The Chicago based consulting firm has invested in an internal affinity group for women to support diversity in acquisition of talent, development and retention. 

AArete, a Chicago-headquartered consulting firm specializing in data-informed performance improvement, has formed a new internal affinity group, Women’s Initiative Network (WIN), to further support their talent acquisition, development and retention diversity efforts and activities. 

This initiative thrives on the mentorship and promotion of fellow female leaders with activities ranging from community outreach, educational workshops, publication reviews, speaking engagements and conferences to speed networking, fireside chats, social mixers and book clubs. By connecting with other female co-workers internally, personally and professionally, WIN is designed to support, empower and unite female talent at AArete. 

Jaclyn Ferguson, Managing Director and Executive Sponsor of WIN has launched several events and is looking forward to fostering the program. “WIN is AArete’s initiative to continue to support an inclusive, diverse and talented workforce. I’m pleased to lead a group of hard-working, ambitious females eager for growth and opportunity,” Ferguson said. “Not only will this motivate skilled women to want to work for AArete and promote our female employees, but it will continue to enhance our company culture and strengthen our connections with each and every one of our existing and future clients.” 

Across all AArete office locations, women account for 35% of AArete’s employees, and in 2019, nearly 50% of offers extended have been to women candidates. More importantly, AArete is targeting to not just hire female talent, but to develop, promote and retain future female leaders through the WIN program. 

Loren Trimble, AArete’s CEO notes “As our organization continues to grow, we recognize and address areas we can focus on internally and try to capitalize on the talent we strategically hire. Developing and retaining a diverse talent pool, including women, will continue to make AArete an inclusive place of work where everyone has the opportunity to grow and is inspired to do so.” 

How Workforce Diversity Impacts Productivity 

According to research conducted by the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI), an inherently diverse workforce drives innovation because diverse audiences better relate to unmet needs such as untapped markets. The research found that when teams have one or more members who represent the gender, ethnicity, culture, generation, or sexual orientation of the team’s target audience, the entire team is far more likely (upwards of 158% more likely) to understand that target and likely be better at addressing that audience’s needs through innovative ideas. “Companies that harness both innate diversity in their workforce and acquired diversity in leadership are measurably more innovative than companies that fail to harness these drivers.” 

About AArete 

AArete is a management consulting firm that specializes in profit improvement through operational performance improvement, strategic cost reduction and revenue enhancements. We work with our clients across all industries and business functions to optimize their profits in a compressed timeframe and without reducing people. AArete identifies and implements significant bottom line improvements through sourcing methodologies, Big Data analytics, proprietary revenue optimization techniques, and the Knowledge Management CenterTM, an internal intellectual property repository with benchmarking data and industry focused studies. AArete is proud to have won many awards including most recently, Top Workplaces and Fastest Growing Firms. For more information visit www.aarete.com.