Diversity in Organizations: The Challenge of the New Millennium

1. Diversity in Organizations: The Challenge of the New Millennium Dr. Belle Rose Ragins

2. Session Objectives • 1. Participants will assess the diversity climate at ABB. • 2. Participants will gain an understanding of : • the dimensions of diversity, • the business case for diversity, and • the costs and benefits of diversity. • 3. Participants will gain insights into the causes and outcomes of the glass ceiling. • 4. Participants will gain an understanding of the barriers to advancement at ABB, and strategies that may be used to overcome those barriers. • 5. Participants will gain information on “Best Practices” diversity programs.

3. OBSERVABLE gender race ethnicity (sometimes) age (sometimes) physical ability/disability appearance NOT OBSERVABLE religious beliefs sexual orientation socioeconomic class mental ability family status geographic location military experience language education work background Dimensions of Diversity

4. Types of Diversity(Jackson & Ruderman, 1995) • Demographic or Power Groups • Gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, religion, class, sexual orientation. • Psychological Diversity(cf. McGrath, Berdahl & Arrow, 1995) • Values and beliefs. • Knowledge, skills and abilities. • Personality, cognitive and behavioral styles. • Organizational Diversity • Occupation and profession. • Department and level. • Tenure in organization. • Central construct of diversity = IDENTITY AND POWER

5. WHY DOES DIVERSITY MATTER??

6. Workforce Demographics(Department of Labor, 1995) • 1950: White men comprised 65% of the labor force. • 2005: Women and people of color will comprise 62% of the labor force. • Two-thirds of our population and over 57% of the working population is female and minorities.

7. Workforce Demographics (cont’d) • Women and minorities will comprise 80% of the net increase in the labor force by 2005 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1987). • Immigration will account for nearly two-thirds of the expected population growth in the next half-century (National Academy of Sciences, 1997). • This will add $10 billion a year to the nation’s economic output.

8. Census 2000People of color represent over 1/3 of U.S.population and have doubled over the past 20 years.

9. Mandate for Diversity (Copeland, 1988; Cox & Blake, 1991) • Demographics • Workforce 2000. • Competition for Talent • Shrinking labor pool. • Companies with best reputations will get the best talent. • Productivity • Increased creativity. • Better problem solving. • Less turnover and absenteeism.(cont’d)

10. Mandate For Diversity (cont’d) • Marketplace Demands • U.S. Minority marketplace equals the GNP of Canada. • Minorities spend $650 billion per year. • Older Americans spend more than 800 billion annually. • Globalization of Marketplace • Sensitivity of local cultural differences extends internationally. • System Flexibility • Meet needs of majority members as well (daycare, flextime). • Flexible organizations more adaptable to environmental changes.

11. Benefits Attract and retain the best talent. Enhanced marketing efforts. Higher creativity and innovation. Better problem solving. More organizational flexibility. Costs Decreased group cohesiveness.(Cohesive-ness related to group morale and communication, but unrelated to performance.) Increased communication problems. Increased conflict and anxiety. May take longer to make a decision. Benefits and Costs of Diversity(Cox, 1993)

12. Evolution of Diversity(Morrison, 1992) • Assimilation • Melting Pot Model: Individuals should fit in with majority. • Righting the Wrongs (Affirmative Action) • Workforce is a pipeline: fill pipeline with minorities. • Expect minorities to assimilate. • Concerned with recruitment more than retention and advancement. • Equity occurs with adequate number of minorities. • Multicultural Approach (Managing Diversity) • Mulligan Stew rather than puree; “garden” analogy. • Increase appreciation of all types of differences. • Recognition of differences without value judgements. • Organizations’ culture and norms must change. • Equity occurs when differences are valued by individuals and organizations.

13. Managing diversity means changing THE CULTURE, not the people! • Do you FIT with the values, norms beliefs? • Do you feel like an outsider looking in? • Are you valued or wanted? • Are you punished for being you? • Is there a glass ceiling?

14. The Glass Ceiling • Women are 46% of workforce and hold 40% of managerial positions, but hold only 5% of executive positions. • Minorities hold 2.6% of executive positions. • Women comprise 2.4% of highest ranks in Fortune 500 companies and are only 1.9% of top earners (1998 Catalyst census). • Women at VP level earn 42% of male peers. • Turnover rate among women and minorities is over twice that of white male counterparts. • Women start their own business at 6 times the rate of men.

15. Fitting In • Catalyst survey of 461 female executives - Vice Presidents or above of Fortune 1000 companies(Ragins, Townsend & Mattis, 1998). • Asked to rank 11 strategies; 4 strategies for reaching the top: • 1. Consistently exceeding performance expectations(99% rated as critical or fairly important.) • 2. Developed a professional style with which male managers are comfortable(96%) • 3. Sought difficult or highly visible stretch assignments(94%) • 4. Developed mentoring relationships • (91% had a mentor)

16. Beyond Performance: Walking the Fine Line • ".... the guys can yell at each other all the time, shake hands and walk out the door, and it's perfectly comfortable for them--but on the rare occasion that I raise my voice, it's not accepted in the same way." -- Personnel Director, retail organization. "how to interact with men who had never dealt with women before, and how to be heard, and how to get past what you looked like, and what sex you were, and into what kind of brain you had.... I had to learn how to offer opinions in a way that they could be heard because I wasn't necessarily given the right to have an opinion." -- Vice President, (consumer products company)

17. "Don't be attractive. Don't be too smart. Don't be assertive. Pretend you're not a woman. Don't be single. Don't be a mom. Don't be a divorcee.” (write-in responses) • "Do not make waves. Do not disagree and be correct (kiss of death !). [Working] longer, harder, smarter means nothing if you have a mind of your own and express your own ideas and opinions.” (write-in responses) • "With 13 men on the management committee, and I'm the only woman....it was very awkward at first. But it's been over two years now, and what I have found is that they are never truly comfortable because it's not a hundred percent men. And that's not because they don't like me, or they don't like the fact that a woman's there. It's that there's always that certain guard that what they might say in a roomful of men will be taken wrong when a woman is there." --SVP, health care organization.

18. Breaking the Glass Ceiling at ABB • Break up into small groups and brainstorm answers to the following questions: • 1. What are 5 barriers to advancement faced by people of color at ABB? • 2. What are 5 barriers to advancement faced by female employees at ABB? • 3. Develop 5 strategies that could be used at ABB that would help break down these barriers. • Select a spokesperson to take notes and report on the group’s answers.

19. Dr. Belle Rose Ragins: Diversity Programs • Diversity Audit: staffing, attitudes, climate • Selection & Recruitment • Promoting High Potential Employees • Succession Planning • Performance Appraisal & Compensation Systems • Benefits and Work Structure; Work/Life Programs • Career Development, Mentoring & Networking • Diversity Training • Monitoring and Measurement • See: Best Practices Handout

20. CONCLUSIONS • The KEY to diversity is understanding: • The effects of being different, • The tenacity of discrimination and stereotypes, • The subtleties of a chilly climate, • The cultural assumptions that pervade corporate culture, practices and policies. • Programs without these insights will be ineffective. • Leadership, Accountability and Measurement.