Diversity

What is Diversity?

Agenda Why Value Diversity? Isn’t Diversity Against American Values Doesn’t Diversity Replace the Mainstream Culture? The Business Case for Diversity What Next?

What is Diversity? Diversity represents all the ways we are different but valuing diversity focuses on how we are different and how we are similar Laws provide the first basis for diversity: equal employment opportunity - race, sex, color, religion, national origin, disability, etc. Concepts of diversity and valuing diversity is broader than legal requirement Encourages tolerance and understanding – treating people with dignity and respect

Forms of Diversity

Quotations on Diversity “Tolerance implies a respect for another person, not because he is wrong or even because he is right, but because he is human.” John Cogley Commonweal

Quotations on Diversity “Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.” Malcolm Stevenson Forbes ( ) American publisher, businessman

Quotations on Diversity “Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation: and this means we must develop a world perspective.” Dr. Martin Luther King ( ) African American reverend, civil rights leader

Quotations on Diversity “The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” Theodore Roosevelt ( ) 26th U.S. President, Republican

Common Responsibilities of Organizations 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

Why Value Diversity? Future workforce will have huge demographic variations 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

Doesn’t Diversity Replace the Mainstream 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 Improved Organizational Performance Reduced Turnover, Improved Retention Reduced Turnover, Improved Retention Increased Innovation Increased Innovation Increased Effectiveness in Minority Markets Increased Effectiveness in Minority Markets Positive Impact on Group Performance Positive Impact on Group Performance Positive Impact - Historical Studies Positive Impact - Historical Studies

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 recruit Ability to retain Ability to retain Improved client relations Improved client relations Improved productivity Improved productivity Improved corporate culture 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 environmental conditions Diversity allows challenges to long-accepted views Diversity creates dynamic work environments through variety of perspectives

The Business Case for Diversity Increased Effectiveness in Minority Markets Helps organizations understand how to effectively interact with all of its client base Informs organizational practices that create community support in all populations Helps manage perceptions of historically underserved markets historically underserved markets

The Business Case for Diversity Positive Impact on Group Performance SHRM and Fortune survey concluded that diversity: Improves corporate culture – 83% Improves employee morale – 70% Increases creativity – 59% Decreases interpersonal conflict – 58% Enables movement into emerging markets – 57% markets – 57% Improves productivity – 52%

The Business Case for Diversity Positive Impact - Historical Studies 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 Some Thoughts Your organizational culture must be open to diversity; otherwise diversity efforts 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

The Business Case for Diversity Bottom Line Diversity can create stronger, more resilient organizations Innovation is a by-product of diversity Innovation is key to vitality in the 21 st 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 pro-diversity message Form a diversity council that looks at large-scale organizational issues

Golden Rule “Treat others the way you want to be treated.”