As chairman and senior partner of PwC, I have closely followed the debate about Sheryl Sandberg’s new book Lean In. Sandberg has brought renewed attention to the critical challenge of diversifying corporate leadership. While Sandberg focuses on inspiring women to embrace ambition, I believe business leaders have a responsibility to lean in as well. At PwC we’re “leaning in” because we recognize that women and minorities cannot solve the leadership gap by themselves.

There are many concrete steps CEOs, in particular, can take. The first is to create accountability for diversity. At PwC, our Chief Diversity Officer is a line partner who reports directly to me and is a member of my leadership team. The role is a rotation, rather than a destination, and we use it to develop high-potential partners. Our Chief Diversity Officers contribute to a strategic business issue outside of their traditional practice and gain visibility. Although this structure might not work for all organizations, at PwC it serves to elevate the function and drive change.

The second step is to create an inclusive culture. Here, programs matter. While the ultimate goal of any diversity initiative is cultural change, formal programs send a powerful signal. For example, Full Circle is a PwC program that allows parents to “off-ramp” from their careers, stay connected while they are gone, maintain their technical credentials, and then return to the firm. Formalizing this option gives people permission to pursue non-linear career paths. Mentor Moms is a PwC effort to match women returning from maternity leave with experienced mothers who are successfully juggling family and careers. Our Women’s Networking Circles provide a forum to discuss career advancement, and our members are using Lean In’s educational videos to enrich that conversation.

Diversity initiatives also set expectations. We’ve asked all 2,700 PwC partners to sponsor three diverse professionals. Partners are expected to identify these individuals in their development plans and discuss the actions taken on their behalf during the end-of-year evaluation. We believe sponsorship is critical to advancement, and these relationships often develop informally. Breaking the cycle of people sponsoring those who are similar to themselves requires intentional effort.

The third step is to create awareness that people sometimes make unconscious assumptions. Sandberg’s book catalogs unconscious biases people still may hold about women leaders. We have a responsibility as an organization to address those stereotypes. PwC hosts interactive sessions for our leaders about how to identify potential “blind spots” and better understand how they influence decision making. As leaders, we must challenge our blind spots.

Finally, we need to create environments where people have the flexibility to lean forward or back at different points. Career paths have to be less rigid, in order to accommodate the diversity of today’s workforce.

While we still have progress to make, these efforts have yielded results. Over the last decade the number of women partners in our US firm has increased considerably, and five members of our 15-person leadership team are women.

I hope more of our women are inspired by the dialogue Sandberg has generated to lean in and aim even higher in their careers. My work is to make sure PwC leans in to meet those ambitions with opportunities, flexibility, and sponsorship. Then together we can close the leadership gap.

The post How Companies Can Lean In, Too appeared first on DiversityInc.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In comes out today, and it has been lighting up social media and Sunday talk shows with its concept that women have to “try harder” and not rely on their employers or their mentors to look out for them.

As a woman who has fought for three decades in the workplace for a seat at the table—and who now sees my 28-year-old daughter and several young women I mentor facing similar struggles—I agree with Sandberg that too many women give up too easily as the challenges of family and work become overwhelming. But Sandberg’s simplistic solution of urging women to take control of themselves and join “Lean In Circles” to bolster each other ignores the reality that most workplace inequities aren’t caused by the victims, but by the institutions and those in power who benefit from continuity.

In other words, we shouldn’t let corporate America off the hook for the lack of women in senior management.

Consider this: Women account for just 4.2 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs; at DiversityInc Top 50 companies, which are significantly more progressive for race and ethnicity, women do only slightly better: 6 percent of CEOs. Women account for 20 percent of the top level at Fortune 500 companies (CEO and direct reports) and 24 percent at DiversityInc Top 50 companies.

So as someone who came of age in the 1970s, when full equality seemed imminent (to those who read Ms. Magazine religiously, as I did), I have to wonder: What happened?

