that there are wider levels of diverse identity that
include both the characteristics you were born with, both visible and non-visible, and
those that you acquire throughout your life.
Things to consider
• Recruit for basic intellectual capability and problem solving; you can teach specific
skills.
• Actively recruit to build diversity. Target candidates in other geographic areas
through vehicles likes LinkedIn, university recruiting and/or targeted campaigns.
• Consider how you can screen in diverse talent, instead of screening out. Train
interviewers to recognize different styles and needs, and create an inclusive
culture to help candidates to feel they are welcome and that they belong.
How partners recruit diverse candidates
Employee referrals still lead recruitment efforts for partners, which
tends to reinforce current demographics—not promote diversity.
29%
20%
20%
12%
10%
6%
Employee referrals
Online Career Sites
Social Media
University Recruiting
Temporary/hiring
agencies
Career/Job Fairs
Diversity Study of Microsoft Registered Partners, CollabTalk LLC and BYU Marriott School

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Unintended barriers to under-represented groups
There are social and cultural barriers that may prevent some potential candidates
from applying to job postings. Be careful to remove biases within job descriptions.
Understand the characteristics you’re trying to recruit for, replace jargon with
language that embraces diversity and inclusion, then proactively approach potential
candidates for feedback and understand what needs to change/what motivates them.
Recommendations
• Craft job descriptions carefully to reduce cultural biases.
• Redesign job descriptions to make them more appealing to talent working in
other industries and professions.
Challenges to attracting diverse employees
Job description best practices
Job listings play an important role in recruiting talent and often
provide the first impression of a company’s culture.
A common mistake is using gender-specific
pronouns. Rephrase job descriptions to avoid the
need for these pronouns.
For more tips download “NCWIT TIPS FOR WRITING BETTER JOB ADS” at www.ncwit.org/
Make sure that all the “required” qualifications are
truly required and try to build in as much flexibility
as possible.3
Superlative phrases like “best of the best,” “off the
charts,” “world-class,” or “unparalleled” tend to prevent
women (as well as many men) from applying.

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Challenges to hiring diverse employees
Unconscious bias in hiring
Even people with the best of intentions toward diversity can harbor
attitudes and beliefs that affect their thoughts, feelings, and actions
that may not be readily apparent to them. These biases stem from our
preference for people who are similar to us. We hire for “cultural fit” rather
than people who may bring the most value to the organization.
Recommendations
• Provide unconscious bias training to all company employees and
hiring managers to help them identify their own gaps.
• Develop objective indicators to rate each candidate to reduce
stereotyping.
• Consider blocking out pictures, names, gender, home address or
anything else from resumes where bias may exist to help resume
screeners be more objective.
Diversity adds value
When evaluating candidates, forward thinking companies are
switching from the concept of “culture fit” to “culture add.”
33 How will this person offer a dimension that our
culture might be missing?
33 In what ways might this person challenge our
thinking and processes?
33 How will this person bring a viewpoint or context
we may be missing?4
People will hire based on “fit” — and which all too often
translates as “people like us.” Instead, if you build a culture
where “fit” means people who exemplify who we are as a
business, then diversity will be germane to your future success.5

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Difficulty establishing success measures
To measure progress, companies need to set specific goals for
workplace diversity and track performance metrics.
Recommendations
• Assign hiring managers key performance metrics that mirror
the diversity objectives of the organization.
• Aspirational goals are one method to improve diversity but
must be implemented with great care.
• Managers should be included and vested in diversity initiatives
and metrics. Organizations that support their managers
through enablement and tools with the “what” and the “how”
tend to make better progress.
Challenges to hiring diverse employees
“Mentorship programs within organizations are
helpful but must be as diversely organized as
the organizations they hope to curate. Involve
experienced organization insiders as role models,
mentors, or trainers, especially diverse candidates in
leadership and management positions.”6
Retaining Talent: Replacing Misconceptions
with Evidence-Based Strategies, Allen

