TMA/SSN DEI Leadership Award 2023 application period now open

MCLEAN, Va., and YARMOUTH, Maine—The Monitoring Association (TMA) and Security Systems News have announced that the application period for the second annual TMA/SSN Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Leadership Award is now open.

The goal of the award, which was established in 2022, is to promote and foster a more inclusive workforce throughout the security industry. The award will be given to a company that demonstrates a commitment to DEI policies and programs across its organization.

Kimberlite Corp. won the inaugural DEI Leadership Award in 2022. The 2023 award will be presented in person at the TMA Annual Meeting set for Nov. 4-8 at the Ritz Carlton Maui, Kapalua in Hawaii.

Today's business world requires that businesses create, foster, and encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace to be successful. Doing so stimulates innovation, drives better decisions, makes teams more agile, and results in better business outcomes for employees and customers. These improvements result in higher levels of employee engagement and better financial performance.

"We are pleased to see the dialogue around diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace becoming more predominant and mainstream across the security industry,” said TMA CEO Celia T. Besore. “As companies look to reach and attract new employees, leaders are taking a more active interest in the benefits that an inclusive team brings to the overall company culture and, ultimately, its bottom line. It is an exciting time, and TMA is pleased to join with Security Systems News to recognize those companies that are leading the way.”

"We are honored to partner with TMA again this year to present the second annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Leadership Award," said Cory Harris, editor, Security Systems News. "The most important goal of the DEI Award is to advance and raise awareness of the importance and value of being a diverse and inclusive industry, and we want to recognize companies — TMA members and non-members — that have developed innovative initiatives to foster DEI efforts within their organization."

The efforts and achievements must have been demonstrated through specific work with other individuals or groups, or through a specific product, initiative, innovative programs, or activities that have a visible, tangible, or measurable impact on the perception of, attitude toward, and respect for a truly inclusive environment, where individuals are valued for their talent and able to reach their full potential.

Each nominee will be asked to deploy the TMA/SSN DEI Employee Assessment Survey to their employees. The web-based assessment tool consists of approximately 40 questions covering eight facets of DEI practice within your organization. Companies will receive only a summary report without individual responses.

Nominees will also be required to submit one to four "Shared Success Examples" of how their organization implements DEI-related activities in the following areas of focus, such as:

• Workforce diversity
• Multicultural outreach
• Community involvement

The TMA/SSN DEI Leadership Award aims to:

• Raise industry awareness of the importance and value of being a diverse and inclusive industry.
• Recognize TMA member organizations that have developed innovative initiatives to foster DEI efforts within their organization.
• Initiatives may include new hiring policies; practices to create and retain diverse candidate pools; best practices for facilitating difficult dialogue; and how to create an effective diversity program within your organization.
• Inspire business strategies and industry best practices that reach out to diverse populations.
• Through analysis and sharing of the information obtained from the TMA/SSN DEI Employee Assessment Survey, organizations across the industry can gain valuable insights into the development or improvement of their own DEI policies and programs.

TMA welcomes entries from both members and non-member companies. Non-member companies must have the sponsorship of a TMA member to enter. For companies interested in applying for the award, please click here to begin the nomination process.

The entry deadline is Sept. 5, 2023. Complete details are available on the TMA website at https://tma.us/tma-ssn-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-dei-leadership-award/.