“It’s not about what I think I represent but what our people think I represent,” said  Kelvin Womack, Principal, Deloitte, at DiversityInc Innovation Fest! Wolmack detailed Deloitte’s best practices to retain and develop talent by leveraging the connection between diversity, innovation and stronger collective thinking.

Additionally, Womack says this inclusive leadership is key in helping LGBT employees feel comfortable enough to “come out” at work, which can drastically improve retention among this group. He explained how the firm improves its innovation potential and marketplace success by leveraging its inclusive culture and encouraging employees to bring their whole selves to work.

The post What’s Deloitte’s Top Leadership Imperative? 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.

In this exclusive, 90-minute Diversity Web Seminar on Resource Groups, diversity leaders from Aetna and MasterCard Worldwide (Nos. 24 and No. 15, respectively, in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50) discuss why organizations need to have resource groups in place if they want to stay competitive. They share case-study examples that illustrate some of the significant results that resource groups can provide in bringing diversity to the workplace and the marketplace.

Panelists include DiversityInc’s Barbara Frankel (moderator), senior vice president and executive editor; Meghan O’Brien McNamara, director of diversity, Aetna; and Donna Johnson, chief diversity officer, MasterCard Worldwide.

Readers will learn:

• The top four best practices for resource groups that all companies should utilize
• Five new and innovative types of resource groups that are on the rise
• Why MasterCard’s resource groups each have a unique brand identifier and mission
• How global and regional committees provide structure to resource groups and deliver results
• How Aetna used its resource groups to boost its engagement levels to 86 percent

Access the  Diversity Web Seminar on Resource Groups presentation, available as both a video and downloadable PDF, at DiversityIncBestPractices.com.

The post Diversity Web Seminar on Resource Groups: How to Produce Results You Can Actually Measure appeared first on DiversityInc.

Companies in The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity know that talent development and building a healthy, diverse pipeline for management starts early. That is, when new hires first come on board. It’s a strategy that not only attracts the brightest recruits but also keeps top performers engaged.

Diversity leaders Steve Bucherati, chief diversity officer, The Coca-Cola Company (No. 46 in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50), and Susan Hamilton, assistant vice president, diversity, CSX (No. 23), discuss in our diversity web seminar on talent development the best practices that have allowed their companies’ talent to thrive, resulting in sustained business success.

Watch Diversity Web Seminar on Talent Development: How Diversity Metrics & Corporate Culture Affect Your Success.

The 90-minute diversity seminar on talent development, led by Barbara Frankel, senior vice president and executive editor for DiversityInc, also offers insights into current trends from exclusive DiversityInc Top 50 data.

Highlights from the presentation include:

• Identifying the most common gaps among senior-level managers
• An exclusive example of Coca-Cola’s diversity-metrics scorecard and the top roles they measure
• How cross-cultural mentoring creates a full-circle strategy for pipeline through talent development
• How both internal and external resource groups can help pinpoint your top performers and increase retention
• Why CSX tailors its Associate Development Programs to align with corporate culture and foster company traditions

The diversity seminar is available as a video presentation and a downloadable PDF.

Watch Diversity Web Seminar on Talent Development: How Diversity Metrics & Corporate Culture Affect Your Success.

For more on talent development, read about IBM’s innovative best practices in Talent Development & Mentoring: How to Find & Develop Hidden Gems.

The post Diversity Web Seminar on Talent Development: How Diversity Metrics & Corporate Culture Affect Your Success appeared first on DiversityInc.

DiversityInc Top 50 data shows that formalized, cross-cultural programs lead to a rise in promotions from these underrepresented groups. Some companies have documented results in improved retention, engagement and productivity, as well as increased cultural awareness among white male managers.

A prime example of the benefits of mentoring and talent development is Sodexo (No. 2 in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50). This company was able to quantify that its mentoring program delivers a $6 return for every dollar invested.

In this 90-minute diversity web seminar on mentoring and talent development, DiversityInc Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Barbara Frankel discusses the benefits of formalized, cross-cultural mentoring programs with Lou Miramontes, audit partner, KPMG (No. 22); Karen Kichline, vice president, learning and talent management, ADP (No. 27); and Lucie Neely, division vice president, human resources, national account services/globalview, ADP.

Readers will learn:

• How resource groups can help talent development by “cross-pollinating” mentor/mentee relationships
• Why mentoring should be available to all employees, even white men
• The personal benefits of becoming a mentor, and the not-so-obvious benefits of being a mentee
• Why mentoring is particularly important in developing female talent
• How to formulate an action plan for mentoring and talent development in your company
• What are the different roles of a mentor and mentee, and which generate the best results?

Watch the diversity web seminar on mentoring and talent development at DiversityIncBestPractices.com.