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Diversity efforts not aligned with company
culture
A company culture that genuinely embraces and supports a diverse
workforce needs to be in place before recruiting begins.
Recommendations
• Perform diversity audits in each area of the business to uncover
potential gaps, both in policies and culture.
• Offer diversity and inclusion training to raise the level of awareness
among team members in their role to create an inclusive culture,
and recognize subconscious biases and prejudices.
• Educate managers on recognizing and correcting situations and
practices that undermine an inclusive culture.
Challenges in retaining diverse employees
Programs partners use to support a diverse work environment
13%
28%
25%
13%
10%
9%
8%
Inclusive social activities
Mentoring programs
Diversity training
Diversity committee
Task forces
Grievance systems
of partner survey respondents’
organizations are actively engaged
in diversity training.

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Challenges to retaining diverse employees
High turnover among diverse employees
High employee turnover is often a symptom of cultural or
engagement issues—especially in the case of diverse employees.
Recommendations
• Foster communication and engagement t every level of the
company.
• Design jobs to increase meaningfulness, autonomy, variety,
and coworker support.
• Provide challenging goals accompanied by positive
feedback and recognition of contributions.
• Offer training and professional development opportunities
to all employees.
Work Culture
Feel appreciated
Salary
Benefits (healthcare)
Mentoring
Upward mobility
Diverse management
20%
16%
12%
8%
5%
5%
5%
Reasons employees stay with their current partner employer
Women are more likely to be promoted when managers
advocate for them, give them stretch assignments, and advise
them on how to advance.7

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Challenges to retaining diverse employees
Lack of career progression among
diverse employees
Diverse employees must be provided the same opportunities
as their colleagues. Career and promotion paths should be
transparent and equitable.
Recommendations
• Encourage inclusiveness with team leaders (i.e. mentorship
programs crossing diversity boundaries).
• Ensure diversity among top leadership.
• Invite all employees to apply for promotions.
• Improve referral program opportunities.
Retention best practices
In ongoing studies of employee perceptions of bias, we have identified
three retention goals that can be implemented in just about any company:
33 More inclusive team leaders (fostering a culture in which people feel
free to speak and feel confident of being heard).
33 Diversity in the leadership (that is, more people from different
backgrounds in top positions).
33 Recognition and continued sponsorship of diverse candidates by
senior executives.
These goals appear to make an enormous difference in supporting talent
of all backgrounds.8
This is not about assimilation, but about creating
inclusionary practices, and demonstrating organizational accountability.

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From Microsoft’s Channel Chief
At Microsoft, we are committed to diversity and inclusion, including
attracting, recruiting, and retaining diverse talent in the tech industry—
and we encourage our partners to make the same commitment. The
diversity of a workforce and inclusion of talented people from different
backgrounds is the fuel that keeps the engines of innovation and growth
running. Diverse teams catalyze greater innovation by bringing new
approaches to the table, different questions, and great ideas. Diversity
enriches performance, products and services, the communities
where we live and work, and the lives of employees.
One of the key takeaways from this research was that in order to build
the best products for everyone, our partners should also have a diverse
workforce reflective of the diversity of their customers.
Sharing our learnings
Like any organizational priority, the journey starts with a goal. If you have
a goal, there is a destination that you can start down the path toward.
When you add measurable targets to the goal-setting, there’s a
mechanism in place to make sure progress is being made.
Organizations can search new talent pools for hiring. Partners can
look beyond the university programs and industry organizations. Consider
searching for diverse candidates from untapped pools of talent, like
veterans, who represent a skilled talent population with great diversity.
Partners can consider initiatives to strengthen employee
development and retention by increasing mentoring and
sponsorship. Sponsorship of women and racial/ethnic minorities is a key
component of business plans, and partners can ready and equip their
hiring managers with a Diversity and Inclusion toolkit.
At Microsoft, we are continuously exploring ways to advance diversity at
all stages of the talent lifecycle. For example, we are investing in ways to
increase our pipeline by sparking girls’ interest in technology careers. We
promote the study of computer science at traditionally women’s colleges
and other universities. We invest in women-focused organizations, seek
out women-owned suppliers, and provide support to women once they
are employees at Microsoft. This is just one example of how Microsoft is
continuously learning and trying to improve. We encourage our partners
to explore similar efforts.
“In order to build the best
products for everyone,
partners need to have a
diverse workforce that is
reflective of the diversity of
their customers.”
Gavriella Schuster,
Corporate Vice President
One Commercial Partner
Gavriella Schuster, Microsoft

