90 AssociationsNowAugust2007

As a vice president with IBM, J.T. (Ted) Childs Jr. helped build a truly diverse workforce

and demonstrated the real bottom-line impact of people of different races, creeds,

and orientations working together. Now principal of his own diversity consulting

firm, Childs talks tough and encourages us to wake up when it comes to embracing

diversity, because we’re not nearly there yet.

By J .T. (Ted) Childs Jr .

Diversity:Why We’re Not Nearly There Yet

Why We’re Not Nearly There Yet

AssociationsNowAugust2007 91

illu

str

ati

on

by

Pla

nk

ton

ar

t C

o.

92 AssociationsNowAugust2007

For the past century,ourdiscussionaboutequalopportunity—whichhasevolvedintoaconversa-tionaboutworkforcediversity—hasbeenlimitedtoraceandgender.IntheUnitedStates,thosearethehistoricissuesthathavebeenthecornerstoneofourcivilrightsdebate.Thatlimitedfocusonraceandgenderhasbeentheresultoftwooutcomes:managementthatdidnotsatisfactorilyaddressraceandgenderandwantedtoholdonand“getitright,”andmanagementthatwasunabletoaccepttheemergenceofother,new,“people-oriented”diversityissues.Takeforexamplethegayandlesbianissuesthatstruggledtogainastrongcorporatefootingandthenevolvedtoincludebisexualandtrans-genderedpeople.Theacceptanceoftheselattertwocommunitiesofpeopleposedanemotionalandintellectualdifficultyforagenerationofexecutivesborninthe1940sand1950s.

Incontrast,thedisabilitycom-munitywasacceptedaspartofthemoraldebatebuthasnotyetgainedcredibilityasanimportantpartofourtalentpool:Wearestillmorelikelytohirethedisabledbecausewefeelsorryforthemandlessoutofrespectfortheenormoustalenttheybringtotheworkplace.Toomanypeoplehavenothadexperiencewithsomeonewithadisabilityandthereforearethemselves

handicappedbytheirinabilitytoseethesimpleword“ability.”

Whatisparticularlystrikingisthatwehavenotsolvedanyoftheseissuesandarenotclosetodoingso.Generationaftergenerationofemployeesandmanagerscometotheworkplacewithquestionsabout,andbiasestoward,peoplewhoarediffer-entfromthem.Thisisaclearmessagethatwearenotonlynotteachingthelessonswehavelearnedbyinteractingwithpeoplewhoaredifferentfromus—lessonslearnedintheclassrooms,sportscompetitions,battlefields,andworkplaces—butwealsoarepassingonthebiasesofpastgenerations.Wesimplyarespendingtoomuchtimeandmoneyinwork-relatedclassroomsaddressingcoreequalopportunityissues—thatis,raceandgender—thatwereaddressedinthe1960s.

Thisrichmenuofunsolved“people”issueshasbeenjoinedbyother“peo-ple-important”issues.Amongthemareeducation,age,faith,language,work-lifebalanceanditsuniqueblendofissues(suchasculture,flexibility,anddependentcare),and,perhapsmostimportantly,povertyasseenthroughthelensofhealth,housing,hunger,andtheenvironment.Inaworldwithaninsatiableappetitefortalent,communitieswithbadairandwater,poorlivingcircumstances,and

inadequateschoolscannotcontributetoproducingtheirfairshareofthetal-entpoolnationsrequiretocompeteintheglobalmarketplace.

Andthenwehavetheemergenceoftheglobalcompany’sacknowledge-mentofits“business-important”diver-sityissuesofthought,culture,geogra-phy,andimmigration.Whilesomewillarguethattheseissuesarethebusinesscommunity’sefforttosabotageourfocusonthe“peopleissues,”particu-larlytodiminishourfocusonethnicityandgender,thesebusinessissuesareacriticalcomponentofaglobalwork-forcediversitystrategyand,ifomitted,willdoomthatstrategytofailure.

Wecannotholdontothepastasasingularmenuoffocus.Wemustbeflexibleinacceptingemergingissues—therearemoretocome—whileremainingvigilantinsustainingourfocusoncoreissues.Wemustalsodemonstrateatoleranceofissuesthatmaynotbecentraltoourpersonalinterests.Diversityis,afterall,theabil-itytotolerate,respect,andvaluethatwhichisneworunknownupuntilsuchnewapproachesrepresentabreakwithourownethicsandintegrity.Andweshouldbeverycautiousaboutallowinganotherperson’sreligiousbeliefstobethebasisforcrossingtheethics-and-integrityline.

