How to Write a Diversity Plan

Transcription

1 How to Write a Diversity Plan A 10-STEP GUIDE TO SUCCESS Place Photo Here, Otherwise Delete Box Place Photo Here, Otherwise Delete Box By The Society for Diversity

2 Table of Contents Introduction to Diversity Planning Page 3 Step 1: Conduct a Diversity Climate Analysis. Page 4 Step 2: Conduct a SWOT Analysis. Page 6 Step 3: Create Your Business Case for Diversity. Page 7 Step 4: Organize a Cross Functional, Multi-Disciplinary Team. Page 9 Step 5: Begin Creating Your Strategic Diversity Plan. Page 10 Step 6: Plan for Ongoing Communication. Page 12 Step 7: Assess Your Resources. Page 13 Step 8: Create a Budget. Page 14 Step 9: Evaluate Your Activities. Page 15 Step 10: Start the Process Over Again. Page 17 2

3 Introduction to Diversity Planning A community college in the South began to see a decline in the number of students enrolling in its programs while other universities in the area saw an increase in enrollment figures. While the college has traditionally had a diverse student body, students of color have been transferring and dropping out in disproportionate numbers. Additionally, several faculty members resigned over the last year. In fact, turnover has been high-- particularly among Hispanic and African American faculty. Human Resources has been slow to replace these faculty members with other candidates of color. A local community hospital was losing patients. Recent demographic data suggested that the non-english speaking population had grown considerably. The hospital staff had not yet caught up with the changing demographics, and there were no full-time translators. Recently, the facility had two highly publicized medical mistakes with non-english speaking patients. The hospital administrator was pressured to resign and now the facility has new leadership. An international manufacturing company lost several large customers and is in serious financial trouble. The company already laid off 1/3 of its employees over the last year. It is at its bare-bones production capacity, and turnover is high at the overseas plants. Additionally, payments to suppliers are killing profits. But how could the company make changes to the contracts when these agreements and relationships have been in place for more than 15 years? All of these scenarios illustrate the need for a strategic diversity plan. In today s highly competitive business environment, budget-oriented planning or forecast-based planning methods are insufficient for an organization to survive and prosper. An organization must engage in a strategic diversity planning process that clearly defines objectives and assesses both the internal and external situation to formulate new business objectives, implement the strategy, evaluate progress, and make adjustments as necessary in order to stay on track. Essentially, the diversity planning process solves problems. It explores critical questions such as: What is the vision for our organization? What is our philosophy? What are our ethical concerns, social responsibilities, and values? What did our customers/students look like 20 years ago? What did our customers/students look like 10 years ago? Describe the demographics of current customers/students. What demographics can we tap into to increase our market share in 5-10 years? Why? What types of employees will be needed to meet the needs of our customers/students in 5-10 years? What key competencies should employees possess? How do we measure the gap between current & required skills? How can we find highly qualified and diverse talent to meet our customers /students projected needs? How can we best reach, or communicate with, our current and prospective customers/students? Employees? What trends are occurring in our industry? What value do we want suppliers to bring to our organization? What other non-traditional community partners can help advance our goals? How can we best link our diversity plan to our organization s strategic goals? Effective strategy formulation skills are highly prized in corporate leaders and they re absolutely essential during a recession or periods of uncertainty. The ability to develop operational business strategies and then take those business strategies from plan to action (or to rethink them on short notice) sets true leaders apart from their peers. Forward-looking strategy formulation can make the difference between a profitable organization and one that stagnates. Use this how-to guide to create or revise your diversity plan at any time. It will help you to be proactive, focused and creative in your approach to designing a successful diversity plan. 3

