What is Diversity?

Why Does Diversity Impact My Company’s

Financial Bottom-Line?

What is Diversity?

Why Does Diversity Impact My Company’s

Financial Bottom-Line?

Diversity in the Workplace TM

Leadership Forum

AgendaAgenda

• 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?

QuestionQuestion

What are the main differences between the public sector and the private sector?

Common ResponsibilitiesCommon 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?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?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?

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?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 PerformanceThe 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 RetentionThe 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 InnovationThe 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 MarketsThe 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 PerformanceThe 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%• Improves productivity – 52%

What is the Significance of These Pictures to US History & Diversity?What is the Significance of These

Pictures to US History & Diversity?

The Business Case for Diversity Positive Impact - Historical Studies

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 Some Thoughts

The Business Case for Diversity 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

QuotesQuotes

“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

QuotesQuotes

"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

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?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• Join a recognized diversity council that

looks at large-scale organizational issues and accelerates your business success

Contact Us To Get Started Today:Contact Us To Get Started Today:

Diversity In the Workplace TM

Christopher C. Herring

Chief, Diversity Officer

Call: (210) 775-1138

or

Email: USA@DiversityInTheWorkPlace.org

Background to Chief Diversity Officer Christopher C. Herring

Background to Chief Diversity Officer Christopher C. Herring

• 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