Q: How do o

A: Before we answer this question directly, we’d first like to address the issue of religion in the workplace. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace discrimination based on religion, national origin, race, color or sex. Companies abide by this policy, but the more progressive ones create inclusive environments in which employees are encouraged to integrate their mandated religious practices into their day-to-day jobs. This helps companies build loyalty, raise morale and productivity, and reduce one of the hidden costs of ignoring religious diversity: absenteeism.

• Nine years ago, only 42 percent of the DiversityInc Top 50 had floating religious holidays, compared with 74 percent in 2011 and 78 percent in 2012. Sixty-six percent of all participants in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 survey had floating religious holidays. To put these statistics into perspective, a “Religion and Corporate Culture Survey Report” by the Society of Human Resource Management found that just 28 percent of 513 respondents offered paid leave for days that are not part of their regular holiday calendar.
• Seventy percent of the DiversityInc Top 50 companies have onsite religious accommodations, such as prayer rooms, compared with 32 percent eight years ago.
• Twenty-eight percent of the DiversityInc Top 50 companies have religion-based resource groups versus just 5 percent eight years ago.

For more information on religion in the workplace, visit DiversityIncBestPractices.com to read “Best Practices on Religiously Inclusive Workplaces.”

These statistics are important when it comes to handling holiday celebrations. Official holidays in the United States are predominantly Christian. This means that most of the holiday celebrations will be of Christian background. Celebrating other religions during this time can get tricky. Religious holidays should be good educational opportunities—we value differences instead of homogenizing them. So celebrating—and offering cultural-competence training—on religious holidays is critically important. Here are some suggestions to ensure your company’s holiday celebrations are inclusive of all religions and run smoothly.

Proactively Accommodate

Some issues are constants, such as wearing religious attire or the need for time off for observance. Other issues, such as celebrations, occur once or twice a year. Thinking through what policies will work for your organization and making sure all employees know which accommodations are available before they have to ask are critical.

Implement a Process & Clarify It

Employees are often uncomfortable asking for what they need. Implement a process for requesting celebrations and make it clear. Train managers to respond to requests appropriately and make sure everyone knows HR is a resource.

Get Help

If you have a religious resource group, utilize it to educate your employees about all religions. If you don’t have a religious resource group, go to the one place that is sure to have people from different religious backgrounds: your other resource groups. Bounce ideas/requests off of members and gain valuable insights.

At American Express, No. 14 in The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity, there are longstanding religious groups for Christians, Jews and Muslims. All three groups are encouraged to educate their colleagues about their culture and share their traditions. The groups host events around the holidays. While the company has no formal policy regarding office decorations, all employees are encouraged to express themselves in a manner that is respectful of those around them.

Surveys

Use surveys to gain critical feedback on implementing or expanding celebrations. Incorporate questions specific to religious celebrations in your diversity surveys. Gather, analyze and share responses with key stakeholders and constituencies.

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Over the last 10 years, resource groups have evolved from being social networks to goal-oriented drivers of innovative solutions. They are key business resources that can be leveraged to deliver recruitment, engagement, talent development, and marketplace solutions.

In DiversityInc’s Resource Groups diversity web seminar, DiversityInc Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Barbara Frankel discusses the best practices of these groups, including common types and membership structures, and their potential impact for organizations.

Jennifer Christie, chief diversity officer and vice president, executive recruitment, American Express (No. 14 in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50), and Jeffery Smith, associate director, global diversity, Procter & Gamble (No. 5), both share case study insights from their organizations’ successful employee-resource group programs. American Express was DiversityInc’s 2011 Top Company for Resource Groups.

Takeaways from this web seminar include:

• How to increase membership throughout the workforce
• How American Express used its Latino group to increase pre-paid card sales
• How Procter & Gamble’s resource groups —such as its LGBT group and its group for people with disabilities—were able to enhance market relations

Watch Diversity Web Seminar on Resource Groups: Connect With Customers for Top Sales Results.

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At DiversityInc’s Resource Groups networking lunch during a DiversityInc event  in Washington, D.C., Jennifer Christie, chief diversity officer and vice president, executive recruitment, American Express (No. 14 in The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity and the Top Company for Resource Groups), facilitated a vibrant discussion between more than 50 chief diversity officers and diversity-management executives.

In this 1,989-word article, “Why Resource Groups Are Business Resource Groups,” readers will receive valuable takeaways, including:

• How resource groups help develop and showcase transferable skills that lead to promotions
• Why resource groups encourage valuable cultural connections/insights with customers/clients
• Why senior-leadership involvement and goals/metrics are critical to the success of resource groups

Insights are presented from leaders at Prudential Financial (No. 9); Tyson Foods; WellPoint (No. 34); Cummins (No. 18); The Standard; Mayo Clinic; CSX (No. 23); and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (No. 13).

