The Necessary Evolution of Diversity & Inclusion: The Three ’Rs” (Recognition, Relationships and Respect for all) Critical to Building a Truly Inclusive Workplace

Lauren Zajac, Chief Legal Officer, Globoforce, USA

Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) is top of mind for every forward-thinking organization. Yet, despite their best intentions and efforts, organizations continue to struggle to build truly inclusive workplaces – where all employees – of race, gender, ethnicity, political leaning, religion, or sexual orientation – feel a strong sense of belonging and are comfortable being who they are. To be successful in today’s business environment, organizations need to build workplaces where every employee has a voice and feels respected. It’s a fundamental goal to create a corporate culture that allows each employee to feel secure and comfortable enough to bring their best and true self to work. Organizations need to believe in human potential – to put people first and to build a culture based not only on corporate goals and objectives but also on humanity, connection, and trust. Above all, organizations need to realize that making a more inclusive workplace starts with a moment of gratitude, amplified across and repeated within an organization by inspiring people to be more human, courageous, and authentic.

As Chief Legal officer and Data Protection Officer, Lauren oversees all legal, regulatory, and compliance affairs for Globoforce. With more than 15 years experience, she has served as legal counsel for a broad mix of high-growth public and private companies. Prior to Globoforce, Lauren was vice president of corporate affairs and general counsel at Metatomix, Inc., a leading provider of semantic solutions that was acquired by Versata Enterprises in 2010. Previous to this, she held the role of vice president, general counsel at Riverdeep, an Irish-based, public educational software company. Lauren also served as senior counsel for Allaire Corporation, Macromedia, Inc., and counsel for Object Design, Inc. She holds a B.A. from Boston College and a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law.

Pioneer of the WorkHuman movement, Globoforce makes work more human for millions of people and organizations worldwide. Today, Globoforce is the leading provider of human applications, including its award-winning Social Recognition solution. Through its WorkHuman Cloud suite of products, companies can strengthen employee performance and relationships between people and teams on a more positive, socially connected level – in tune with how work gets done today. Founded in 1999, the company is headquartered in Framingham, Mass., and Dublin, Ireland.