4 Step 1. CONDUCT A DIVERSITY CLIMATE ANALYSIS. Before designing a diversity plan, it is important to consider the climate for change within your organization and ensure that your plan addresses the organizational culture. Organizational culture is a system of shared assumptions, values and beliefs that governs how people behave in organizations. The culture of an organization provides boundaries and guidelines that help members of the organization know the correct way to perform their jobs. The workplace culture is ingrained in the behavior of employees and is very difficult to change. For this reason, culture can be thought of as the 'personality' of the organization. For example, a workplace culture can be people-oriented, where individual personalities drive employment decisions and behaviors, or it can be ruleoriented, where tasks are performed in conformity with established procedures. The unique culture of an organization creates a distinct atmosphere that is felt by the people who are part of the group, and this atmosphere is known as the climate of an organization. Organizational climate can be defined as how members of an organization experience the culture. The climate of an organization is shaped by upper management. If culture represents the personality of the organization, climate is the organization's mood. Organizational climate is much easier to experience and measure than organizational culture; it is also easier to change. A good organizational climate is the basis for the successful operation of any company. It substantially contributes to the well-being of employees, affects their feeling of belonging and stimulates their motivation to change. Numerous studies have shown the links between organizational climate and other factors such as employee retention, job satisfaction, well-being, and readiness for creativity, innovation and agility. It is good to know what the organizational climate is within a company and to understand which attributes influence maximum performance. You can find out whether the organizational culture supports inclusion, what areas are problematic, as well as determine what employees and leadership really think about equity if you conduct a Diversity Climate Analysis. The Climate Analysis is a questionnaire that measures the organizational climate via employee reactions to equity, diversity and inclusion. The questionnaire can be facilitated with a focus group, anonymous survey, or through feedback, to name a few. Get creative to ensure that everyone is involved, or if you do a sampling, make sure the selected group represents a broad spectrum of individuals throughout your organization. 4

5 Examples of questions that you could ask include: Have you witnessed behavior or heard comments that were discriminatory or biased (such as jokes, non-inclusive language, double standards, exclusion in meetings, harassment, etc.)? Are you comfortable working with individuals from different races? Different economic statuses? Different languages? Are you satisfied with your job? What is the perception of management? Are senior leaders fair? Are they inclusive? How would you rate communication within the organization? What type of training should be required? Do you believe that all of our customers/patients/students receive equal value from us? Why or why not? What trends have you noticed in customer/patient/student preferences and expectations? Once you determine what your organization needs, you can develop a plan that addresses professional development concerns, as well as justifies the need for ongoing diversity interventions. 5

6 Step 2. CONDUCT A SWOT ANALYSIS. A SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in your diversity initiatives. Strengths Attributes of the organization that are helpful Weaknesses Attributes of the organization that can be harmful Opportunities External conditions that can be helpful Threats External conditions that could do damage In conducting a SWOT you will ask these questions and generate many ideas to serve as possible strategies: How can we use and capitalize on each strength? How can we improve each weakness? How can we exploit and benefit from each opportunity? How can we mitigate each threat? An example of SWOT Analysis follows: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Reputation in marketplace High Employee Satisfaction No formal diversity plan No streamlined inclusion processes across business units Well established position in the market Diverse employee groups Weak Economy Competition for Talent 6

7 Step 3. CREATE YOUR BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY. Some people simply will not buy in to diversity and inclusion unless you show them cold, hard facts. Accordingly, you can strengthen your assertion that diversity is valuable through demographic data, as well as by indicating recent trends in your business, industry, or customer/patient/student expectations. This information will not only provide convincing facts to support inclusion, but it will also detail the justification for future budget allocations. Analyzing data and trends should be a key aspect of diversity planning. Incorporating this component into your strategic plan allows you to make projections about the long-term viability of the organization and seize opportunities for future growth, sales, and talent. Trends consider data, such as buying patterns, attendance rates, utilization reports, and other statistics in the past, present and future. Let s look at the U.S. retail sector. Several years ago, it became evident that online shopping was gaining in popularity. Additionally, customer expectations for sales, service and customization were changing. Yet, retailers did not change their practices and were slow to respond to the new market reality. Lay-off s and product markdowns did not impact the downward spiral because it s hard to cut your way to profit and impossible to produce a flow of viable long-term revenue growth with discounts. At some point, there has to be an in-depth trending analysis. Not only do they need to know specifically WHO is purchasing their products/services, but how will projected demographic and economic changes affect future business. They also need to figure out how they can tap into additional, or new, revenue streams. They may need a little creativity and flexibility, but there is opportunity in diversity. Now, trends should not be adopted haphazardly. Your strategic interventions should be based on research from: buying patterns; utilization reports; statistics; qualitative data; demographic shifts in housing or population; productivity; comparisons to previous records; and other changes in present activities. Taking advantage of trends can yield a distinct competitive advantage, and it can demonstrate how diverse your organization has become over the years. The Business Case is a high-level summary that should clearly communicate why your organization needs to implement and maintain ongoing diversity efforts. It should pertain to the business of your organization which means that you must understand the short- and long-term goals, as well as how the organization generates revenue and where it spends its money. The business case will be presented to senior management and other key stakeholders who can make or break your diversity programming; therefore it needs to speak their language. Essentially, the business case for diversity theorizes that in a global marketplace, an organization that employs a diverse workforce (both men and women, people of different generations and abilities, as well as individuals from ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds, etc.) is better able to understand the demographics of the marketplace it serves and is thus better equipped to thrive in that marketplace compared to a company with a limited range of employee demographics. Your business case for diversity should illustrate the risks of not having a diversity plan, as well as the advantages your organization will gain from incorporating equity and inclusion as a part of its business strategy. In addition, your business case for diversity should tie directly into corporate goals allowing the case to support better management, employee development, technology, operations, service, sales, fundraising, student recruitment and retention, etc. A sample Business Case for Diversity follows. 7

