Editor’s Note

Randall Tucker is responsible for aligning the company’s global diversity and inclusion initiatives with its corporate business strategy to ensure that every employee has the opportunity to reach their greatest potential. Before joining Mastercard, Tucker served as the Senior Director of Inclusion and Diversity at Darden Restaurants after having led the transformation of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s diversity and inclusion strategy from a U.S.-focused model to a global model. Earlier in his career, he served in various sales and human resource roles at Marriott International. Tucker holds a B.A from James Madison University and is an Advisory Board Member at James Madison University Hart School of Hospitality, Sport and Recreation Management. He has been a guest lecturer at Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies and is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

Company Brief

Mastercard (mastercard.com) is a technology company in the global payments industry. It operates the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.

Will you discuss the role of the Chief Inclusion Officer and how the role has evolved?

I’ve been doing this work for about 20 years and not only have I seen the role of an inclusion leader evolve, but I’ve had to evolve my thinking around the work. There’s a common misperception that the role of an inclusion officer is all about attending networking dinners, giving out sponsorships, filling out surveys and things like that. While that’s part of it, my role is to make inclusion and diversity relevant within Mastercard on a regional and global scale.

Given the dynamic and changing 21st century workplace, diversity is an issue that not only influences our ideas of fairness and opportunity, but one that impacts performance and innovation. By bringing relevance to work, we are one step closer to achieving our goals and objectives.

Is the impact of building a diverse and inclusive workforce well understood and are there metrics to show the impact?

We understand that the levers of inclusion and diversity are broad. They need to be addressed as they pertain to the three pillars of people, market and society. From a people perspective, we need to address how we attract and retain the best and brightest talent and get the most out of them. They need to feel that they are valued and respected and like we have created a place for them. From the marketplace perspective, we need to make sure we address our entire customer base and universe of end users and ensure we are not missing any of them. From the societal perspective, we need to create an environment where we are good citizens in all the parts of the world in which we operate and that our brand image is one that is positive within the eyes of the world.

We have developed metrics behind our global inclusion and diversity strategy that include regional customization which is not used that often within other organizations. We work with our leadership teams in each part of the world to figure out what is important to them in forwarding their business strategy from an inclusion perspective. We then figure out what metrics they’re going to use in order to show progress against whatever they’re looking for. In the end, we all agree that we need diverse perspectives at the table in order to make the best decisions and increase the innovation and diverse thinking and problem-solving skills around the leadership table.

Our regional inclusion action plans focus on two big pillars. The first is inclusion, education and awareness. The other is ensuring everyone can reach their greatest opportunity within the organization. With inclusion, education and awareness, if we are trying to build inclusive leaders, we need to make sure that they have the tools in order to be inclusive. Reaching their greatest opportunity will look different in different places around the world.

We need to look instead at
what perspectives are missing
at the table.

Does hiring the best and brightest talent ensure a level of diversity in the company or does it require more of a focused effort in the hiring process?

We all view things through the lens of our own experiences and, in organizations, people gravitate to people that look like them and sometimes automatically assume that this means they are the best and brightest talent. However, we need to look instead at what perspectives are missing at the table. We have to fill in those perspectives by tapping a diverse pool of the best and brightest talent and creating a sense of belonging within the organization that leads everyone to feel that they can reach senior levels and expand their careers in the way that they want to.

When the opportunity presented itself to join Mastercard, did you know that it would be the right fit and has the experience been what you expected?

It has exceeded my expectations. I knew Mastercard was a great company but I didn’t know the culture behind it. It is such an amazing group of smart people and has a culture that inculcates decency, sustainability, inclusion and diversity, and treating each other the right way. That is very similar to the hospitality industry where your customer is at the center of your efforts. I’m excited to be within an organization that, first, is an industry leader and, second, really cares about its people and feels a responsibility to provide a positive social impact in every part of the world in which it operates.

Are you able to take moments to celebrate the wins with your diversity efforts or is it always about what is next?

My personality is type A, so I’m always thinking about what’s next and it is a challenge for me to celebrate the wins. I really enjoy creating and building and charting new paths. We do need to take the time to take a holistic look at the company and recognize what great things we have been doing – it gives us the opportunity to elevate the discussion, dialogue and strategy around our inclusion and diversity efforts.