# Presentation: 278305

## Presented by
Georgia Coffey
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Diversity and Inclusion
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

*Georgia Coffey*
*Deputy Assistant Secretary for Diversity and Inclusion*
*U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs*

**CAPITALIZING ON DIVERSITY**

**MAXIMIZING PERFORMANCE**

***THE BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY & INCLUSION***

## HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

**1960s**:  Civil Rights Enforcement
**1970s**:  Affirmative Action
**1980s**:  Respecting Diversity
**1990s**:  Diversity Management
**2000+**:  The Business Case for			       Diversity & Inclusion;* *
*	**	**Diversity of Thought*

## DEFINITIONS

**Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)**
- 	The set of laws, regulations, and policies that guarantee every individual’s right to EEO in the workplace, irrespective of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, or disability (reactive, legally driven).
**Affirmative Action**
- 	The requirement under Executive Orders 11246 and 11478 to measure the representation of certain demographic groups in the workforce in comparison with the available labor market, in order to identify potential barriers to equal opportunity and take affirmative steps to correct manifest imbalances through expanded outreach (assimilation).

## DEFINITIONS (CONT.)

**Diversity Management**
- 	A proactive effort that responds to the changing demographic profile of the workforce through the implementation of programs and services that support and empower a diverse workforce through multicultural approaches (program-oriented).
**Business Case for Diversity & Inclusion**
- 	The return on investment (ROI) in terms of performance and economic outcomes that results from leveraging the variant knowledge, skills, abilities, talents, intellectual capital, perspectives, working styles, etc. of a diverse workforce (process-oriented).

## working definitions

***DIVERSITY*** is about valuing and promoting differences, similarities and unique characteristics of groups and individuals in the workforce.

***INCLUSION*** is about empowering and leveraging diversity in the workforce by enabling individuals to contribute to their fullest potential through individual development, retention, and pluralistic work processes.

***EEO COMPLIANCE*** is about ensuring that we comply with all the laws, regulations, and policies prohibiting discrimination and requiring affirmative employment in the federal workplace.

## Slide 6

| Strategy | Focus | Perspective | Organizational Culture |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| EEO | Legal Compliance | REACTIVE; LEGALLY DRIVEN
Legally driven, anti-discrimination focus | Monocultural/
Competitive Tension

Monocultural/
Competitive Tension |
| Affirmative Action/ Employment | Recruitment/
Representation | REACTIVE/PROACTIVE; NUMBERS DRIVEN
Legal obligation to affirmatively reach out to targeted communities to reflect the civilian labor force |  |
| Diversity | Recruitment/
Retention | DIVERSITY FOCUS INTERNALLY & EXTERNALLY
Dismantling internal and external barriers to  encourage full participation of all groups in all levels of the organization  | Multicultural/Assimilation |
| Inclusion | Leveraging Diverse Talent and Intellectual Capital | LEVERAGING DIVERSITY, TALENT & KNOWLEDGE
Creating the facilitating conditions throughout the organization to enable employees’ full engagement and optimum contribution to the mission to achieve maximum organizational effectiveness and performance outcomes.  | Inclusive & Empowering
(High Recruitment, Retention and Utilization) |

**Notes:**
From a recruitment, hiring and retention perspective there are 4 major approaches to diversity.  Each approach has its benefits as well as its limitations. To maximize the benefits of each of these approaches they should be used collectively to establish a comprehensive approach to diversity and inclusion.  Think back to the Giraffe and Elephant Fable... what approach to diversity did the Giraffe take?  What was his perspective on diversity?  What climate did this approach create?  How did the Elephant respond to this approach?  How did the Elephant experience the organizational culture?

## WHY DIVERSITY & INCLUSION?

*We know there is a legal imperative, but is there a...*
**Business Imperative**
- 	Does workforce diversity have a quantifiable effect on business/performance outcomes?
**Economic Imperative**
**	**Is there a financial/economic benefit to workforce diversity?
**Human Imperative**
**	**What is the human cost? How does organizational culture impact one’s contributions to the mission?
*What does the research show?*

## THE BUSINESS IMPERATIVE

*What does the research show?*
**Diversity Research Network**
- Workforce diversity is _positively_ associated with higher business performance outcome measures.
- Racial diversity is _positively_ associated with higher performance in organizations that integrate and leverage diverse perspectives as resources for product delivery.
- Gender diversity is _positively_ associated with more effective group processes and performance in organizations with people-oriented performance cultures.*
- *   *The Effects of Diversity on Business Performance:  Report of the Diversity Research Network*, November 2002: Five year longitudinal study on workforce diversity and performance measures in Fortune 500 companies

## THE BUSINESS IMPERATIVE (CONT.)

**Center for Creative Leadership**
- Diverse teams are _more_ creative and perform _better_ in problem solving than homogeneous teams.
- Diversity in workforce and processes results in _better_ decision-making.
- The effects of diversity are _highly_ dependent on the presence of facilitating or inhibiting conditions in the organization; absent facilitating conditions, the aforementioned outcomes are reversed.*
**UCLA Study**
- Medical students who attend racially and ethnically diverse medical schools indicate they are better equipped to provide care for diverse patient populations.**
**Conclusion**:  Diversity enhances performance but requires attention.
-  *  *Work Team Dynamics and Productivity in the Context of Diversity Conference*, Center
- 	for Creative Leadership, NYU, APA, October 1994
- ** JAMA, September 10, 2008

