Transcript What is Diversity? - Diversity in the Workplace

What is Diversity?
Why Does Diversity
Impact My Company’s
Financial Bottom-Line?
Diversity in the Workplace
Leadership Forum
TM
Agenda
• What is Diversity?
• Why Value Diversity?
• Isn’t Diversity Against American
Values
• Doesn’t Diversity Replace the
Mainstream Culture?
• The Business Case for Diversity
• What Next?
Question
What are the main differences
between the public sector and
the private sector?
Common Responsibilities
• Control costs
• Market services in an effective way
• Report business performance to a group
of stakeholders
• Effectively manage the workforce
• Respond to changes in the business
environment
• Manage organizational effectiveness
What is Diversity?
• Diversity represents all the ways we are different
• US Constitutional Laws provide the first basis for
diversity: equal employment opportunity
• Laws based on historical discrimination against
certain groups in our society: race, sex, color,
religion, national origin, disability, etc.
• Diversity includes all of the above concepts:
organizations cannot do one at the expense of
another – the definition has expanded over time
Why Value Diversity?
• Future workforce will have huge
demographic variations (America 2042)
• Companies report competitive advantage
as the key driver of diversity efforts
• Diverse markets require diverse
operatives; organizations must know the
markets they seek to serve
• US President reports America is falling
behind other nations in areas of STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
Isn’t Diversity Against American
Values?
• US is the most diverse collection of cultures in
the history of the world
• Joel Barker: the wealth and power of a
civilization is directly dependent on its ability to
mine the diversity of its people
• While the “melting pot”
was the standard, not all
groups can assimilate
• American innovation has
been fueled by diversity
• One Core Value of
America is to be
competitive - STEM
Doesn’t Diversity Replace the
Mainstream American Culture?
Diversity does not pit one culture against
another for dominance; it only allows for
cultural differences to be employed to
solve business challenges.
Diversity acknowledges and uses these
inherent differences to drive innovation as
a way of creating better organizational
performance and competitive advantage.
The Business Case for Diversity
Improved Organizational Performance
• Companies rated on Fortune’s
“50 Best Companies for
Minorities” outperformed the
S&P 500 over three- and
five-year periods
• Academy of Management
Journal: Organizations with
diverse management teams
correlate with superior
corporate performance
The Business Case for Diversity
Reduced Turnover, Improved Retention
• Society for Human Resource Management
(SHRM) study: diversity initiatives
positively affect the bottom line
– Ability to recruit
– Ability to retain
– Improved client relations
– Improved productivity
– Improved corporate culture
The Business Case for Diversity
Increased Innovation
• Diversity provides a richer variety of
approaches to work and problem solving
• Diversity strengthens an organization's
resilience in changing environments
• Diversity challenges long-accepted views
• Diversity creates dynamic work environments
through variety of perspectives
The Business Case for Diversity
Increased Effectiveness in Minority Markets
• Helps businesses understand how to
effectively interact with all of its client base
• Informs organizational practices that create
community support in all populations
• Helps manage & correct perceptions of
historically underserved markets
The Business Case for Diversity
Positive Impact on Group Performance
SHRM and Fortune survey concluded
that diversity:
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Improves corporate culture – 83%
Improves employee morale – 70%
Increases creativity – 59%
Decreases interpersonal conflict – 58%
Enables movement into emerging
markets – 57%
• Improves productivity – 52%
What is the Significance of These
Pictures to US History & Diversity?
The Business Case for Diversity
Positive Impact - Historical Studies
• Executive Order 9981 provided integration of US
Armed Forces shortly after WWII (1948)
• Exceptional performance within groups of
medical colleagues representing a wide variety
of “values, experiences and disciplines.” (1956)
• Mixed gender groups consistently outperformed
single-gender groups. Different viewpoints
caused inventive solutions to emerge. (1961)
• Routine problem solving better handled by
homogeneous groups, less-defined problems
better suited to heterogeneous groups. (1984)
• Diverse ethnic groups produced more effective
solutions than homogeneous groups. (1992)
The Business Case for Diversity
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Some Thoughts
Your organizational culture must be open
to diversity; otherwise this effort will fail
Managers and supervisors need training
and education on valuing and managing
diversity
Improving managing diversity is not easy;
no worthwhile organizational change effort
is easy
Leadership must commit to a long-term
vision of diversity
Quotes
“Innovation provides the seeds for economic
growth, and for that innovation to happen
depends as much on collective difference as on
aggregate ability. If people think alike then no
matter how smart they are they most likely will get
stuck at the same locally optimal solutions.
Finding new and better solutions, innovating,
requires thinking differently. That’s why diversity
powers innovation.”
-Scott E. Page, Professor,
University of Michigan
Quotes
"There is no better fertile ground for innovation
than a diversity of experience. And that diversity
of experience arises from a difference of
cultures, ethnicities, and life backgrounds. A
successful scientific endeavor is one that
attracts a diversity of experience, draws upon
the breadth and depth of that experience, and
cultivates those differences, acknowledging the
creativity they spark."
Dr. Joseph M. DeSimone
The Business Case for Diversity
Bottom Line
• Diversity can create stronger, more
resilient businesses
• Innovation is a by-product of diversity
• Innovation in government is key to
vitality in the 21st century
What Next?
• Executive support for diversity initiatives
• Tactics to smooth the transition to a more
diverse work culture
• Provide education programs from top to
bottom
• Create and maintain a consistent prodiversity message
• Join a recognized diversity council that
looks at large-scale organizational issues
and accelerates your business success
Contact Us To Get Started Today:
Diversity In the Workplace TM
Christopher C. Herring
Chief, Diversity Officer
Call: (210) 775-1138
or
Email: [email protected]
Background to Chief Diversity Officer
Christopher C. Herring
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Chaired the Undergraduate Resource Center for Boston University; Served as
minority orientation leader to Boston University’s MLK Jr. Center
Selected Minority Officer ROTC Recruiter for United States Air Force
Completed Diversity Train-the-Trainer Certification by Anita Rowe and Lee
Gardenswartz under Society for Human Resource Management
Appointed first Diversity Manager & Marketing Director for National Security Agency
Appointed to President Clinton’s “One America” on Race Initiative as Co-Chair,
Department of Defense providing leadership & guidance to 5 military services
Selected as Chief of the Military Equal Opportunity and Diversity Celebration
Programs at Andrews Air Force Base
National Guest Speaker for MLK Holiday Celebrations and Diversity Days
As Chief Strategist, authored USAF Recruiting Services’ 5-year “Broadest
Landscape” Diversity Marketing Campaign
Chaired multiple NPOs focused on helping at-risk youth or women health, or
scholarship issues; Served on Chamber boards to improve race relations
Earned recognition from 3 US Presidents, USAF, US JAYCEES, NSA, Ebony
Magazine, Jet Magazine, City of San Antonio, the NAACP, the United Way, more