Leaders in Global Equality and Diversity since 1962
A World of Difference
ORC's Monthly Newsletter for Diversity and Inclusion Specalists Making a Difference in Their Organizations. Sign up for ORC Worldwide's Global EDI mailing list.
December 2009
Where You Going?—Barcelona; Whatchya thinking?—Barcelona
With apologies to Sondheim for pinching his lyrics: Where we’re going February 24-25 (right after the Global Diversity Forum meeting) is the Diversity & Inclusion Seminar 2010 in Barcelona. ORC Worldwide’s Mary Martinéz and Deirdre Golden have been asked to present a session as part of the “Diversity in the HR & Talent Management Pool” module. They will share best talent management practices for ensuring diversity and inclusion on the senior leadership team. Based on ORC’s research in nearly 50 global organisations, they will provide answers for questions such as:
- What are the barriers that keep women, racial/ethnic minorities, and nationals of countries other than the headquarters from advancing, and how can those barriers be addressed?
- How do companies with the most diverse global pipelines identify future leaders and ensure the diversity of their high potential pool?
- Which developmental experiences most effectively ensure that diverse talent has the opportunity to grow, be tested, see and be seen by the top of the house?
- What kinds of accountability have the greatest impact on diversity at the senior levels?
- Can organisational culture encourage greater diversity among senior leaders?
Participants will leave the session with specific suggestions for integrating diversity and inclusion they can apply to the talent management systems in their own organisations.
Best Practice of the Month: Ride the Coattails of Popular Programmes
Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) work doesn’t always need to be labeled as such. Sometimes quite a lot of progress can be made towards EDI goals by hitching a ride on other programmes. If your organisation is in the midst of a safety campaign, for example, you may have an opportunity to talk about language diversity and address barriers to speakers of minority languages in the context of safety concerns. Launch of a push for innovation might be the occasion to highlight the role diversity plays in finding unexpected connections between ideas, leading to new products and processes, and educating managers about diversity of thinking style.
A number of companies—especially in the pharmaceutical and health care industries—have linked diversity and inclusion to their wellness programmes and community health care outreach. Because groups such as women or ethnic minorities are more affected by certain medical conditions and may have less access to appropriate treatment, the EDI function can act as the liaison between employee affinity groups or community groups and business units trying to target these constituencies.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives can be a particularly powerful partner in diversity and inclusion work. (A few companies have even housed the diversity function within the CSR organisation.) While the “business case” is the primary impetus for doing diversity in most U.S. and U.K. companies, in some parts of the world, doing the right thing is the stronger driver. The social justice and fairness aspects of diversity and inclusion are especially appealing to people in emerging markets such as China. (See SHRM’s study, Global Diversity and Inclusion: Perceptions, Practices and Attitudes.) In Africa, where AIDS is such a pressing social issue, EDI can be linked to the organisation’s education, treatment, or other community efforts to help deal with the epidemic’s impact. In recent years, the European Commission has been pushing strongly for organisations to create more synergy between diversity and CSR, particularly through the supply chain (including procurement and supplier diversity) and work/life reconciliation (managing working hours, and flexible working).
Making the connections between EDI and other initiatives and brokering partnerships with the functions responsible for them is one of the most important roles EDI leaders play in their organisations.
Don’t Invite Death to Dinner: Webinar for Workplace Compliance Professionals on Cultural Dos and Don’ts in Asia
Members of the Global Workplace Compliance Network (GWCN), and other U.S.-based in-house attorneys and workplace compliance professionals will get a crash-course in working successfully with colleagues in Asia from three savvy business travelers during a 90-minute webinar scheduled for December 16, 2009 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (EST). Based on personal experience, the speakers will share stories that will help participants prepare for a trip, conduct successful business meetings, decode local customs, and interact more confidently with their colleagues from Asia. The panel of experts will include:
- Caroline Croft, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. State Department
- Paul B. Edelburg Esq., Counsel, Murtha Cullina LLP
- Wendy C. Shiba, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, KB Home
This webinar and the GWCN are services of ORC Worldwide and Fortney & Scott, LLC. To register for the webinar, join the GWCN – or find out how to avoid inviting death to dinner – please visit www.gwcnetwork.com. For additional information, contact Nita Beecher at +1-212-852-0436 or nita.beecher@orcww.com.