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Business rewards from diversity and inclusion
“It is more than representation, it is
more than ‘let’s all just get along,
and it is more than a company
motto. Increasing gender, ethnicity,
abilities, nationalities and many other
dimensions of diversity are proven
business components for success. The
data repeatedly indicates that more
diversity on your board of directors,
your leadership teams and across your
organization enhances innovation,
collaboration and most importantly
organizational effectiveness – and,
consequently, business performance.”
Cal Jackson, Director, Diversity & Inclusion,
Tech Data
“Social Enterprise” pays
dividends for partner
Since December of 2017, Dynamics Intelligence Inc,
a Microsoft Tier-1 CSP, has promoted their “Social
Enterprise” philosophy on their website and LinkedIn.
The company is committed to solving social needs and
providing an inclusive work environment. While they
invested no money in marketing during that time, they
experienced:
• 400% increase in LinkedIn Profile views
• 5000% (1K/yr to 50K/yr) LinkedIn new connection
requests
• 800% increase in web traffic over four months.
In May 2018, Dynamics Intelligence was recognized by
NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors) for
exemplary practices related to diversity and inclusion.
The recognition, part of NACD’s NXT initiative, applauds
exemplary board leadership practices that promote
greater diversity and inclusion, ultimately fostering
long-term value creation.
For ethnic/cultural diversity,
top-quartile companies
were 33% more likely to
outperform on profitability.
Delivering on Diversity,
McKinsey & Company1
Companies in the top-quartile
for gender diversity on their
executive teams were 21% more
likely to have above-average
profitability than companies in
the fourth quartile.

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Partner diversity and inclusion action plan
Step-by-step guide to
support a culture of
diversity and inclusion.
By embracing diversity as a responsibility that requires attention and
resources, your business can move from talk to action, developing an
inclusive and inspiring work environment.
Based on the research findings included in the beginning of this guide, plus
the experiences of partners like you, we’ve outlined an action plan you can
tailor to your business.
Leadership
■■ Communicate commitment to diversity
■■ Objectively assess company culture
■■ Establish goals and dedicate resources
Recruiting and Hiring
■■ Expand recruiting horizons
■■ Evaluate current practices
■■ Ensure manager accountability
Retention
■■ Evangelize diversity
■■ Support flexible work policies
■■ Formalize training and career progression
■■ Establish a mentoring program
Click
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Leadership
Communicate commitment to diversity
“I intentionally set out to build a diverse board of directors. Experts
say the more diverse the team, the more creative solutions they
recommend. And it’s an interesting dynamic because when people come
from different backgrounds, they tend not to align together into cliques.
Everyone has equal opportunity to contribute. You’re always going to have
different opinions on things, different perspectives, different backgrounds,
different thoughts, and different experiences which stimulates innovation.
Our board is a mixture of technical and domain experience. That’s because
we have pursued the One Commercial Partner (OCP) model, which requires
verticalization and the productization of our offerings. In order to do that, we
wanted to establish credibility in each one of those subject areas.”
Jenna Bourgeois, CEO, Dynamics Intelligence
Partner perspective: Board diversity adds creativity
“I think that diverse teams
find more complete
solutions to problems. They
build greater products
and solutions for better
customer satisfaction.”
Christine Bongard, President
WIT Network
Leaders who demonstrate courage, curiosity and cultural
intelligence through example foster cultures of inclusiveness.
By integrating demographic diversity into business strategy
and communicating that to employees and customers,
leaders set the cultural tone. Specific steps to demonstrate
commitment include:
• Leading by example, establishing an atmosphere
where employees feel free to share their ideas and
opinions, and feel confident they are heard and
valued.
• Actively participating in diversity training and team-
building activities.
• Setting goals and establishing accountability to build
more inclusive leadership teams and boards.

