Free Essay

Diversity Audit

In:

Submitted By stakacs
Words 1435
Pages 6
Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 About TimoTel 2 TimoTel & Supplier Diversity 3 Criteria and Methods 3 The Business Case for Diversity, its Challenges & Awareness 4 Diversity Challenges 5 Recommendations 5 References 7

Executive Summary
A diverse workforce is more common today than it was decades ago, and is a challenge more companies are faced with today. Multi-generations are working side by side, learning from one another’s experiences. Immigration has increased from 979,000 to 1,120,000 in 2011 [census.gov], and the proportion of fforeign workers has grown as a result. Same sex unions are legal in some areas, women are working, etc. all leading to a more diverse work environment.
TimoTel presently does not appear to have diversity as a focal area in long term business objectives, as you will find in the visions and values illustrated later, but it does place responsibility and accountability for the success of the company on its people. Diversity and diversity management are hardly taken into consideration and have to be developed yet. The TimoTel Officers is comprised of ten males (no females), eight of which are Caucasian; the Board of Directors also has ten members, of which eight are Caucasian males, and two females.
About TimoTel
TimoTel, a company whose beginning started in 1965, manufactures and designs telecommunications equipment for service providers (customers include wireline, wireless, cable TV companies and government agencies). The company had four founders who worked together along with friends and family, growing and eventually going public in 1975. Within those ten years, the company grew from a modest $295,000 (1966) to over $52 million in sales revenue. By 1992, TimoTel not only employed more than 1750 people globally in 22 locations, but also achieved more than $250 million in sales.
As the telecommunications industry took a tumble in the early 2000s, TimoTel, who by now had over 7500 employees, was also impacted. The CEO at the time became known as the cost-cutter in his final year with TimoTel as he pruned resources necessary to keep the ship afloat before he absconded to head another company. The following year, in 2004, TimoTel outsourced the last of its manufacturing when it sold the final plant that remained in Texas, and has continued with downsizing since. While corporate headquarters is based out of xx, xx, the company operates and has offices in at least 32 countries as of today. [Wikipedia, TimoTel*]
Working in a globally downsizing industry poses challenging issues with morale. Diversity is a necessity for any company in this situation and industry. New ideas are needed for service offerings, breaking into new locations around the world, and providing ideas and sharing information to work smarter and more efficiently as a company. The following vision, purpose, values and success are part of the company’s principles, where reference or association to diversity is rather narrow.
Our Vision
Insert Company’s vision
Our Purpose Insert Company’s purpose
Our Values * Insert Company’s Values * Insert Company’s Values
Our Success
Insert Company’s Success

TimoTel & Supplier Diversity
Supplier diversity is a business program that encourages the use of minority, women, veteran, disabled, etc. owned small business as suppliers [Wikipedia, Supplier], and was the only materials available within the organization that focused on diversity. TimoTel defines supplier diversity in the following categories [TimoTel* Partner Program]: * Insert the company’s diversity requirements
Criteria and Methods
Organizational barriers I had in performing this diversity audit included access to Human Resources. The original intent was to speak with an HR representative, but due to organizational changes and downsizing events, this was not feasible. The focus of this audit then was to identify any diversity agendas and learn what information was available. Supplier diversity program reports and requirements were available internally and externally, but little information was outright available on diversity of the people within the organization.
Interviews were conducted with several colleagues within the organization to gain a better understanding of the culture and diversity perception within the company, not only on the company’s diversity stance but how the individual perceived diversity. Outside of the supplier diversity, EEOC and affirmative action, interviewees unanimously agreed they were not aware of any other initiatives in place. They also did not know where to go in order to seek more information.
Figure 1 displays the product of those interviewed on their assessment of their overall climate in the workplace. The results of this small pool are an indicator that more is needed in the way of diversity awareness and management.

