Closing the Network Gap - A conversation with Sebastian Sam

Sebastian is the Head of Partnerships & Growth at Nextplay Community, a company dedicated to helping Black and Latinx professionals with career opportunities in tech and media through direct recruiting services and community events. Prior to Nextplay, Sebastian spent over seven years at LinkedIn managing strategic partnerships with brands like American Red Cross, NPR, The Getty, ACT, and NYU Health.

What strategies, tactics, equity and culture solutions have you personally seen work, and why do you think they worked?

The first thing that comes to mind is in relation to what is identified as the ‘network gap,’ and the way that specifically affects people of color, particularly in the tech industry — the who you know to help you break in, get jobs and find opportunities. The data shows that there are a number of Black and Latinx folks that don’t have as many close relationships or family members working in the tech industry as their counterparts, making networking difficult.

However, the most effective way I’ve seen this ‘network gap’ disrupted is through creating environments and circumstances with actual outcomes. For example, not just hosting events for folks to come and network, it also needs to be a place where folks can go to find their next opportunity and/or dream job; speak to a hiring manager, get a direct referral etc. — facilitating warm introductions at scale. No longer should underrepresented folks be relying so heavily on applying to a tech job just by clicking the ‘application’ button; there is too much bias in that process.

Instead, by providing physical and virtual spaces for underrepresented folks to actively build up their referral network, it allows them to cut through the systemic hiring barriers that exist. Those that are fortunate to have a work opportunity should be able to refer their friends and family within their network directly into the organization they work at. These sorts of programs and solutions exist for the represented, but for the underrepresented this sort of network building isn’t happening at scale, and it should because I’ve seen it be incredibly effective.

When it comes to equity in the workplace what do you feel people aren’t thinking about?

Having a seat at the table can look many ways, and what our community is particularly focused on, and something I don’t think gets talked about enough, is in relation to the amount of equity that people get when they take new opportunities or grow into a new opportunity at another company. In tech we see Black and Latinx professionals typically get less equity or lower salaries than their counterparts. I think the conversation is coming up more and starting to surface, for example starting next year in California companies will need to provide a position’s pay range or salary on a job posting. However, that doesn’t include equity-based compensation, which I think should be a part of the discussion. The layer before that as well, why equity-based transparency and compensation is so important, is because it can lift an entire community of underrepresented professionals and provide immediate generational opportunity.

What do you think is important to measure when it comes to equity in the workplace? For example, if you could reimagine an organization’s KPI’s (key performance indicators - targets that help you measure progress against your most strategic objectives) to be centered around equity and culture, what would some of them be and why?

When it comes to equity in the workplace, I think it’s important to measure culture output across the entire workforce – the idea of how we can uplift and measure DEI as a cultural tenant to business success so that it serves as an accountability measure for companies. For example:

• The removal of bias in the interview process or the recruiting process

• The reinvention of a business’s talent strategy to be more inclusive and equitable for those of diverse backgrounds

• Comparing revenue generated across teams to measure the impact of creating diverse teams.

• Increase leadership opportunities for underrepresented folks

Once businesses put KPI’s on DEI and culture they are signaling that it’s a top priority and is an important lever in shifting internal culture.

What do you think is changing in the workplace that organizations need to start proactively thinking about?

I really don’t think the change originates within the workplace as much as I would love to believe that. Much of it stems from external forces causing the workplace to change and shift.  We’ve seen this happen more and more over the last few years. The social, political and environmental tensions forcing more progressive workplace changes in businesses across America because employees are demanding better conditions. These pledges then drive internal changes that alter the priority list and encourage businesses to lean more into the DEI and culture initiatives that start to change workplaces. I saw that shift specifically at Linkedin, back in 2017 all the way up through the pandemic. Things started to change more positively for underrepresented groups, those that haven’t received equal opportunity, those that experienced micro-aggressions, and those consistently inundated with trauma in the workplace. They started creating ERGs, something not even considered 10-15 years before. I think this is a pattern we’ll continue to see happen — external events pushing businesses to improve their workplaces.

Do you think it’s possible to change an established workplace culture? Why or why not?

Yeah, there are case studies upon case studies about changing and shifting culture. It’s happening all around us. I think ultimately it must start at the top with the CEO – they need to prioritize and take part in shifting culture and building it into their narrative. Then I think it comes down to teams all supporting the same shift in culture –  the more leadership is bought in from executives down, the more support for creating programs centered around building inclusivity, equity and diversity are adopted and prioritized — created ERGs, workshops, increasing benefits to those that typically don’t have them etc. All of it lends itself to this vision of change in the workplace.