Corporate Hubris

I understand Sandberg’s points on not being passive about leadership and on women making their own success. But the message sent by corporate America has been ambiguous, to say the least. On the one hand, many companies have been singing their own praises for their “flexible” workplaces and how great they are for women—while still having very different promotion tracks for those who can’t travel globally for weeks at a time, who may not want to be connected 24/7, or who have more inclusive styles of leadership.

I cannot tell you the number of women—including several I know who are in their 20s—who use the word “compromise” when describing their life choices. I did it myself in my 20s, choosing to be a big fish in a little pond (a local newspaper) instead of pursuing my dream of working for a major newspaper. You know the story: husband, kids, aging parents, house, dog, cat, etc. We can “have it all,” but with a price—our dreams, our sanity and often our health.

Unlike Sandberg, I don’t fault the women who continue to make these choices. I fault a society that doesn’t offer reasonable childcare (from a financial and an emotional perspective) and I fault corporate America, including many of those companies that bill themselves as leaders for women.

A Real Example

The few companies that are trying to really level the playing field for women understand that they aren’t there yet. I moderated a panel last week on women branding themselves and having more “executive presence.” One of the speakers was Maria Castañón Moats, the Chief Diversity Officer of PricewaterhouseCoopers. PwC is No. 1 on the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 list, and for good reason—this is a company that continually challenges itself on how inclusive it actually is and never, ever rests on its laurels.

Maria talked about how PwC is working diligently to get its senior partners, still mostly white men, to connect more with younger women in the organization and how multifaceted and ongoing their organizational efforts are. This is a company that literally helps women (and men) plan their families every step of the way. Their numbers of women in management show a remarkable story of progress, one we rarely see in other companies. I’m not speaking loosely here; we have almost 900 companies participating in the DiversityInc Top 50 this year and the progress for women into the senior levels is pretty slow across the board.

But most companies don’t have the self-awareness of PwC. Instead, they put their names out there with big media splashes and then refuse to really address the systemic and inherent sexism in their organizations.

Sandberg’s Lean In project has “launch partners” including American Express, Google, Sony and Johnson & Johnson, according to The New York Times. Not sure exactly what that support involves beyond money, but I’d like to see those companies publicly disclose exactly how they are helping women move up and stay up—including hard numbers.

There’s a lot of criticism of Sandberg because she’s wealthy, works in Silicon Valley, has a supportive husband and lots of help. I’m not faulting her for her success or for her desires to share her ideas with other women. But if we let companies just buy their way to being “good for women,” things are never going to really get “good for women.”

My daughter’s getting married later this year and talks about having kids in a couple of years. She’s bright, she’s beautiful and she would be a major asset anywhere she goes.  But if the responsibility of doing it all falls entirely on her shoulders, she’ll probably follow in the footsteps of generations before her and compromise. And then we’ll be looking at 20 percent women in the top level of Fortune 500 companies for a long time.

The post Does Sandberg Let Corporations Continue Discrimination Against Women? appeared first on DiversityInc.

“White men in the diversity and inclusion space are much more focused on product over process … but there is no silver bullet,” explained PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Chris Brassell, Director, National Office of Diversity, at DiversityInc’s White Men & Diversity event.

Brassell detailed how PwC takes a straightforward, top-to-bottom approach toward diversity management that allows its diversity leaders to effectively build support and understanding for diversity management among white, male leaders in each of the 20 markets it serves. “We need people to understand what it is, and what it isn’t,” said Brassell. “We want to make this a conversation about listening. This is not punitive.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is No. 1 in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50.

The post White Men for Diversity: How PwC Spreads Diversity Messaging appeared first on DiversityInc.

Cloutier also explained (video below) how the company has changed its recruitment efforts to align job codes to find talented veteran employees. ADP particularly values veterans for their history of service and leadership experience.

ADP is No. 27 in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50.

The post ADP: What Technologies Can Increase Veteran Recruitment? appeared first on DiversityInc.