The post Diversity Web Seminar: How to Make Cross-Cultural Mentoring Your Talent-Development Action Plan appeared first on DiversityInc.

DiversityInc presents the story of two chief diversity officers: John Zamora at Deloitte and Shaun Hawkins at Eli Lilly and Company, Nos. 29 and 39, respectively, on The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list.

Key themes discussed in the exclusive 2,137-word article, “Why Do P&L Guys Head Diversity at Deloitte, Eli Lilly,” include:

• How their backgrounds, access to the top of the company and emphasis on business goals are helping their efforts succeed more rapidly—and with more sustainable results
• Why becoming chief diversity officer puts P&L executives in an even more advantageous position

Deloitte’s John Zamora attests that his company wanted someone who understood how diversity management fit in with the business objectives. He reveals why he decided to take on the additional responsibilities and how his background gave him instant credibility, as well as why he focuses on mentoring and its impact on retention and engagement.

Eli Lilly’s Shaun Hawkins’ background was definitely not in HR, and he was surprised when Lilly’s top-level management approached him with the chief diversity officer’s job. He took the position, understanding that a big area of development for him would be the chance to learn to speak publicly to large crowds. With three primary areas of focus—the marketplace, the workplace and supplier diversity—Hawkins stresses the need for accountability to generate sustainable results.

Read ”Why Do P&L Guys Head Diversity at Deloitte, Eli Lilly” at DiversityIncBestPractices.com.

The post Why Do P&L Guys Head Diversity at Deloitte, Lilly? appeared first on DiversityInc.

Recruitment efforts only are successful if they are sustainable, executives from Ernst & Young and Target (Nos. 6 and 30, respectively, in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50) say during our web seminar on recruitment and hiring gaps.

This 90-minute presentation features Barbara Frankel, Senior Vice President and Executive Editor, DiversityInc; Ken Bouyer, Americas Director of Inclusiveness Recruiting, Ernst & Young; and Damu McCoy, Director of Talent Acquisition, Target.

Bouyer and McCoy both provide best practices for recruitment and on-boarding and explain why a multifaceted approach to recruitment is the most successful for those looking to build and maximize the potential of a diverse workforce. Their presentations include:

• How Ernst & Young and Target attract Black, Latino and Asian top performers.

• How to leverage talent development initiatives to attract new hires.
• How a global workforce can provide enhanced work opportunities, and ultimately longer tenure, for new hires.
• How to determine which organizations will offer strategic recruitment relationships.
• What types of internships and orientation programs are most effective.

“It all goes back to understanding the recruitment data and being able to embed diversity and inclusion in everything that you do,” Bouyer says.

 >> Watch Diversity Web Seminar: Recruitment/Hiring Gaps on DiversityIncBestPractices.com.

For more on recruitment, read How to Get 150 Top-Performing Black and Latino Candidates Now and Rutgers Future Scholars Enhances Talent Pipelines With Corporate-Student Outreach.

The post Diversity Web Seminar on Recruitment Reveals 5 Strategies to Find, Engage and Retain Talent appeared first on DiversityInc.

In this 90-minute Veterans in the Workplace webinar, moderated by DiversityInc Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Barbara Frankel, David Casey, vice president of workforce strategies and chief diversity officer at CVS Caremark and former vice president of workplace culture and chief diversity officer at WellPoint, and Margaret Downey, military and diversity recruiting at CSX Corporation, discuss the benefits of hiring veterans and the best practices that keep these workers engaged.

While veterans only make up about 7 percent of the total population (approximately 11 million people), according to the U.S. Census Bureau, they are more educated than the general public. Ninety percent have a high-school diploma, compared with 84 percent of the general public.

Casey, who served in the Marine Corps for eight years and was a part of Operation Desert Storm, says an aptitude for education and learning is just one of the many skills veterans can offer. He notes inspirational leadership, enhanced camaraderie/teamwork, adaptability, a balanced perspective and a strong work ethic and drive to complete assigned tasks.

What’s important, says Casey, is that companies help veterans transfer these skills and experiences to a corporate setting. Without support and recruiters educated in military life/terminology, it can be a challenge to recruit and retain veterans. (For more, read Recruitment Tips: Where to Find Veterans.)

One company well versed in hiring veterans is CSX: 1 in 5 employees currently serves or has served in the armed forces. Downey says the company has outlined a targeted military-recruiting strategy that aligns with its other diversity-recruiting strategies.

“Ultimately this pool has the potential to increase company profits and productivity,” Downey explains. (Watch CSX’s Susan Hamilton discuss the company’s corporate recruiting strategies below.)

