The CEOs of WellPoint and CSX (No. 34 and 23, respectively, in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50) both serve as prime examples of what true CEO commitment can achieve.

In DiversityInc’s diversity web seminar on CEO commitment, WellPoint’s Chief Diversity Officer Linda Jimenez discusses the visible commitment of Angela Braly, the company’s chair, president and CEO. CSX Chief Diversity Officer Susan Hamilton and Director of Diversity and Inclusion Stephanie Noel share insights into CEO Michael Ward’s ongoing commitment to the company’s diversity management.

Watch the diversity web seminar: Best Practices in Demonstrating and Communicating Top Management Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion.

Best Practices for Diversity Management

Both diversity leaders noted how their CEOs make diversity efforts a priority. Both Braly and Ward attend resource-group meetings on a regular basis, serve on the boards of multicultural nonprofit organizations and seek to integrate diversity management as a key strategy into all areas of the business.

“CEO commitment is all about being a steward,” explains Jimenez, noting Braly’s statement on the company homepage. That includes maintaining an unequivocal position for diversity, being challenging in their approach for and focusing on continued improvement, being visionary in anticipating the future, and being a compelling storyteller to promote diversity management and the company brand (learn about WellPoint’s innovative Ambassador Program).

As an example, Jimenez says Braly was fully supportive of adding gender identity to WellPoint’s EEO statement. “The CEO drives the ship. She may allow me to use, guide and steer, but Braly is unequivocally confident in her role of being a steward for diversity in her organization,” Jimenez says, noting that more information can be found in the company’s corporate-responsibility report at www.wellpointcorporateresponsibility.com.

Hamilton similarly credits CSX’s diversity success to the CEO, who took his position in 2002. “Michael knew the direction he wanted the company to go in. With a dedicated chief diversity officer, he was able to take the company to higher levels of performance,” she says.

“His commitment helped the company get on track,” Hamilton says. They were able to develop a three-year strategy and a multifaceted training program across the company. He was also the lead on developing the annual CSX Inclusion Forum and is a huge supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project.

In the web seminar, Jimenez and Hamilton also discussed CEO involvement and best practices for diversity management in:

• Diversity councils
• Executive compensation
• Setting goals and diversity metrics
• Resource-group funding and sponsorship
• Company communications and events

Research Reveals: Diversity Management Needs CEO Commitment

CEO commitment is one of the four areas of measurement used to determine the DiversityInc Top 50 rankings each year. (This is divided into four sub-categories: Accountability, Personal Communications, Visibility and Diversity Councils.)

DiversityInc Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Barbara Frankel reveals how CEO commitment can be the “make or break” point for a company. In fact, CEO commitment is one of the main reasons this consumer-packaged-goods company significantly rose on the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 list—and why another consumer-packaged-goods company significantly fell.

DiversityInc data shows that CEO involvement has increased steadily since 2006: 13.9 percent more CEOs sign off on executive compensation tied to diversity goals; 28.6 percent more CEOs chair the diversity council; 90.5 percent more CEOs meet with resource groups regularly; and 20.5 percent more CEOs have a quote about diversity on their company’s homepage.

Additionally, four CEOs presented about their commitment and best practices for diversity at our 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 event.

Watch the diversity web seminar: Best Practices in Demonstrating and Communicating Top Management Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion.

Read about these other CEOs who are setting a tone for diversity management:

• Diversity Management: Training Exposes Execs’ Hidden Biases (Toyota Financial Services’ CEO George Borst)
• Diversity & Inclusion Means ‘You Can’t Afford to Be Dismissing People’s Ideas’ (Ameren’s CEO Tom Voss)
• Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf on Leadership, Corporate Citizenship, Sustainable Business & Accountability

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A panel moderated by DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti, explored the backgrounds and benefits of five chief diversity officers and was preceded by a talk from new PricewaterhouseCoopers Chief Diversity Officer Maria Castañón Moats. PricewaterhouseCoopers is No. 3 on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list. “It’s a unique opportunity to get in front of our 2,400 partners,” says Moats of her new position” to talk about diversity as a critical business issue, respective to the line of service, geography and industry you are in.” 

Moats spoke of how the professional-services firm works to marry the role of CDO with that of revenue-generator. Moats recently took over from Niloufar Molavi. The position at PwC is a rotational role, where the firm’s line partners serve for two to three years at a time.

“I am not an expert,” she says, admitting that the rotational model only works because “I have a terrific team supporting me.” She acknowledges that her team’s knowledge of diversity and its insight into the continuity of business relationships is critical to her success. Read the full-length, 1,039-word What Background Is Best for Chief Diversity Officers? article at DiversityIncBestPractices.com to watch the exclusive videos of her presentation.

Putting Diversity in P&L Terms

“Diversity is hard to measure but having a hard-ended discussion with our leadership is something I have done and am not afraid to do,” says Shaun Hawkins, chief diversity officer at Eli Lilly (No. 39). Hawkins has an investment background and attributes those P&L roots to his success as chief diversity officer. “We really rely on employee engagement, so diversity and inclusion have to be there. We have to be able to translate what we are doing here to some sort of business in an appropriate way.

Hawkins discussed these issues along with three other diversity leaders—Linda Jimenez, chief diversity officer and vice president, diversity and inclusion, WellPoint (No. 36), who is an attorney; Steve Bucherati, chief diversity officer at The Coca-Cola Company (No. 12), who was previously with the Coca-Cola Foundation; and Andrea Snorton, manager of diversity and inclusion at Southern Company (one of DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy Companies and Top Company for Diversity-Management Progress), who has an HR background. Read the full-length, 1,039-word What Background Is Best for Chief Diversity Officers? article at DiversityIncBestPractices.com for more insights and the exclusive video of this interactive panel.

Making Friends with Legal

Jimenez says that her background as a lawyer has helped her in finding solutions and ultimately becoming a mediator for employees and managers’ qualms with diversity issues and goals. “It’s one of the things we like to do as a CDO. It’s about having everyone walk away with a win-win situation,” she says.

Understanding the Community

Chief Diversity Officers with experience in corporate community outreach know the value of these good relationships within and outside the company. Bucherati used to run the Coca-Cola Foundation, which enabled him to see the value in “connecting the dots” and working as a team, especially since CDO’s don’t manage every aspect of the business.

Linking Back to HR 

This is not to discredit those in traditional HR careers, as Andrea Snorton attests that her “background in HR has definitely been an asset, in terms of what our succession slates look like, determining which organizations we’re going to recruit from.” Knowledge of HR gave her the understanding of what the challenges were, allowing her to leverage her relationships and credibility within the organization.

Read the full-length, 1,039-word What Background Is Best for Chief Diversity Officers? article at DiversityIncBestPractices.com for more insight and the exclusive videos of these sessions.

Referenced Articles:
PwC Chairman Bob Moritz Makes Diversity Personal
Why Do P&L Guys Head Diversity at Deloitte, Lilly?
Retention Best Practices
Employee-Volunteer Programs
4 Ways to Overcome Global Diversity Challenges

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