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By Regina Tosca and Rima Matsumoto
Diversity is a word that is being used with increasing regularity in workplaces, boardrooms, human resource campaigns and product marketing.But what does it mean for a business to embrace diversity? How does a company make diversity operational and beneficial for the company, its employees and customers alike?
A history of equal opportunity can make a big difference — and that’s the kind of heritage IBM has been able to build on. In a trailblazing move that would set the stage for future pioneering work on diversity, the company’s CEO Thomas Watson in 1953 issued the company’s first non-discrimination hiring policy.The policy simultaneously promoted a culture of inclusion within the company, while allowing IBM to influence change in communities where it sought to do business.
Since that time, a focus on diversity has been rooted in IBM’s culture. Adalio Sanchez, General Manager for Technology Collaboration Solutions, explains that the company has long recognized the cultural and economic value of bringing diverse viewpoints and experiences to the workplace. “In the 60’s” explains Sanchez, “the emphasis was more on giving people opportunities. In today’s global economy, diversity is essential to achieving and maintaining a competitive advantage.”
IBM’s ability to innovate and be nimble in a wide array of markets, says Sanchez, is directly tied to its capacity for embracing diversity in all areas of operation.IBM considers the ideas, perspectives and experiences of different groups as vital to the innovation process, making diversity a goal that is integrally tied to the company’s performance and therefore its bottom line. “That’s why diversity is everyone’s job and is embedded in core of the way we operate,” says Sanchez.
Ron Glover, IBM’s new Vice President for Global Workforce Diversity, underscores the point when he describes diversity as an “essential aspect of IBM’s broader business strategy.”
He adds that by mid-century, forecasters predict so-called “minority communities” will comprise more than 50% of the U.S. population. “Even if you keep your operations within the country” says Glover, “you will need to effectively engage differences to remain viable in the economy of the future.”
Glover attributes IBM’s ability to capitalize on the benefits of diversity partially to its flexible definition of the concept, and its willingness to adapt the definition based on the experiences of its workforce.IBM characterizes diversity in some of the more common ways — race, ethnicity, gender — but also in less common ways — socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identification, lifestyle, age and geography.“When we think about diversity as something that is evolving” says Glover, “then we are able to keep ourselves open to learning about all the ways in which diversity is at work in our operations and interactions with clients, suppliers, partners and each other.”
A Snapshot of IBM’s Hispanic Diversity Initiatives
In building on the idea of diversity as a business opportunity, it’s not hard to understand why the company is eager to access the talent, perspectives and revenues that flow from a fast-growing Hispanic community in the U.S. and burgeoning markets in Latin America.Hispanics represent 14% of the U.S. population with a domestic buying power estimated to reach $847 billion this year.
“Hispanic diversity makes plain, old good business sense,” says Raul Cosio, Vice President of Services for IBM’s Systems and Technology Group.As co-chair of the Hispanic Executive Task Force, Cosio’s focus is on “nurturing the skills and knowledge of Hispanics coming into IBM’s workforce,” while at the same time providing mentoring and career development to Hispanics already employed at the company.According to Cosio, the ability to draw in and cultivate diverse talent is key to driving change in the marketplace.The more the workforce can provide insights into the customer’s behavior, the greater the company’s potential to deliver profitable solutions.
The company’s strategy bears out in the numbers.Since 1995, the number of Hispanics working for IBM in the U.S. has grown nearly 50%, and the number of Hispanic executives has grown 270%.Women represent 23% of all Hispanic executives and 23% of the Hispanic workforce in the U.S. IBM’s work on Hispanic diversity has garnered the company numerous accolades from leading Hispanic organizations and professional associations.The return on the investment has been well worth it, says Cosio.
IBM’s Hispanic diversity initiatives focus primarily on hiring, educational enrichment, mentoring, improving the pipeline and market development.Hispanic Diversity Networks help build capacity for Hispanic employee achievement through a variety of activities.Manager-led Diversity Councils strive to create workplaces that celebrate and capitalize on employee differences.The Hispanic Task Force marshals the expertise of Hispanic executives to generate business through tailored marketing, services and products.
