Global Diversity

By Charlene Marmer Solomon
EVP, RW3 LLC
rw-3.com

If you thought that issues regarding diversity had taken a back seat to others, they once again became front-page news with the Supreme Court decision regarding the University of Michigan’s admission policies. In fact, to the surprise of many, dozens of corporations filed “friends of the court” briefs in support of the University. Why? Simply because American management realizes that a diverse workforce is an asset for corporate America as well as being the right thing to do.

Typically, however, awareness primarily focuses on the impact of diversity within the U.S., and managers have become quite accustomed to thinking about the issue within the context of the American workplace. More and more, however, global managers are becoming aware that these concerns are beginning to assert themselves in the world marketplace. And, once outside of these borders, the issues go beyond race and gender to other types of differences. In any case, global HR managers need to think about a diverse workforce, worldwide.

Steven Miller, retired chairman, CEO and president of Shell Oil Co. was quoted as saying that the changing global marketplace means that “the individuals who run and staff businesses must be able to understand, learn from, collaborate with…clientele and associates from diverse racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds.”

Why Companies are Contemplating Diversity in the Global Arena
In a world with changing populations, where the most important resources corporations have is human talent and intelligence, you can’t afford to overlook or not thoroughly maximize human potential—no matter what shape it comes in.
“It can be very complicated, but the new interest can be summarized in one sentence: It is about the globalization of business and the changing demographics within each country,” says Peggy Hazard, managing director of Simmons Associates, Inc., a consulting and training firm based in New Hope, Pennsylvania that specializes in organizational and leadership development and global diversity. “Almost every country has shifting demographics that affect the labor pool, customers, consumers and suppliers,” she says. It only makes sense that understanding differences and being able to be inclusive will benefit business.

Look at a few statistics:

• In the EU, the aging population and falling birth rates mean that by 2020, the EU will need 40 million immigrants to fulfill its labor needs and support the social support system
• In Japan, before 2010, 20% of the population will be senior citizens
• In the UK, the Asian population (East Indian and Pakistani) is 6.2%
• In the U.S., women comprise 49% of mid-management positions**

“Diversity elements prioritized would be different by country and region, but to learn to manage and leverage the differences is a world-wide business imperative,” says Hazard. In some countries, it might be regional differences, age or religion. But whatever the diverse elements in the workforce, it takes skills to manage differences in those arenas as to apply it to race and gender.

Companies that have focused on creating a culture that values diversity find that they have better retention of more diverse populations,” says Marcia Brumit Kropf, vice president, research and information services of Catalyst, a New York-based non-profit research and advisory organization working to advance women in business. The organization sees a trend whereby companies are focusing on valuing diversity from a business perspective, and are trying to create a place where talent feels comfortable and productive regardless of race, gender, religious affiliation or cultural background.


There are obvious advantages to effectively managing diverse workers, but you can imagine the challenges involved. If your objective is to attract, retain and motivate your employee base to be productive, then it is crucial to actively learn–not guess—what is important to your global workers, and to discover what the specifics of that locale would be.

Where Do Companies Begin?
Even though there may be a compelling case for valuing and leveraging diversity across your multinational facilities, you are likely to face challenges at the beginning. You need to start with the basics—and that means ensuring everyone involved with the venture appreciates the differences they will encounter.


“I think it is very important to look at the systems you have for identifying talent and developing that talent and making sure that diverse candidates are as included in those systems,” says Kropf. For example, many times women want to be included in expatriate assignments and other global activities, but the assumption by management is that they would not want to handle the challenges of an international assignment. “If you are thinking about a global company, you have will want to expand your concept of diversity,” she explains.


It’s an issue of thinking globally and acting locally, so you would be wise to be sure that any program you institute that works in the U.S. is studied and critiqued by local management. The solution needs to be culturally appropriate, and it is sometimes more difficult than you think to avoid a U.S.-centric approach. So, be sure there are local nationals who are in a senior-enough position to be honest about the approach you take.


Think about it culturally. Japan, is more hierarchical than in the U.S., so how do those cultural differences affect performance development programs? How do they affect giving feedback? How about evaluating people? The Japanese revere age, so how will your Japanese employees handle it when younger workers need to manage older ones?


Says Hazard, “There must be a strong business case. Diversity needs to be part of the annual business planning cycle if it is to be seen as integral to the organization’s growth and health, and not something that is a foreign or side issue.”


Some diversity experts, such as Simmons Associates, Inc. see the central component as change management that drives the global diversity initiative given the specific needs of your organization. Of course, once you have the strategy established by senior management, then you have to figure out what your long term objectives are, and then need active agreement by the people who will be involved in putting into effect. “It has a lot to do with fundamental good, strong management skills,” says Hazard.


Then, comes training. A good program first creates an understanding of the definition of diversity. How is it distinct from Affirmative Action and other regulations, for example? On a global basis, cross-cultural training is a prerequisite. It is fairly accepted now that people have grown acclimated to working with people who are different than they are, but they need assistance in ways to communicate and interact. When individuals enter the global environment, and especially into global teams, they expect things to be a little bit more complicated. If previous experiences have gone well, there are often expectations that they must be open to unexpected behaviors without judging.


To be successful in the global arena, there’s more to it than just technical skills. Interpersonal skills, flexibility, good communication skills and the desire to understand other cultures are easily as important. Successful businesses have members who come from a variety of functions, experience levels and cultures, and they strive to make individuals feel valued, regardless of their background.

Sidebar 1: Creating a Successful Global Diversity Program
For a program to work globally the corporation:

• Must have global values that are integrated into the program
• Must demonstrate unwavering commitment to those values
• Should have regional tailoring for local needs
• Must focus on appreciating diversity, not ethnicity
• Must convey local corporate culture message and values
• Should offer blended learning where face-to-face and e-learning cross-cultural training take place
• Should make it part of performance reviews
• Ask yourself what is the workforce of tomorrow going to look like? Who are the people making purchasing decisions? Get them involved
• Establish metrics to measure the effectiveness of your training and diversity programs.

**According to “Passport to Opportunity: U.S. Women in Global Business,” conducted by Catalyst in 2000.