Generation after generation of employees and managers come to the work­place with questions about, and biases toward, people who are different from them.

(Continues on page 95)

AssociationsNowAugust2007 95

Whatisimportantaboutthisarrayofissues?Theyallconnecttothefourbasicgoalsofaglobalworkforcediver-sitystrategy.IrecentlymetwiththeCEOofamajorcompany.Webeganwithhimgivingmehisdefinitionofthegoalofaworkforcediversitystrat-egy.Hestateditasfollows:

“Toidentifythekeyinternalandexternalconstituenciesandensuretheyviewourcompanyasasupe-riormemberofbusinessandsocialcommunity.”

Ithinkwhenhelookedatmyfacehesawanexpressionthatwasthe“deercaughtintheheadlights.”Hesaid,“Youdon’tlikeit?”Isaid,“Ijustmetyou,butIwanttobecandid.Ithinkthereareonlyfourgoalsofadiversitystrategy—globalorU.S.based:One,toidentify,attract,andretainthebestpeopleofeachgroup.Two,tocreateaworkplacewherethattalentcanperformattheirbesttorespondtoyourcustomersandmaximizeyourshareholdervalue.Three,toassessandunderstandthediversityofyourmar-ketplaceandensureyouarerespondingtoyourcustomersastheyare,notasyouwantthemtobe,andthattheyseethemselvesinyourvision,actions,andworkplace.Four,touseyourexternalcontributionstoeliminatedisadvan-tageandincreasethediversityofthecandidatesinthetalentpool.”

Thetotaltoneofourdiscussionwaselevated.Itwasastrategicdiscussionaboutbusiness.

Whyarethosefourgoalsthefoundationofameaningfuldiversitystrategy?Becauseglobally,andwithinindividualcountries,wehavepeopledifferences:racial,ethnic,cultural,gender,geographic,religious,anddeepphilosophicaldifferences.Employerswantthebestpeoplerepresentingallofthosedifferences.Andthosediffer-encesareyieldingsubstantial,mean-ingfuloutcomes.Hereare10examples:

1. IntheUnitedStates,49citieshaveatleast100,000people,andtheethnicminoritypopulationisthemajorityofthatcity.

2. In18ofAmerica’stop50cities,

andinnineofourstatecapitals,themayorisawomanorethnicminority.

3. IntheUnitedStatesSenate,thereare16women,twoAsians,oneblack,andthreeHispanics.

4. IntheUnitedStatesHouse,thereare71women;fourAsians;42blacks,includingthefirstMuslimmemberofCongress;27Hispanics,

upfrom10atthebeginningofthisdecade;oneNativeAmerican;andthreegayand“out”representatives.

5. WhilewehaveappropriatelyacknowledgedNancyPelosiasthefirstfemaleSpeakeroftheU.S.HouseofRepresentatives,wehavegivenlessfanfaretothemajorshiftinkeyhouseleadershipandcom-

96 AssociationsNowAugust2007

mitteechairmanships:BlackmenasMajorityWhipandleadingtheWaysandMeans,Judiciary,andHomelandSecurityCommittees;aHispanicmanleadingIntelligence;aLatinaleadingSmallBusiness;andagaymanleadingFinancialServices.

6. The100millionethnicminor-itypeopleintheUnitedStatescomprisealargergroupthantheindividualpopulationofmanynations,includingallEuropeannations,andtheyhaveacollectivebuyingpowerof$1.8trillion.Thegay,lesbian,bisexual,andtransgen-dercommunityhasbuyingpowerof$513billion,andthedisabilitycom-munityhasbuyingpowerof$461billion.Women’sbuyingexceeds$1trillion.

7. Thereare,accordingtoDun&Bradstreet,1,800businessesinAmericathatareownedbywomenorminoritiesthathave100ormoreemployeesorgenerate$20millioninannualrevenue.