Companies that most effectively market diversity-related awards make the connection between the awards and talent development or customer populations:

PricewaterhouseCoopers, No. 1 in the DiversityInc Top 50, has an extensive awards page accessible through the About Us tab on its homepage. The page is divided into three sections that highlight awards related to the firm’s talent: Top Employer, Diversity/Inclusion and Women. Some of the awards featured prominently include:

• Ranking No. 1 on the DiversityInc Top 50 and ranking on five of DiversityInc’s other lists: No. 1 on Companies for Recruitment & Retention, No. 1 on Companies for Executive Women, No. 5 on Companies for Global Diversity, No. 6 on Companies for LGBT Employees and No. 8 on Companies for Asian Americans.
• Receiving a 100 percent rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index from 2006–2013.
• Receiving the 2012 NABA Corporate Partner of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Accountants, a key industry-related partner.

Kaiser Permanente, No. 3 in the DiversityInc Top 50, promotes its diversity awards in the News Center section of its website. For example:

–Debby Scheinholz, Vice President of Consulting, DiversistyInc

The post Ask DiversityInc: What Are Best Practices for Leveraging Diversity Awards & Lists? appeared first on DiversityInc.

To evaluate the impact of global diversity efforts, we have investigated best practices that correlate to results, measured in increased human-capital diversity and business opportunity. Through 203 data submissions and extensive interviews with 25 companies, we have learned that diversity-and-inclusion initiatives have been mostly focused around gender, while efforts to include ethnic and religious minorities, people with disabilities and LGBT people are just beginning to surface.

We studied all global regions and found the most successful diversity-and-inclusion efforts in Europe, Asia and Central/South America. Virtually all start with initiatives aimed at women that emphasize local cultural values. We found direct correlations between companies that have initiatives for recruitment and talent-development programs for women and increased representation of women in the workplace, management and the senior-executive ranks. We also note correlations between D&I initiatives such as resource groups and mentoring, and increased female representation in management ranks.

Support from corporate and local leadership is especially critical when addressing other dimensions of diversity. Companies in every region with global diversity councils have made far more significant inroads in LGBT inclusion. And companies with regional diversity councils led by local business leaders are far more likely to implement supplier-diversity initiatives.

In this report, we will document which best practices are working through analytical data and case studies demonstrating results. All of the companies we have analyzed tell us these efforts are just beginning and they expect to see rapid advancement in their global diversity efforts and enhanced competition for talent.

I. Methodology: DiversityInc’s Global Diversity Research

This report relies on two years’ worth of data submissions, totaling 203 entries from 46 countries. The submissions represent nine industries—professional services, technology, consumer-packaged goods, pharmaceutical, chemical, manufacturing, auto, hospitality and medical devices. The questionnaire was designed to be culturally competent, capturing and codifying demographics (gender, age and locally underrepresented groups where reportable) as well as best practices (talent and leadership development, resource groups, diversity councils, supplier diversity).

Our thirteen 2012 sponsors helped us determine what best practices to examine locally and globally to implement initiatives with sustainable results. Our interviews, with an emphasis on talent development, leadership pipeline and resource groups for underrepresented groups, gave us perspective on what has worked for different companies in different countries/regions, and how they overcame challenges. The sponsors are: Accenture, BASF, Cigna, Dell, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, Ernst & Young, General Motors, Merck & Co., Medtronic, Pfizer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sodexo and Wells Fargo.

Companies filled out the survey for each country they chose; most also provided information for headquarters. The survey continues to stay open. We add companies, countries and regions to our database with each new submission. The survey has approximately 100 questions and is divided into the following seven sections:

• General Information: Ascertains how long the diversity-and-inclusion initiative has existed, and how it is organized and staffed (full-time, part-time and volunteer).
• Headquarters: Assesses global diversity councils and global support and control of local diversity-and-inclusion initiatives.
  
• Leadership and Values: Examines what diversity and/or inclusion means locally, what the three biggest challenges/barriers facing successful D&I efforts in each country are, what type of internal diversity council has been established, the support of local business leaders, how D&I is integrated into the local business goals, what metrics are used to assess D&I success locally (i.e., what is the business case?), and how employee engagement is measured.
  
