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Slide 1: Does Hiring Minority Candidates Mean A Successful Corporate Diversity Initiative? Interestingly enough, there are many statistics that quantify diversity and inclusion for many large corporations. However, upon further review, the default “main quantifier” is HR (Human Resources). The large Fortune 500′s and others are measured and evaluated on their ability to hire minority and female candidates. For those companies that go above and beyond in this approach – congratulations! This is an excellent result and is part of the solution. However, it is only PART of the solution. As I have discussed in the past, there are three main components to being a “leader” in opportunity and inclusion. These are HR, supply chain and out sourced services. If you have a great hiring track record for minority candidates, but ignore supply chain or your outsourced services, you are only addressing a fraction of the issue. Amazingly enough, these same companies that are only addressing HR are being rewarded and recognized for their diversity initiatives. The real approach is to develop a corporate culture of company wide diversity inclusion. Identify and develop approaches that impact all segments of the business. Don’t take the path of least resistance and the easy way out as most companies do. Drill down into the corporation and identify all areas that are below the line. Why is this important? Aside from the obvious, this is the real key to impacting and growing communities. I get that there are business implications, both positive and negative, to going the extra mile. At the end of the day, the only way to impact the local community is to include the local, small minority businesses in your business plan. It is not a simple or easy approach. It requires commitment and effort. Why is it difficult? For companies that go beyond HR, which they have control over, outsourcing requires much more attention to detail. This area, also, provides the greatest opportunity for inclusion and impact on community. This comes with a challenge of course and this is why it requires the most attention. When outsourcing, you are into a competitive area which includes both majority and minority firms and businesses. Of course, in many instances the majority firms have stronger relationships and greater resources. This provides a real advantage and, in most cases, an unfair advantage. It is an unfair advantage because their competitive advantage is an intangible one. It is not always about competency and capability. It is more about
Slide 2: comfort and knowing what you have. It’s funny because I have seen many times when big companies will award contracts to majority firms who have a less than stellar track record, but get the contract because the corporation knows the issues they will face and knows how to handle them should they arise. They default to this rather than “take a chance” on a minority firm who is perceived as just that…a small, minority business who they have not dealt with in the past. Message to large (or any) corporation….expand your inclusion to all segments of your business and give the minority firm an opportunity. They will go above and beyond to earn future business and provide you with a level of service that is, at a minimum, equal to your majority firm. In most cases, you will get unmatched service and communications – just because you provided an opportunity for a hungry small business. As is with the case with any project, there will be issues. If you truly want to be a leader, help your new partner work through the issues. Keep in mind the first time you worked in a new environment. Hire minority candidates and foster a culture of diversity. Do not stop there. Create opportunities for success for supply chain and outsourced services. Work with your new partners to achieve that success. You will get the reward of a valued partner, make a real impact on the community and create a culture that will be the clear leader in your market for years to come. By the way, it is guaranteed that you will see increased revenues from your cultural shift. Positively impacting the community has a direct correlation to a corporation’s bottom line. It is well known that customers like to do business or simply buy their goods and services from people who “look” like they do. Diversity managers in big corporations really need to pay attention to more than HR. One area outside of HR is construction. Many large Fortune 500’s spend tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in new construction or renovation to their facilities every year. What a tremendous opportunity these corporations have to impact communities by engaging local minority owned firms to do this work. This is a real sensitive and highly volatile area. Please stay tuned for a follow up article that addresses just this issue. There are many moving parts and without real attention to the details and knowledge of how projects are administered by majority firms, this can have a significant negative effect on small, minority owned businesses without the big corporation even knowing. As a matter of fact, this adverse affect will many times be publicized as a success…without them even knowing it. It’s really too complex to be delivered in an article, but I will put it out there and certainly entertain any discussion around it. Hopefully it generates some.
Slide 3: The key message is regardless of size, corporations should not settle for the path of least resistance. Do not focus only on HR when it comes to a diversity program. There are other areas that can yield, not only exponential increases in inclusion and diversity spend, but have an intangible result with a significant impact to the community. If you are an OEO officer looking to implement real change or if you are interested in Diversity Consulting, get your copy of The Diversity Report Card. I created The Diversity Report Card to help everyone from OEO professionals to business owners to those who want to become diversity consultants understand the environment and challenges that face minorities and minority owned businesses. To get more information, click here (or copy and paste into your browser) www.diversityconsultant.org.