Arizona鈥檚 David Green is the latest CEO to join a national coalition of corporate leaders who have signed pledges to advance diversity and inclusion in their workplaces.  

Green, the president and CEO of blood services provider Vitalant, is one of more than 1,200 company presidents who have joined the new CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion.  

It鈥檚 not just about hiring more people, it’s about making a collective difference at the national level to end racism in the workplace, he said. 

鈥淲e believe that our employees want to have discussions about these kinds of issues,鈥� Green said. 鈥淚 think it behooves us to create those opportunities for dialogue because the more our employees feel comfortable talking about tough issues, I think the more engaged they will be and the more likely they will continue to contribute at a high level.鈥� 

Vitalant, headquartered in Scottsdale, is the nation鈥檚 largest independent, nonprofit blood services provider with 5,000 employees nationwide. In Arizona, Vitalant companies employ 800. 

Among the steps Green is taking to do his part, is to hire a diversity and inclusion director to help guide the company forward. 

鈥淲hat we鈥檒l be asking for is to engage in dialogue with our employees to talk about some of the issues that many of us don鈥檛 know how to talk about and a review of all our policies and practices to be more in line with our company values,鈥� Green said.

Largest CEO-driven business commitment  

The is the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The coalition represents 85 industries, all 50 states, and about 13 million employees globally.

It is led by a steering committee of CEOs and leaders from Accenture, BCG, Deloitte US, The Executive Leadership Council, EY, General Atlantic, KPMG, New York Life, Procter & Gamble, and PwC.  

Those who join the movement sign a that outlines actions CEOS will take to 鈥渃ultivate a trusting environment where all ideas are welcomed, and employees feel comfortable and empowered to have discussions about diversity and inclusion.鈥漈he group also shares best known actions, exchanges learning opportunities and creates collaborative conversations through the initiative鈥檚 unified hub,

Arizona CEOs who have signed the pledge

Other Arizona CEOs who have signed the pledge include:

• Donald Slager, Republic Services
• Girish Rishi, Blue Yonder
• Adam Goodman, Goodmans Interior Structures
• Morag Lucey, Televerde
• Guillermo Novo, Versum Materials
• Nancy Ham, WebPT
• Brian Hannasch, Alimentation Couche-Tard/Circle K

To see a complete list of all CEOs who have signed the pledge, go to: .

About Vitalant 

Formerly known as Blood Systems, Vitalant is headquartered in Scottsdale and is the nation鈥檚 largest independent, nonprofit blood services provider exclusively focused on providing lifesaving blood and comprehensive transfusion medicine services. Founded in 1943, today it comprises a network of more than 125 community blood centers. Vitalant provides blood and special services to patients in nearly 1,000 hospitals across 40 states.

For more information, .

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Top executives from three of the most successful commercial real estate firms in the world spoke recently in Phoenix about what the office of the future will look like here and across the nation during and post-pandemic. 

While the face of commercial office space could see permanent changes as it adapts, they all predict that the Phoenix metro region, unlike some other large cities, will continue to see healthy growth in the sector. 

Office space is not going away, they said. 

鈥淚n just the last few weeks, there鈥檚 been a huge uptick in activity in inquiries, and companies are going to continue to look at Arizona,鈥� said Cathy Teeter, managing director of the Phoenix office for CBRE, the world鈥檚 largest commercial real estate services company.

Affordability and lifestyle — including the ability to 鈥減ark your car in a garage or adjacent to your house鈥� — are top reasons the Phoenix area continues to attract interest, she said.  

Teeter and two other experts spoke this month at a meeting of the nonprofit Valley Partnership, the voice of the real estate industry. 

Martha dePlazaola Abbott, co-managing director and principal at Gensler, a global architecture, design, and planning firm, and Molly Ryan Carson, senior vice president and market leader of the Southwest region for Ryan Companies, a national builder, developer, designer, and real estate manager, also were panelists. 

They discussed what the industry is doing to reimagine and redesign the office environment. They are turning to employees through surveys and other means to make those decisions. 

Surveys show most people want back in the office

Employee surveys indicate most Americans do not want to work from home full-time. But they do enjoy the flexibility of being able to do so, they said. 

In May, Gensler鈥檚 Research Institute published the U.S. Work from Home Survey 2020 that provides insight into the home experience and how it is influencing people鈥檚 expectations for the future. The study surveyed more than 2,300 full-time U.S. office workers at companies of 100 or more people from April 16 to May 4. 

It found that employees overwhelmingly want to return to the office, but with changes to address the pandemic. Also, many workers, particularly young and new employees, are struggling in the home office setting.  

Among the findings:

• Only 12 percent of workers want to work from home full-time
• Seventy percent of people want to work in the office for the majority of their week as long as there is more space for social distancing and other safety measures
• Fifty-five percent of respondents said working from home makes collaborating with others harder, and 51 percent said staying up to date on the work of others is more difficult
• Millennial and Gen Z workers report being less productive and less satisfied at home
• People expect to return to the office, but it should look different with stricter sick policies and cleaning and space configurations for physical distancing

The office of the future  

Teeter said CBRE surveys show employee retention and safety is a critical concern for companies. So whatever it takes to keep employees happy and healthy will dictate how they move back into the office, she said. 

