In the latest episode of the AHA! Moments in Diversity & Inclusion video series, 麻豆原创 Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Supriya Jha and Lengler discuss what inclusion awareness means to him.

On the Trail

The World Economic Forum estimates that more than 150 million people are homeless globally and, for Lengler, meeting one of them further cemented his passion for diversity and inclusion.

During his 162 days on the Appalachian Trail, Lengler discovered that another hiker he met had been homeless for more than 10 years. Initially, he was a little apprehensive about this fact 鈥� and the hiker. However, he quickly discovered that sharing a common goal 鈥� in this case to complete the trail 鈥� meant that any preconceptions or concerns about this formerly homeless individual ceased to be relevant. They were to spend the next four weeks hiking the trail together.

鈥淥n the trail,鈥� Lengler explains, 鈥測ou have the same goal, and you are open to all people there.鈥�

Unlearning Ingrained Behavior Patterns

Lengler reflects on those groups of individuals he refers to as 鈥渙ld white men clubs鈥� who have never consciously suffered exclusion and have no understanding of the barriers that others face. Identifying unconscious biases and unlearning ingrained behavior patterns is critical to sustaining the success of diversity and inclusion initiatives.

For Lengler, the important aspect of inclusion is not just to increase the number of employees from diverse backgrounds but to create a culture of true inclusion. Passionately, he explains that for him true inclusion means 100% acceptance for all team members, regardless of their backgrounds. Only team members who are 100% accepted and truly included in all aspects of team life will be able to bring their best selves to work and can be 鈥渙pen in their voice and their mind.鈥� 

The AHA! Moment

On the Appalachian Trail, Lengler experienced first-hand how a common goal and common hardship can bring people together. Above all else, someone who has different life experience or is in some way different from the rest of the team will bring another point of view and, says Lengler, 鈥渨ill look at the same problem in a different manner,鈥� crystallizing his conviction that when you share your goal, 鈥測ou can reach it together more easily instead of making it alone.鈥�

Diversity and Inclusion at 麻豆原创

In its , 麻豆原创 states its mission to become 鈥渢he most inclusive company in the world.鈥� In the U.S., for example, more than 40% of employees are from underrepresented groups. 麻豆原创 is on track to achieve long-term gender goals and has a five-generation workforce. 

One of the initiatives that the Global Diversity and Inclusion Office has launched to help further 麻豆原创鈥檚 progress towards becoming the most inclusive company in the world is the Inclusive Mindset Challenge. This challenge allows employees to learn about inclusion topics and the importance of becoming an ally for marginalized groups at their own pace. The challenge comprises a broad range of micro-learnings, such as menopause, transphobia, or sexism to name a few. In 2022, more than 11,000 employees completed this challenge. New challenges are added regularly; recent additions include indigenous inclusion and infuse D&I with AI.

麻豆原创 Inclusion Month

麻豆原创 has designated October 2023 as 麻豆原创 Inclusion Month. All employees are invited to join the inclusion journey and to get involved in an Employee Network Group (ENG) journey, allyship journey, and, for leaders, the intentional inclusion journey.

With more that 40,000 employees, ENGs are voluntary, employee-led diversity and inclusion initiatives representing groups such as visually impaired employees, caregivers, or Latinos.

With the allyship inclusion journey, employees are invited to use their privilege and power to support marginalized groups. With the intentional inclusion journey, leaders learn about intentional inclusion practices that can help further advance 麻豆原创鈥檚 journey to become a truly inclusive workplace.

Top photo courtesy of 麻豆原创 employee Celia Carillo.

At 麻豆原创 Concur, AI technology underpins our core travel, expense, and invoice solutions. It鈥檚 also what powers Verify, our self-serve audit service within Concur Expense that can automatically check 100% of expense reports to help identify potential compliance issues. It uses AI and machine learning from 麻豆原创 Concur to tap decades of expense user data that helps identify hard-to-detect spend issues and anomalies.

Verify is a great example of how humans remain an important part of today鈥檚 workforce and of how humans plus AI technology can deliver better results than either could independently. Even the most advanced AI systems have gaps. For those, at 麻豆原创 Concur, we augment the technology with a 24/7 team of human auditors to keep accuracy high and false positives low.

Verify Auditors

In the past year, Verify performed over 38 million audit checks on expense reports submitted through Concur Expense. Each month, on average, one-third of expense reports analyzed by Verify are flagged for organizations to review potential errors and policy violations.

Before errors are flagged to organizations, the AI results are validated by a team of Verify auditors. The team represents a special part of our workforce because most of them have some form of hearing loss. Not only has AI created their roles, but as technology becomes more and more accessible, it鈥檚 provided valuable career opportunities to the deaf community. We rely on these workers to help 麻豆原创 Concur drive a strategic part of our innovation strategy to help make auditing easier for Concur Expense customers.