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Objectively assess company culture
Leadership
“Virtually every male partner leader I have spoken to about diversity has
said the same thing ‘We’re doing pretty well with all of this. We have good
procedures in place. We have equal pay policies, and everybody feels safe
at my company.’ In many cases, I think they’re just making assumptions.
Because they don’t hear complaints, they think ‘We’re doing great.’
When partner leaders recognize that there may be gender and
cultural bias in their organization they can take the steps to change.
So, the IAMCP WIT chapters are trying to engage with the men in the
channel just as much as we are working to educate women. Together, we
can be more successful.”
Christine Bongard, President WIT Network
Partner perspective: Question assumptions
“Each year, we create a
yearbook to celebrate our
employees. We include
photos of group activities
as well as individual pages
for each person. It’s fun and
really builds the teamwork
culture.”
Ro Kolakowski, CEO
6th Street Consulting
Many of the situations and experiences that women and
minorities find challenging in an organization are not meant
to be divisive. Through the eyes of diverse employees, the
cultural and business practices that have developed over
time may feel more like barriers than opportunities. Assess
the current culture by:
• Performing a diversity audit to objectively evaluate
the current company culture.
• Asking under-represented employee groups in your
organization for honest feedback in a safe, risk-free
environment.
• Establishing high level objectives the company wants
to achieve in terms of diversity and inclusion.

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Establish goals and dedicate resources
Leadership
“When leaders don’t quite know how to engage with community
organizations that can help them with diversity activities, it all starts with
sincerity. The first step forward can simply be using the following words,
‘I am a Microsoft practice owner and I want to ensure that my work center
is represented by the top talent across culture and gender in today’s world.
I realize that my perspective is limited and I can not do this alone. So, I am
looking to partner with your organization or open the discussion to discover
ways that I can create an environment that makes it comfortable for diversity
to flourish within my work center.’”
Shadeed Eleazer, Founder, Managed Path Solutions
Partner perspective: How to engage with community resources
“Make no mistake that the
diverse population will
reward you ten times over
through their work ethic and
the way they communicate
to people about how great
you are as a leader. I get
fan letters.”
Jenna Bourgeois, CEO
Dynamics Intelligence
While you can’t change the demographics of your company
overnight, you can make a commitment to try. Establishing
clear goals and monitoring progress encourages leaders and
managers to keep diversity a priority. Formalize the plan to
make progress on diversity and inclusion with:
• Appointment of a diversity team responsible for
recommending and monitoring inclusion programs
and standards.
• Goals to increase representation of women and
minorities at all levels within the organization.
• Regular reporting on hiring, promotions and
mentoring outcomes to demonstrate leadership’s
commitment to progress.
• Sponsoring team building activities that are inclusive
across departments, management levels, and cultural
differences.

