UKG appoints Brian Reaves as chief belonging, diversity & equity officer

UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group), a global provider of HCM, payroll, HR service delivery, and workforce management solutions, has appointed Brian Reaves the organisation’s chief belonging, diversity, and equity officer. Reaves will lead the Company’s global belonging, diversity, and equity efforts, and help expand existing initiatives at UKG while working to strengthen a culture built on trust, fairness, and equality so that all people can thrive in their careers.

A software engineer by trade, Reaves brings an ‘engineering mindset’ to UKG along with more than 30 years of experience in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within the technology industry. He most recently served as senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer at Dell Technologies, where Reaves oversaw the company’s global diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, tactics, and programmes as business imperatives, with a focus on driving innovation and sustainable business success.

Prior to joining Dell, Reaves spent eight years at SAP, serving as head of diversity and inclusion for the Office of the CEO, and as the global head of products and innovation for the SAP d.Studio next generation technology team. Reaves was also the key innovator for Project Propel, providing technology trainings for Minority Service Institutions (MSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and for Project Dream, which focused on reaching a more diverse range of customers for SAP.

Reaves has held senior executive software development and management roles across industries and in tech sectors, such as cloud computing, finance, healthcare, supply chain, utilities, and telecommunications. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and began his career as a software developer at the Xerox Corporation.

“I am proud to join UKG, an organisation that not only has made significant strides with respect to belonging, diversity, and equity, but a company committed to paving the way for people practices around the world. The work is never done in this vital realm, and it takes continued focus and perseverance to build an equitable workplace where employees are encouraged to be their authentic selves,” comments Reaves on his joining. He adds, “Together, we have a goal to make UKG the greatest people company in the world. To get there, we must always evolve, keep learning, and live ‘our purpose is people’ every day, as UKG transcends the standard for what it means to be a company where all individuals feel welcome, well respected, equally valued, and confident that they belong there. I look forward to collaborating with the team to build an even greater, more inclusive workplace culture.”

Over the past year, as part of the merger between Kronos Incorporated and Ultimate Software that formed UKG, the Company has continued to refine its focus on belonging, diversity and equity. This includes expanding its employee resource groups, known internally as Diversity Networks, including ADAPT (Accessibility and Disability Allies Partner Together) for the disabled community, BUILD (Black Upcoming Individuals in Leadership and Development) for Black employees and allies, CARES (Cancer Awareness Resource Education & Support) for cancer survivors and caregivers, FIRE Up (Female Inclusion, Resilience, and Excellence) for women and their allies, PRIDE for the LGBTQ+ population and their allies, and UKG VETS (Veterans Exemplifying True Service) for veterans and family and friends of veterans.

“UKG is off to a tremendous start in our first year as one — yet we aspire to be much, much more. Brian’s leadership, vision, and unique engineering mindset will push us to be better in supporting the diverse needs of our 13,000 employees worldwide in ways that will propel UKG to pave the way for other organizations to enhance every aspect of the employee experience — from recruiting practices to resources groups to retirement support — to ensure employees’ voices are heard all along their working journey,” says Chris Todd, president, UKG.