• Human Capital: Measures workforce, management and senior-management representation by gender, looks at the age of the workforce in each country, and probes whether the local organization has specific recruitment and leadership-development efforts for women and other underrepresented groups.
  
• Best Practices for Global Diversity: Looks at local efforts to implement global diversity strategies and initiatives that include resource groups, mentoring, training, outreach to LGBT people (where legally permissible), outreach to people with disabilities, work/life benefits (especially flexible workplaces), and website communications about D&I.
  
• Supplier Diversity: Studies whether local supplier diversity exists and, if so, what groups are targeted and what best practices are in place to support growth and impact.

 II.  Major Global Diversity Findings 

Our findings show significant correlations between established best practices and human-capital results, primarily measured in recruitment and promotions of women. The data and interviews support specific and proven approaches to recruitment, leadership development, flexible workplaces, formal mentoring, resource groups, generational issues and global executive diversity councils. Full findings are available to global sponsors and global consulting clients. (See more information on DiversityInc Global Consulting.)

Examples:

• Companies with formal recruitment policies aimed at women reported dramatic increases in female representation in the workforce. For example, in India, companies with formal recruitment policies had one-third more women in the workforce.

• We note a significant increase in management opportunities and promotions for women in companies that have locally based leadership-development programs aimed specifically at women. In contrast, leadership programs targeted at underrepresented groups are scarce globally. For example, in Brazil, companies with leadership programs for women had almost four times as many women in management as companies without these programs; in Japan, the difference was sixfold.

• Almost all companies surveyed felt that flexibility in terms of hours and location is key to increasing retention, engagement and promotions of women and younger people in general. The degree of flexibility often depends on the local cultural role of women and how strong their home/family duties are. For example, in France, companies with flexible workplaces have almost double the percentage of women senior executives and a third more women in management. They also have double the amount of women in the workforce.

• While formal mentoring and sponsorship programs are just beginning to catch on in most of the world, their impact in areas where they have been in place is dramatic. For example, companies in Australia with formal mentoring had one-third more women executives than companies without.

• Global resource groups traditionally are aimed at women and focus almost exclusively on talent development, but we are beginning to see groups based on age, sexual orientation and, in a few cases, race/ethnicity. There are definite correlations between having groups and increased diversity in the workplace. For example, in the United Kingdom, companies with resource groups had 10 percent more women in management.

• Our research shows a vast difference in the age of workers in various countries, with many Asian countries having very young workforces and some European countries having older workforces. The issues facing them are very different and, therefore, require a variety of solutions. For example, more than half of the workforce of the countries in Asia are younger than 34.

• Global executive diversity councils are increasingly used to set D&I strategies for the organization, which then are filtered to local diversity councils for implementation. They show organizational consistency in values and subsequent messaging, which produces results in the global workplace. For example, in Europe, companies with global executive diversity councils are twice as likely to offer domestic-partner benefits in countries where they are legal and three times more likely to include sexual orientation in training. And companies with global executive diversity councils are also three times more likely to have regional councils to implement strategies. Supplier diversity is a good example of that: Companies with regional councils in Europe are twice as likely to have formal supplier-diversity outreach. (There is virtually no supplier diversity in Asia yet.)

Case Studies:

Global Diversity Best Practice: Developing Female Talent in Australia: Can flexible workplace models and leadership programs provide measurable improvements in gender diversity? Read these case studies from Deloitte and Ernst & Young.

Global Diversity Best Practice: Flexible Workplaces in India: Global companies must combat a “leaky pipeline” of women talent, but these best practices from Sodexo, Merck, Dell and Deloitte can improve retention.

2 European Case Studies: People With Disabilities & Ethnic Minorities: How are Sodexo and Merck recruiting people from underrepresented groups in Europe?

Best Practice: IBM’s Global LGBT Support: How is IBM’s global commitment to the LGBT market reshaping its business advantage? It builds credibility and trust with clients—and increases revenue prospects.

III. Conclusions About Global Diversity

The direct link between diversity-management best practices and sustainable human-capital results is clear from this research as well as from the interviews with executives around the globe.

