As we discussed in Chapter 1, t he shared values, beliefs, expectation, and norms prevalent in organizations are likely to have a major influence on the effectiveness of human resource management policies, and the management of employee diversity is particularly sensitive to this culture. In a recent comprehensive review of several hundred diversity studies, two well-known diversity scholars, Susan E. Jackson and Aparna Joshi, concluded that “empirical studies that examined the effects of dissimilarity (employee diversity) in organizations with different cultures seem to support the general argument that organizations with cultures that reflect a belief that diversity is a valuable resource are more likely to realize the potential benefits of team diversity. . . . [O]n the other hand, organizational cultures that endorse a so-called color-blind approach may reinforce majority dominance and result in disengagement by minority employees.”140 As discussed next, several factors go into creating an inclusive culture. Although organizational culture is an elusive concept, it seems clear that some firms are more welcoming and supportive of diversity than others. This also seems to be the case at the industry level. For instance, in the finance industry women have had little luck in breaking through the glass ceiling and it continues to be dominated by entrenched male networks.141

It is unlikely that division managers, middle managers, supervisors, and others in positions of authority will become champions of diversity unless they believe that the chief executive officer and those reporting to the CEO are totally committed to valuing diversity. Xerox, DuPont, Corning, Procter & Gamble, Avon, the Miami Herald, Digital Equipment Corporation, U.S. West, and other pacesetters in the successful management of diversity all have CEOs who are fully dedicated to putting this ideal into practice . For example, Avon has established a multicultural participation council (which includes the CEO) that meets regularly. Similarly, in a startling 10-page color brochure, the CEO of Corning announced that management of diversity is one of Corning’s three top priorities, alongside total quality management and a higher return to shareholders.142

Many companies now explicitly provide or withdraw incentives to managers depending on how well they fare on diversity initiatives . This is based on the idea that what gets measured and rewarded gets done. At Sodexo, for instance, the company links up to 25 percent of managerial compensation to diversity goals. At Wachovia Bank, the CEO personally signs off on senior managers’ bonuses tied to meeting diversity goals. Ernst & Young uses a complex system to measure managerial performance in terms of diversity outcomes; these include 20 quantitative and qualitative indicators of retention, promotions, flexible work arrangements, employee satisfaction, and the like. Wells Fargo has mandatory annual reviews that measure team members against four core competencies, one of which is diversity. Time Warner Cable (with a workforce that is approximately 45 percent black, Latino, Asian American, and American Indian) has its CEO personally sign off on annual bonuses and raises tied to the success of diversity initiatives in the managers’ responsibility areas. Other companies that use metrics to assess and reward diversity efforts include Novartis, General Mills, Sprint, Abbott, Kaiser Permanente, General Motors, CSX, Hilton Hotels Corporation, and Johnson & Johnson.143

Supervisors need to learn new skills that will enable them to manage and motivate a diverse workforce. Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Hewlett-Packard, Wells Fargo, Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, and other companies have developed extensive in-house diversity training programs that provide awareness training and workshops to educate managers and employees on specific cultural and sex differences and how to respond to these in the workplace.144

Much experimentation in this type of training is occurring around the United States.145 DuPont has sponsored an all-expense-paid conference for African American managers to discuss the problems they encounter and how they can contribute more to the firm. AT&T has offered seminars designed to help straight employees feel comfortable working alongside openly gay employees and to eliminate offensive jokes and insults from the workplace.146 Corning has introduced a mandatory four-day awareness training program for some 7,000 salaried employees—a day and a half for gender awareness, two and a half days for ethnic awareness.147

This provides an excellent opportunity for senior management and staff to learn about diversity. SHRM suggests that effective diversity training programs need to confront complex issues that have more to do with human behavior than with race, gender, age, and the like. For instance, according to SHRM, diversity training needs to consider the fact that human beings find comfort and trust in likeness. However, this report also notes that frequently these programs fall short of expectations. The editors of a special issue of the Academy of Management Learning and Education journal came to the same conclusion:

The most reliable effects [of diversity training] are observed in the impact of knowledge; even the relatively short workshops conducted in organizational settings appear to increase training knowledge. Effects of training on attitudes, which were the most frequently used criteria, are less consistent. Although diversity education appears to affect attitudes toward diversity in general, effects on attitudes toward specific demographic or social groups are less consistent.148

Several factors undermine the effectiveness of these programs.149 First, the training may have come at a time when employees were preoccupied with more urgent priorities (such as downsizing, increased work level, or launching a new product under tight deadlines). Second, if employees perceive that external forces, such as a court order or a politician’s decree, have prompted the training, they may resist. Third, if the training poses some as perpetrators and others as victims, those who feel blamed may be defensive. Fourth, if diversity is seen as the domain of a few groups (people of color and women, for example), everyone else may feel left out and view the initiative as being for others, not for them. Lastly, although increasing resources are available for teaching diversity, some experts suggest that the materials provided are less than effective in eradicating stereotypes, sometimes inaccurate, and possibly harmful.150

To avoid these problems, SHRM provides recommendations, including holding focus groups with people who may find fault with the training; creating a diversity council that represents a cross section of employees with a wide range of views and attitudes; and exploring ways to deliver the training that do not use a typical classroom format (such as one-on-one coaching to help managers deal with diversity challenges or interventions at team meetings on request).151

Some employees perceive corporate life as insensitive to their culture and background, perhaps downright hostile. The perception of an attitude that says “You don’t belong here” or “You are here because we need to comply with government regulations” is largely responsible for the high turnover of minorities in many corporations.