8 Sample Business Case for Diversity By The Chubb Group Those who perceive diversity as exclusively a moral imperative or societal goal are missing the larger point. Workforce diversity needs to be viewed as a competitive advantage and a business opportunity. That's why Chubb makes diversity a business priority and strives to achieve a fully inclusive diverse workforce. Defining Diversity Diversity is about recognizing, respecting and valuing differences based on ethnicity, gender, color, age, race, religion, disability, national origin and sexual orientation. It also includes an infinite range of individual unique characteristics and experiences, such as communication style, career path, life experience, educational background, geographic location, income level, marital status, military experience, parental status and other variables that influence personal perspectives. These life experiences and personal perspectives make us react and think differently, approach challenges and solve problems differently, make suggestions and decisions differently, and see different opportunities. Diversity, then, is also about diversity of thought. And superior business performance requires tapping into these unique perspectives. Diverse Workforce As our U.S. and global customer base becomes steadily more diverse, significant portions of Chubb's future growth must come from tapping into these diverse markets. If we are to form lasting business relationships with our customers and become a true global leader in the industry, we must understand our customers' diverse cultures and decisional processes, not merely their languages. To do so, we must begin with a diverse workplace. It is well-proven that diverse, heterogeneous teams promote creativity, innovation and product development. Only by fully embracing diversity and maximizing the well-being and contributions of our people can we fully maximize the strength and competitiveness of our company. We must encourage individuals to reach their full potential, in pursuit of organizational objectives, without anyone being advantaged or disadvantaged by our differences. Demographics Once a largely homogeneous group, the faces of customers, claimants, producers, employees and suppliers have been transformed into a dynamic mix of people comprised of various races, cultures and backgrounds. In 2008, minorities are roughly one-third of the U.S. Population, and by 2042 minorities will be the majority. Clearly, the U.S. population -- and the world's -- is changing dramatically. Forward-looking companies that recognize and understand the implications of these demographic shifts accordingly alter their customer focus, employee base and business practices to better manage the needs of current and future customers and employees. Buying Power If we disregard the data on changing demographics, we also disregard the substantial growth in buying power of diverse markets. Not only are these diverse minority groups increasing as a percentage of the U.S. population, but so too is the buying power they wield. From 1990 to 2007, minority group market share and purchasing power doubled and in some cases tripled. By 2012, that buying power will increase by another 30%. This economic clout is not limited to minorities. Gay and lesbian consumers will control a 6.4% market share, or $835 billion. The present and future monetary power of diverse markets is more apparent each year. Business Imperative In order for Chubb to remain competitive for talent and for customers, it is imperative that we attract and value diverse talent and enable that talent to attract and value diverse customers. 8

9 Step 4. ORGANIZE A CROSS-FUNCTIONAL, MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM. You want input in your diversity planning process. Therefore, you should organize a group of individuals, both supporters and dissidents, who can help you in your effort. Ensure your team includes everyone who has a diversity task in their job description, as well as those who may oversee different aspects of the organization. Now, make sure your group is not too big or it will be hard to get anything significant done. Also, make sure your planning group has an odd number of participants, in case there is a disagreement and voting needs to take place. Finally, ensure your group is diverse representing managers, front-line workers, students, custodians, people from the East Coast and the West Coast or the North and the South, and anyone else who will make a significant contribution from a different perspective. As the organizer, you should identify the group s objectives beforehand so that no one wastes time. Start with the Draw- See-Think method. Draw What is the ideal image or desired state? See What is today's situation? What is the gap from ideal and why? Think What specific actions must be taken to close the gap between today's situation and the ideal state? Make sure someone takes detailed notes of your meetings and the ideas that are espoused during the gatherings. Now you are ready to begin your formal plan. 9