To highlight the key correlations:

• Companies with recruitment programs for women recruited 20 percent more women in Europe and Central/South America.
• Companies with leadership programs for women had 44 percent more women executives in Asia.
• Companies with flexible work arrangements had 34 percent more women executives in all areas studied.
• Companies with formal mentoring programs had 12 percent more women in Central/South America.
• Companies with global diversity councils were twice as likely to have global LGBT efforts in all regions.
• Companies with regional diversity councils led by local country executives were four times more likely to have supplier-diversity programs in Europe and Asia.

The best practices the companies have detailed for us, and which still are evolving, increase representation, engagement, productivity and marketplace connections. However, the research shows they work most effectively when specifically tailored to local cultural norms and when there is support from both global headquarters and local leadership.

There are demographic differences between regions, which we note in this research, such as the much younger workforce in Asia and older workforce in Europe. There are also varying standards on women’s roles in and out of the home, inclusion of LGBT people, the need for proactive efforts to include people with disabilities, and the importance of supplier diversity.

Global diversity is evolving at different paces in various regions and countries, but all participating companies agree to its increasing importance in having an engaged workforce that relates to the local population.

WHAT’S NEXT? 

Our consulting practice can help build your global diversity initiative and successfully implement it on a local level. This service includes: Making the business case to local leadership; in-depth assessment of organization/current initiatives; roadmaps and specific plans of action; situational analysis; written and verbal debriefs.

Our next round of global research will start in the spring of 2013, and will focus on increasing our knowledge database, especially in emerging-market countries where there is significant business-growth potential. Sponsors will be able to shape the best practices we study and will receive data analysis of their submissions compared to the competitive set.

For more information on consulting and research sponsorship, visit DiversityInc Global Consulting or contact consulting@diversityinc.com.

The post Global Diversity Research Executive Summary: 203 Data Submissions in 46 Countries appeared first on DiversityInc.

Michele C. Meyer-Shipp
Michele C. Meyer-Shipp has been named vice president and chief diversity officer of Prudential Financial, succeeding Emilio Egea, who retired. In her new role, Meyer-Shipp is responsible for leading and directing all diversity-and-inclusion initiatives for the company, and for ensuring ongoing compliance with federal and state equal employment opportunity/affirmative action laws and requirements. Prudential is No. 9 in The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity.

Meyer-Shipp joined Prudential in April 2010 as vice president and counsel in the Employment and Labor Law group. She has also been general counsel for the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, vice president and diversity manager in Merrill Lynch’s Global Wealth Management division, and director of the state of New Jersey’s Division of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action. Prior to that, she was a practicing attorney.

Meyer-Shipp is an active member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, Corporate Counsel Women of Color and the National Employment Law Council. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Rutgers School of Criminal Justice and her juris doctor at Seton Hall University School of Law.

R. Fenimore Fisher
R. Fenimore Fisher has been named a deputy commissioner and the chief diversity and EEO officer for the City of New York. He is responsible for the leadership of the Office of Citywide Diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity, and will design and implement strategies to position the city as a world-class leader in diversity and inclusion. Prior to his appointment, Fisher was managing partner of the R. Fenimore Fisher Group, a global D&I and alternative dispute-resolution firm. Fisher previously served as vice president of diversity initiatives and analysis for Walmart and as executive director of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s Wall Street Project.

A member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, Fisher serves on the national leadership council for GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) as well as the corporate advisory council for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. Fisher holds a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University, a Juris Doctor from Ohio Northern University and a labor-mediation certification from Cornell University.

Jennifer “Jae” Pi’ilani Requiro
Jennifer “Jae” Pi’ilani Requiro has been named national manager of diversity and inclusion at Toyota Financial Services. Her responsibilities include diversity-and-inclusion education and executive scorecards, mentoring and Toyota Business Partnering Groups. She also develops strategies to increase market share, capture more multicultural customers and increase partnerships with diverse suppliers. Requiro has a bachelor’s degree from UCLA.