The Business Case for Diversity, its Challenges & Awareness
Diversity in the work place, even more so for a global company, should be viewed as a competitive advantage and an opportunity to grow and be successful. As TimoTel emerges in new countries and markets (e.g. Russia), it’s a necessity in understanding the local culture and interfacing with new customers. Diversity naturally encourages creativity. More dynamic teams would develop, and in turn would generate better ideas that contribute to this competitive edge. This also allows the company to better understand the demographics of the marketplace it participates in, and subsequently is better prepared to prosper in that marketplace than that of a company that is limited in this area. Diversity goes far beyond employing minorities; it has to be managed in order to contribute to the company’s results.
Why care about diversity? some may ask. There are several reasons. As mentioned, it’s a global market that TimoTel operates in. Demographics are changing, as well as the concept of America the “melting pot”. Immigration rates can expect to increase, which impacts the culture as we know it today or knew it years ago. Research shows that diverse working groups are more productive, creative, and innovative than homogenous groups [Herring, 2009]. Diversity will be more of a business issue going forward, even over the legal and ethical implications. Initiatives at the business level will likely be shared with strategies in cost reductions, improved profits, new product introductions, and improving productivity and efficiencies.
Diversity Challenges
With diversity comes challenges that need to be dealt with. Resistance to change is a factor, even though it’s not a challenge specific to diversity. Established cultures are difficult to change, and this type of change takes time and tremendous effort to overcome. Due to lack of knowledge and awareness, some resent the Equal Employment Opportunity and perceive it as unfair treatment of a minority over non-minority. More conflict will exist.
Recommendations
TimoTel utilizes a balanced scorecard and business framework for key objectives. By linking diversity to strategic goals, executives and employees would be aligned with positioning the company as diversity-friendly and be accountable for effective diversity management. According to a Connections Magazine article (Levin, 2004), too many managers treat diversity initiatives as a flavor of the month objective instead of a corporate culture initiative that is ongoing. These links tie into the recruiting and hiring, training and coaching, equality in compensation, incentives, employee motivation, and overall development and advancement.
Another recommendation would be to provide meaningful awareness training. This would help build a common understanding of diversity, as well as educate all on the impacts, benefits and challenges diversity has on an organization. I mention meaningful for content because the training has to be supported by management, management (including executives) has to be committed to the content (message) of the training, relative, and has to be more than training occurring in the workplace to address diversity.
Sponsoring and promoting programs and events to help raise awareness would be beneficial. There are cultural and others differences employees encounter on a daily basis when interacting with global teams. These could include national awareness of the countries we operate in (e.g. I didn’t know until just recently our Finland office is only allowed to work 37.5 hours per week, what holidays and time off can be expected when working in the Asia region, etc.), Black History month, Gay/Lesbian awareness, and Women’s History month.

References
[Wikipedia, TimoTel*] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TimoTel* 07/15/2011
[Wikipedia, Supplier] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplier_diversity 08/02/2011
[census.gov] http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/country.php 08/17/2011
[TimoTel* Partner Program] http://www.timotel*.com/about/PartnerProgram/define.shtml 08/02/2011
Herring, 2009; Chang et al., 2003; ACE and AAUP, 2000
Turnbull Ph.D., Helen; 2011; The Diversity Challenge www.diversityconsultingcompany.com
Levin, Greg. “Diversity: Celebrate Difference, Strengthen Performance.” Connection Magazine VOL 12, NUM 3, April 2004: 34-36

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Diversity Audit

...April 08, 2012 DIVERSITY AUDIT Company Highlights Merck and Company, Inc., a pharmaceutical leader, has a clear vision which is to make a difference in the lives of people globally through their innovative medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, consumer health and animal products. The company’s core strength is the skill, integrity and creativity of its people. Merck employees, while remarkably diverse in background, training and life experiences, are all motivated by innovation and their mission of providing products that save and improves lives around the world. Under the leadership of Kenneth C. Frazier, who serves a threefold role: Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, Merck and Company reflects its corporate values and guides in day-to-day decision making. Merck recognizes that the world is changing and they have to keep up with the changing demands. The company’s vision is “a commercially sustainable business that both increase the accessibility of products globally and helps build local capacity for quality, healthcare services for those who need them most. Background Merck and Company is an innovative, global healthcare leader that is committed to improving health and well-being around the world. Merck and Company is a very unique leader in its diversity outlook. The company, sort of like IBM, encourages diversity through their employees by: Diversity Acknowledges...

