We find that many organizations focus on launching a diversity management initiative and assume that their efforts will automatically be self-sustaining. These organizations underestimate the need for deliberate actions to ensure that the diversity effort becomes embedded in the organizational fabric. What is usually missing from this stage is the development of an over-arching strategy to ensure that the investment in the activities will be logical and lasting.
One purpose of this analysis is to provide feedback to the leadership team on the sustainability of its diversity initiative. Our intent is to provide this information as a basis for benchmarking the organization's progress and making decisions about the future course of the initiative.
We have identified 12 overlapping and interdependent factors that contribute to sustainability (see Figure):
- Culture
- Motivation and Commitment
- Believability
- Leader Behavior
- Managerial Behavior
- Employee Involvement
- Infrastructure
- Integration
- Higher-Order Diversity Thinking
- Continuity
- Visible Progress
- Perceptions
Sustainability Factors:
