Paradigm for Parity® Coalition Member Company NeoGenomics Shares Lessons Learned on its Journey to Parity
Member companies of the Paradigm for Parity® movement vary in size and scope, but they share a mission: to close the gender gap in their corporate ranks. One of the benefits of being a coalition member is the opportunity to learn from the experiences of other companies and share best practices.
Recently, two members of the NeoGenomics executive team, Doug VanOort, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Jennifer Balliet, Chief Culture Officer, shared insights on the steps their company is taking to close the gender gap in the c-suite. Here are some lessons they learned along the way:
Prioritize diversity and inclusion. NeoGenomics prides itself on its inclusive work culture, which inspired the company to make progress in closing the gender gap in its corporate leadership. Balliet shared that currently, 62 percent of the 1,500 employees at NeoGenomics are women and 43 percent of the senior management team is female, an impressive ratio for a biotechnology company. But things were not always this way; VanOort recalled a time when the board rooms at NeoGenomics had little to no gender diversity. He said, “We knew we had to accelerate change” and that is just what they did — NeoGenomics moved towards parity at all levels.
Seek to promote women from within the company. VanOort wanted to make sure NeoGenomics accessed all available talent as the global company grew rapidly — this included tapping women for leadership positions. To do this, they knew they had to address barriers women faced in being promoted within the company, which was due to women lacking mentors or sponsors in senior management positions to advocate for them. VanOort credited the increased number of women in c-suite positions as the catalyst for transforming NeoGenomics’ culture. Women could see there was an upward path for them. Now, the company is more intentional about promoting from within and makes sure to interview a diverse group of candidates when positions become available. Today, 16 years after the company was founded, the senior management team consists of almost 50 percent women.
Communicate a commitment to gender parity from the top. NeoGenomics’ leadership consistently communicates its commitment to gender parity with its employees. One method for doing so is posting fliers throughout the hallways stating that achieving inclusion is a company standard and ongoing commitment. These visual reminders, according to VanOrt, prompt accountability from leadership to measure progress.
Follow a roadmap of actionable steps to achieve parity. VanOort credits the Paradigm for Parity® coalition for putting the company on the path to gender parity. Resources such as the coalition’s toolkit provide them with an applicable and effective roadmap to achieve gender parity in corporate leadership. Being a part of the coalition’s wide-reaching network also gives NeoGenomics the ability to learn from the experiences of other companies that are working towards the same goal.
Both VanOort and Balliet are proud of NeoGenomics’ progress towards achieving gender parity in the c-suite, but they emphasized that the work to maintain a diverse and inclusive workplace culture is ongoing.
The Paradigm for Parity® coalition thanks Doug VanOort and Jennifer Balliet for sharing their progress toward gender parity.
NeoGenomics is a cancer diagnostics and pharma services company serving oncologists, pathologists, pharmaceutical companies, academic centers, and others with innovative diagnostic, prognostic and predictive testing. Doug VanOort is the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Throughout his 10 years at NeoGenomics and 30 years in the corporate world, VanOort has been a continuous advocate for inclusion in the workplace. Jennifer Balliet is the Chief Culture Officer and joined NeoGenomics 11 years ago. Since she started the position, Balliet helped the company grow from 100 to 1,500 employees.