To counteract these feelings of alienation, top management at many firms (such as FedEx, Bank of America, Allstate Insurance, DuPont, Marriott, and Ryder) has been setting up support groups . These groups are designed to provide a nurturing climate for diverse employees who would otherwise feel shut out . Microsoft, for instance, lists the following employee resource groups on its Web page: Blacks at Microsoft, Arabs at Microsoft, German Speakers at Microsoft, Attention Deficit Disorder at Microsoft, Dads at Microsoft, Working Parents at Microsoft, U.S. Military Veterans at Microsoft, and at least 30 others. As you can see, these groups are truly diverse and are not restricted to traditional categories of gender, race, or age.

Firms can dramatically cut the turnover rate of their female employees if they are willing to help them handle a family and career simultaneously. Employers can use the following options to assist women in this endeavor . Unfortunately, most organizations do not yet offer these services.152

Alternative Work Patterns

Employers such as Quaker Oats, IBM, Ciba-Geigy, and Pacific Telesis Group have been willing to experiment with new ways to help women balance career goals and mothering, and thereby have retained the services of many of their top performers.154 As we saw in Chapter 2, t hese programs come in a variety of forms, including flexible work hours, flextime, and telecommuting. One type of program that is becoming more common is job sharing, where two people divvy up what normally is one person’s full-time job. A survey of more than 1,000 companies by consulting firm Hewitt Associates found that 28 percent of the organizations offer job sharing, up from 12 percent in 1990.155 Another option is extended leave. A rare benefit, extended leave allows employees to take a sabbatical from the office, sometimes up to three years, with benefits and the guarantee of a comparable job on return. Some companies require leave-takers to be on call for part-time work during their sabbatical.156

Some companies encourage senior mentoring programs , in which senior managers identify promising women and minority employees and play an important role in nurturing their career progress.157 At Marriott, for instance, newly hired employees with disabilities are paired with Marriott managers who serve as their coaches. Honeywell and 3M team up experienced executives with young women and minorities to give them advice on career strategies and corporate politics, as do Xerox and DQE Corporation, a Pittsburgh utilities firm.158 At Abbott approximately one-half of managers participate in formal mentoring programs, which Abbot refers to as “cross culturally focused” development.

Apprenticeships are similar to senior mentoring programs, except that promising prospective employees are groomed before they are actually hired on a permanent basis. As with senior mentoring, company managers are encouraged to become actively involved in apprenticeship programs. For example, Sears has established an apprenticeship program that gives students hands-on training in skills such as basic electronics and appliance repair. The best students are hired for 10 hours a week to work at a Sears Service Center. This on-the-job training is integrated into the school curriculum, and the most talented students are hired upon completion of the program.

Certain styles of communication may be offensive to women and minority employees. Examples are the use of “he” when referring to managers and “she” when referring to secretaries; inadequately representing or ignoring minorities in annual reports; failure to capitalize ethnic groups’ titles (Asian, Latino, etc.); and using terms, such as protected classes and alien, that may have a precise legal meaning but are offensive to those being described. To avoid these problems, organizations should set communication standards that take into account the sensitivities of a diverse employee population .

Often the roots of an employee diversity problem (such as high turnover of minority employees) are not immediately evident. In these instances, research in the form of a diversity audit may be necessary to uncover possible sources of bias. Unfortunately, some companies are reluctant to do an official diversity audit for fear that the information uncovered may later be used in a suit against the company. The case of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), the large drug-manufacturing firm, represents one case in point. A voluntary diversity audit by J&J (written in a formal, confidential document) expressed concerns about inadequate tracking of promotions, unequal salaries, and insufficient outreach to recruit women and minorities. The diversity report ended up being used as an unintended legal weapon against J&J when it was uncovered four years later and submitted to a federal court in New Jersey by several African American and Hispanic American employees who argued that “executives knew years ago that they were missing targets for promoting such employees and did little to solve the problem.” A company spokesman, Marc Monseau, emphasized that the diversity audit report “should be considered in the larger context of continual self-examination at Johnson & Johnson. We engage in critical self-analysis because we are always looking to improve our process and our performance. That reaches to all aspects of our business, including diversity.”159

Management of diversity will not be a high priority and a formal business objective unless managers and supervisors are held accountable for implementing diversity management and rewarded for doing so successfully. At the very minimum, successful diversity management should be one of the factors in the performance appraisal system for those in positions of authority. For instance, at Garrett Company, a manufacturer of jet engines, bonus pay is tied to a supervisor’s record on managing diversity. Browsing through the Web pages of companies that are selected as the “best for minorities” by Fortune and DiversityInc., one finds that most of them explicitly mention programs to make managers accountable for diversity results. For instance, Xerox keeps track of supplier diversity and uses these figures to hold managers responsible for the success of diversity initiatives.