Seth Morales | Taking Over a Family Business and Trailblazing Diversity & Inclusion

Twenty years ago, Seth Morales made a fateful move. Playing as a wide receiver for Purdue University, he scored a touchdown against Ohio State and won the 2000 Big Ten Football Championship.

Seth’s football days are long gone, but he learned a lot playing at Purdue. For instance, he discovered the importance of listening, coaching and never settling for complacency. Seth regularly applies these lessons to his role as CEO at the Morales Group, a recruitment and staffing agency based in Indianapolis. 

Originally founded by Seth's father, the company is more than a staffing business. Its mission revolves around building communities. 

"My father felt like he could make a difference by providing a job," Seth explains. "My dad knew nothing about staffing and recruiting, but he knew that it made an impact on not only the individual who is making money and getting a job, but their family.

Given this mission, diversity and inclusion have been at the core of the Morales Group since its founding. "For us, we saw it as a core differentiator," Seth says.

Seth emphasizes the importance of avoiding complacency, listening to employees and actively looking for ways to improve. In fact, it was an intern who suggested that the Morales Group start to build houses for underprivileged communities at home in Indianapolis, not just Latin America.

On this episode of Human Resolve, Seth discusses how to incorporate diversity and inclusion within a company in an impactful way, rather than simply paying lip service. He also shares how  playing football helped him become a better leader and different ways in which HR can improve a company's culture.

Megan Nail, Vice President of Total Rewards Practice at FirstPerson, joins as well.

##

Featured Leader

Name: Seth Morales

Title: CEO at Morales Group, Inc.

Company: Morales Group

Noteworthy: Seth was a football star at Purdue University in the early 2000s, and some of his toughest life lessons happened on the field — like when he botched a big game against Notre Dame. The lesson: Never become complacent. 

Where to find Seth: Twitter | LinkedIn

##

Human Resolve Episode 06 Highlights

Highlights from the transcript.

💡 Putting diversity and inclusion into action in the workplace

[8:56] "There were a lot of companies that thought that diversity was kind of a buzzword, but that didn't really live it out. And for us, we saw that strength. … And from an early stage of building the business, there was a natural draw with diverse communities, especially communities from around the globe that needed an opportunity, needed a job, but also needed a voice and not just a transactional relationship. They wanted somebody to be an advocate for them."

💡 How to begin a change-making diversity and inclusion initiative

[13:58] "I think the first step is just go do. You're going to make some mistakes and you're going to feel awkward, but the fact that you take action and move forward with it, I think is really important. I think leaders are fearful and they don't take that first step or have that conversation."

💡 The connection between coaching and effective leadership

[23:08] "[Coaching has] been a big part of 2020 with a pandemic and lots of empathy demonstrated. [You should be] making sure that people aren't isolated and that your communication is up. So whether it's through a video, [like] a weekly video that I sent out to the team, or just texting people on teams, or just call them and talk to them — it's important that you make that time to communicate and have some of those coaching moments."

💡 Ways HR can make a real, tangible difference at businesses

[26:51] "HR isn't a thing we do — it's the thing that runs our business. How do we make HR more impactful? How do we have our HR director as a leader? How do we have a chief human resource officer? How do we create a cheap empathy officer? How do we create a chief people officer? Those are the ideas that we're contemplating. … I wish more businesses would invest in their HR department and their people strategy, but a lot of businesses don't get that. And so I think they're missing an opportunity."

💡 Investing in people and company culture makes a difference

[27:32] "Our business has really grown a lot when we started to invest in our team and our culture. And we realized staffing is not very sexy and it's not very innovative. We're helping fill job orders and finding people jobs. But if you have a better set of team or teammates and you have a healthy culture, then you're going to have success."

💡 The danger of neglecting an HR department 

[30:32] "I think there's a real responsibility and opportunity for the HR suite and leaders to take hold of [this time] as I think the game is changing. … There's just going to be a ton of goodness and opportunity for leaders in the HR suite to step up. … But it's really kind of scary to see some of these businesses that don't get HR and still use it as an admin function. It's like, man, you just don't get it and you're going to be left behind."

Top quotes from the episode:

Seth Morales:

Quote #1

"For me, I saw that diversity was like being invited to the dance. I think it's more important that you're actually not only invited, but you get asked to dance. … You're actually choosing the song and you're dancing on the dance floor and that's what diversity and inclusion means to me."

Quote #2

"When we started our company … we didn't really have a why, and we didn't have a mission. And when we finally got a hold of our mission and our why, which is building better futures, one story at a time, our business skyrocketed because people got behind a cause or a purpose."

Quote #3

"Businesses don't grow — people do. And when you have leaders that are invested in lifting up your culture and your people … I think that can change the game for a business."

Megan Nail:

Quote #1

"I love the idea of … bringing in these diverse individuals, but then how do we have that be a part of the culture and give those individuals opportunities to grow and advance their skills and really move up … so we can get the full benefit of all of their perspectives." 

Quote #2

"I think especially in 2020, … being able to play those different roles for people when they need it — that tough coach or the really supportive words of affirmation — I think that's a great thing for us to all remember as we continue to navigate this."