50
president of workplace culture,
diversity and compliance. “He has
brought that understanding with
him throughout his career.”
Understanding the importance of
reaching as diverse a consumer segment as possible has made
Seidenberg a natural diversity champion inside and outside of the
telecommunications giant.
Any company that aims to
become a diversity leader must have
complete support from senior leadership, including the chief executive.
“CEO commitment is critical to
establishing the right kind of culture
[and] a leadership that believes that
everybody gets to play,” Yrizarry says.
Allstate Chairman and CEO
Edward M. Liddy also understands
how important diversity management is to the bottom line. “For
our company to grow and succeed,
it’s critical that every Allstate
employee understand the importance of diversity,” Liddy says. “We
have a strong commitment to
strategies that promote greater tolerance, inclusion and diversity in
both the workplace and in our
communities, and it is my job to
make sure Allstate has the right
strategy, people and infrastructure
to seize our market opportunities.”
That awareness allows the insurance expert to connect the dots for
senior leaders who aren’t as tuned in,
says Anise Wiley-Little, chief diversity officer at Allstate, No. 23 on The
2006 DiversityInc Top 50
Companies for Diversity list.
“If you have leaders that under-
stand their business and a CEO who
can connect diversity to business … it makes it easier
for leaders to execute diversity strategies,” says Wiley-Little, whose company has made the Top 50 list every
year since the list’s inception in 2001.
The connection between diversity and the bottom
line is clear, Liddy says. “Our diverse work force
enables us to deliver the value that shareholders, customers and communities expect from us,” he says. “By
valuing differences, we’ll be stronger and more productive internally and we’ll be better equipped to develop
relationships with emerging markets.”
A CEO’s relationship with the company’s top diversity
executive is critical to diversity success. BellSouth’s vice
president and chief diversity officer, Valencia Adams,
reports to Chairman and CEO Duane Ackerman, but at
one point, when he had too many direct reports, she
reported to the vice chairman—temporarily. “He’s always
come back to the diversity officer really needs to report to
him,” says Adams, whose company is No. 9 on The 2006
DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list.
Ackerman meets with Adams one-on-one every three
weeks. These are important opportunities for the two to
make sure they’re on the same page and it reinforces
Ackerman’s commitment to the discipline. “He has been
How Much Diversity Budget Increased in Last Year
35%
31.1%
30
25.2%
25
20 18.5%
15
10
5
0
Top 10
Top 50
Bottom Quarter
of Respondents
How Much It Will Increase Next Year
20%
15 14.2%
10
5
0
20%
17%
Top 10
Top 50
Bottom Quarter
of Respondents
*There were 256 participants in the Top 50 survey.
