Why returning to normal 'was not working' for this HR leader

Dionna Smith is just now beginning to process the whirlwind that 2020 brought her way.

In October, Smith joined Thumbtack as head of diversity, equity and inclusion, shortly after welcoming her fourth child. Smith was tasked with acclimating to a new job, hiring and training new recruits, and figuring out a new normal for the team’s global workforce.

“This past year definitely changed my perspective as an HR leader,” Smith says. “I think in this work, we put ourselves on the back burner to be available to help others. But after the murder of George Floyd, having a new baby and being there for our employees and leaders, it was a lot on me.”

As an HR leader and a mother, Smith has had her hands full both at work and at home. However, this time has given her an opportunity to dig deeper into how to best help underrepresented groups and the ways DEI can be implemented into a virtual-first environment.

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Thumbtack, a service platform that matches customers with local professionals, debated the merits of a hybrid approach before deciding to make all employees remote. Smith says the WFH model will help her team diversify and give opportunities to minorities, women and differently-abled employees.

“When we think about inclusivity, we could only be as diverse as those areas where [we have offices],” Smith says. “As we’re growing to become more inclusive and diverse, the majority of those folks would not be where we have those offices. They don’t have to think about going into a physical office — they can just do amazing work.”

Smith says the shift has required her team — and her entire industry — to reconsider how to best serve their employees without leaning on the old ways of doing things as a crutch.

“We're not looking to go back to business as normal. We know it will never be the same. We have sat with that and thought through that and have decided that it's actually a great thing,” she says. “Normal was not working for so many people.”

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In building a new normal, Smith is relying on training and communication to help employees understand each other better and figure out how to create a workplace culture that’s not based around the watercooler.

“The culture of Thumbtack was very much driven around the office; people walking into the kitchen for meetings and things like that,” she says. “How do we rebuild this culture and rebuild the feeling that people have walking into the kitchen and being around everyone, but virtually?”

Interactive manager training, DEI cohorts, employee resource groups and quarterly check-ins are some of the ways Smith is tackling these questions. Conscious and continuous efforts are necessary as the workforce adapts and grows.

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“When you’re managing people remotely, there’s a different skill set required there, so I’m spending a lot of time thinking about development for our leaders,” Smith says. “Our people managers are going through inclusive leadership training, which is touching on everything from understanding microaggressions to psychological safety in meetings and encompassing inclusivity in everything that you do.”

The new challenges have been beneficial for the organization and for Smith, too.

“[Remote work] has changed the way people live and we wanted to be very open to that,” she says. “For me personally, I didn’t have to leave Atlanta, which is super diverse and where I feel is home. I can still do work I love at the company I love working for.”