50
Tony Jenkins
Vice President of Cultural
Competence and Diversity
Systems, BCBSF
Ralph W. Babb Jr.
CEO, Comerica
imbed diversity in the fabric of the company. Many of the awardees are
white males.”
JENKINS: “Our diversity and educational learning sessions are very
inclusive and have a strong emphasis on business results. This allows us to
send the message that everyone in the organization is necessary for us to
meet the unique challenges and opportunities that we face in this changing environment. We need the leadership and involvement of the white
males throughout the process and our definition of diversity establishes
this very clearly.”
VANGILDER: “White managers are engaged in diversity when diversity is woven into the daily management of the business, rather than a separate activity.”
ACKERMAN: “At BellSouth, we see diversity less as a debate and more
as an ongoing dialogue with all of our employees. We reach out to everybody and we communicate a consistent message that an inclusive business
helps us all win in the marketplace. Diversity is a fact of the world in
which we live and do business, and through inclusion, we can take it to
the next level by seeking out varying thoughts and perspectives for the
good of the business.
“We believe our commitment has to start at the top. Our Diversity
Council, which I have chaired since its inception in 1997, is made up of a
diverse representation of senior leaders from across the company. By
nature, this includes white males. Participation on the council involves an
ongoing commitment to raising the bar and to drive diversity throughout
the business. Council members have to actively engage in developing
diversity policies and guidelines for the company. They are encouraged to
lead the idea of inclusion within their span of control and by sponsoring
or coaching one of our employee-networking groups. And they have the
opportunity to be champions for inclusion by speaking to employees and
externally to other corporations and community organizations about our
successes and experiences.”
BABB: “Diversity is a key business driver and core value, which creates
a focus for the entire organization. For our senior officers in particular—
most of whom today are white males—diversity is one of the targets
included in our management-incentive bonus plan and, consequently, senior officers have diversity goals included in their performance-management
plans. In addition, because strong diversity practices are so important to
the future of the company, we ask that all other colleagues include diversity goals as part of their performance-management plan.
“In terms of opportunities to engage, we offer education to increase
awareness and understanding of the business case for diversity. Also, we
encourage our colleagues to support our diversity initiatives by working
with internal groups that are focused on business-segmentation initiatives
for diverse market segments, employee resource network groups and diversity roundtables as an executive sponsor (if an executive team member) or
a group member.”
