TOP50 DIVERSITY
2010
2UNDERSTANDING LOCAL CULTURES
How much impact should corporate
headquarters have?
QUESTION B
Benito Cachinero
CORPORATE VICE PRESIDEN T, HR, ADP
“It’s very important that the influence of the
corporation is felt from a cultural level. I’m not
an American, so it’s easier for me sometimes
to do some of those things, because we run
into issues and people will say, ‘Well, no. The
culture here is different.’ And I say, ‘No, no.
You’re comparing to the local culture. I want it
compared to the standard, high-performing culture
of multinationals working in this country.’ So the standard in India I am looking for is not the standard of the local employer
on the street. It’s the standard of IBM in India and Microsoft in India and
American Express in India and us in India, which is a different standard
than the standard in the local market.”
Why
They
CARE
Deborah Dagit
VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER,
MERCK & CO. (NO. 13 IN THE DIVERSITYINC TOP 50)
“It depends on the business
case and the legal environ-
ment. If both are compelling,
you can’t wait for them
to get there on their
own, because they are
either going to be out of
compliance or you are
going to miss a revenue
opportunity.”
Eugene Kelly
WORLDWIDE DIRECTOR, GLOBAL WORKPLACE
INITIATIVES, COLGATE-PALMOLIVE (NO. 14 IN THE
DIVERSITYINC TOP 50)
“I went to Asia and we are starting
women’s networks all over the world.
In nine months, we have started 17
women’s networks in different countries
and it’s working very well for us. But it’s
a little bit difficult to focus unless you
have some kind of central feed or central
underlying mission. At our women’s network in New York, we have what’s called
an innovation fund. It’s $2 million a year
that we put aside for any employee that
comes up with any innovation proposal,
and they can get up to $50,000 each.
The women’s network in New York said,
‘Look, let’s do global expansion with the
women’s network and let’s hire somebody and build a portal and make it so
that the groups around the world can
technologically connect.’ We built that
central portal and we pulled together a
global steering committee. There’s kind
of a template, a mission, guiding principles are right there. Three areas of focus
are professional development, work/life
balance and networking, and that’s what
they start with. Then, they do what they
need to do locally to make it work.”
Cindy Brinkley
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF
TALENT DEVELOPMENT &
CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER, AT&T
“When you set the tone, when you
establish business priority, I think
you’re pleasantly surprised at what
comes out of that. Stuff that you
would never think of probably in
a million years because you don’t
know that area. And by letting the
local operatives execute on that,
interpreted how it’s appropriate for
that region, for that market, for that
constituency.”
112 DiversityInc
