Meet Adam Beary
Adam Beary is the president & CEO of Bear Process Safety, a company that provides integrated full-service process safety solutions to chemical and petrochemical companies. Bear Process Safety was selected for its dedication to recruiting, hiring, and developing a diverse group of individuals in terms of gender, race, age, sexual orientation, culture, and nationality. Specific practices include its purchasing practices, increasing the percentage of diverse employees in decision-making positions, and their commitment to community engagement with various organizations.
Responses have been edited for clarity and length.
Describe the importance of diversity and inclusion and what it means to you and your business.
From the beginning, we decided we wanted to be disrupters in our space. We needed creative solutions that helped our clients in different ways the industry hadn’t done before, and diversity and inclusion drive the creativity necessary to find these unique solutions.
How do you hold yourself accountable in consistently hiring a diverse workforce?
We owe it to our partners to look at a problem from all angles. With that being said, we monitor data across our company and executive board to meet the objective of a diverse workforce. We have percentages that we target, which in turn give us the multitude of experiences we need. Our belief is that the result of meeting this bar will be a process that evaluates all possible solutions for our partners.
What are the challenges you have faced when implementing your inclusion practices? What did you learn from them?
In the beginning, finding diverse candidates for hiring was difficult. To combat this, we broadened our resources and avenues to search for potential teammates, effectively streamlining this process.
What advice would you give to local businesses who are trying to implement diversity and inclusion practices into their organization?
Weigh diverse ideas and the ability to provide the best quality product at the same level. We noticed those who have not been given the same opportunities in the past are extremely passionate about cultural buy-in, and they have a hunger for knowledge when you create a great environment for them. In the end, and in most cases, training trumps the initial knowledge base. Therefore, having a willingness to learn is the fastest path to creating a thriving, beneficial team for a company.