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The Business Case for Diversity
Solid initiatives
must be at the top of a company’s organizational goals to meet the
demands of a diverse workforce and customer.
By Cassandra Hayes
Reprinted from Black Enterprise, Vol. 36 No. 3, October 2005.
Corporations are under continued pressure to improve their bottom lines.
The fast-pace, ever-changing face of today’s customer and the products
and services they’ve come to expect only increase the pressure.
Companies must not only meet these demands, but also do it with the
right people in place who can determine and evaluate the needs and then
deliver them.
It’s this objective that is the driving force behind achieving and
managing diversity in the workplace. Diversity management helps
organizations identify and capitalize on opportunities to improve
products and services and also attract, retain, motivate and utilize
their employees effectively. It is integral to improving the quality of
decision-making at all organizational levels and positions the company
as a socially responsible and progressive organization.
Recent U.S. Census statistics reveal that Hispanics have replaced
African Americans as the largest minority in the U.S. The number of
Americans of Hispanic origin jumped to 14.1 percent of the total
population last year. Asian Americans have almost doubled their presence
since 1990, to 4.2 percent of the total population. While whites still
remain the largest single group in the United States – 69 percent, that
number is down from 76 percent in 1990. These are sobering statistics
that have compelled many companies to fortify their diversity
initiatives.
However, diversity must be achieved and managed effectively if its
benefits are to be achieved. This requires leadership commitment, the
establishment of priorities and realistic objectives, the assessment and
development of policies and practices to meet the particular diversity
needs of the organization, including accommodation needs, and the
provision of management and employee training and support processes.
Diversity at Work
Corporate America has realized how diversity initiatives help improve
their abilities to do business. “As a provider of managed services,
ARAMARK brings value to its clients by making their places of business
more comfortable, satisfying, exciting and appealing,” says Elizabeth
Campbell, vice president, Employment Practices and Services, FSS and
corporate diversity officer at ARAMARK, a food service supplier.
The Philadelphia-based company also strives to maintain diversity at the
highest levels by developing a diverse pipeline of talent, both
internally for succession planning and promotions, and externally for
new hires. Its Leadership Development Series, which offers multi-day,
off-site learning in peer environments include modules on many
leadership development topics and key business strategies, including
diversity, and are designed primarily to help domestic management
employees with high potential to grow and learn critical leadership
skills, notes Campbell.
Little Representation On Corporate Brands
Despite corporate America’s boast of diversity throughout its ranks,
there is silence when it comes to diversity on corporate boards.
According to a May 2005 study – Women and Minorities on Fortune 100
Boards – conducted by the Alliance for Board Diversity, there is a
severe under-representation of women and minorities on corporate boards
of the Fortune 100 companies.
The study pointed out that as of September 2004, board seats on the
Fortune 100 companies totaled 1,195 with minorities holding 178 seats,
or 14.90 percent, while white men and women held 1,017 or 85.10 percent,
of the seats. African Americans held 120, or 10.04 percent, of the
seats, with African American men holding 93 seats, or 7.78 percent, and
African American women holding 27, or 2.26 percent, of the seats.
Also noted was the lack of representation of minority women, as well as
Asian American and Hispanic populations and that there was a “recycling”
of the same minority individuals – especially African American men. The
study surmised, “although there is a desire for diversity on the Fortune
100 boards, very few of the boards have representation from all groups,
and more than 60 percent of the boards have less that one-third of their
seats occupied by women, minorities, or women and minorities.”
Strides Continue
While work still needs to be done at the board level, corporate America
continues to enhance their diversity initiatives going beyond historical
employment equity legislation demands and recognizing the contributions
that individuals can make. The good news appears to be confined to large
companies, but some smaller organizations don’t feel the same
shareholder and employee pressure to pursue diversity initiatives.
Ultimately, no matter the size of the organization, the imperatives of
competitiveness, demography, immigration, and globalization will force
every company to meet the demands of a changing world.
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