Casey and Downey detail during the webinar a variety of recruiting and workplace best practices. These include:

• Using recruiters who are military experts who know where to look for candidates
• Starting a military or veteran resource group to provide support to employees and provide leads to new talent
• Providing a structured environment with clear communications/responsibilities so veterans can thrive
• Offering flexibility and support for veterans with disabilities such as hearing loss, hypertension and post-traumatic stress disorder
• Making up differences in pay/salary for active-duty and veteran employees, and keeping their families and spouses in mind

Additionally, special training for managers and coworkers could help make others aware of how to be more culturally competent with veterans.

Read Veterans in the Workplace: How to Help Them Succeed for more best practices.

The post Veterans in the Workplace: Help Them Make the Transition appeared first on DiversityInc.

How are these companies attracting more talented recruits? Jennifer Terry-Tharp, director, staffing, talent attraction and analytics of AT&T, No. 4 in The 2011 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity, and KiKi Lorenz, college relations manager of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. (Toyota Motor North America is No. 46), share their companies’ best practices and case studies for successful recruiting in this 90-minute recruitment web seminar. The seminar includes data trends from the DiversityInc Top 50, showing best practices that yield measurable human-capital results. Those best practices include the use of resource groups for recruitment and on-boarding, as well as formal, cross-cultural mentoring.

AT&T has demonstrated great success with its recruitment strategies. Terry-Tharp attributes its success in large part to its commitment to preventing high-school dropouts, especially Latinos and Blacks. AT&T is a major sponsor of the Aspire program, which launched in 2009, and works with job shadowing, mentoring and intervention strategies to cut the dropout rate of at-risk students.

Read Increasing Diversity in Talent Development for best practices in developing leadership.

Lorenz similarly emphasizes the importance of a targeted and well-planned internal and external recruitment strategy at Toyota. “Our challenge has been how to create a meaningful recruitment presence but with a smaller footprint,” she explains. “It’s much more than setting up a booth at a business fair.”

She said recruitment doesn’t stop once candidates are hired. “We have to re-recruit and re-engage our associates. If we don’t, other companies will, and we will be left with empty pockets in our workforce.”

To strengthen its efforts, Lorenz said that Toyota looks to community involvement to share its corporate culture and communicate its values to current employees and the public. Some of these relationships include outreach with TELACU and the Boys & Girls Clubs, as well as investments in its local Toyota plant and office locations. Read more about these initiatives in this interview with Toyota Financial Services’ CEO George Borst.

Other best practices that Terry-Tharp and Lorenz detail in the webinar include:

• Holding interactive events online and in-person
• Using resource groups to identify talent internally and externally
• Developing a targeted media and posting strategy for job listings
• Creating a detailed and focused career portal for candidates
• Building relationships and partnering with select organizations and schools

The post What’s Missing From Your Diversity-Recruitment Strategy? appeared first on DiversityInc.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2011 unemployment rate of young male veterans (ages 18–24) who served in the second Gulf War was high at 29.1 percent, compared with young male non-veterans at 17.6 percent. The overall 2011 unemployment rate of all workers was 8.9 percent.

The key to successfully transitioning veterans from military life to the civilian workforce: mentoring through both corporate programs and resource groups, said a DiversityInc panel of corporate and military experts in Veterans in the Workplace: How to Help Them Succeed.

Roundtable participants included:

• David Casey, currently vice president for workforce strategies and chief diversity officer at CVS Caremark (formerly at WellPoint) and a former U.S. Marine
• Susan Hamilton, assistant vice president, diversity, and chief diversity officer for CSX
• Chris Collier, director, talent acquisition for Southern Company, formerly in the U.S. Army
• Capt. Tony Barnes, director of operations, Navy Recruiting Command
• Vice Admiral Gerry Hoewing (retired), president and CEO, Naval Aviation Museum Foundation*

*Could not be present for roundtable, answered questions in separate conversation with DiversityInc

Also present from DiversityInc were Luke Visconti, CEO and a former naval aviator, and Barbara Frankel, senior vice president and executive editor.

“In the military, we lead people and we manage resources and equipment. And that’s not necessarily the vernacular used on the civilian side. We need to chill out and understand the corporate culture before aggressively taking charge,” said Capt. Barnes.

He emphasized that many veterans prefer a structured, disciplined work environment and are disappointed when they go to certain companies.

Other factors such as pay and compensation, consistent on-boarding and training in management skills should also be taken into consideration. Providing assistance for post-traumatic stress disorder and other disorders is important too, as discussed by Merck & Co.’s Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Deborah Dagit at another DiversityInc event (watch the video below).

Read Veterans in the Workplace: How to Help Them Succeed for more insights and best practices on hiring and developing veterans.

The post How to Help Veterans Transition to the Civilian Workforce appeared first on DiversityInc.