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Expand recruiting horizons
Employee referrals drive the bulk of partner hiring, with few
organizations being large enough to support a dedicated
HR professional. Employees talk to their friends and past
business associates, which limits the pool—especially for
companies located in less diverse cities or states. Small
changes to increase the pool of candidates will go long way
for even the smallest firms, including:
• Reaching out to local universities and community
colleges to identify recruiting opportunities.
• Using LinkedIn and other online resources to search
for candidates.
• Participating in community activities to gain a better
understanding of regional talent resources.
“We highlight our diversity
on our website. Many of the
people who apply to our
company say, ‘I’ve come to
your company because I
want to work for a diverse
company.’ And their skills
are amazing. It’s the best
candidate pool I’ve ever had
and I’ve run this business for
17 years.”
Jenna Bourgeois, CEO
Dynamics Intelligence
Partner perspective: Get outside your normal circles
“Hiring’s difficult. We do what’s safe, and we do what we know. Maybe
we take a recommendation from a friend or a friend of a friend. Many of us
have built our business that way. That wasn’t really on purpose, it was just
what was easy. It’s difficult to trust people just based on their resume.
I think we fall into these patterns of doing what’s easy. And sometimes, you
end up hiring people that are very much like you, which doesn’t necessarily
promote that diversity of culture within the organization. All of that makes it
important to get outside of your normal circle and try to find people that are
unique, and that are interesting, and that maybe appeal to different pieces of
the business.”
Stephanie Donahue, President, PAIT Group

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Evaluate current practices
Every person, whether they realize it or not, inherently
has unconscious bias in the way that they think and treat
others. Companies should be intentional in their hiring
practices to ensure bias is removed from the process:
• Using standardized interview guidelines designed
to be objective in order to reduce stereotypes.
• Providing transparency between interviewers
throughout the selection process.
• Including interviewers who represent a cross-
section of the company to help diversity
candidates feel more welcome and to reduce
overall bias during the hiring process.
“It’s critical to create diverse
interview teams, making
sure that there’s a woman,
and people of color on
interview panels to level the
playing field.”
WIT Network
“Sometimes we get carried away with the whole STEM concept—everyone
needs to be an engineer, everyone needs to code. There are plenty of jobs
in technology that don’t involve coding, that involve things that we
can be passionate about. My job is to help people change into a digital
workplace, to transform the way people work, and that’s pretty darn exciting.
I don’t touch code every day. I don’t think we talk about those other
opportunities in tech as much as we could. The most important thing that
we can do when we’re promoting technology isn’t promoting technology
for the sake of tech, it’s promoting it for the sake of doing something you’re
passionate about.”
Stephanie Donahue, President, PAIT Group
Partner perspective: More than coding

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Ensure manager accountability
Since most partners don’t have dedicated HR staff, team
managers are often responsible for hiring. As gatekeepers,
it’s critical that they are included and invested in diversity
initiatives and measures. To help managers succeed:
• Provide unconscious bias training.
• Engage the Diversity and Inclusion team to assist
managers with expanding their talent pool.
• Drive accountability, not only metrics tracking—
consider tying compensation to diversity and
inclusion outcomes.
• Increase transparency in hiring and promotion results.
“The first impression is
ruined when a person does
not make an effort to learn a
person’s name. Take the time
to say. ‘Names are important
to me and I want to make
sure that I pronounce your
name correctly. Can you
please pronounce your
name so that I can start our
relationship off on the right
foot?’ That will go a long
way towards ensuring that
a person who has a unique
name feels respected.”
Shadeed Eleazer, Founder
Managed Path Solutions
“Our social activities reinforce a supportive culture. If you are playing ping-
pong at one of our social gatherings, and you stink at ping-pong, you
don’t get ridiculed because you flub it. We have an openness almost like a
safe zone. You can try something new and be supported, both in the work
situation and off-site.
When we’re asking someone to push outside their comfort zone, we remind
them of the risk they took and the support they got during social events. I
think that by creating those events, it makes it easier for us to not only know
people on a personal level, but also help them push through potential
fears or comfort zones that they have when we’re asking them to stretch on
a technical basis or a professional level.”
Michelle Hollis, COO 6th Street Consulting
Partner perspective: Foster trust in the team

