TI: Bring your faith to work
“Ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they can bring their faith into work,” Ellen Barker, Senior Vice President & CIO, Texas Instruments (TI)
⇒ Read a transcript of Ellen Barker’s address at the Religious Diversity & Inclusion event at Texas Instruments HQ, May 6, 2019, which was cosponsored with the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation.*
TI believes that its inclusive, diverse culture fuels the company’s performance and makes them stronger.
TI strives to create an environment where all their people can be themselves and deliver their very best, collaborating to turn unconventional ideas into world-class innovations.
The TI Diversity Network brings together 15 employee-led resource groups, open to all TI’ers. This includes faith-based ERGs, which are making an impact.
What is TI?
TI has about 30,000 employees in more than 30 countries. TI’s breakthroughs in analog and embedded processing semiconductors help companies create innovative, differentiated applications.
TI technologies are at work in every type of electronic system in markets that include: Industrial, Automotive, Personal electronics, Communications equipment, and Enterprise systems.
TI has had faith-based ERGs for 20 years
Samantha Dwinell, Vice President, Texas Instruments
TI’s pioneering work in religious diversity began in January 2000, a time when very few companies had embraced employees’ religious/spiritual identity as one of the key components of a diverse and inclusive workforce.
The following are excerpts* from Samantha Dwinell’s comments at the Religious Diversity & Inclusion event at Texas Instruments HQ, May 6, 2019, which was cosponsored with the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation.
SD: “It is really important to us that we have a workplace where no matter your background, your style, your differences. You are able to be your best and you are inspired to perform, and you are inspired to stay and give everything you have.
A big part of that work at TI are our employed resource groups which we internally call our Initiatives, or TI’s Diversity Network, so TIDN. It is a consolidation of 15 different ERGs that cover a broad spectrum: women, cultural ones for Hispanic, black employees or many of our Asian population, LGBTQ as well as our religion-based initiatives.
All of those initiatives really have the same common purpose, or 4 goals we give them as organizations: (1) to instill a collaborative and respectful culture: a part of their role is to be stewards of the culture that we want to inspire here at TI; (2) to cultivate talent and to help develop their employees and their constituents; (3) to enhance business value through innovation and engagement; and (4) to give back to our communities through volunteerism and other types of support. We believe very strongly as a company that stronger companies create stronger communities, stronger communities build stronger companies.
We have three faith-based ERGs, which I am sure you are going to get to hear a lot more about today: the Christian Values Initiative, the Jewish Initiative, the Muslim Employee Initiative. While some companies are struggling, even today, with how to incorporate religion into the workplace, I am proud to say that our initiatives from the faith-based perspective have been around almost 20 years now.
You will hear more about those, I am sure, and the journey they have been on, but I thought I would tell you what makes me proud.
What makes me proud is how well they collaborate together – collaboration is a huge part of our focus for ERGs and they do these amazing partnerships in helping people bridge religious differences and similarities, sponsoring multi-faith based series, opportunities to visit each other’s places of worship to learn more.
And that’s important to us because as you learn more, as you understand, as you embrace dialogue about what makes you special and what makes you the same, you can create an understanding.
When you understand someone that you work with better, you work better together. And you accomplish more, and you like your job better, and all those things help make TI a great company.
We could not do that without our ERGs, including all the ones that are represented here today from a faith-based perspective. So I am super proud! And I am happy that we can be here to help support an event like this.”
* Transcriptions by RFBF research fellow Giulia Nembrini.