Maintaining Momentum
Unfortunately, diversity may be slipping as a priority among American companies overall. Black Enterprise cited a study by the consulting firm AchieveGlobal that found diversity ranked last among six categories that business executives found critical to their success, although the rankings were fairly bunched.
Wagner-Jackson said she knew through networking with other companies that there were “peaks and valleys” in the pursuit of diversity.
“No one thinks they have it 100 percent nailed down,” Wagner-Jackson said. “It’s always a journey we are on.”
Ngomsi has found, however, that more companies are grasping the need for diversity training to help employees better understand and appreciate people of a different color or culture.
“It’s not just a luxury; it’s good for business,” Ngomsi said. “Some are doing it for show to put a check in that box that says ‘we have done it.’ But that number is, fortunately, decreasing.”
Still, Ngomsi said, some companies continue to think that all they have to do to create diversity is to hire someone from a minority group to head up diversity hiring or retention.
“They come in with no clear knowledge of diversity, they were never trained,” Ngmosi said.
It Starts With Training
Good training helps managers and other employees understand how different people of different races or backgrounds feel, think and act, Ngomsi said. Training covers language, figures of speech, values, customs, traditions and other sensitive topics, he said.
Diversity, as thought of today, means much more than it did years ago, said Keith Wiedenkeller, senior vice president and chief people officer at AMC Entertainment in Kansas City. Ethnicity and gender are only two pieces of the diversity mosaic, he said.
“There is a widening definition of what diversity is,” Wiedenkeller said. Age, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, economic status and physical abilities are now commonly part of the diversity definition.
Wiedenkeller, for example, is involved an organization called the Greater Kansas City Business Leadership Network, which helps businesses see the value and importance of hiring people with disabilities.
One concern of some business owners is that firing or disciplining a minority employee may bring a charge of discrimination. But anyone, including white males, can claim prejudice if they feel they were treated differently because of their demographic, Drake said.
“Obviously, you want to be careful with all employees, but there is no easily identifiable protected category any more because we are all in a category,” Drake said. Employers should simply try to treat all employees in the same manner, she said.
Another layer of diversity can come through outsourcing work to businesses owned by women or minorities. Companies such as Sprint and Hallmark make strong efforts in that regard, their officials said.
Kate Armstrong, president of MUSE Marketing and PR in Kansas City, said companies should make it known they welcome bids from minority and women-owned firms.
“All they have to do is slap a statement on their Web site and people will knock down their doors,” she said.
Manuel advises company officials to develop relationships with women and minority business owners. They will find that such firms tend to be smaller, more nimble and more price-competitive than larger companies seeking contracts, she said.
Armstrong said hiring a diverse full-time or contract work force simply makes sense.
“Any diversity initiative, regardless of whether it’s the right thing to do or helps the bottom line, is a marketing and public relations initiative at its best,” Armstrong said.
“It’s a corporate social responsibility and it makes your company look very well-rounded.” 