In-House Counsel

Moving The Needle: Stephanie King’s Collaborative Diversity Strategy

Creating diversity requires intention, consistency, transparency, a commitment to not do “what you’ve always done,” and accountability.

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As the general counsel and part of AdRoll’s executive team, a leading performance marketing platform with over 35,000 clients worldwide and home to the world’s largest opt-in advertiser data co-op with over 1.2 billion digital profiles, Stephanie A. King has always believed in solving challenges with other stakeholders.

So when it came to increasing diversity in AdRoll’s hiring and retention process, King was eager to support dedicated efforts led by AdRoll’s People Team including Shelly Vernick, AdRoll’s Head of Employee Engagement, responsible for Diversity and Inclusions programs.

King had so much great information to share with us, we’re going to focus on the six high-level strategies in this article, and follow up with some specific recommendations on technology AdRoll relies on to increase diversity, and how it reshaped the recruiting and interview process in a future post.

Invest in Training. Train everyone with a focus on those who are directly involved in hiring. “We find that education is an important part of changing our practices, so we do unconscious bias training for the whole company,” explains King. “You need to equip people on the front lines to do a better job interviewing and prioritizing company values.” This may include some uncomfortable, but important conversations. “We work to discuss unconscious bias openly and ensure that everyone involved in the process is confident in speaking up if they observe it,” King says.

Customize Existing Material. AdRoll’s People Team designed its own home-grown Unconscious Bias Training by using open-sourced materials on the web as a starting point, and then “Roller-ized” them to ensure that the training aligned with AdRoll’s values and our culture. The People Team then paired up with Executives to co-lead the trainings across all of AdRoll’s locations.

Set Precise Goals and Build in Accountability. Changing recruiting practices and employee composition requires intention and focus. King explains, “It is important to create specific goals and targets for new hires that will help move the needle at your company.” This requires introspection, honesty and high-level buy in. AdRoll made it a priority to get buy-in and alignment around these company-wide priorities with AdRoll’s recruiters and hiring managers. The team stayed accountable, “By sharing our goals transparently with our Rollers, we put a stake in the ground that this was something we were holding ourselves accountable to, just like any other key business metric we would set. We report out on our progress on a quarterly basis, and we are proud to share that, to date, we have met or exceeded our targets in all three focus areas,” King says.

One Key Driver Behind the Wheel. In addition to a strong partnership with and support from the CEO and Head of People, successful efforts also need someone dedicated to driving diversity and inclusion efforts. “Everyone is busy and, while well-intentioned, without dedicated personnel like Shelly, coupled with a meaningful budget which can cover costs of training, partnerships, recruiting trips, and tools, these efforts will struggle to succeed,” explains King.

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Intentional Recruiting. To hire diverse candidates, you need to recruit them. King explains, “You have to make sure you are looking for people from diverse sources. You have to get away from the mindset that ‘it’s hard to find diverse candidates.’ The bottom line is, if you can’t find diverse candidates, you are most likely not looking in the right places.” Making this mindset change may be difficult, but it will pay off when your hiring goals are achieved. “Yes, it may take an effort because you may need to do something other than what has been done before, but there are absolutely sources of talent out there,” King says.

New Methods Drive Change. While referrals remain a primary source of talent, AdRoll has learned how to leverage them better. “Referrals are great, but can lead to more of the same. Our talent acquisition team intentionally digs deeper into our current employees’ networks to identify talent relevant to AdRoll,” King says.  She continues, “Our team has found it can be as simple as asking people to recommend the smartest, most passionate people they have studied or worked with, rather than asking for candidates for a specific role.”

King, along with AdRoll’s People Team and Executives didn’t make these changes overnight, and they didn’t “just happen.” Creating diversity requires intention, consistency, transparency, a commitment to not do “what you’ve always done,” and accountability. We look forward to sharing more of AdRoll’s diversity story to inspire all of you to make these kinds of impactful changes at your organization soon!

Olga V. Mack and Katia Bloom are startup enthusiasts who embrace the current disruption to the legal profession. Long gone are the days when in-house legal departments simply manage outside counsel or provide services. Today’s legal department is a sophisticated business unit that co-manages the company’s bottom line, embraces technology, and analyzes risks constructively. Mack and Bloom love this change and are dedicated to improving and shaping the future of the legal profession. Together they passionately collect and share inspiring stories of legal leaders who are thriving through the ongoing tectonic shift. Mack and Bloom are convinced that the legal profession will emerge from this revolution even stronger, more resilient, and inclusive than before. They are currently co-authoring a manual of the skills and traits lawyers need to succeed in — and even enjoy — today’s rapidly evolving in-house legal departments. You can reach them at [email protected] and [email protected] or @olgavmack and @bloomkatia on Twitter.

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