Barbara Frankel
Barbara Frankel, senior vice president and executive editor of DiversityInc, has been named to the newly established global advisory board for WEConnect International, a corporate-led nonprofit that facilitates sustainable economic growth by empowering and connecting women business owners globally. Others named to the 22-person board include Kathleen Matthews, executive vice president and chief global communications and public affairs officer, Marriott International; Julie Oyegun, chief diversity officer, the World Bank Group; and Catherine Rodgers, vice president, Global Opportunties and Business Development, IBM.

Margaret E. Burke
Margaret E. Burke has been admitted into PricewaterhouseCoopers’ partnership. In her ongoing role as U.S. Advisory human-capital leader, Burke oversees the strategic development, direction and implementation of the Advisory practice’s recruitment, development, talent management, rewards and retention programs. Burke holds a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College. PricewaterhouseCoopers is No. 1 in the DiversityInc Top 50.

Tracy Nolan and Pushpendu Pal
CVS Caremark has appointed Tracy Nolan and Pushpendu Pal to new positions, Nolan to vice president of strategic product delivery and Pal to senior vice president of the information technology division within the company’s prescription benefit management (PBM) business. Nolan, who comes to CVS from WellPoint, is responsible for operationally expanding flagship product offerings and for newly developed products and programs. Pal’s promotion is a reflection of his work in leading the division in delivering stable and robust internal-application services and deploying information technology.

Terrez Thompson
The Coca-Cola Company has promoted Terrez Thompson to vice president of global supplier diversity. She will lead and promote the company’s efforts to maximize procurement opportunities with diverse businesses as suppliers, contractors and subcontractors. Thompson has held a variety of roles in more than 25 years at The Coca-Cola Company, including controller of The Coca-Cola Trading Company. The Coca-Cola Company is No. 46 in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50.

Kevin Jennings
The Arcus Foundation, a leading global foundation advancing pressing social-justice and conservation issues, has named Kevin Jennings as executive director. Jennings was previously CEO of Be the Change Inc., where  he was instrumental in launching the Opportunity Nation campaign to promote economic opportunity and social mobility in America. Jennings has also served as assistant deputy secretary of education under President Obama and founded the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Jennings has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and master’s degrees from Columbia University Teacher’s College and New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Jesus Soto Jr.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has appointed Jesus Soto Jr. to further solidify the leadership team charged with building the nation’s safest natural-gas delivery system. He will serve as senior vice president of gas transmission, operations, engineering and pipeline integrity. Soto is responsible for overseeing four major functions: public safety and integrity management; project engineering, design and management; gas transmission; and gas system operations.

Richelle Parham
Richelle Parham, chief marketing officer of eBay North America, has been elected to the board of directors of Scripps Networks Interactive. At eBay, Parham directs the company’s core marketing functions. She is also responsible for brand engagement, driving eBay’s seasonal marketing calendar and leading its customer-insights and marketing-analytics functions.

Richard Mark
Richard Mark has been promoted to chairman, president and CEO of Ameren Illinois. Mark’s responsibilities include the company’s natural-gas and electric delivery business, customer service, natural-gas and electric supply, community relations and government relations. Prior to joining Ameren in 2002, he spent five years as COO and six years as president and CEO at St. Mary’s Hospital in East St. Louis, Ill.

Daisy Auger-Dominguez
Daisy Auger-Dominguez joined the Disney/ABC Television Group as vice president of organization and workforce diversity. Auger-Dominguez focuses on helping the company attract, develop and retain diverse talent in support of business objectives, and is responsible for continuing to develop the company’s diversity-and-inclusion strategy, goals and plans. She previously served as a diversity executive at Time Warner and Moody’s Corporation. She has a bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University and a master’s degree from New York University.

Ramona G. Blake
Ramona G. Blake has been appointed director of diversity and inclusion at TIAA-CREF Financial Services. She is responsible for diversity-strategy design and implementation, special initiatives and training in the following areas: marketplace, supplier, workforce and workplace. Previously, Blake was manager of diversity and inclusion at PSEG. She has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a Certified Diversity Professional certificate from Cornell’s ILR School.

