Delta Airlines’ $1 Billion Goal To Help Minority Suppliers Take Flight

Scores of diverse entrepreneurs recently assembled at The Gathering Spot, the Atlanta-based private membership club and co-working space. They have come together for a program called “Runway to Opportunity,” an event organized by Delta Air Lines to help minority suppliers gain “the unique opportunity to learn best practices for business growth, sustainability, and development to facilitate partnerships with major corporations” such as the nation’s second-largest airline.

The program marked the 20th anniversary of Delta’s supplier program. And beyond the celebratory nature of that announcement, it served as another driver related to its 1By21 initiative—a commitment to expand its base of corporate-ready, diverse suppliers and grow them to size and scale in order to become the first air carrier to make the Billion Dollar Roundtable by 2021. That means Delta would join 28 major companies like AT&T, JPMorgan Chase, and Walmart in achieving $1 billion annual Tier-1 procurement spend with certified companies owned by African Americans and other ethnic minorities, women, veterans, members of the LGBTQ+ population or the disabled.

Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson told attendees: “That goal isn’t there as a ‘check the box’ exercise, but rather as just the beginning. That goal could be reached by having just a few large diverse suppliers but supplier diversity is more than that. We also have to have a strong pipeline of smaller, growing companies to support and fuel our vision.”

“As an executive leader of the supply chain organization, I feel a calling to be a steward of all that is entrusted to us, including our resources and our experiences. That is why we are here today,” Jacobson added. “We are here to pass along to you the knowledge and relationships with key Delta buyers and business leaders to try to make it easier for you to do business with Delta, and hopefully other large companies as well.”

After hearing opening remarks, the 200 or so attendees gained a big surprise—the guest keynote speaker was none other than NBA superstar-cum-mogul Earvin “Magic” Johnson, chairman and CEO of SodexoMAGIC, the 13-year-old food and facilities management partnership between Magic Johnson Enterprises and Sodexo as well as a longtime supplier of the airline. During the interactive, 40-minute session, Johnson gave entrepreneurs the opportunity to ask any business question as he stressed elements of his successful formula, which included constantly demonstrating patience, excellence, strategic focus, relationship building, and “over-delivering” for customers.

“Delta believes in supplier diversity and is directly investing in minority and women-owned companies. It starts at the top. Because it’s important to the CEO, it trickles down to everyone else,” he told the attendees. “Forums like ‘Runway to Opportunity’ are important to small business owners because it allows them the chance to get practical knowledge on how to work in and on their business, and drive value.”

Karmetria Burton, a 10-year Delta veteran who serves as its general manager, strategic programs for supply chain management, designed the program that would give suppliers practical knowledge, including how to engage in marketing, financial management, certification, and the RFP process. Moreover, Burton shared with the audience valuable measures such as the Supplier Development Academy, which was developed last year to provide coaching, mentorship, matchmaking, capital access, and a customized business curriculum for high-potential suppliers. Entrepreneurs must make a 12- to 18-month commitment to the program, which is managed by PPICW, a minority-owned consultancy led by Felicia A. Phillips and T. Renee’ Smith, who also served as speakers during BE’s FWD conference.

Burton says before you pursue contracting opportunities, “know your company’s value proposition. Make sure to evaluate the business, secure the business, and keep the business.”

-Editors’ note: This article originally appeared in the Summer 2019 edition of Black Enterprise Magazine. Order the magazine today. 

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2Tnzn9A
via

Jeffrey Epstein Is Dead After Apparent Suicide in Jail

The wealthy pedophile and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein is dead after an apparent suicide at a jail in Manhattan, authorities said on Saturday.

Read more...

from The Root https://ift.tt/2YFJyvZ
via

Saturday's Best Deals: J.Crew Factory, Home Storage, Towable Tube, and More

An Eddie Bauer sale, discounted Dr. Dan’s Cortibalm, and a USB-C battery pack lead off Saturday’s best deals from around the web.

