Ricoh's Initiatives Lorna Hernandez: A commitment to DEI and a keen promoter of International Women’s Day

Lorna Hernandez joined Ricoh 17 years ago and is Vice President of Human Resources for Ricoh Latin America as well as chair of Ricoh’s Global DEI Council. Originally from Puerto Rico, she is presently based in southern Florida.

We spoke with Lorna in a teleconferencing call and discussed the work of the Council, its achievements to date and her ambitions for the future.

I am very much focused on promoting DEI all the time, as much as possible as an HR executive but also at a personal level. From a project standpoint, I dedicate several hours a week to brainstorming, researching, having meetings about upcoming events, or exchanging ideas with other regions or co-workers. There are no weeks when I do not have discussions about DEI.

The Global DEI Council promotes and foster events around DEI topics, and all our regions have some sort of group, if not several groups, dedicated to DEI. North America and Europe, for example, have special dates that are relevant to DEI, such as Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Celebration or Pride Month, and they promote those events. That can include podcasts, webinars for employees, published articles, while sometimes they even invite customers to events. In Ricoh Latin America, I can speak about celebrating International Women’s Day and Pride Month, while we recently graduated all of our leaders from our inclusive leadership academy, which was created to train and educate our leaders how to be more inclusive.

There are so many reasons, but we can look at this from a human resources standpoint as well as a talent standpoint. We are definitely seeing more interest among potential employees in being part of an environment that promotes and fosters inclusivity, that is equitable, that is diverse and where people can see themselves reflected in different levels of the organization.

People who apply to join Ricoh see there is the potential to participate in different projects across the board, that they will not be limited because of their background or their country of origin, for example.

It is also important to Ricoh as we address business challenges. We have to ensure business performance, the digital capabilities that our customers expect of Ricoh, and having a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment is critical to accomplishing that. It enables us to attract the best talent because that comes in all different shapes and colors and from all places and backgrounds. The companies that do well with DEI are the companies that can really attract and retain the best talent — and that makes it a win-win situation for both sides.

Ricoh has always been a diverse organization with strong foundations based on the "Three Loves" — Love your neighbor, Love your country, Love your work - and also very strong company values. All of this has helped to guide Ricoh onto the DEI journey that we have today.

I think that what has changed, or evolved, most recently is the more centralized or globalized approach that we are taking. This is not always easy because each region has its own needs in terms of DEI, or they have to address certain priorities in their market places, but we have decided on a more globalized approach so we can promote some of the more common areas, such as women’s development or representation in the workplace.

This one is my favourite. We started marking International Women’s Day in 2017 and it falls on March 8, although we celebrate throughout the whole month. I was part of an IWD event at another organisation that was a partner of Ricoh Latin America — and the experience just blew me away. I felt inspired and energized and I came back determined to pitch the importance and the positive feelings around having this type of event at Ricoh.

It also gives us an opportunity to address women’s representation at different levels within the organization, so we wanted to have something in place that really helps us to start closing that gap in the organization, to help us to create the awareness that we need in the organization.

The main objective of the event is to celebrate women, to recognise women’s contributions to not only the workplace, but also communities and society overall. It also provides an opportunity to debate, reflect and brainstorm on how we can continue making things better for women in the organization, where we want to accelerate actions.

There have been so many initiatives and practices that have come out of an IWD event discussion. After one of our first events in Latin America, for example, we implemented a policy of when we are interviewing the top three or four candidates for a leadership position within the company, that there is a pipeline of qualified candidates split 50-50 male and female for the post.

Not involving or including women means we are only playing with half our team. Women represent around 50 percent of the world’s population and even the UN has expressed that having equality and women’s empowerment is going to be a critical imperative for the accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goals.

It is exactly the same challenge at Ricoh; how can we be diverse? There are so many ways that women can contribute to the workplace and help us to find different perspectives, to solve different challenges. That is not only internal but also for customers and partners. So for us, it is impossible to think about really being successful if we don’t have that level of representation within the organization

But it’s not only about representation, it’s about having women included, having them taking leadership roles, having them making decisions about employees and giving them a seat at the table. It’s all those things. And when we achieve the level of representation that we are aiming for, then we will definitely see the benefits.

This might not sound very original, but I feel pride in all of the ones I’ve been involved in. The reason — and this is from my heart — is that I have seen a real impact on people. When you hear from employees that are being impacted in such positive ways, there is a lot of fulfilment and a lot of pride.

But definitely, if I have to choose one, it’s going to be International Women’s Day. It’s a way of me paying forward to the people that really supported me throughout my career, through my personal journey. Personally, it is also a way for me to show my daughter that me being a champion of others, being an ally, is important because it is going to bring the organization a lot of benefits.

I want to be a role model for her. She’s young and she is going to face a lot of challenges in the workplace and in her life, but I want her to have the tools and to have a role model to inspire and motivate her.

For Charinee Senanarong, General Manager for Strategy and Support Services with Ricoh Thailand, International Women’s Day is a highlight of the calendar and an opportunity to show appreciation and respect to female employees.

"IWD activities reflect that Ricoh values and supports female employees," she said. "It emphasizes that, regardless of gender, everyone can grow professionally within Ricoh to advance their career. As a part of our DEI initiatives, this can lead to higher motivation, enhance productivity and increase loyalty to the company."

This year, Ricoh Thailand took "Inspire Inclusion" as its theme for IWD and organized a week of events designed to build awareness as well as promoting free cervical cancer screenings and wearing purple, representing justice and dignity.

"I was delighted to see the active participation of our female employees, with the understanding that they are proud to be women and their contributions are recognized and valued," Charinee said.

Ricoh’s commitment to diversity was one of the key factors behind her decision to join the company and has proven to be beneficial in the workplace.

"It reflects that the company has a culture of open-mindedness to embrace different perspectives, it creates an innovative and positive environment and provides equal opportunities for all to learn and grow," she said.

"Everyone feels involved, valued, respected and important at work," she added. "They are proud that their contributions are meaningful as a part of the team’s success. This can inspire them to reach their full potential, motivate them to work with enthusiasm and improve teamwork. And that helps the company to have higher employee engagement and retention, enhance its competitiveness through creativity and innovation and achieve the desired goals."

Charinee is convinced that DEI plays a pivotal role in modern companies.

"I am very grateful to work in a company that values every employee, regardless of their gender, nationality, religion, disability or background," she said. "Opportunities are provided equally for everyone to be themselves, to utilize their experiences and share their thoughts.

"This can foster a company to be more open and a collaborative work culture leads to more innovative and creative solutions for our customers and organization. A strong commitment to DEI strengthens my belief in the company’s future success."