## THE ECONOMIC IMPERATIVE

*What does the research show?*
**The Conference Board**
- Racial and gender diversity are _positively_ associated with higher establishment productivity, product quality, and economic benefits.*
**U.S. Banker**
- Most highly diverse executive management teams generate far _greater_ revenues and profits than those organizations with the lowest percentage of women on their executive teams.**
-  *  *Workforce Diversity and Productivity: An Analysis of Employer-Employee Matched Data*, Linda Barrington, The Conference Board, and Kenneth R. Troske, University of Missouri-Columbia, April 18, 2001
- **  *Top 3 Banking Teams*, U.S. Banker, 2008

## THE ECONOMIC IMPERATIVE (CONT.)

*What does the research show?*
**National Urban League**
- Diverse companies generated 18% _higher_ productivity than the U.S. economy overall.
**Wall Street Journal**
- Workforce diversity reflecting consumer/market diversity results in:
- New product development
- Consumer confidence
- Increased product/service marketability
- Significant revenue growth (e.g., McDonalds, Pepsi-Cola, IBM  3,000% growth from 1998-2001 attributed to diversity market)*
**  The New Diversity*, Carol Hymotiz, Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2005

## THE ECONOMIC IMPERATIVE (CONT.)

*The flip side...*
**UNC Business School**
- Workplace conflict results in 22-53% lost productivity.
**EEOC**
- Average EEO complaint costs approximately $60,000 (administrative process) up to $250,000 (including settlement/damages).
- 25-40% of workforce attrition rate and 5-20% in lost productivity can be attributed to poor diversity management; turnover costs 75-150% of the replaced employee’s salary.
**Conclusion**:  Diversity requires investment, but the ROI
- outweighs the cost.

## THE HUMAN IMPERATIVE

**Observations:**
- By 2042, there will be no single majority demographic; people of color will comprise more than 50% of the U.S. population; the majority of new entrants into the labor market will globally diverse.  Our labor market, like our economy is irreversably global.
- 46% of employees who experienced intolerance/discrimination indicated they would remain with the organization vs. 71% of employees who had not.*
- Defining diversity solely as race and gender can have a detrimental effect; inclusion and multidimensionality are essential in defining diversity in order to gain acceptance.**
- *  *Employee Discrimination in the Workplace, Public Opinion Poll*, The Gallup
- 	Organization, December 8, 2005
- **  Nkomo, S.M. (in press) *Identity and the complexity of diversity*.

## THE HUMAN IMPERATIVE

**Gallup Survey**:  Employee engagement is a validated predictor of organizational performance; diverse workplaces with culturally competent workforces have the highest employee engagement.*
**Sirota Survey**:  Key motivators for employees are equity, achievement, and camaraderie.**
**Conclusion**:  Empirical data show a quantifiable link between diversity and employee engagement and performance outcomes.
-   *  *Q12 Employee Engagement Survey*, Gallup Organization, performed in the
- 	Food and Drug Administration, February 2005
-  **  Sirota Survey intelligence

## LESSONS LEARNED

- LESSONS LEARNED

**INTELLIGENCE**** ****COMMUNITY****:**
- Obstacles leading to intelligence failures included:
- Hardened attitudes against change
- Insular organizations
- Resistance to external recommendations
- Insistence on preserving the status quo*
- Recommendations for improvements in performance culture include:
- Agencies should encourage dissent, not smother it
- Move away from tradition of searching for consensus in favor of open debate and more diverse spectrum of views**
-  *  *Dissent on Intelligence is Critical*, by Walter Pincus and Peter Baker, *Washington Post*, March 30, 2005
- **  *Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction*, February 2004

## LESSONS LEARNED

- LESSONS LEARNED

**NASA**
- Causes that contributed to the Columbia accident included:
- An organizational culture that squelched dissent
- A performance culture that stifled differences of opinion
- Resistance to external criticism and doubt
- Imposition of the “party line vision...(which) led to flawed decision-making, self-deception, introversion, and diminished curiosity”
- Organizational barriers that prevented open, effective communication*
- NASA has since implemented one of the strongest diversity management programs in Federal government
- *  *Report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board*, March 2003

## TAKE-AWAYS

***What does this mean for the Federal workforce?***
- Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace enhance performance and productivity; they are business, economic, and social imperatives.
- Diversity should be broadly defined, including but not limited to legally protected groups.
- When defining diversity in multidimensional terms, including diversity of thought & perspective, it brings in aspects grounded in race, gender, and ethnicity.
- Diversity & Inclusion strategies must be strategically aligned with business goals; diversity strategies must be complemented with inclusion strategies in order to be effective.
- Intolerance and insensitivity to diversity breeds disastrous and costly results; agencies must first guarantee equity (EEO compliance) in the workplace.

## 10 ATTRIBUTES OF INCLUSIVE ORGANIZATIONS

- Leadership commitment
- Equity in employment, advancement, recognition, and reward
- Diversity and Inclusion principles incorporated in strategic planning
- Accommodation for diverse physical, cognitive, and developmental abilities
- Powerful communication and information sharing (transparency)
- Shared accountability and responsibility (*Shared Leadership*)
- Continuous learning; competency-based diversity training (start with managers and supervisors)
- Participatory work processes; interdisciplinary/pluralistic teams
- Inclusive organizational culture; culturally competent retention and rewards strategies (empowerment, not just $)
- Collaborative, constructive conflict management

## Synergy for a high performing organization

**Performance**

**Organizational**
**Inclusion**

**Equity**

**Workforce**
**Diversity**

**Synergy for a high performing organization**

**Notes:**
As we look at diversity and inclusion from an organizational perspective, we must take three specific focal points (compliance, staff/student diversity, and organizational inclusion).  For each of these areas there are distinct approaches/strategies for maximizing the benefits and advantages of diversity. 

## CONTACT INFORMATION

**U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs**
**Office of Diversity and Inclusion**
**Web site**
**www.va.gov/dmeeo**
**E-mail**
**odi@va.gov**