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Diversity Matters
is edited by
Annette Merritt Cummings
Vice President,
Diversity Services
800.438.9911

Seizing the mission

Erby Foster, director, Diversity & Inclusion for The Clorox Company, is a man on a mission. He wants to put his organization on the diversity map. Doing so requires a kind of eagle-eye assiduity on the matter. For Foster, this includes being able to recite when and where most major professional minority groups in the U.S. host their annual meetings. Read more >

Workplace Diversity and Organizational Development

High-performing and inclusive workplaces share something in common: organizational development. Business leaders are catching on to the fact that a homogenous work staff can’t be adequately diversified overnight, and that only through strategic planning, diversity assessments and cultural change initiatives may companies transform their personnel into multicultural powerhouses. This month, we focus on The Clorox Company, an organization that is doing just that.

 

Seizing the mission (continued)

“We used to be tactical and a bit reactionary,” says Foster. “We would pick a diversity group and go to a banquet or set up a booth at a job fair.” Now, however, Foster says the company is looking at their goals more strategically, developing a talent pipeline and building relationships with diversity groups. This strategy makes a lot of business sense given the rapidly changing demographics of the workforce. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2008, 70 percent of all new entrants into the U.S. workforce will be women and people of color.

It’s no secret that harnessing the potential of these groups translates to organizational success. As DiversityInc magazine reports, in the last decade, companies on its Top 50 list for diversity outperformed the NASDAQ, the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average by a range of 22.4 percent to 28.2 percent. According to Economist magazine, the disposable income of multicultural markets in the U.S. is growing over 50 percent faster than that of the general market. Minorities represent more than 30 percent of the total U.S. population and their numbers are growing 6-15 times faster than the general population.

“While other consumer packaged goods companies are getting recognition, we're not on any top diversity lists. That needs to change,” says Foster. “Employees who mirror the marketplace put us at a competitive advantage.”

To better compete, Clorox is forging alliances within diversity communities, most recently making a $100,000, three-year commitment to the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). The company has also expanded its involvement with the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance & Accounting (ALPFA), and lends support the National Asian American Society of Accountants (NAASA).

Foster says that Clorox understands that these markets represent a huge business opportunity. “Consider the Hispanic segment where the predominant language is Spanish,” says Foster. “We do in-home interviews with these consumers, and those interviews need to be done in Spanish. Even with a great translator,” he says, “some really powerful insights may be hard to pick up on if you're not fluent in the culture. The more people we have with Hispanic backgrounds at Clorox, the better we're likely to be at serving this growing segment.”

To create a welcoming and supportive environment for diverse employees, Clorox has introduced employee resource groups designated for African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, women, and GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers).

Foster says the groups are intended to help employees connect with one another and collectively with Clorox. They help with informal mentoring and coaching, provide input to senior leaders and work with Human Resources and Community Relations on diversity-related outreach. The groups support recruiting and retention efforts as members attend college job fairs and professional organization events with company recruiters to connect with diverse candidates.

“When senior management crafted our 2008 strategy, say Foster, “they made a very conscious decision to set the company up for success by ensuring diversity was a core part of the people equation. You look at the changing demographics and it becomes clear that the only way we will succeed as a company is if we embrace diversity at all levels.”

 

RELEVANT DIVERSITY SITES

National Multicultural Institute
www.nmci.org

Global Diversity at Work
www.diversityatwork.com

Diversity Inc.
www.diversityinc.com

American Institute for Managing Diversity
www.aimd.org

Catalyst
www.catalystwomen.org

Diversity Leadership Forum
www.diversityleadershipforum.org

Diversity Best Practices
www.diversitybestpractices.com/lead.html

Society of Human Resources Professionals: Diversity Forum
www.shrm.org/diversity

Bernard Hodes Group Diversity Services
Workshops & Presentations/Exhibitions & Sponsorships

Annette Merritt Cummings, vice president, Diversity Services, Bernard Hodes Group, will participate in the following:

8.30.06
2006 SHRM State Conference
Indianapolis, IN
www.indianashrm.org/exhibitors.htm