50
Leadership Forum. Of managers’
bonuses, 10 percent to 15 percent
are linked to diversity metrics, while
for the company’s executive team,
25 percent of the bonus is linked to
diversity metrics, says Anand.
From Public Scrutiny
to No. 2
Consolidated Edison Co. of New
York, No. 2 on The DiversityInc
Top 50 Companies for Diversity
list, was hit with such a barrage of
employee complaints from its black
and Latino employees that the
ruckus caught the attention of the
Rev. Jesse Jackson.
In 1998, Jackson told Con Edison
of New York’s then-CEO Eugene R.
McGrath that he received hundreds
of complaints from the utility’s black
and Latino employees.
They told Jackson they
had been denied promotions because they were
black or Latino and feared
retaliation if they confronted the company.
The company denied
the charges but has focused on diversity increasingly in the subsequent
years, which has paid off. The utility
started online diversity training for
all employees—CEO on down—and
more than 12,000 of its 13,000
employees have completed the training. Also launched was a committee
devoted to succession planning, on
which the head of diversity sits, and
programs that develop an employee’s
leadership skills.
Beyond the committee, “we
recently instituted an executive
mentoring program,” says Joan Jacobs, director of the
EEO affairs department, who heads diversity. “The
focus is on women and people of color where we
match executives with women and people of color who
are not in the executive ranks.”
Of the utility’s managers who received promotions,
37 percent were people of color, compared with 28 for
the Top 50 average. Of the utility’s managers, 29. 7 percent were people of color while at Top 50 companies
the average was 23. 8 percent.
The current CEO, Kevin Burke, is in step with the
diversity initiative, which enables it to succeed. Jacobs is
no more than one direct report removed from Burke,
who personally reviews and signs off on diversity metrics,
progress, goals and achievements. He’s also made sure the
utility’s corporate-vision statement incorporates diversity.
Always, It Starts at the Top
CEO commitment is at the heart of MGM MIRAGE’s
diversity success. Chairman and CEO J. Terrence
Lanni saw to it that an external diversity council was
created following the 2000 acquisition of MIRAGE
Resorts by MGM Grand, which created MGM
MIRAGE. He also hired Punam Mathur in 2001 to
guide the company’s diversity efforts and since then,
MGM MIRAGE has set the bar for diversity management success on the Las Vegas strip.
Now, MGM MIRAGE is using diversity training to
ensure that its acquisition of Mandalay Resorts runs
smoothly. The acquisition increased MGM MIRAGE’s
“Sales is so much about relationships, so it
behooves us to use every tool we can to be
successful in the market. Pen”ny Deitch, Compuware
number of employees from 45,000 to 70,000. Mathur,
who in May 2004 was promoted from vice president,
corporate diversity and community affairs to senior
vice president, corporate diversity and community
affairs, saw to it that all new leaders attended three-day
Diversity Championship training after the acquisition
of the Mandalay properties.
“They didn’t know each other, trust each other, and
Diversity Championship training was the way to do it,”
says Mathur. “The training coalesced teams and they
could articulate their business goals … and gave them a
vision on the way we want them to run their businesses.”
MGM MIRAGE’s retention speaks volumes about its
treatment of its employees. Retention is unbiased—for