Christie also shared some of the best practices used at American Express. “When you do have resource groups or diversity programs that are closely linked to the business, it’s easier to make the business case for diversity,” she said.

Read the full “Why Employee-Resource Groups Are Business Resource Groups“ article at DiversityIncBestPractices.com.

For more on our networking lunches, read “Networking & Sharing on Resource Groups, Diversity Councils, CEO Commitment, Talent Development, Mentoring.”

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Employees Make the Case for Resource Groups

After four years with Aetna in customer service, Cyndee Ward was at a crossroads familiar to many women. She had a toddler son and a newborn daughter and had every intention of becoming a stay-at-home mom. Then came the call.

“It was from someone wanting me to work on a project. Half-kiddingly, I said, ‘The only way I’m coming back is if I can work from home.’ And he said, ‘No problem,’” she recalls. Ward became chair of the company’s Telecommuting Network resource group.

Stewart Anderson of HP has a very different story. He joined the tech company in 1999 in product development. A gay man, he had lost jobs at other companies after being outed. Since his partner had children from an earlier marriage, Anderson was very leery about coming out at HP.

Then in 2004 he was asked to attend a company weekend workshop called White Men As Allies. “It was cathartic on so many levels. I came to understand that, being a white male, I had so many things attributed to me that I had no knowledge of. I came out that weekend to the organization and it changed everything,” he recalls.

Anderson joined HP’s Pride group, which he believes at 30 years old is the oldest LGBT resource group anywhere. Working in the organization, he developed his leadership skills and today is a business operations manager in consumer products.

“I started out with the company as an individual contributor,” he says. My ability to think systematically and globally is largely because of my involvement in the resource group. There was reciprocal mentoring. I was able to interact with other senior leaders in a non-threatening way.”

For Ward, Anderson and thousands of employees across the United States and, these days, globally, membership in a resource group has been critical to their retention and development and often has made the difference in their career trajectories. For their companies, resource groups play a rapidly increasing role in the recruitment, retention and talent development of ALL their employees and in their marketing efforts aimed at traditionally underserved communities.

Four Business Benefits of Resource Groups

• RecruitmentAll of the DiversityInc Top 50 companies use their resource groups to recruit new members. Five years ago, only 75 percent of them did this best practice, but they’ve realized quickly how valuable an asset resource groups are for recruitment.

Specifically, they use resource groups to attend job fairs, host networking events for both recent college graduates and more experienced professionals, connect with their alma maters (especially HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions and women’s colleges) and offer testimonials on websites. Most importantly, they meet with potential recruits and talk to them about the cultural fit in the organization. They also spread the word to friends that this company is an inclusive place to work.

The resource groups can be used for very targeted recruitment. At CSX, for example, the Military Affinity Group worked with the staffing department on a specific recruitment strategy aimed at veterans. They recruit veterans in 23 states covering 108 military installations. The results? In 2008, 26 percent of total hires at CSX and 19 percent of management employees were former military.

• RetentionWhat are the key reasons vital employees leave? They feel disconnected and/or they feel as if their careers are stalled. Resource groups can address both aspects and improve retention, identifying cultural gaps that can prevent employees from realizing their potential, providing “safe” spaces to discuss them, offering mentors to guide them and giving constructive feedback.

For example, Accenture‘s Pedro Suriel said the company’s Hispanic group made members realize that a failure to speak up in a meeting “because I was brought up to respect people in positions of authority” is not a reason to leave but an issue to address that can lead to a successful career path.

• Talent DevelopmentResource groups are among the best sources of finding leadership talent and nurturing it. Many employees who might not have the “right” credentials to move up in management get a chance to shine as they develop into leadership roles in their resource groups. 

The groups also can identify potential talent and set up external and internal talent-development programs to develop them. At CSX, the African-American Inclusion Group has sponsored nine Black, female employees to be part of the National African-American Women’s Leadership Institute.

• Market OutreachAt many companies, especially consumer-facing ones, employee-resource groups serve as vital focus groups and innovators in terms of products, product placement and understanding the marketplace.

“The networks very much want to be connected to the business plan, and it also gives them lines of exposure to the business that they may not work in,” says Kerrie Peraino, former chief diversity officer at American Express.

On a global level, in 2008, Merck & Co. created 10 global-constituency groups, part of whose mission is to connect with their local markets.

