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Link Diversity to Business Goals for Best Results

Link diversity to business goals for best results. (2010). HR Focus, 87(1), 5-7,10. Retrieved from https://libproxy.library.unt.edu/login? url=https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2165/docview/206811911?accountid=7113

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Diversity and inclusion are important and for more than simply reasons of fairness, obtaining varied skills and viewpoints, and the law. The recent economy has challenged diversity initiatives, but also stymieing efforts are unclear diversity goals, ongoing struggles with cultural change, and sometimes even a lack of a definition within the organization of "diversity" itself. What most companies have done is focus on only two components -- recruitment and training, said Shirley Davis, director of diversity and inclusion initiatives at SHRM. Traditionally, workplace discussions about diversity have focused on African Americans and women, noted diversity consultant and author R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr., who is based in Decatur, GA. Still, progress is being made in getting executives to see diversity as a bottom-line issue. Another concern that HR leaders in the US and abroad have mentioned pertains to how to establish clear and measurable results of diversity initiatives to prove their value to organizations, Davis said.

Headnote HIRING

Diversity and inclusion are important and for more than simply reasons of fairness, obtaining varied skills and viewpoints, and the law.

A diverse workforce can be one that supports a more successful organization - provided that the organization makes the commitment to meshing diversity with business goals.

The recent economy has challenged diversity initiatives, but also stymieing efforts are unclear diversity goals, ongoing struggles with cultural change, and sometimes even a lack of a definition within the organization of "diversity" itself.

"What most companies have done is focus on only two components - recruiting and training,"said Shirley Davis, director of diversity and inclusion initiatives at SHRM. "That's not enough."

Davis supports aligning diversity and inclusion goals with business strategy. "CEOs, especially ones with consumers, are interested in diversity because, at the end of the day, it's about the bottom line and how many customers are buying your products," she said.

Companies that are leading diversity and inclusion efforts and that "understand the times" are using diversity as a competitive advantage, she added.

DIVERSITX DEFINED

Traditionally, workplace discussions about diversity have focused on African Americans and women, noted diversity consultant and author R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr., who is based in Decatur, Ga.

But this is a shortsighted goal. A broader view is required today, recognizing that "there are all kinds of dimensions of diversity and diverse mixtures," Thomas said.

"Diversity refers to the differences, similarities, and related tensions that exist in any mixture," Thomas said in his book, Building on the Promise of Diversity: How We Can Move to the Next Level in OutWorkplaces, Our Communities, and Our Society. "Note especially that the term includes differences and similarities. Diversity is not limited to issues of race and gender, nor is it confined to the workforce."

Getting the definition right - and getting it to be meaningful to executives - is an ongoing struggle, Davis noted. "Some terms have not resonated and created more distance than they caused support."

Still, progress is being made in getting executives to see diversity as a bottom-line issue. SHRM 's 2007 State of Workplace Diversity Management report, which included more than 1 ,300 responses from HR professionals and diversity practitioners, indicated that a growing number of organizations are discussing "the business case for di versify " and the importance of creating inclusive workplace cultures.

Where this more business-oriented endeavor belongs in the corporate lineup is also an undecided issue (see the accompanying sidebar).

BROADER PURPOSES

Diversity as a moneymaker should help to spur action. As noted by diversity consultant Michael Soon Lee, president of EthnoConnect (Dublin, Calif.), "If companies can see that embracing diversity can make them money, they are happy to do it. Earlier, they said diversity was nice to do. In the 1990s, companies said 'Show us how this can make us money; A lot of work I do now is helping companies increase their sales to multicultural customers."

"It's no longer just about getting great employees; it's about competing globally," agreed Davis. "You have to have people in your organization that understand different cultures."

But this enhanced purpose can be at risk by confusion about what diversity is and where it is headed. The SHRM report noted that the most frequent concerns respondents expressed about the diversity and inclusion profession were that it is not well defined or understood and that it focuses too much on compliance.

Respondents also said, however, that the field's two strengths were "a greater awareness of diversity" and "more emphasis being placed on the strategic benefits of diversity."

Some diversity challenges remain the same. " Part of the main concerns I continue to hear is: 'How do we make sure we are integrating our diversity strategy into the overall business, and how do we get senior leadership to buy into this?'" Davis said.

The report noted that " [diversity practitioners were more likely to report that lack of buy-in and suppoñ from management and lack of a clear business case 1 inking diversity to the financial bottom line were hindering the field's success."

MEASURING DIVERSITY

Another concern that HR leaders in the United States and abroad have mentioned pertains to how to establish clear and measurable results of diversity initiatives to prove their value to organizations, Davis said.

"Many diversity initiatives are not strategic but are more aspirational, such as "creating a diverse and inclusive environment,'" said Lee. "This is a nice vision statement but it is not a measurable initiative because there is no rubric for determining when it has been accomplished."

Lee said another challenge is that some diversity initiatives are only funded for one or two quarters when a long-term commitment is needed to bring real results.

"There's still a wait-and-see attitude in corporate America, rather than a long-term commitment," when it comes to diversity and inclusion, he said.

A key component in obtaining buy-in is whether diversity practitioners can show the connection between an organization's commitment to inclusion and its profitability, Davis said.

The separation that still exists between diversity strategy and business strategy to some extent echoes the challenges that HR as a whole has faced, she said.

"In HR and other departments, strategies are created somewhat in a silo and they are not aligned with the overall business strategy," she said.

Another challenge HR leaders and others face in building more inclusive organizations is that in some companies, the cultures are ingrained with behaviors and practices that tend to sabotage the work. "So if you talk about bringing in more diverse talent, they don't want to hear of it," Davis said, adding that "a major culture change won't happen overnight."