Read more...

from The Root https://ift.tt/2YTPBwu
via

Four of the Best Employee Productivity Apps

Employee productivity a little sluggish lately? A report from The Engagement Institute estimates that U.S. companies are losing as much as over half a trillion dollars in lost productivity every year. Even more—a third of employees report that they aren’t truly engaged in their job. Whether you are a boss or a worker bee, here are four excellent employee productivity apps that can help.

 

The Best Employee Productivity Apps 

 

1. Deputy

If you’re in the services or food industry, you know how important it is to keep all shifts sufficiently staffed. However, planning shifts can become quite a chore. Lapses in scheduling could leave shifts understaffed or even critical roles unfilled. Poor shift planning can also affect customer service and staff burnout.

To help you manage staffing, you can use Deputy, an online scheduling software solution that allows you to schedule workers conveniently and effectively. Deputy lets you create staff schedules according to your needs and budget. It can even accurately and automatically create shifts based on forecasts and labor demand using historical data. Through optimized shifts, you can ensure that your business is amply resourced.

Employees receive notifications regarding shift assignments or changes. Deputy also includes time and attendance features to help record staff hours accurately. You can even instantly generate exportable timesheets for your payroll.

 

2.  Jotform

Poor communication in the workforce is a productivity killer. Imagine people doing the wrong things just because instructions were poorly relayed or no instructions were given at all. This is why ticketing systems and job order forms are used to facilitate work requests, but dealing with that sort of manual paperwork can be tedious and wasteful.

To help you manage forms, you can use online and mobile form builder Jotform. It allows you to create custom forms including date, times, and job descriptions. It can even collect data on the go. So, no matter where your employees are, they can instantly get push notifications on their mobile device as soon as a form gets accomplished.

You can also use it for all your other form needs including transactions from external customers such as accepting orders and payments, subscriptions, registrations, and messaging.

 

3. ToDoist

Employees are faced with various tasks and competing priorities. Without proper task and time management, it’s easy for things to go out of control. Multitasking has been proven to make people less productive. Rather than forcing your staff members to multitask, you can encourage them to use to-do lists instead so that they can queue their assigned tasks accordingly.

ToDoist has been a go-to task management app for many users for quite some time. It allows you to create tasks using natural language. Users can set schedules for each task and toggle whether it is a one-time task or recurring. ToDoist also lets you organize tasks into projects and set priority levels which are helpful especially if employees have to work on various initiatives.

ToDoist also offers a business version that provides collaboration and file management features, allowing users to delegate tasks, manage projects, organize attachments, and integrate with other apps.

 

4. FocusMe

While technology can help workers be more productive, it can also be the cause of distractions as well. Modern workstations are designed to enable multitasking where users can access multiple windows and applications at the same time. An employee can have their email client, messenger app, and office productivity app running.

While this makes it easy for them to switch over from one window to the next, it’s also easy for an incoming email or a message to distract them from whatever they’re working on. If your network doesn’t have policies and restrictions, your workers may even be watching videos or playing games during work hours.

To help employees avoid distractions, you can adopt an app and website blocker like FocusMe. FocusMe runs on each workstation and encourages employees to focus mainly on work tasks by blocking all distracting applications and websites. Users can white list the essential applications they need during work—blocking all other potentially distracting applications.

 

Empowering Employees

Many businesses often fall into the trap of putting up restrictive policies in order to force employees to be productive. However, it’s common for such schemes to backfire since workers today value independence. They also appreciate if they are given some latitude on how they work. The idea behind adopting productivity-boosting apps is to allow you or your employees to better manage their own time, empower them and put them in situations where they can succeed. Their improved productivity will ultimately reflect on your business’ bottom line.

---

Black Enterprise Contributors Network 

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2KGU0K5
via

Green With Envy: Frontier Airlines Is Offering Free Flights to Passengers With 'Green' Last Names

Looking to sneak away for a cheap, last-minute summer vacay? Looks like Frontier Airlines may have you covered—if your last name is “Green” or “Greene,” that is.

Read more...

from The Root https://ift.tt/2GX9LLE
via