“Historically, in the pharmaceutical sector, we haven’t really asked our employees to step out of their professional, technical subject-matter expertise and have their knowledge as healthcare consumers form our strategy,” says Deborah Dagit, chief diversity officer at Merck. “So this actually gave people a level of permission to do that, which they got really excited about. And it’s really helped us to be on the leading edge with our new commercial model approaches, the way we’re approaching research and clinical trial inclusion, and our strategic alliances.”

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Data from the DiversityInc Top 50, as detailed in our exclusive Resource-Group Report, shows that these resource groups are crucial to business success with multicultural communities.  When used effectively, they increase diversity in recruitment and promotions as well as improve overall employee engagement. Resource groups also are used increasingly to reach customers, clients and vendors and to help in product development.

Here, DiversityInc provides the best of our resource-group success stories, exclusively available to DiversityInc Best Practices subscribers, that offer case-study examples to help you replicate their significant results.

Resource Groups Web Seminar
One culturally competent word from American Express’s Latino group resulted in a new bestselling product and significant revenue.

Our First Innovation Fest! 10 Companies Use Diversity to Drive Change
Novartis saved millions of dollars in research when it relied on its own resource groups, while McGraw-Hill’s digital group boosted employee productivity and cross-departmental collaboration.

How Kraft Increased Promotions of Women in Sales by 39%
One of 12 case-study examples: Kraft shares how to leverage employee-resource groups to increase representation of women, especially in senior management.

Ways to Use Resource Groups
JCPenney’s Asian resource group reveals that a simple cultural custom at the point of sale can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Why Resource Groups Are Business-Resource Groups
Latino and African-American resource groups enhanced WellPoint’s quality of service to consumers with an increased awareness of family models.

For more best practices and case studies, read our other resource-group articles and watch our web seminar on resource groups, featuring insights from MasterCard and Aetna.

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The sessions were led by chief diversity officers at companies especially chosen for their success in these specific areas, demonstrated by human-capital results. They are: Jennifer Christie, American Express (No. 14 in The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity), on Resource Groups; Kathy Hannan, KPMG (No. 22), on Diversity Councils; Billie Williamson, Ernst & Young (No. 6) on CEO Commitment; and Ron Glover, IBM (No. 17), on Talent Development/Mentoring.

They shared their best practices in facilitated discussions on what other organizations are doing and what common concerns—and innovative solutions—are available.

Read the exclusive, four-part report, “Networking & Sharing on ERGs, Diversity Councils, CEO Commitment, Talent Development, Mentoring,” on DiversityIncBestPractices.com.

DiversityInc features highlights from their conversations in stories and video excerpts:

• Resource Groups: Why They Are Business-Resource Groups
  They bring in talent, help develop innovative people and connect with communities to drive sales 

• Diversity Councils: Why They Move the Needle
  Public support from the top and clearly defined goals link directly to business results 

• CEO Commitment: Why Visibility & Accountability Matter
  Senior executives are held responsible for results; middle managers buy in

• Talent Development/Mentoring: How to Find & Develop Hidden Gems
  Involve the entire organization in the process; use resource groups as key sources

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In Why You Need Global Resource Groups, four companies’ diversity leaders reveal the measurable results they’ve seen and why this diversity-management initiative now is crucial to achieving sustainable growth.  

 The panel, moderated by DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti, was featured at our spring 2012 event: Eugene Kelly, worldwide director, Global Diversity and Inclusion, Colgate-Palmolive (No. 10 in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50); Jennifer Christie, chief diversity officer and vice president, Executive Recruitment, American Express (No. 14); Sarah Siegel, human resources, social learning developer, Center for Advanced Learning, IBM (No. 17); and Lisa Mink, executive director, Global Diversity and Inclusion, Dell (No. 26). 

Two of the companies featured, American Express and Dell, were last year’s and this year’s recipients of DiversityInc’s special award as the Top Company for Resource Groups. IBM, which last year received DiversityInc’s special award as the Top Company for Global Cultural Competence, is the leading company globally in pioneering LGBT resource groups. 

Read Why You Need Global Resource Groups on DiversityIncBestPractices.com.

The panelists analyzed how global resource groups provide several benefits: 

• Corporate Values But Local Control: The groups provide insight into local culture for improved inclusion at regional offices and improved adherence to local values—for example, respecting laws that oppose “out” behaviors by LGBT people, as Siegel recounts in the full article. 

• Getting Global Groups to Communicate and Share Ideas, Challenges: Global resource groups allow employees the ability to discuss priorities and implementation electronically and plan regular virtual meetings for optimal communication. 

• Work With Other Companies in Region to Share Ideas: The ability to form intercompany networks and gain insights from benchmarking against external factors provides a business advantage.