The economic downturn also has been a major challenge for HR and diversity practitioners in the past year or so. "Organizations have cut HR to the bone," said Mauricio Velasquez, president and chief executive officer of the Diversity Training Group, a consulting firm in Herndon, Va. "Outsourcing diversity [programs] has always been a trend but it's being exacerbated by the economy."

Despite the cuts, Lee predicted that as the economy gets stronger diversity initiatives will again begin to become a priority as companies seek strategies to increase their productivity and revenue streams.

Lee cited four diversity-related challenges facing U.S. employers. As you can see, these challenges also overlap with various other challenges now facing HR professionals and human capital initiatives:

* "Realizing the promise of diversity," Lee said. "It's widely acknowledged that diversity helps companies increase productivity, reach diverse consumers, and make better decisions," he said. "What's less known is that there are challenges that must be overcome before those goals can be realized." Employers often are reluctant to discuss these challenges, which can include a lack of communication, tension in the workplace, and misunderstandings, all of which can lead to a reduction in productivity and an increase in costs.

* Building an environment that embraces differences, Lee said. "For too long, we have simply tolerated differences but not fully embraced them as a benefit," Lee said. "It takes education and hard work to get people to let go of the natural fear of those who may be different from themselves."

* The lack of understanding and communication among the generations in the workplace is another diversity challenge. This can lead to a loss of productivity, Lee warned.

* The failure on the part of most companies to develop a systematic and strategic knowledge-transfer program so that information gathered over decades by older workers who are retiring can be shared with younger workers who are taking their place is still another diversity issue. "Some companies use seasoned workers to mentor younger workers," Lee said. "But very few companies do that and the information walks out of the door when people retire."

Additional ideas for diversity and inclusion improvement are in the accompanying sidebar.

Sidebar Should Diversity Be Part of HR?

Whether diversity should report to the HR department or to the chief executive officer is a question that has no clear answer.

Atfirst glance, itwould seem that so human-capital-intensive an initiative belongs in the HR department. However, there can be benefits to having diversity professionals report directly to the chief executive officer.

"Much more can be accomplished around implementing diversity initiatives when they have the blessings of the chief executive officer," said diversity consultant Michael Soon Lee, president of EthnoConnect, a consulting firm in Dublin, Calif.

"Diversity initiatives will be taken more seriously and receive higher priority since everyone knows the chief diversity officer has a direct link to the CEO."

When the chief diversity officer reports to human resources, diversity initiatives tend to "fall off the radar because HR is primarily concerned about compliance, benefits, and complaints," Lee said. Lee also noted that other key deliverables can take precedence for HR department resources.

However, there are also good reasons for diversity to report to HR. Shirley Davis,director of diversity and inclusion initiatives at the Society for Human Resource Management in Alexandria, Va., is based in the human resources department and believes this is beneficial.

Details

Subject Workplace diversity; Skills; African Americans; Corporate objectives; Hiring

Location United States--US

Classification 9190: United States 6100: Human resource planning 2310: Planning

Title Link Diversity to Business Goals for Best Results

Author Anonymous

Publication title HR Focus; Washington, DC

Volume 87

Issue 1

Pages 5-7,10

Number of pages 4

Publication year 2010

By being part of HR, Davis said, she is able to make sure that diversity policies and practices are in place. In addition, she works with the marketing department to identify ways to position the organization as inclusive, and she collaborates with the procurement and supply division to extend opportunities to minority-owned businesses. She also works with community affairs to make sure SHRM is positioned in the community at large.

"Diversity works across the entire organization and needs that kind of visibility," she said.

According to the findings of SHRM's Global Diversity and Inclusion study, HR is responsible for diversity among 59 percent of the global companies surveyed. In about the same proportion of companies (60 percent), top management is the principal advocate for workplace diversity, followed by HR (42 percent).

Sidebar Best Practices for Developing Diversity & Inclusion

Although diversity programs can vary from company to company, these principles should be part of all programs, according to diversity experts:

* Implement a really good development program that includes ongoing coaching and feedback, not just training.

* Make a concerted effort to locate and hire diverse workers who either are recent college graduates or qualified employees at other companies.

* Let employees and the public know details about the organization's diversity strategy.

* Be realistic about the organization's diversity achievements and setbacks.

* Involve business unit or line managers in the organization's diversity initiatives.

*With global initiatives, prepare for national variation in implementing diversity and inclusion programs.

* Make sure the right person is leading the organization's diversity effort.

* Implement a system to measure the effectiveness of the organization's diversity efforts.

* Diversity initiatives can be measured when employers gather complete and consistent data throughout the process.

* Because diversity efforts must be tracked against known benchmarks, look at competitors in your industry and see what benchmarks they use. Some common benchmarks are the establishment and involvement of employee resource groups, a specific percentage of business done with diverse suppliers, and an atmosphere that welcomes differences.

*When hiring, remember that people from different cultures do not all communicate in the same way.The interview process must also be adjusted for cultural differences.

* Invite members of the company's affinity or employee resource groups to help with multicultural marketing plans, product development, and recruitment and retention efforts.

* Be specific and realistic in developing the company's diversity and inclusion goals.

* Embrace an attitude that diversity is a benefit.

Publication date Jan 2010

Publisher Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.

Place of publication Washington, DC

Country of publication United States, Washington, DC

Publication subject Business And Economics--Management, Business And Economics--Labor And Industrial Relations

ISSN 10596038

Source type Trade Journals

Language of publication English

Document type Feature

ProQuest document ID 206811911

Document URL https://libproxy.library.unt.edu/login? url=https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2165/docview/206811911?accountid=7113

Last updated 2012-01-26

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Bibliography Citation style: APA 6th - American Psychological Association, 6th Edition