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Retention
Evangelize diversity
Building a more diverse and inclusive culture will
come with challenges. New employees may encounter
both unintended bias and outright skepticism of their
credentials. Corporate culture should be infused with
positive reinforcement of the value diversity brings to
the organization—from fresh perspectives to innovative
ideas. To bridge the gap between old and new:
• Provide unconscious bias training for all
employees .
• Offer training and opportunities for all employees
to share their expertise. (Spread out speaking
opportunities beyond traditional “go-to”
presenters.)
• Celebrate the cultures of all employees through
events, holiday observance, and announcements.
“One of our core values is to celebrate success. There is a wide range of
personalities—from developers to sales people—in the organization and we
try to help each of them expand their professional abilities.
There are often times when employees are shy and hesitant to call attention
to their accomplishments. We try to help them be more confident by
sharing and celebrating achievements.
There are also employees who are more cautious in taking on new
challenges. We try to carefully push them to take on new challenges and
then celebrate the success. We have seen that it helps.”
Pankaj Argawal, Managing Partner, Optimus Information Inc.
“Analyze the selection criteria
for leadership programs and
promotion criteria, to make
sure that it’s balanced. If it’s
just referral based, “Hey, I
want this person to get a
promotion,” you’re likely to
be limiting the audiences
of people who can be
promoted and put into these
programs.”
WIT Network
Partner perspective: Celebrate success

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Support flexible work policies
Flexibility in the workplace has become a key differentiator
for employers—especially with people working remotely.
Respect for personal obligations and challenges should be
a foundation of inclusive workplace policies. To build a more
flexible work environment:
• Review workplace policies to ensure that personal
obligations can be accommodated and treated
uniformly across the business.
• Ensure that employees are respected when personal
situations impact their work.
• Foster a culture where people can be honest about
personal conflicts without guilt.
Retention
“Our nine-to-five work week Monday through Friday was an output of the
industrial revolution. It was also driven by men whose wives were home with
the kids. Nine-to-five doesn’t always work.
Many of the people that I’ve worked with in the past, they’re real troopers.
They’ll try to do everything to cover up personal challenges and it’s very
important to me in our company that people can be honest about their
situation. For example, we tell those who have young children in our
company, ‘if you need to walk to the bus stop, put the appointment on the
calendar, and we know not to schedule during that time.’
It’s a challenge sometimes because at the same time, as an employer, we
want to make sure that we have an equal policy for people. So you’ve got to
have a good policy in place. Ours is a 32 hour work week.”
Jenna Bourgeois, CEO, Dynamics Intelligence
“We provide a lot of flexibility
in the work environment.
Instead of work-life balance,
we use the term work-life
integration. We feel like work
and life today are integrated
and unique for each
individual. We are happy to
customize the integration, so
that both the individual and
the company win.”
Pankaj Argawal, Managing Partner
Optimus Information Inc.
Partner perspective: Foster honesty with employees

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Formalize training and
career progression
To ensure that all employees feel they have an equal
opportunity for training and professional advancement,
partners need to formalize their standards and processes.
Working with hiring managers, the company should consider:
• Establishing fair, workable policies and processes for
job postings and internal applications.
• Defining and making transparent all job titles,
responsibilities, requirements, pay ranges and selection
criteria for all roles in the organization.
• Establishing training paths for common roles in the
organization.
Retention
“In many cases, partners are still operating like start-ups and haven’t taken
the time to define what it takes to actually reach the top. So, in order to
safeguard themselves practice owners need to ensure that standards for
promotion are clearly defined.
When everyone within the work center can identify a tangible path for
upward mobility within the company, it breeds an environment of healthy
competition of fairness and balance. It is important to take the time to
define what makes an executive within the company, what makes a senior
professional, or what standards define promotion within the company.”
Shadeed Eleazer, Founder, Managed Path Solutions
“I think that every company,
no matter how small or
large, should assign a
diversity leader—someone
responsible for putting
a plan in place to review
all company policies and
procedures. They should be
empowered to ensure that
due dates and milestones
are hit, plus drive the
celebrations and rewards for
accomplishments.”
WIT Network
Partner perspective: Define the standards

