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Too often, diversity initiatives receive full support from the chief executive, a yeoman's effort from human resources, and the undivided focus of the diversity department, but they stall when they hit middle or line managers, who don't understand the relevance to their daily activities and goals.

So what is a company to do to get middle management pushing the diversity effort? A company dealing with such a predicament should not feel alone, say executives from The 2007 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity®.

(Read the Chief Diversity Officers Roundtable in the upcoming Nov./Dec. 2007 issue of DiversityInc magazine.)

DiversityInc interviewed executives from the following Top 50 companies to learn how they motivate their line and middle managers on the diversity front: Verizon Communications, No. 6; Xerox Corp., No. 7; Chase Card Service, a division of JPMorgan Chase, No. 9; Procter & Gamble, No. 14; and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, No. 15.

"There isn't a magic bullet; there are combinations of things that can be done," says Ernest Hicks, manager of the corporate diversity office at Xerox.

No. 1: Include Middle Managers From the Start

"The message has to be sent to that group by the CEO and senior management that diversity is a key value for them," says Tony Jenkins, market president for Central Florida and vice president of cultural competence and diversity for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. "If a mid-level manager doesn't hear that from the CEO and their management, and they hear it [instead] from human resources or a diversity office, that group is going to prioritize what their boss prioritizes."

"You must include [middle managers] from the start," says Hicks. "They will be your leading champions. They will help bring along those who are slower."

"In my experience, the top-down commitment has to be there, but if it's not engrained in objectives and reward systems that people see day to day, it's not part of the culture," says Judy Yost, talent-acquisition executive for Chase.

Chase takes its managers to recruitment fairs at historically black colleges and universities and conferences of professional organizations for people of color, regardless of the manager's ethnic or racial makeup.

"We take managers in our organizations to those conferences to develop themselves and to recruit," says Yost. "[We take] managers of all backgrounds who speak on panels."

No. 2: Employee-Resource Groups and Surveys Make the Difference

Xerox keeps its middle managers focused on diversity through its employee surveys. All Xerox employees participate in an anonymous survey every 18 months. The survey assesses the inclusiveness of the work environment. Xerox can track answers back to internal organizations and ultimately to a manager's benefits package, says Hicks.

"Frontline managers do the day-to-day hiring and promotions, so we highly work with and encourage our employee-caucus groups to engage with frontline managers," says Hicks.

Xerox shares the balanced work-force strategy results with its employee groups and  includes them in judging management's level of diversity involvement. The groups learn how many hires, promotions and terminations each Xerox organization made.

"If there is a concern that an organization doesn't practice diversity, [employee groups] can request a panel interview with the senior manager and all of his or her direct reports to ask for their demonstration of diversity," says Hicks.

For example, Xerox's black-employee network says black employees were not being evaluated consistently for opportunities that led to management positions. As a result, a formalized process for judging talent was developed, says Hicks.

While Verizon does not require its managers to be members of employee groups, "the culture dictates that if you want to be an up-and-comer, as a manager you'll align yourself with those organizations," says Magda Yrizarry, vice president of workplace culture, diversity and compliance for Verizon. "It's a core competency because when we look at our appraisal, we look to see what extent a manager is showing they can work with broad constituencies internally and externally."

No. 3: Make Diversity Training Mandatory for Middle Managers

Eighty-six percent of the Top 50 make diversity training mandatory for all managers. At Chase, the company rolled out training for middle managers that detailed its business case for diversity.

"The training is a couple of hours, interactive training that helps managers understand from our business perspective the business case for diversity—how you lead your team and develop your team," says Yost.

Middle managers at P&G are trained on how to manage people of different races, ethnicities, orientations and abilities.

"Middle managers get training, coaching and mentoring from their immediate managers," says Maxine Brown-Davis, vice president of global diversity and organization performance for P&G.

P&G expects its middle managers to participate in the development and training of others and be role models of diversity-management practices.

"You learn best by teaching, so we use line managers to teach diversity practices, leadership practices, financial-planning practices," says Brown-Davis. "That keeps diversity in the front of their minds and helps them establish relationships with folks lower in the organization."

No. 4: Include Diversity Metrics in Performance Appraisals

Xerox uses a "balanced work-force strategy" to measure diversity efforts in the areas of recruitment, retention, succession planning and promotions. Managers are to assess their balanced work-force strategy monthly, while the diversity department looks at those measurements quarterly.

"We share that information with all senior managers and the CEO so they see how we're doing against our balanced work-force targets," says Hicks.

Verizon has a diversity-performance index that features actual targets. The company measures how managers hire and promote and who they buy supplies from. Verizon's chairman reviews these appraisals quarterly.

"As a manager, your responsibility is to get everyone working at their maximum level of performance so you are responsible for getting them the proper training and proper lateral moves so they move along with the business," says Yrizarry.

Yost adds that at Chase, the diversity and inclusion expectations for its middle managers are driven by an objective in their goals that judges how they treat, manage and create an inclusive working environment.

"Expectations tied to diversity are part of our middle managers' performance development," says Brown-Davis.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is developing and implementing diversity measures that will be part of a manager's performance plan, says Jenkins.

No. 5: Link Successful Accomplishment of Diversity Goals to Middle-Manager Compensation

Verizon ties 5 percent of a manger's bonus to meeting diversity objectives. "Diversity objectives are twofold," says Yrizarry. "Hires and promotions inside of your organization depend on opportunities you had to fill those vacancies. So we incent them to take into consideration women and people of color when we speak of diverse candidates."

Xerox links its employee survey to management bonuses. Some of the questions related to diversity ask an employee if the manager respects everyone, if the employee feels respected by management practices at the middle-manager level and at the company as a whole.

"That becomes one of the factors we look at when considering management bonuses," says Hicks.

At Procter & Gamble, a manager's pay can be affected by his or her performance evaluation depending on the manager's level in the organization. Once a manager is evaluated, results are turned into a rating and the rating places them in different pools of compensation, explained Brown-Davis.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida has diversity measures tied to bonuses for its senior managers, but as the company further develops its methods for assessing diversity, it's considering tying compensation to the diversity goals of its middle managers as well, says Jenkins.

"We have company measures tied to bonuses for senior managers, and right now we're talking about moving that down to our mid-level rungs," says Jenkins. "We've got to put it in performance appraisals because the more [middle managers] hear about diversity in the organization, there's a sense that they're looking for tools and resources to be better managers."

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