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This post was written by Karla Samdahl, vice president and global head of executive talent acquisition and board integration at Cisco.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One of the most interesting parts of my job leading executive talent acquisition is hearing about someone else\u2019s career journey, finding out how they have navigated through their career progression, and understanding what motivates them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At Cisco, I\u2019m able to combine my passion for this process\u2014and for making it as inclusive as possible\u2014with the <\/span>Social Justice Actions<\/span> we launched in 2020. That year, Cisco transformed its longstanding advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion into a global, enterprise-wide commitment to bolder action and greater impact focused on a commitment to the African American\/Black community.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At the director and executive levels, our talent acquisition strategy gives us a competitive advantage to attracting top diverse talent. We look at areas of emerging business growth and approach recruiting differently by identifying what innovative leadership looks like from a talent perspective. We are creating a recruiting culture that recognizes strong talent and expertise, and we engage talent proactively.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To increase full spectrum diversity in our hiring framework\u2014as well as on our board of directors\u2014we cultivate talent pools, expand our executive prospect community, and generate diverse active talent benches. Specifically, we have focused our efforts on:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our efforts are working. We continue to exceed our African American\/Black (AA\/B) hiring aspirations year over year. Our goal when we set out in 2020 was to increase AA\/B talent 25% by fiscal year 2023. I am proud to say that we have increased AA\/B talent at Cisco 70% in non-executive roles, 96% in director-level positions, and 182% among vice presidents and above. We also <\/span>welcomed<\/span> John D. Harris II and Marianna Tessel to our board of directors.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Top talent wants to work for companies that understand diversity gives them a competitive edge. Recently, Cisco was <\/span>named<\/span> the #1 Best Company to Work For in the U.S. by Fortune and Great Place to Work <\/span>for the third year in a row<\/span><\/i>. With this extraordinary recognition, our U.S. workplaces join Cisco teams in 12 countries around the world that are also currently ranked #1, including Spain and Portugal.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The success of our hiring framework is supported by Cisco\u2019s <\/span>purpose<\/span> to Power an Inclusive Future for All, as well as by the differentiated experience we offer top diverse leadership talent:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When I talk to leaders who are looking for upward mobility in their career and the best position to use their subject matter expertise, our conversations naturally progress to what\u2019s most important to them, job motivations, and interests. I\u2019ve had leaders tell me, \u201cYou should be my life coach!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n This is one of the best compliments I receive, and it validates to me that I\u2019m doing what I love for purpose. To know that I\u2019ve helped someone consider what they are excited about in their career, in life, and how their expertise can make immense change in the industry and impact the world, is something special.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Share:<\/p>\n \n \t<\/div>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/blogs-images\/ciscoblogs\/1\/2023\/04\/KarlaHeadshot-scaled-e1681334650254-1024x1024.jpg\")
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\u201cTo know that I\u2019ve helped someone consider what they are excited about their in career, in life, and how their expertise can make immense change in the industry and impact the world, is something special.\u201d<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n