鈥淧eople want flexibility. They don鈥檛 want to give up their place at the office. They just want to have flexibility in making that decision for themselves. They want to work remotely between two and three days a week.鈥�

All three panelists said many companies will respond with a mix of options for workers. Physical distancing will dictate the new office configuration.

Abbott of Gensler said, 鈥淪eventy percent of employees don鈥檛 want to be at home all the time, so they (clients) are trying to create a hybrid environment where you come to the office for meetings and collaboration but you do your focus work at home.鈥�  

Arizona can expect healthy future for commercial office space   

Meanwhile, fears of office space stagnating and rental relief requests are not surfacing in many regions, the panelists said.  

In Arizona, they report seeing an uptick in interest for relocations and expansions from a mix of industries: technology, healthcare, manufacturing, insurance, pharmaceuticals, financial technology.

Ryan Companies鈥� Carson said she鈥檚 seeing clients talk of needing more space, not eliminating it with more employees working remotely.  

鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had many companies say they are downsizing. They are not people downsizing. Now, they鈥檙e thinking when they come back to the office they鈥檙e going to need that additional elbow room and how can they do that with their square footage.鈥�

As the workplace evolves, Arizona will continue to be a desirable location for many reasons including its central location, Carson said.  

鈥淵ou can get virtually anywhere from here now. It has become a place for everyone. It鈥檚 for the hourly employee at a call center and it is for a CEO, and it is for having both of those individuals under the same roof. This is becoming more common now because of that desire for synergy, communication and shared thought within the office.鈥�

For more information about how offices can reopen safely, go to:

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It鈥檚 not only an office with a view that woos the best and brightest hires today. Believe it or not, dental benefits rank up high in attracting and retaining them, a number of research studies show.

Two out of three employees report that dental insurance is very or extremely important in deciding whether to accept or turn down a job, according to McKinsey & Company.聽

Dental benefits now rank higher in importance or as important as disability, life and retiree health insurance, according to surveys conducted by LIMRA,International, Inc., the Harvard Business Review, and others.聽聽聽

鈥淚t really does first and foremost, help an employer stand out from the competition because there are a number of employers, still, that are not offering dental coverage,鈥� said Brad Clothier,聽executive vice president of business development for Delta Dental of Arizona, the largest dental benefits provider in the state. 鈥淪o it does give you a competitive advantage when you look at full compensation packages.鈥�

Member rolls grow with more offerings for small business聽聽

Not too long ago, many smaller businesses could not afford to offer dental benefits for employees. But an industry focus on their needs is putting more people into the dentist鈥檚 chair, Clothier said. Even better, it appears to be making employees a lot healthier.聽

About five years ago, Delta and other insurance companies began to target smaller businesses with more options, including voluntary dental benefits, where employees pay the full price of premiums.聽

During that time, Arizona-based Delta Dental saw its member rolls swell from 893,000 to approximately 1.3 million today, Clothier said.聽

鈥淲e鈥檝e made a real conscious effort to sell to small businesses with two to 49 employees,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e adding 400 to 500 small businesses a year.聽

鈥淭hat was something we really didn鈥檛 focus on a few years ago. Everybody was always after the elephant hire, the big companies.鈥�

Voluntary plans rising in popularity聽

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e finding is smaller employers are trying to remain competitive with larger employers by offering comprehensive benefit packages. Dental has become a part of their offering,鈥� Clothier said.聽

Today, smaller employers can opt to pay full price for premiums, share the cost of premiums with employees, or have voluntary dental plans.聽

The voluntary plans are one reason for Delta Dental鈥檚 rapid growth in Arizona, Clothier said.聽聽

鈥淚f employers cannot afford it, they can still give people a choice,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you鈥檝e got 25 employees and 12 take the dental plan, those are 12 people that are going to have an overall healthier atmosphere for their employers and families.鈥澛�

Dental benefits help smaller businesses compete聽

Attracting and retaining top employees has become critical in a highly competitive marketplace.聽

Superior talent is 400 percent more productive than the average performer, according to studies cited by . In highly complex occupations like software development, high performers are 800 percent more productive.聽

Being able to offer comprehensive health benefits including dental and visions can help entice these workers, Clothier said.聽

鈥淚t used to be medical just got you by, that鈥檚 how you get top performing hires.鈥澛犅�

Millions of work and school hours lost to aching teeth

According to the national Centers for Disease Control (CDC), millions of work and school hours are lost each year due to unplanned, or emergency, visits to a dentist. On average, over 34 million school hours are lost and over $45 billion is lost in productivity each year due to unplanned dental care, the CDC .

Regular dental visits prevent dental and other health problems, including gum and heart disease.

Meanwhile, almost 70 percent of adult consumers with dental benefits reported they see the dentist at least once a year versus 40 percent without, according to the 2018 Adult Oral Health Survey.

And that鈥檚 good for businesses, Clothier said.聽聽

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