10 Step 5. BEGIN CREATING YOUR STRATEGIC DIVERSITY PLAN. Strategic diversity planning is an ongoing process that maps, controls and evaluates an organization s diversity and inclusion efforts. The plan will communicate the following elements: Mission defines the fundamental purpose of your diversity plan, basically describing why it exists and what it does to achieve its Vision. A Diversity Mission can last for many years, or for the life of the organization. It is not an objective with a timeline, but rather the overall goal that is accomplished over the years as objectives are achieved that are aligned with the corporate mission. Why create a mission statement? Your mission is an expression of the values you want to see implemented in your organization. A mission statement is a stable foundation on which to base planning. Mission statements serve as a good measure of the integrity of a team-- there must be consistency among and between the values, vision, goals and objectives, and strategies. The heart of one s mission statement is not the actual words, but the process and act of creating it, and then making a commitment to carry it out. Values are beliefs that are shared among the stakeholders of an organization. Values drive an organization's culture and priorities. For example, in the corporate giving department, contributions are made based on the organization s values. If the company values employee participation, it may be unlikely that a grant seeker will receive funds if none of the donor s employees are involved. Likewise, the Office of Diversity must be driven by the values of the organization. What are the values of your organization? Definition of Diversity: Describe how your organization defines diversity: Connection to Organizational Goals. What link will your diversity plan have to overall corporate goals? In some way, you must make an express connection between diversity and inclusion initiatives and 2-3 corporate goals. This requires reviewing the 5- or 10-year organizational strategic plan. An action plan lists what steps must be taken in order to achieve a specific goal. The purpose of an action plan is to clarify what resources are required to reach the goal, formulate a timeline for when specific tasks need to be completed and determine what resources are required. 10

11 Developing Your Plan of Action Evaluate Progress Analyze the Current Situation Define a Common Vision Implement Tactics Success Set Goals to Reach Vision Plan for Sustainability and Funding Develop Strategy to Achieve Goal Engage Stakeholders Identify Link to Corporate Goal Next, outline your plan. For example: Goal 1: To create professional development opportunities for diverse talent to excel within ABC organization. Strategy: Use education and policies to promote inclusion as a core value for the organization Supports Corporate Objective of: Developing and retaining talent Tactic 1: Train managers how to effectively interview, supervise, and be more inclusive with diverse talent. Tactic 2: Establish a quarterly mentoring program focusing on inclusion for all employees. Tactic 3: Identify and coach high-potential, diverse talent for internal promotions. Tactic 4: Update internal policy requiring managers to consider at least 2 diverse candidates for every internal promotional opportunity. Stakeholders: Office of Diversity, human resources, and mid-level managers Budget: $15,000 Measures: An increase in the number of diverse employees and diverse senior level managers, improvements in employee and customer satisfaction, and a decrease in lawsuits/eeo complaints The diversity plan can be produced in a variety of different formats. It may be a chart, outline or report. If this is your first time creating a diversity plan, keep it simple. It should not be 60-pages long because a 60-page plan is too onerous to manage. A more reasonable goal is 3-5 pages but no more than As you become more skilled in developing and evaluating the plan, you can develop longer and more detailed documents. Correspondingly, you may want to have a short version of the plan, viewable by the general public, and a longer version that is more detailed for the diversity department and senior executives. 11

12 Step 6. PLAN FOR ONGOING COMMUNICATION. The success of your diversity plan hinges on your ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders. Communication is a process of transferring information from one entity to another. In developing your diversity plan, you must determine who needs to know what. Additionally, it is important to communicate often, and use different methods. Thus, your communication strategy for your diversity plan should incorporate: Who: Target Audience (Employees, Board, Students, Patients) What: The Key Messages When: Timing Why: Desired Outcomes How: The Communication Vehicle At a minimum, you should plan to communicate the previous year s results and the next year s plans annually. Overachievers may communicate outcomes on a quarterly or monthly basis. Technology has progressed and created many new forms of, and ideas about communication. These technological advances have revolutionized the processes of communication. While technology should be incorporated in how you communicate, it should not be the only source. 12

13 Step 7. ASSESS YOUR RESOURCES. Who can best help you reach your goals? What can they do specifically? Are there any cost-sharing opportunities? What will be the benefit for them? Senior Executives Front Line Supervisors Board of Directors Employee Resource Groups Diversity Councils Diverse Suppliers Community Based Organizations Colleges & Universities Volunteers Your Constituents/Customers 13

