Celebrating Pride Month: Building a Culture We Can All Be Proud Of

Deltek is committed to creating a workplace our employees can be proud of. It is important that each member of Team Deltek is treated with respect, included and appreciated—and that every employee has the opportunity to pursue their professional interests and grow their careers.

To help drive this effort, Marlon Yander has joined #TeamDeltek as leader of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. A 20-year practitioner of Human Resources and DEI, Marlon is building upon Deltek’s DEI program. To gain the insight needed to evolve, he plans to engage with employees to learn about their experiences and to understand where we have opportunities to start, stop, and continue with our DEI efforts.

In celebration of June being Pride Month, we sat down with Marlon to discuss why an inclusive workplace culture is essential to our success, the evolution of our DEI programs and what it means to have pride at Deltek.

Focusing on Inclusivity

Deltek supports and empowers employees to be who they are without fear of discrimination. Each day, we make the conscious choice to practice inclusivity, acknowledge our differences and set the example for project-based businesses.

When asked why it’s important for Deltek to have such an inclusive culture, Marlon shared, “Inclusion is the linchpin that helps us to realize the optimized potential of our workforce. It gives employees the freedom to thrive and share their contributions to help our customers achieve project success.

While the research shows the benefits associated with the business case for a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture, the reflection of our values and impact of our actions (or inaction) is just as important.”

As we continue on this DEI journey, during Pride Month and beyond, we are committed to taking intentional actions for more diverse representation across our company. These actions will help ensure that #TeamDeltek is positioned to perform at its very best in a culture where we have an equal opportunity to belong, advance and grow.

Building a Solid Foundation

We are proud of the work that has gone into establishing our Employee Resource Groups, such as Pride at Deltek, which foster engagement and understanding and serve as a platform for #TeamDeltek to support each other’s individuality. These safe spaces have become a critical part of our diverse and inclusive culture and how we learn from one another ─ but we know there is still more work to be done.

“More often than not, Employee Resource Groups do not suffer from a lack of ideas but a lack of dedicated employees to help execute. So often, the work disproportionally falls to just a few dedicated employees and volunteers, resulting in burnout, explained Marlon. We recognize it takes many hands to help us create the inclusive and sustainable culture we want for all our employees.”

To help overcome some of the common challenges organizations face, Deltek is investing in internal and external learning opportunities and experiential activities to support our employees, showcase their strengths, and build their skills. Engagement programs, like Deltek’s Employee Resource Groups and Diversity Council, are important to our employee’s success and fundamental to our award-winning workplace culture.

Having Pride at Deltek

During Pride Month, we are honored to recognize our LGBTQ+ employees and how far we've come in creating a workplace culture that acknowledges respect for people of every gender, orientation and identity. Our strong shared values drive our accountability to power project success for our customers. We believe that those values are only enhanced by the variety of unique identities, experiences and perspectives that our diverse group of employees brings to work each day.

“The LGBTQ+ community has a rich history and a diversity which intersects many other dimensions of uniqueness such as abilities, race, ethnicity, language, regional and national origin, etc., shared Marlon. As a member of this community, I recognize the importance of an affirming organization that encourages and enables us to be our most authentic selves and supports our professional goals.”

As we kick-off our month-long celebration, which includes weekly educational sessions and entertainment, we look forward to connecting with #TeamDeltek colleagues across the globe and sharing what Pride at Deltek is all about. “Our colleagues and leaders play an essential role as allies, ensuring that we have a safe and respectful workplace which values difference and reflects our communities, workplace, partners, and customers,” Marlon concluded.

Learn more about Deltek’s winning workplace culture and how we are creating a balanced, values-driven environment powered by collaboration, innovation and authenticity. Subscribe to our Inside Deltek Project Nation newsletter and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to get the latest on #DeltekProjectNation.