Dermot J. O’Brien
Dermot J. O’Brien has been named chief human resources officer and corporate vice president at Automatic Data Processing. In his new role, O’Brien works with ADP’s senior leadership team to develop workforce plans and programs that align with ADP’s overall strategic objectives. His responsibilities include forecasting ADP’s global talent needs; implementing initiatives that effectively attract, develop, deploy and retain a diverse talent population; overseeing succession planning and management development; and improving ADP’s already strong levels of employee engagement. Prior to joining ADP, O’Brien was executive vice president of human resources at TIAA-CREF. A Dublin, Ireland, native, O’Brien has a bachelor’s degree from Pace University. ADP is No. 27 in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50.

Dr. Antonio Flores
Dr. Antonio Flores, president of the Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities (HACU), invited DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti to become a member of the organization’s 17-member Corporate & Philanthropic Council. The council’s goal is to provide guidance and assistance to Dr. Flores and the association’s development division and public-affairs office to ensure its mission, programs and events receive support and that its strategic plans are realized. Other council members include: Raymond Arroyo, Aetna; Alma Guajardo-Crossley, General Motors; Jim Fjelstul, Sodexo; Jerry Gattegno, Deloitte; and Angel Herrera, ARAMARK.

Anthony Salcido and Mónica Gil
The Hispanic Scholarship Fund inducted six new members into its Alumni Hall of Fame on Oct. 17 in New York City. The 2012 inductees are: Dr. Yolanda García Romero, professor of history, North Lake College; Mónica Gil, senior vice president, public affairs and government relations, Nielsen Company;  José P. Chan, MIT Sloan Fellow in Innovation and Global Leadership and adjunct professor, Parsons the New School for Design; Cyrus Amado Salazar, equal opportunity manager, U.S. Air Force; and Gilbert and Jacki Cisneros, president and vice president, The Gilbert & Jacki Cisneros Foundation. Additionally, Melanie L. Healey, group president, North America of HSF partner company Procter & Gamble, accepted an honorary recognition on behalf of P&G for contributing more than $4 million to HSF since 1986.

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During this 90-minute web seminar, Joanne McDonough, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ former Office of Diversity Director, and Debbie Storey, AT&T’s Senior Vice President of Talent Development and Chief Diversity Officer, explain how integrating diversity management into every facet of a business can increase market share and business innovation. PwC rose to No. 1 on the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 list, up from No. 3 in 2011 and No. 6 in 2010. AT&T (No. 4) has maintained a ranking in the top five since 2009, rising from No. 22 in 2008.

Data from our survey show that excellence in diversity management is directly correlated to five best practices:

1. Linking compensation to diversity management.
2. Having diversity councils with rotational positions.
3. Establishing cross-cultural mentoring programs with senior-management participation.
4. Using resource groups for recruitment and understanding the marketplace.
5. Increasing supplier-diversity spend.

During the web seminar, you will learn:

• How PwC’s diversity-department structure is set up to achieve maximum effectiveness.
• How the Candid Conversation Series enhanced cultural dexterity at PwC with all employees.
• The business advantage in adopting LGBT tax-equalization benefits for employees.
• The innovative types of resource groups AT&T is launching that directly tie into its business process.
• How AT&T was able to increase its spend with diverse suppliers by 31 percent in one year.

This 90-minute web seminar is available to DiversityIncBestPractices.com subscribers. Please log in to watch the presentation and download the slides.

Not a subscriber? Buy this web seminar now, or request subscriber information and pricing for DiversityIncBestPractices.com.

The post Best Practices From DiversityInc Top 50: How to be on Top of the List appeared first on DiversityInc.

Generating buy-in from white men is a challenge in some companies, especially for middle management. Even the DiversityInc Top 50 companies are split on strategies, with some choosing to directly focus on white men as a demographic group while others insist they are included in all workplace-diversity efforts.

In Do White Men Really Need Diversity Outreach? DiversityInc’s Barbara Frankel, Senior Vice President and Executive Editor, addresses this issue head-on in a 3,124-word analysis. Frankel interviewed 20 companies to learn how they handle including white men in their workplace-diversity efforts.