A major thrust of IBM’s work on Hispanic diversity is aimed, in part, at reducing the educational achievement gap among Hispanic students, whose high-school-graduation and college completion rates lag significantly behind their white counterparts.IBM programs promote the entry of Hispanic students into educational programs that will prepare them for careers in technology, science and engineering.A major annual event for the company is La Familia Technology Week, which teams IBM with local schools and organizations across the country to hold technology fairs, computer classes, career seminars and workshops that increase access to technology for Hispanic families.Partnering with IBM in Education (PIE), launched in 2004, is a K-12 program that engages IBM employees in school-based volunteer efforts to raise awareness about educational and career opportunities in math, science and engineering.The company has developed and is testing ˇTradúceloAhora!, an email software that performs automatic translation from English to Spanish and vice versa.
In the higher education realm, IBM launched La Grid in 2005.The program uses computing technology to enable faculty, students and researchers at universities to collaborate on innovative industry projects.A goal is to create leadership opportunities for Hispanic students in information technology and engineering.
Diversifying the base of authorized IBM Business Partners is also a critical component of the overall strategy, says Vice President of Market Development Marilyn Johnson.With a growth rate that is three times the national average, Johnson says that Hispanic-owned businesses are a formidable force in the marketplace.She explains that like other highly skilled Business Partners, Hispanic Business Partners bring fresh ideas and approaches to IBM’s development of new solutions to meet customer needs.
Tying The Threads Together:An Integrated Strategy
“A very strong notion in IBM is that everything is linked in a global economy and we need to operate from that framework,” says Miriam Vializ-Briggs, Vice President of Marketing and Infrastructure Initiatives.
Within that context, the company organizes its efforts around individual constituencies but ties the work together through joint initiatives, forums for sharing best practices and other activities. Not an easy task for a company with 329,000 employees doing business in 160 countries worldwide.
Creating a sense of connectedness is key, says Vializ-Briggs.It’s a difficult balance to achieve – creating a framework that recognizes individual differences while building a sense of unity within a workforce that is large and dispersed.She suggests that as the company continues to grow and expand into new global markets, it will be important to reinforce that notion.
With that in mind, the Hispanic Task Force is implementing a new strategy aimed at better integration of its individual activities.Cohesion is the goal, says Vializ-Briggs, and to the extent that the approach is successful with Hispanics it can set a benchmark for the work of other groups, and for the company as a whole.She explains the approach.“Instead of thinking about each activity or program as distinct,” she says, “we will link them back to our overarching goal of diversifying our workforce, leadership and customer base toward maintaining a strong, sustainable IBM.”
“This integrated strategy,” adds Sanchez, “is fundamental to getting maximum traction and maximum success from our efforts.”
The Value of Partnerships
“None of us is as strong as all of us,” says Cosio.He’s speaking about the ways in which cooperation among individual constituency groups helps augment and strengthen the company’s overall efforts to achieve diversity.
Johnson echoes his sentiments.As leader of a business group focused on Hispanic-owned business, among others, her work cuts across all constituencies and she says that collaboration with each is essential to her effectiveness.“I always seek to leverage the insights and position of someone like Raul in my efforts to work with Hispanic business owners and tap into the potential of the Hispanic business sector,” explains Johnson.
It is an idea that is embodied in the concept of bridging, a central tenet of IBM’s strategy that says diversity in one area, such as the workforce, helps influence diversity in another, such as the marketplace.
Johnson points to another aspect of the company’s push to maximize the yield from its diversity strategies – its partnerships with organizations like the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Latin Builders Association, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR).“We could not be successful in what we’re doing without our partners and alliances,” says Johnson.“We are so excited to take IBM’s message to these organizations and develop relationships that are mutually beneficial.”
Vializ-Briggs, who manages the company’s relationship with HACR, says that IBM has “benefited greatly from the organization’s expertise and from its emphasis on data to support messages of inclusion.”In a move that illustrates the value of partnerships, the company is underwriting HACR’s upcoming governance study, which evaluates and tracks Hispanic participation on the boards of America’s largest companies. “Data lends credibility to statements and strategies,” says Vializ-Briggs, “and at IBM that data is useful in helping us bring value to the company. We consider the report a very useful tool in our work and for the business world at large.”
In reflecting again on the interconnectedness of all actions, Vializ-Briggs says that diversity is in everyone’s best interest. “It’s about results,” she says, “and about cultivating the right talent, resources and relationships that not only help us expand and stay robust as a company, but also ensure our strength as an economy and as a nation.”