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Retention
Establish mentoring programs
Formal mentoring programs validate the company’s
commitment to employee advancement. To get your
mentoring program started:
• Identify interested mentors and mentees to make an
initial assignment.
• Suggest schedules for meetings, but let individuals set
their own cadence.
• Refine and build the program through feedback
sessions to determine what’s working best.
• Consider mentoring teams instead of single
individuals to support different aspects of an
employee’s professional development.
• Encourage employee participation in professional
organizations, like WIT Network or the Society of
Hispanic Professional Engineers, that may offer
additional mentoring opportunities.
“Partners don’t have
to be confined to their
own organization to find
mentors. Local professional
organizations for example,
may be able to match
mentors to enrich the
experience for employees.”
Shadeed Eleazer, Founder
Managed Path Solutions
“Partners should pay special attention to providing mentors and sponsors for
underrepresented employees. Someone who could help guide them on their
career development and how to take advantage of career opportunities,
they’ve got a much better shot at being promoted and at advancing.
Women are still leaving our industry at a high rate. A lot of that has
to do with beliefs that they won’t be able to climb to the top. They won’t be
promoted. You have to pave the way to make changes so that the women
and minority employees can see a path to promotion—they understand it
and believe that it will happen. The more that partners can do to provide
access to personal support and guidance, employees will have more
confidence in their future in tech.”
Christine Bongard, President WIT Network
Partner perspective: Build confidence in the future

25
Retaining
Leadership
Recruiting
and hiring
Partner Maturity Model
Aspirational
…… Commitment to
improve D&I (diversity
and inclusion)
practices.
…… High level objectives
set, culture audit
underway.
Proactive
…… Active support of D&I.
…… Initial diversity audits
completed and corrective
plans in place.
…… D&I team identified and
empowered to drive
change.
Progressive
…… D&I are foundations of
the business mission and
company culture.
…… Leadership and BOD reflect
the diversity goals of the
organization.
…… D&I team is active and
empowered.
…… Expanded sourcing for
candidates, including
LinkedIn.
…… Evaluating HR
practices, including
job descriptions and
interview processes.
…… Unconscious bias
training underway.
…… Workplace policies
under review to
support work life
balance.
…… Gauge employee
interest in mentorship
program.
…… D&I team engaged to
assist hiring managers
expand talent pool.
…… Increased transparency
in hiring and promotion
results.
…… Workplace policies provide
flexibility to accommodate
employees’ personal
situations.
…… Training paths and
promotion criteria
are documented and
transparent.
…… Mentoring program is
underway.
…… Diverse interview teams
represent a cross-section of
the company.
…… Transparent recruitment,
promotion, pay and other
talent practices.
…… Managers measured and
held accountable for
inclusive culture.
…… Company culture supports
respect for family and
personal time.
…… Mentoring teams support
different aspects of an
employee’s professional
development.
…… Ongoing diversity audits and
employee feedback loops
are part of company culture.
Change doesn’t happen overnight, but partners can make significant progress through a systematic, phased
approach. Build an inclusive, inspiring work environment to encourage the top performance from employees that
drives innovation, customer loyalty and profits.

26
Helpful resources
There is no actual or implied endorsement of any of the resources following. Some of the listings
require paid memberships to access resources.
Microsoft resources
33 Diversity overview
33 Microsoft Diversity and Inclusion “Unconscious Bias” elearning
course
IAMCP WIT
International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners, Women in
Technology
33 Home page
33 IAMCP Webinar: Develop & Enable Diverse Workforce and
Culture
Niamh Coleman of Microsoft and Sharon Chang of AgilePoint Inc. presented this
popular session at Microsoft Ignite and share their thoughts on the topic with the
IAMCP community in this webinar.
33 IAMCP Webinar: 100% Empowerment, 0% Guilt: Understanding
Unconscious Bias
A recording of the webinar is available here. A pdf from the webinar’s slide deck is
available here.
Professional organizations
33 MAES is a latino organization for the development of STEM leaders.
33 BDPA is an international organization with a diverse membership
of professionals and students at all levels in the fields of information
technology, computer science and related S.T.E.M fields.
Student-focused organizations
33 CompTIA’s Creating Futures dedicated to helping populations that are
under-represented in IT and individuals who are lacking in opportunity
to prepare for, secure and be successful in IT careers.
Links
in
bold