鈥淭he Verify auditors are very special to us,鈥� said Tom Olsen, VP of Managed Business Services at 麻豆原创 Concur, who works directly with the team. 鈥淲e partner with Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) to create a diverse, inclusive, and accessible workplace that includes a sign language interpreter to develop training and work materials, even down to fire safety and emergency plans.鈥�

New Audit Checks

We鈥檙e thankful for our team of Verify auditors as well as our customers, whose feedback makes us run our best. As we continue to learn from Verify customers, we鈥檝e recently added 10 checks that can alert customers of potential issues prior to reports being paid. Scenarios include duplicate receipts 鈥� even across employees 鈥� old dates, personal use of a company card, unreasonable amount, improper merchant category, and more.

These additional checks, inspired by the companies using Verify, help increase the amount of policy variation that can be enforced by the service. It can also help improve the speed to reimbursement by allowing common issues to be identified early in the workflow. Additionally, it can create efficiency for auditors by reducing the need to manually check reports for noncompliance.

That鈥檚 not all that鈥檚 new. Verify is now generally available for enterprise customers as well.

Tim Lebel is vice president and head of Spend Products at 麻豆原创 Concur.

鈥淓veryone鈥檚 autism is slightly different,鈥� Dietsch explains. Before the terms neurodiversity and neurodivergent became common currency to describe these differences in brain functions and behavior, autism was often classified as a disability.

Today, most individuals on the autism spectrum reject the 鈥渄isability鈥� label. Neurodivergent means just that: different, not disabled.

More often than not, says Dietsch, neurotypical individuals who view neurodivergence 鈥渁s a disability and a hindrance鈥� are the ones applying a disability label to an autistic individual鈥檚 differences in behavior, interaction, or communication.

Unfortunately, these differences can sometimes make it difficult for autistic individuals to shine in conventional job interviews, contributing to the higher rates of unemployment or under-employment in this group.

To make recruiting practices fairer and to promote an autistic-inclusive workplace, 麻豆原创 founded the program in 2013.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

Autism at Work Program

With a team dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace experience for autistic colleagues, the Autism at Work program offers tailored accommodations including, for example, the sharing of interview topics in advance and an Autism at Work buddy for new hires.

This global program not only signals a commitment to autism inclusion but provides robust tools and processes to deliver it. More than 215 colleagues have been hired in association with this program or have self-disclosed.

The program has been vital in hiring autistic employees who, in turn, often become role models and an inspiration to others.

The AHA! Moment: The Role Model

Dietsch recalls very clearly the moment when he realized that 麻豆原创 could be the right fit for him and a workplace where he could thrive.

At an Autism at Work event in 2018, Dietsch met someone on the autism spectrum working in cybersecurity at 麻豆原创. Seeing this positive role model made him believe in himself and that he, too, could work in cybersecurity. He felt inspired to apply.

With a hiring format designed to set him up for success 鈥� no open questions, no group tasks, no relying on eye contact, for example 鈥� Dietsch secured an internship at 麻豆原创 before applying to his current permanent position.

鈥淚 Do Not Have to Mask Myself鈥�

Only 5% of disabled and neurodivergent employees choose to disclose. A culture that makes employees feel uncomfortable or vulnerable about being their true selves puts great pressure on the individual, increases the chances that employees will not reach their full potential, and increases the chances that companies will lose out on valuable talent.

By the time Dietsch joined 麻豆原创, he had experienced firsthand the strength of 麻豆原创鈥檚 commitment to welcome neurodivergent employees. He had first heard of Autism at Work in 2013, attended another Autism at Work event in 2016, and experienced a life-changing moment in 2018 when, at another Autism at Work event, he met the colleague who worked at 麻豆原创 in cybersecurity.

By 2019, Dietsch had also experienced the Autism at Work hiring process that played to his strengths and had secured an internship.

Disclosing his neurodivergence was not an issue 鈥� there was no risk. 麻豆原创鈥檚 commitment to autism inclusion was already clear to him. He could be his true self with no need to adapt his behavior or endure the mental strain of trying to be someone else to fit in. He felt included and had a clear sense of belonging.

A Culture of Autism Inclusion

麻豆原创 has two important pillars for fostering inclusion of individuals on the autism spectrum:

• Autism at Work: This program was Dietsch鈥檚 initial touchpoints with 麻豆原创. It acts as the external-facing arm focused on hiring and onboarding autistic employees as well as creating an inclusive workplace.
• Autism Inclusion Network (AIN): This is an Employee Network Group from 麻豆原创 with Chief Technology Officer and Executive Board Member Juergen Mueller as the sponsor. AIN acts as the internal platform promoting belonging for 麻豆原创 employees and driving workplace diversity and inclusion.

Working with Our Strengths

Dietsch is clear about the strengths of autistic colleagues. For example, if you are looking for a frank, honest opinion, then your autistic colleagues will give you one each and every time 鈥� especially at 麻豆原创, where autistic colleagues are empowered to be their true selves. The important thing to remember, says Dietsch, is that even when the honesty feels brutal, it鈥檚 not personal.

Leave out the irony, the sayings, and any form of communication that requires 鈥渞eading between the lines鈥� to get the best out of your interactions with autistic colleagues. It is, says Dietsch, quite simple: 鈥淟et鈥檚 meet in the middle.鈥