Capital One
Over the past 13 years, Capital One’s Hispanic Business Resource Group (BRG), ¡HOLA!, has made a significant impact on both the business and the community.. ¡HOLA! has grown to 13 chapters across Capital One’s footprint.
Under the umbrella of the Powered by Perspective campaign to share and celebrate the unique perspectives of all Capital One associates, The Hispanic Business Resource Group recently re-branded from “Associate Network” to become the ¡HOLA! (Helping our Latino Allies) Business Resource Group. ¡HOLA! Accountable Executive, Karl Werwath says, “Rebranding the Hispanic Network to ¡HOLA! (Helping Our Latino Allies) was a deliberate effort to better connect and attract Hispanic associates throughout Capital One. A common Hispanic greeting, HOLA also implies camaraderie amongst friends. The ¡HOLA! acronym also allows us flexibility to extend to other meanings, such as Honoring Our Latino Associates, which keeps it interesting and dynamic. We are constantly seeking to better serve our Hispanic associates and clients through a shared cultural point of view, and the more our network name can represent that, the more powerful it is.”
Let’s learn a bit more about HOLA.
Structure and Governance
Each of Capital One’s seven Business Resource Groups, including HOLA! is supported by an Accountable Executive (AE), who serves as a champion for the BRG. AEs serve on the organization’s Executive Committee and reports directly to Capital One CEO and Founder, Rich Fairbanks.
These senior leaders meet bi-monthly with their network’s national leads, advising and assisting them with objectives and strategy, recognizing achievement, and welcoming network members’ ideas and feedback.
Each of the HOLA’s 13 chapters has a Steering Committee that supports programs within the BRG, and serves on a leadership team with the Accountable Executive and National Leads. There are also Chapter Leads to support the National Leads who in turn support the Accountable Executive.
BUSINESS IMPACT
¡HOLA! and its members significantly contribute and deliver on strategic business imperatives; we’ll highlight two examples. Capital One has focused on bringing improvements to the existing Credit Card servicing channels for Spanish-speaking customers. The network has also supported diversity recruiting and mentoring outreach to young, talented Hispanics, many of whom are well placed to support digital initiatives.
Spanish-Language Services
This year, with the help of talented Hispanic BRG members, Capital One launched Mobile-Web and Desktop servicing in Spanish for current customers. As a result:
- New customers can view their digital enrollment experience in Spanish.
- Helpful Spanish-speaking customer service teams can answer questions about products, servicing, fraud, disputes and more.
- Customers now have a mobile web experience available in Spanish
Capital One’s CEO, Rich Fairbank, recently recognized these achievements through Capital One’s highest award, the Circle of Excellence. The prestigious award not only celebrates business contributions, but also acknowledges ongoing business value to customers, employees, and communities.
Recruiting and Mentoring
To expand these contributions to the business, the network keeps an eye on the future. Their targeted campus recruiting and mentoring strategies get strong support from key executives. Last fall, the chapters came together to support development initiatives like the Coders program, where Hispanic high-school-aged students are learning to code, perhaps even getting inspired to become software engineers.
¡HOLA! has shown their commitment to building a diverse talent pipeline while making an impact on the community. The network awarded $25K in college scholarships to five Hispanic students from across the country in 2015 and has expanded the program for 2016. Although many ERGs have funded scholarships, the Hispanic BRG took their contribution a step farther by pairing each scholarship finalist (15 in all) with a Capital One mentor to support them during their college career, opening the opportunity for some to become interns and eventually Capital One employees.
¡HOLA! does not only look outside of Capital One to develop the talent pipeline. In 2015, ¡HOLA! launched a six-month development program for high-potential Hispanic employees and emerging leaders, who are mentored by Hispanic executives and supported by the Magus Executive Coaching Program.
A recent participant has this to say about the HDLP: “The biggest take away for me is the fact that when I came in to this program my goal was to find out more about being a leader and people manager so I can help my associates excel and work towards those goals with a focus on their goals. Most recently I applied for a new position within Capital One thanks to this class. Throughout the past several months I realized where my career path is at Capital One and that is within Human Resources. I took the time to reach out to several associates within that org and as a result I found out about a unique opportunity that, in the past, I would have missed as my attention and focus was always on my associates when in reality it’s ok to take care of myself.”
Community Involvement
The 13 ¡HOLA! Chapters consistently support their communities.
Individual chapters serve their own communities best by focusing on needs unique to their members’ passions, or simply benefitting their local area. Two hunger-related examples:
- Feed My Starving Children needed food packaged so it could reach children in many countries. The network organized a volunteer event for members and friends.
- Little Village Food Pantry needed help to package food to support 500 families in a Latino community. Network volunteers got it done.
Often, network members develop long-term partnerships with nonprofit organizations following these kinds of one-time events.
What’s Next for ¡HOLA!?
¡HOLA! always has an eye to the future. Some of their goals in the coming year are:
- Engage Executive Sponsor in Hispanic Business Resource Group planning
- Support Hispanic recruiting expansion across eight core universities and professional recruiting programs
- Expand Hispanic scholarship program to other Capital One employee resource groups, identifying more students who might join us as interns and employees
- Continue ongoing local-chapter community programs
- Expand high-potential development program to additional job levels, such as Director
- Expand corporate sponsorship support to influential national Hispanic organizations