Additionally, the panelists noted that their companies have leveraged global resource groups to expose local resource-group leaders to senior management; define goals for the groups; encourage employee participation; and increase innovation. These items are further detailed in the full article, accessible by logging into your DiversityIncBestPractices.com account. 

Kelly cites Colgate-Palmolive’s Global Innovation Fund, presented at our February Innovation Fest!, to allow the company to compete effectively in a global market. He gives an example of a recent meeting with the head of the Asian resource group, who was reporting out to a global division president who wanted to know how a product was impacting the Asian dentists in the United States. “They’re going to come back with insights, but they’re also going to have recommended solutions,” he says. 

Read Why You Need Global Resource Groups on DiversityIncBestPractices.com. 

For more on global diversity, read our research: Why Is Global Diversity So Difficult?

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Diversity metrics are vital to improving diversity-council effectiveness. It’s challenging to hit a bull’s-eye if you don’t have a target in sight. Similarly, your diversity council can only be successful if there are defined goals and diversity metrics to achieve. These diversity metrics can be demographic, but improvement goals also can deal with areas such as procurement, diversity training, participation in resource groups and mentoring.

In the 2,687-word Effective Diversity Councils: A DiversityInc Roundtable article, Jennifer Christie, chief diversity officer and vice president of executive recruitment at American Express (No. 14 in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50); Raymond Arroyo, chief diversity officer, Aetna (No. 24); and Kathy Hannan, national managing partner, diversity and corporate social responsibility, KPMG (No. 22), discuss the best practices of effective diversity councils and how diversity metrics play a pivotal role in diversity management.

Among the best practices, readers will learn:

• The different types of diversity-council structures and how diversity metrics and goals are developed
• How involved the CEO should be in diversity-council initiatives and why visibility is a key component for success
• Why 60 percent of DiversityInc Top 50 companies link compensation to diversity goals and what pushback and challenges are common when instituting this practice
• Why resource-group leaders should be included on the council in rotational roles

Additionally, watch the diversity web seminar on diversity councils for a comprehensive presentation of diversity-council best practices from IBM (No. 17) and jcpenney (No. 35).

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“When you look at the business community, the landscape is changing. In order to compete, we have to be like our clients—even outpace the demographics of our clients,” says John Zamora, chief diversity officer for Deloitte.

Does your company face similar issues? Are you having difficulty retaining talent, especially from traditionally underrepresented groups?

In this 1,970-word article, “Best Practices on Improving Retention,” DiversityInc presents a collection of best retention practices from DiversityInc Top 50 companies, including Deloitte, American Express (No. 13), AT&T (No. 4) and WellPoint (No. 36). Company leaders who have had to address these gaps weigh in on what has worked to keep their managers engaged.

Strategies and takeaways include:

• How talent-development programs encourage people to stay
• Why diversity plays an essential role in fostering loyal employees and overall satisfaction
• The various types of talent-development programs and which one might work best for your company
• What resources can help identify and nurture talent?
• The purposes that coaching, mentoring and sponsorship serve
• How to best utilize your employee-resource groups for maximum ROI

Read “Best Practices on Improving Retention” at DiversityIncBestPracatices.com. Also read “The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention.”

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American Express has been a leader in both the types of employee-resource groups it has offered and in the effective ways it uses those groups to find and build talent, create an inclusive workplace, promote engagement, retention and productivity, and reach new markets. American Express has 15 employee-resource groups with more than 70 chapters globally. The company has had groups for more than a decade.

Groups are funded through a mixture of funding from executive sponsors, diversity councils and the diversity department. Membership in these groups is available to all permanent AmEx employees. The employee groups provide development and networking opportunities and support key business imperatives.

They play an important role in diversity recruiting efforts, often attending events and providing referrals for top talent. They also frequently greet new employees upon hiring and offer a sense of community. The groups are used for mentoring programs, sponsorship initiatives, development offerings and networking opportunities. They also play a critical role in creating marketing strategies and business solutions that appeal to a diverse consumer audience. Examples include the Felicidades and Lunar New Year gift cards that were created in partnership with the Global Prepaid Business and AHORA and ANA employee networks.

Award accepted by Anré Williams, president, Global Merchant Services:

“Diversity is a business imperative, but not everyone believes that and it’s great to be in a room full of people that do. We [at American Express] recognize that diversity is important but try to think about it beyond the way people normally do—beyond race, religion, gender. We try to think about it globally. We have 15 different networks in 80 chapters throughout the world to create a sense of unity and community. It’s important for talent, not just in attracting people but to find and identify people who might be great assets to the company … Bringing people together gives a sense of belonging and lets people know they can do more. If you don’t see it, you can’t believe it. We are all on this quest to build diversity together and we can learn a lot from each other.”

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