Companies include: Sodexo (No. 2 in The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity), PricewaterhouseCoopers (No. 1), The Coca-Cola Company (No. 46), Merck & Co. (16), CSX (No. 23), Aetna (No. 24), Health Care Service Corporation (No. 19), AXA Equitable (one of DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy Companies), Harley-Davidson, Ameren, Comerica, Choice Hotels, Staples and the Army & Air Force Exchange.

Readers will also receive need-to-know answers to key questions in workplace diversity including:

• Can white men be diversity leaders in the workplace?
• What aggressive workplace-diversity efforts are companies, such as Coca-Cola and PricewaterhouseCoopers, making?
• Why do you need to keep senior management accountable for diversity efforts in the workplace?
• How can you make a business case for workplace diversity to middle managers?
• How will creating an action plan help make workplace diversity meaningful?
• Should white men have resource groups?

Read Do White Men Really Need Diversity Outreach? at DiversityIncBestPractices.com.

Watch the video below to hear DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti discuss the business case for workplace diversity and why it is important for ALL groups to be included in diversity efforts.

Read DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti’s Ask the White Guy column, Can a White Man Speak With Authority on Diversity?, for more on this subject.

The post Workplace Diversity: Do White Men Really Need Diversity Outreach? appeared first on DiversityInc.

PricewaterhouseCoopers executive Stephanie Peel’s history is a corporate America coming-out success story. When she came out professionally more than a dozen years ago, she was welcomed by her colleagues. “I came out personally in 1997 and came out professionally in 1999. Fortunately, I never heard anything not positive,” says Peel.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is No. 1 on The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list and No. 6 on the Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees. Peel serves on the company’s GLBT Partner Advisory Board, which consists of 11 leaders in the firm who are LGBT and provides guidance to the management committee to help further advance initiatives and activities.

“I often tell people who ask me about this [that] it’s not just about what you can’t say or shouldn’t say, because sometimes I find that colleagues feel stymied in that they shouldn’t say anything at all. There is a lot of room for the things you can say to give clues to people that you are inclusive and culturally sensitive,” warns Peel.

Watch this video from Out & Equal Workplace Project for more on how coming out can enhance employee engagement:

Things NOT to Say to Your LGBT Colleagues

Here’s what GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), the Out & Equal Workplace Project, and Peel suggest:

No. 1: “I suspected you were gay.”
Although it is a common response, it’s insensitive and plays into stereotypes.

No. 2: “I’m sorry.”
Why should you apologize for a colleague’s orientation? This implies judgment and can make the situation more difficult. Would you apologize for a person’s ethnicity or gender?

No. 3: “Why did you tell me that?”
It’s important for people to bring their “whole selves” to work, and coming out of the closet is certainly a part of who one is. “The notion of leaving a big part of your self at home and walking into work is like walking around with two types of shoes on,” says Selisse Berry, founding executive director of Out & Equal, an advocacy organization that provides services to companies, human-resource professionals, employee-resource groups and individuals.

No. 4: “Which bathroom do you use?”
Transgender people often are asked what gender they are. Such questions are inappropriate, warns Out & Equal. It is important to remember that gender identity is becoming an increasingly sensitive subject.

No. 5: “We are not close enough for you to share that information with me.”
Not all employees are interested in their coworkers’ personal lives. If you feel a colleague may have shared too much information, you can simply say, “Thank you for telling me that,” says Peel.

No. 6: Referring to coworkers as “she-male.”
There has been a lot of uproar these days over this phrase. Transgender employees often are the brunt of culturally insensitive jokes and comments.

No. 7: “What do you like to do in bed?”
Sexual questions and comments are always off-limits. Not only do you run the risk of offending a colleague, you are also teetering the line of sexual harassment. It’s important not to be confused between trying to understand someone’s personal life and inappropriate sexual harassment, warns Kevin Jennings, executive director of the Arcus Foundation and founder of GLSEN.

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