14 Step 8. CREATE A BUDGET. The budget for your diversity plan may incorporate: staff, recruiting, training, consultants, events, travel, marketing, communications, memberships, and other expenses that may be incurred throughout the year. You will also want to look for ways that diversity can generate additional revenue for your organization. This requires an understanding of how your organization makes money. Potential Financial Opportunities Diverse Donors Government Grants Diverse Alumni Contributions Diverse Customers M/WBE Business Partnerships Donations New Markets Cost Savings Client Retention Diverse Suppliers Innovative Employee Ideas Risk Management Reduced Turnover Existing Customers Being able to demonstrate the effectiveness of your budget through realistic projections, as well as by showing revenue generation and savings, will transform your division from a non-revenue generating unit into a strategic business imperative. Don t forget whether your organization is a for-profit, nonprofit, educational institution or government agency, executives speak the same language. A good way to enhance your value to the organization is to remember: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Hence, when meeting with executives, communicate how diversity and inclusion is utilized to make money, save money or achieve organizational goals. 14

15 Step 9. EVALATE YOUR ACTIVITIES. How will you know if you are succeeding? The best way to find out if you are successful is to conduct an annual evaluation of your efforts. This requires that you keep track of all supporting data throughout the year, and that you focus on clear results. Essentially, you will compare your plan s goals to what was actually accomplished, and thoroughly assess how diversity and inclusion impacted corporate objectives. You can use a logic model to assess your efforts. A logic model is a general framework for describing work within an organization. An example follows below: Group Action Logic Model In its simplest form, the logic model analyzes work into four categories or steps: inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes. These represent the logical flow from: (1) inputs; to (2) work activities, programs or processes; to (3) the immediate outputs of the work that is delivered to customers; to (4) outcomes or results that are the long-term consequences of delivering outputs. 15

16 The number of hours served, dollars spent, and employees engaged are important to understand the organization s level of commitment. Nevertheless, these are inputs. To understand the value of those inputs, it s important to examine the outcomes of your work. For example: What did those recently recruited diverse candidates accomplish? What happened after employees completed diversity training? What problems did the employee resource groups solve? How many employees did your diverse suppliers hire? How much money did your organization save? What did that free publicity from all of those awards produce? Was customer acquisition easier, did recruiting costs decrease, did you save money in marketing? And how did supervisory training impact turnover? Or lawsuits? Or productivity? These are some of the outcomes that you want to target and report. There are dozens of other business specific impacts that you can chronicle. Think about what constitutes a successful outcome of your work and then determine how to measure that outcome. Keep in mind, there is no magic formula to measure outcomes or determine impact. Nevertheless, the logic model is one tool that you can use to support your measurement efforts. By describing work in this way, diversity professionals have an easier way to define their work and measure it. Performance measures can be drawn from any of the steps. One of the key insights of the logic model is the importance of measuring final outcomes or results, because it is quite possible to waste time and money (inputs) "spinning the wheels" or to produce outputs without achieving desired outcomes. In actuality, outcomes (impacts, long-term results) are the only justification for doing the work in the first place. You can use a Group Logic Model to help you sort through your initiatives, or you can use your own assessment tools. But at the very minimum, make sure your diversity plan evaluation: Describes All Activities Compares Goals to Actual Accomplishments Lists Group Participants & Partners Details Budget Items & Expenditures Explains Challenges & Resolutions (if any) The key focus is on results, and being able to justify the existence of your diversity program as well as any budget allocations. Finally, evaluating your diversity initiatives is an annual process, and it should be in writing. To ensure that you are on track to meet your goals, review your diversity plan quarterly or mid-year. If you find that you are not on track, feel free to adjust the plan at that point. By conducting a quarterly or mid-year review, you can determine what modifications need to be made in order for you to meet or exceed your diversity goals by year-end. 16

17 Step 10. START THE PROCESS OVER AGAIN. The purpose of this step is to serve as a reminder that the Strategic Diversity Plan is not a static document or a one-time creation. It is a living, breathing and changing document that serves to help you clarify which activities will produce desired results; which resources are most important (time, treasury and/or talent) to achieving your goals; and what outcomes are most valuable to the organization. Each year that you review and/or revise your Strategic Diversity Plan, you will find that the process gets easier. You will also find that your organization s objectives will change, as well as market (or student/patient) demographics requiring adjustments to your diversity plan. Or, you may find yourself in a new employment position where diversity initiatives are in their formative stages. Whatever the reason for you writing another diversity plan, the process becomes more manageable if you follow this format and apply lessons learned from other diversity planning initiatives. Good luck! THE SOCIETY FOR DIVERSITY 5225 EXPLORATION DRIVE, SUITE N1-181 INDIANAPOLIS, IN PHONE: info@societyfordiversity.org 17