Written by James O. Rodgers and Maureen Hunter, Ph.D.

Diversity management within an organization is simply a decision to acknowledge and manage what already exists. “You need to pay as much attention to diversity management as you do to meeting your financials. If you do not pay that level of attention, you will dilute your ability to be totally effective,” said Robert Holmes, chairman of the Alabama Power Foundation and senior vice president of Ethics and Business Practices. For companies in traditional stable market segments, like the utility industry, the motives for developing a diversity agenda may appear less compelling than in more dynamic industries. They might include positions such as:

• We aren’t hiring—and may be downsizing—so there are limited opportunities to bring in diverse candidates;
• We are in a union environment, so our hands are tied in what we can or cannot do to engage employees;
• We need very specific skills and technical expertise, so we are limited in the kinds of people we can hire;
• The nature of our work does not lend itself to creativity and innovation.

These same organizations, however, are often faced with challenges that without diversity management they might not be able to overcome, such as:

• An aging work force that will retire in significant numbers over the next 20 years;
• New business models that rely on collaboration and competition rather than a monopoly;
• The need to generate new revenue streams;
• Increased ethnic/racial diversity in the customer base and surrounding communities that serve as talent pools for hiring;
• New, often young, workers who have different expectations of their employers;
• The increasing number of opportunities for employees at all levels to go elsewhere if their employers are not meeting their needs.

All of these challenges illustrate the need to attract and retain talented workers.

Diversity management is not affirmative action, equal employment opportunity, a training seminar or a special project. It is not recruiting minorities or identifying and responding to group dispositions. It is managing the specific characteristics and needs of each individual. It is about creating an environment where each person can contribute fully to the organization’s success.

“Diversity management is effectively coordinating, mobilizing, organizing and energizing a group of unique individuals, by recognizing and respecting their differences,” said Holmes.

Diversity has always been present in American business. In the 1940s novel Gentlemen’s Agreement, the influence of anti-Semitism on American business was exposed. In the 1950s The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit described a gifted man who sacrificed his family life for 80-hour work weeks. But only recently has the impact of visible diversity, such as gender, race, physical ability and age, forced businesses to address the effect of invisible diversities such as lifestyle, religion, education, exempt/non-exempt status, union/non-union status, family structure or learning styles.

In stable industries loyalty is drawn from stability of employment, good benefits and generous retirement plans. The idea of attracting and retaining employees with an inclusive and invigorating corporate culture is unfamiliar, particularly when potential employees are less interested in lifelong employment.

When diversity management succeeds, every individual is at work, thinking how she or he can help the organization meet its objectives and looking for opportunities to increase effectiveness. It is an environment where staff can talk and managers listen. It is a workplace that has eliminated conscious and unconscious elements that get in the way of communicating and contributing. Managers invest time learning about each individual who works for them and are rewarded based on the quality of their relationships with all staff. Tough issues, like diversity, are discussed openly, comfortably and competently. Managers spend as much time coaching and developing their people as they do focusing on operational issues and people-development is a standing agenda item at management and executive meetings.

Diversity management depends on managers’ ability to be flexible and to adapt their styles to each individual within their sphere of influence.

“As an officer or a manager, I can’t sit there and have a dominant style and expect everyone to adjust to my style,” said Frank McCloskey, vice president of diversity action, Georgia Power Co. “I’ve got to be smart enough to understand that everyone is unique and has a different way of being motivated. I need to adapt my style to each individual. There are certain things you don’t want people to assimilate to. You want to value individuals so they can accomplish the goals and objectives of your company.”

A wealth of management theory supports the importance of diversity management. The three “Rs” of management— responsibility, recognition and rewards—will all be sub-optimized if diversity obstructs managers from making effective decisions on assignments, promotions and compensation. A large body of research shows that employees in organizations with inclusive cultures demonstrate a higher level of allegiance and outperform other companies. Inclusion yields stronger performance.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs likewise supports the importance of diversity leadership. Once the basic human needs for security and stability are met, individuals will naturally seek to achieve selfactualization by finding in their work an extension of their talents, skills and personalities. Viewed in this light, diversity management is perhaps the most important leadership initiative a company may ever pursue.

Leaders—by design or inactivity—often choose to do nothing about managing diversity. However, doing nothing is not without cost or consequence Productivity may not be greatly improved by implementing diversity management, but efficiency will undoubtedly erode if a tense work environment contributes to turnover. If an employee is not connected and committed to the workplace, he or she may quit and leave—or even worse, quit and stay. If a common-sense approach to diversity is not in place, even the most stable industry increases its risk of lawsuits and adverse publicity. Workers who feel they are treated unfairly or not valued may look for other means of getting the attention of the organization, such as through litigation. The cost of not practicing diversity management in a stable industry may be quite high, but noticed only in retrospect.

“The people run the business,” said Holmes. “You could effectively choose to recruit all white males if you wanted to, but in reality your customer base is not all white males. So in order to have the effectiveness of policy, procedures and programs necessary to ensure and engender the retention and satisfaction of customers, you need that diversity of thought and all the levels of diversity that go with it.”

The goal of diversity management is to get 100 percent performance from 100 percent of your people, 100 percent of the time. Its purpose is not abstract—it reflects the changing demographics of the country and a global trend toward optimal productivity and efficiency. Utilities cannot afford to ignore it.

About the author
James O. Rodgers, CMC is president of The Diversity Coach™., in Lithonia, GA. The CMC designation (Certified Management Consultant) is awarded by the Institute of Management Consultants and represents evidence of the highest standards of consulting and adherence to the ethical canons of the profession. Less than 1% of all consultants have achieved this level of performance. For further information, call 770-482-9452 or visit the company's Web site at www.thediversitycoach.com.