Hackett: No ... I got one e-mail—
isn’t that amazing—and I brought
that in to show the board what the
commentary was, and it was from
a person who said that I was getting in over my head.
DiversityInc: Did you respond
to that e-mail?
Hackett: I wrote a long letter
saying something to the effect of
“I’m quite proud that I’m always
open to changes.” I took this even
further and said that the nature of
what’s in one’s heart is the nature
of what I believe. Regardless of
your religion, love your fellow man
and do the right thing. I can stand
with good conscience and a clear
mind and know what’s in my heart.
If benefits take care of people,
how can that be bad? If they’re
sick or they’re ill or need nursing,
they need it. I try to have them
understand that they’re allowed to
have their own beliefs, and I can
all shapes and sizes and are very
diverse. To suggest that there is a
segment that can’t be included is
so outrageous. The company, very
early, in Michigan, found itself in
the storm of labor reform when we
instituted a profit-sharing program
more than 50 years ago.
The challenge has come as we’ve
tried to build a global company. I
had to reaffirm to everyone that
[globalization] does not mean
that you do not matter. This is a
modern view of manufacturing and
how things can be made, via trade
or Internet, 24/7 in all of these
countries—in assembling things
all over the world in various places,
we have to build a network. If I
take these two things, the notion
of profit-sharing and the more
recent moment when we had to
change the nature of the contract
they believed they had, I drew
on the fact that the company’s
fundamental principle is inherently
“If BENEFITS take
care of PEOPLE, HOW CAN
that be BAD?”
understand how they might argue
that, but I don’t believe that’s what
we are here for; we’re here for
the broader principle, not for the
judgment of others. I never got a
response back.
DiversityInc: Why do you think
that offering domestic-partner
benefits is an important step for
Steelcase as a company?
Hackett: It’s a ratification of the
type of company that we are. This
is a company that is very broad-minded. We have customers all
over the world; our employees are
about that. This idea of having a
group not covered for benefits just
didn’t make sense. I realized that
we lagged after other companies to
get this thing going, but as I said
to you, it is more a function of the
company standing and taking care
of other groups.
DiversityInc: Your personal
commitment to diversity is very
clear. Can you tell us why you
became a diversity leader?
Hackett: My father’s passed,
but my mother and father were
wonderful parents. My father was
an All-American at Ohio State, and
one of his roommates, Bill Willis,
who passed away last year, was
one of the first African-American
NFL players. They played side by
side and they played against each
other as well; my dad used to say
that [Willis] was the best opponent
he ever had. Willis would come by
the house often, and they would
laugh and talk. My town [London,
Ohio] was very diverse. It was a
very small town, blue-collar, and
my father was a veterinarian … this
is personal for me because I got to
learn the right way. I know a lot of
people who learned the wrong way;
they didn’t mean to, but they did. I
can help others understand.
DiversityInc: How crucial is the
CEO’s personal commitment to
diversity?
Hackett: I can’t imagine diversity
working without it.
DiversityInc: We know that
Steelcase has been involved
in national issues, and your
support of the University
of Michigan in its case for
affirmative action, settled by the
Supreme Court in 2003, is a key
example. We know there was a
geographic reason, but it also
took courage for Steelcase to
be such a strong player in that
case. Are you involved in any
other kind of efforts to level the
playing field on a national level?
Hackett: We have been following
the anti-affirmative-action
movement and Ward Connerly’s
efforts in California, Michigan and
other states. I recently met Luke
[Visconti, DiversityInc partner
and cofounder] and have told [the
pro-affirmative-action leaders in
Michigan] he could have made the
difference in defeating Connerly.
