In this episode, join Donald Kelly, and Larry Long Jr discuss how sales leaders prioritize the recruitment and retention of people of color. 

•  Larry Long Jr is the CEO and founder of LLJr Enterprises. A professional speaking motivation, inspiration, sales, keynote, speaking, coaching, training, consulting, and more. 

The recruitment process

• We know that there’s a need to prioritize hiring people of color as employees but knowing is different from doing. 
• We know that a diverse team is a must, and we need women of color, but when we look at companies, they don’t necessarily do it. 
• Diversity sounds good on paper, but it’s challenging to execute. 
• Recruiting has two major parts - the first is the need to go where the diverse talent is. We need to expand our sphere and expose ourselves to other communities. 
• The second part is retention. It’s about knowing how to support the people of color you’ve hired and making them feel welcomed. 
• Companies hire people of color to feel that they’re in a supportive environment, not in a hostile one. 

Recruiting where the diverse candidates are

• Even in the past, many companies and organizations would say that they want more diversity, but they’re not recruiting where the diverse candidates are. 
• They’re not at HBCUs. They are the traditional universities and other mainstream universities. 
• You can’t expect diversity if you don’t have a diverse pool of candidates. 
• It’s difficult to be serious about diversity when the leaders and executives are not diverse as well. 
•  Organizations must be honest and must be comfortable taking it a step further to take action. 
• We need to ask the tough questions to become successful. 
• There has to be a conversation on how your company can advance both the recruitment and retention process. The newly hired people of color feel welcomed and feel equality in the workplace. 
• It’s essential to start at the very top. You need to have the leadership on board and all the other people on the table. 

When it’s not working out for you

• If you observe that things aren’t working out for you, you need to take measures to protect your mental health - your mind, your body, and your soul. 
• The hard truth in some companies is that they don’t prioritize you. So, you need to prioritize yourself. 
• Sometimes you need to change the sandbox you’re playing in if that sand isn’t nice enough. 

“What Gaps in Recruiting Processes are Preventing People of Color From Working in Sales?” episode resources

Reach out and follow Larry Long Jr. on LinkedIn. 

Speak with Donald directly for more sales talks. Reach him via these channels: LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook about any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio. 

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This episode is brought to you in part by NetHunt CRM.

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Audio provided by Free SFX. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder, written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.