27
Helpful resources
Diversity advocate organizations
33 National Diversity Council. The mission of the NDC is to be both a
resource and an advocate for the value of diversity and inclusion. NDC
provides a D&I certification program and toolkit for members. Other
resources include a newsletter, a multicultural calendar, and directory of
state diversity councils.
33 Catalyst.org is a global nonprofit working with some of the world’s
most powerful CEOs and leading companies to help build workplaces
that work for women. Resources include discussion guides and
educational webinars on a variety of D&I topics.
33 National Association on Disability The National Organization on
Disability (NOD) is a private, non-profit organization that promotes the
full participation and contributions of America’s 57 million people with
disabilities in all aspects of life. NOD focuses on increasing employment
opportunities for the 80-percent of working-age Americans with
disabilities who are not employed. Resources include best practices for
hiring and retaining employees with disabilities.
33 Parity.org is dedicated to promoting companies that demonstrate
their commitment to gender parity, raising awareness about underlying
issues, and providing facts and research that show the value in equal
representation. The ParityPledge™ encourages organizations to commit
to interview at least one qualified woman for every open seat, VP and
higher—including the C-Suite and the Board.
33 theBoardlist is a curated talent marketplace for business leaders to
recommend, discover and connect highly qualified women across
industries with private and public board opportunities.

28
Endnotes
1 Delivering through Diversty, McKinsey and Company., https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/
organization/our-insights/delivering-through-diversity
2 Diversity Study, Diversity Study Microsoft Registered Partners, CollabTalk LLC and BYU Marriott School, 2017
3 National Center for Women and Information Technology, https://www.ncwit.org/
4 Buffer Open, Why We’ve Stopped Saying “Culture Fit” and What We’re Saying Instead, Seiter. https://open.
buffer.com/culture-fit/
5 Forbes, How to Alter Your Hiring Practices To Increase Diversity, Maynard Webb, Former COO eBay
https://www.forbes.com/sites/maynardwebb/2017/10/29/how-to-alter-your-hiring-practices-to-increase-
diversity/#1d82c6ff2029
6 Academy of Management Perspectives, vol. 24, no. 2, Jan. 2010, David G. Allen, Phillip C. Bryant, and James
M. Vardaman,
7 Women in the Workplace 2017, Mckinsey & Co. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/gender-equality/
women-in-the-workplace-2017
8 National Center for Women and Information Technology https://www.ncwit.org/

29
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30
About CollabTalk
CollabTalk LLC (https://collabtalk.com) is an independent research and
technical marketing services company, led by Microsoft Regional Director
and MVP, Christian Buckley.
CollabTalk offers industry research, content marketing, and strategy
consulting services within the technology sector — working primarily within
the Microsoft ecosystem. The company is based in Lehi, Utah, with customers
located around the world. CollabTalk is a registered Microsoft Partner, and
a member of the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners
(IAMCP).
For this research, CollabTalk partnered with the Marriott School of
Management at Brigham Young University, with key advisor Dr. Kurt
Sandholtz, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human
Resources at the Marriott School of Management.
About the Author
Barb Levisay has written extensively about the issues that affect Microsoft
technology service provider partners for Redmond Channel Partner. In
conjunction with Microsoft, Barb wrote the award-winning ebook “12
Amazing Tech Jobs and the Women Who Rock Them.”
As an independent writer, Barb applies deep expertise with Microsoft
business management software to help partners explain the value of digital
transformation to SMB and enterprise customers. She creates ebooks, white
papers and other marketing content to educate and inspire.

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