8. Globally,thereare69coun-triesthatnowhavesomeformofworkforcediversitylegislation.Theyarecraftinglegislationintendedtodefinetheirexpectationsofcorporateconduct,and24ofthosecountriesrequirethesubmissionofreports.Theyaredoingsobecauseoftheemergenceofkey“peopleissues.”TheEuropeancommunityhasprovidedleadershipinthisspace.Race,gender,disability,sexu-alorientation,andreligionhaveallemergedasissuestobeaddressed.Brazil,withthelargestblackpopula-tionintheworldafterNigeria—yes,moreblackpeoplethantheUnitedStates—andthelargestJapanesepopulationoutsideofJapan,hascre-atedanOfficeofRacialEqualitytoprovideleadershipandfocusonthiscomplexsetofissues.Japan,longabastionofmaledominance,haschangedlawsdealingwithgenderworkplaceissuestocreatenotjusttheperceptionbuttherealityoffairness—atalent-drivennecessity.

9. AndwhiletheUnitedStates

isimmersedinanationaldebateaboutimmigrationandprotect-ingourborders,typicalofourarrogance,wefeelourimmigra-tiondebateistheimportantone.ButFrance,Germany,theUnitedKingdom,andothercountriesarealsobeinginfluencedbyimmigra-tion—bypeoplefromAfricaandtheMiddleEasttonametwosources.Newpeople,differentcolors,newcultures:Theworkforceoftomor-rowwillnotlookliketheworkforceofyesterday—inmanyplaces.

10.Companiontoacountry-by-countrydebateaboutimmigra-tionmustbeadiscussionaboutlanguage.IntheUnitedStates,wespendconsiderabletimedeclaringEnglishtobethenationallanguage.Ibelievethatisaflaweddebate.Englishhasastrongfootholdinthiscountryandwillnoteasilybedisplaced.Butanationanchoredinanimmigrantheritagemusthaveanelasticityoftoleranceaboutlan-guage.Andgiventheglobalnatureofthemarketplace,wemusthaveanationaldialogueaboutrequiringAmericanchildrentomasterasec-ondlanguagebeforetheycancom-pletetheirhighschooleducation.

Childrenaroundtheworldspeaktheirnativelanguage—andEnglish.ChinahasamajorpushtoteachtheirchildrenEnglish.Inthepast,whenwewerethemanufacturingandfinan-cialcapitaloftheworld,wecoulddic-tate,andarrogantlydid,thelanguageoftheworld.Todaywesharethoseroles.Inaglobalmarketplace,thosechildrenofothernationswillbemorecompetitiveforjobsthanAmericanchildren,andwewillhavenoonetoblamebuttheparents,andeducators,ofthosechildrenwhodidnotthinkoractstrategically.Globally,andparticularlyinthe

UnitedStates,therearetwocoreissues:talentandcustomers.Thatwearenolonger“theworld’smanu-facturer”isevidenttoallinformedobservers.TheUnitedStatesiscom-petingwithnationsthatcanproduce

moreworkersandmorebuyersofproductsthanwecan.Whatwebringtothetableisourtalent.America’steamisherworkforce,anditcompetes365daysperyear,24hoursaday,sevendaysaweek.Forglobalcompa-nies,thedebateisnotaboutthequal-ityoftheU.S.workforce.Itisabouttheworkforceineachcountrywheretheydobusiness.Aglobalcompanyrequiresanetworkofthrivinglocaleconomiestobesuccessful.

Thekeytothatsuccessistalent.Ensuringthatallofthepeopleineachnationhavetheabilitytoaspireandachieveaqualityeducationandtheresultingopportunitiesforemploy-mentaccessandadvancementismandatory.Doingsowillenhancethetaxpayerbaseandcustomercommu-nity.Idon’tcarewhatcountryyouarefrom,whatyourphilosophicalbeliefsmaybe,orwhereyoupray—Ijustwantthebestofyourgrouptoworkformyclientsandhaveafairopportunitytoadvance.Why?BecauseIwantallofyourgrouptospendtheirmoneywiththoseclients,andthatmeansthatitisimportantthatyourpeople,allpeople,beabletolookintoeachcompanyandseepeoplelikethemselvesfromthemailroomtotheboardroom.

Wherethatlookdoesnotyieldaclearvisionoffairness,youshouldnotspendyourmoney—thatformofeco-nomicboycottistheultimatearbiterofshareholdervalueandtheultimateformofbindingarbitration.an

J.T. (Ted) Childs Jr. was with IBM for more than 39 years, most recently as their vice president of global workforce diversity. He will be a featured thought leader this month at ASAE & The Center’s Annual Meeting & Exposition in Chicago, which runs from August 11 to August 14. Childs currently is principal of his own diversity consulting firm, Ted Childs, LLC. Email: ted@tedchilds.com

Review and comment on this article at www.asaecenter.org/ associationsnow.