Global HR service delivery firm, Ultimate Kronos Group (UKG) has appointed Brian Reaves as its Chief Belonging, Diversity, and Equity Officer, where he will build on its existing DEI initiatives.

Reaves will lead the firm’s “global belonging, diversity, and equity efforts, expanding existing initiatives at UKG, while working to strengthen a culture built on trust, fairness, and equality so all people can thrive in their careers.”

His appointment comes at an important time for UKG, where since software firms Kronos Incorporated and Ultimate Software merged to create UKG last year, it “has continued to refine its focus on belonging, diversity, and equity.”

UKG’s D&I efforts

Going forward, UKG plans to expand its existing employee resource groups, or “Diversity Networks”, these include: “ADAPT (Accessibility and Disability Allies Partner Together) for the disabled community, BUILD (Black Upcoming Individuals in Leadership and Development) for Black employees and allies, CARES (Cancer Awareness Resource Education & Support) for cancer survivors and caregivers, FIRE Up (Female Inclusion, Resilience, and Excellence) for women and their allies, PRIDE for the LGBTQ+ population and their allies, and UKG VETS (Veterans Exemplifying True Service) for veterans and family and friends of veterans.”

The company has already been recognised for its D&I efforts, where it earned “100% scores on both the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index and the Disability Equality Index by Disability:IN, and ranked #6 of 500 companies on America’s Best Employers for Diversity list by Forbes magazine.”

Reaves’ experience

Reaves has a background in software engineering and brings “more than 30 years of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within the technology industry.”

His prior corporate experience includes a role at Dell Technologies, where he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer and “oversaw the company’s global diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, tactics, and programmes as business imperatives, with a focus on driving innovation and sustainable business success.”

Before that, he was at global software firm, SAP, and served as Head of Diversity and Inclusion for the Office of the CEO, and as the Global Head of Products and Innovation for the SAP d.Studio next-generation technology team.

On the CSR side, he was involved with Project Propel that provides technology trainings for Minority Service Institutions (MSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). He was also an integral part of Project Dream, an initiative that tries to reach “a more diverse range of customers for SAP.”

He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and his first professional role was as a software developer at the Xerox Corporation.

Reaves said: “I am proud to join UKG, an organisation that not only has made significant strides with respect to belonging, diversity, and equity, but is a company committed to paving the way for people practices around the world. The work is never done in this vital realm, and it takes continued focus and perseverance to build an equitable workplace where employees are encouraged to be their authentic selves.

“Together, we have a goal to make UKG the greatest people company in the world. To get there, we must always evolve, keep learning, and live ‘our purpose is people’ every day as UKG transcends the standard for what it means to be a company where all individuals feel welcome, well respected, equally valued, and confident that they belong there. I look forward to collaborating with the team to build an even greater, more inclusive workplace culture.”

Chris Todd, President of UKG added: “UKG is off to a tremendous start in our first year as one — yet we aspire to be much, much more. Brian’s leadership, vision, and unique engineering mindset will push us to be better in supporting the diverse needs of our 13,000 employees worldwide in ways that will propel UKG to pave the way for other organisations to enhance every aspect of the employee experience — from recruiting practices to resources groups to retirement support — to ensure employees’ voices are heard all along their working journey.”