District Partnerships & Consulting

Happy employees are at the heart of every successful organization. When effective diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies top the corporate agenda, companies are better positioned to boost employee morale, engagement, and productivity. To make the most of DEI initiatives today, HR teams are pivoting their focus on harnessing the “power of people.”

With this in mind, business leaders are embedding people-centric DEI practices into their organizational culture to create positive workplaces that nurture employees. At its core, DEI is for people, driven by people.

District Partnerships & Consulting (DPC)—a leading global HR and DEI consulting firm—advocates for this concept with its humanity-based consulting services.

Johnathaan L. Pannell, President and CEO of DPC, says, “We believe and invest in the power of people.” Unlike other companies that are confined to statistics and data for delivering DEI solutions, DPC focuses on humans.

DPC’s consulting services are focused on three core areas–– DEI, human resources (HR), and executive search.

The DEI services are designed to bring purpose to a business and a sense of commitment to the workforce. Backed by a highly proactive team with in-depth industry knowledge, DPC aligns business and people strategies to build a thriving workplace for employers and employees.

DPC offers its HR consulting services to help clients develop equitable policies, revise employee handbooks, and amend benefits and compensation plans and pay structures with a strategic focus on DEI. Through its executive search arm, DPC supports clients by recruiting talent for a variety of roles, including CTO, VP of HR, director of HR, and director of digital marketing.

“With our DEI principles etched in all of our work, we are sure to provide high quality executive search and HR services,” says Pannell.

Acing the DEI Game

DPC’s DEI services are geared toward enabling clients to create a more positive work environment and better manage the employee lifecycle. Organizations often think they must choose equality over equity to prevent employee discrimination and ensure fairness at work.

DPC clears up this misconception with its ability to differentiate between equity and equality and demonstrate the importance of equity in the workplace.

While equality is treating everybody the same, equity is providing every employee with a fair opportunity. DPC looks at organizations through a DEI lens to prioritize equity of opportunity and weave equity into their work culture.

“Same way, diversity goes far beyond race, gender, and sexuality; it is about perspectives,” says Pannell. An inclusive workplace ensures that employees respect and embrace differences and welcome and value each other’s contributions.

DPC builds its DEI implementations and provides clients with state-of-the-art consulting services by adhering to three core service values—collaboration, integrity, and results.

Tethered to the belief that consulting services are most effective when executed together, DPC works as a team with shared goals and mutual support. The company ensures honesty and transparency among its team members and uses research-backed, high-quality strategy tools to provide the desired results for clients.

The “RARE” Approach—DPC’s Success Ingredient

DPC follows “RARE”––research, analysis, resources, and evaluation––a customized four-step methodology to develop and deliver the best DEI strategies to clients. It begins with research to identify what strategies have not worked in the past for the client and which ones are going to be effective. The DPC team also thoroughly understands the clients’ organization, goals, and requirements.

The first phase also promotes shared commitment between the client’s leadership team and DPC’s consulting team. For DPC, commitment is the most important factor in ensuring success and accomplishing goals.

DPC then analyzes the data pertaining to clients’ previous attempts to accomplish DEI ambitions, their success and failure rates, and the path ahead. The company reviews, assesses, and presents the data in a way that contributes to its overall planning structure.

In the next step, DPC allocates dedicated resources to work closely with clients to create a tailored, actionable DEI strategy, and benchmark the progress with KPIs. DPC conducts DEI surveys, forms focus groups, and undertakes other research-backed initiatives as a part of the plan to meet clients’ long-term DEI goals.

Once a strategy is implemented, the DPC team carries out multiple evaluations using metrics to assure clients they are progressing all through the way. If a strategy fails to deliver the best results, it is redeveloped.

“With ‘RARE,’ we make DEI impactful for clients by creating an environment that is conducive to growth and collaboration,” says Pannell.

Always in the Customers’ Good Books

A testament to DPC’s excellence is the success story of one of its clients that was challenged with inequitable policies. They had no proper documentation or data that explained the basis on which an employee was hired or promoted. DPC created a DEI framework model that resolved four main issues faced by the client—sustainability, culture, equity, and resilience.

The model helped the client build a robust policy manual, which entailed a series of questions they could ask themselves every time they had to make an HR decision. The questions aligned with the solid reasoning behind their decisions and outlined the policy implementation. This helped the client implement policies and procedures logically and in a way that ensured equity of access and inclusion in their workplace. As a result, employees were more comfortable and honest at work.

This is but one instance where DPC was instrumental in supporting clients’ DEI initiatives. By building enduring relationships with clients, DPC has an impressive track record with positive feedback for its work.

With ‘RARE,’ we make DEI impactful for clients by creating an environment that is conducive to growth and collaboration

Ninety-five percent of its clients hire DPC again, 98 percent report that they are extremely satisfied, and 89 percent witness an increase in productivity within six months.

DPC ensures its services are not limited to empowering clients and making a profit. Driven by the passion for giving back to the community, the company donates a part of its revenue to schools and nonprofits, distributing books and bags in educational institutions and supporting nutrition and healthy eating initiatives.

Steering ahead, DPC is embarking on a journey to help clients achieve their DEI goals in a fully remote working environment. The company is about to release a guide for implementing a DEI strategy to support clients’ remote workforce.
Working in education, pharmaceutical, medical, and the legal landscape, DPC aims to make inroads into other industries in the coming years. DPC is also expanding its services and team. With unmatched expertise in creating people-focused DEI strategies and steadfast dedication to growth, DPC continues to be a frontrunner in the industry.