Words: 1032 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Diversity Audit

...Homework Reflective Paper: Diversity, What Does It Mean to You? Today the world was radically changed from all sides. Things are not like in the past; all cultural fundamentals were upset by this change. Technological advances have also facilitates this situation; it helps and easily promotes peoples to move from a city to another one, from a country to another, from a continent to another. Obviously, it has brought closer people from diverse origins. Thus, the world has become a small village. People are forced to live together by ignoring or considering their differences such as race, religion, national origin, age, gender and disability based on equal representation, valuing differences, embracing others, respect, inclusion. We call this fact diversity. Taking in account diversity by organizations involved some considerations. That’s why implementing and managing diversity to be successful need adequate approaches. The term “Diversity” is not sound simple; it refers to a range of elements as mix, numerous, variety… Here, it means a huge, large composition of people from different origins and backgrounds. In the broadest sense, it also include race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, religion, social status, primary language, tenure, organizational function, education and more. Then, to effectively manage all this, we need to take in account many considerations and strategies to avoid frustrations and other consequences because it can harm or...

Words: 555 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Diversity Audit

...Diversity Audit DeVry University Kinect Orlando The diversity study will examine a localized organization within DeVry University. There have been perceptions by many of the employees in this organization that there has been blatant reverse discrimination by the management, who at the time were African American. The situation has changed considerably as this organization has grown, however the events of a couple of years ago are worth a closer examination. DeVry University’s new online student enrollment is handled by their Kinect Division. This organization has over five hundred employees located mainly in the Chicago area and a remote center in Orlando constituting nearly one hundred employees. There are current plans to add an addition four hundred enrollment advisors in DeVry’s new building located in downtown Chicago. . This paper will discuss the challenges which the Orlando location has experienced. Currently the Orlando location consists of nearly ninety Admissions Representatives, seven Assistant Directors of Admissions (front line management running teams of approximately ten representatives apiece), three Directors of Admissions and one Senior Director of Admissions. The site also has a support staff of six, however, they will not be considered in this paper due to the negligible impact this team has upon the subjects being discussed. The responsibilities of the admissions advisors are vast and varied, perhaps the best...

Words: 1376 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Diversity Audit of Walmart

...HR 582 DIVERSITY AUDIT WALMART Yeliz Makuloglu Executive Summary An organization’s success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits. When organizations actively assess their handling of workplace diversity issues, develop and implement diversity plans, they make business sense for both for profit and not for profit companies. Creating a diverse workforce provides tremendous opportunities for organizations and individuals to tap into the ideas, creativity and potential contributions inherent in a diverse work force. In this paper we will be analyzing WALMART and its diversity workforce. Most of the information was conduct from the manager who is working at WALMART located Clearlake. Organizational Background This paper will be evaluating the diversity initiatives of Wal-Mart. Sam, who first brought the idea of this corporation, traveled the country studying everything he could about discount retailing. He became convinced American consumers wanted a new type of store. Trusting his vision, Sam and his wife Helen put up 95 percent of the money for the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Ark. Discounters such as Kmart quickly expanded in the 1960s, while Sam only had enough money to build 15 Wal-Mart stores. In 1972, Wal-Mart stock was offered for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange. With this infusion of capital, company grew to 276 stores in 11 states by the end of the decade. The first Supercenter opened...

Words: 3994 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Diversity Audit

...DIVERSITY AUDIT SECTION 1 Managing Global Diversity Describe the organization The Organization I have chosen to Audit will be SunTrust Bank, Inc. SunTrust Banks, Inc., with total assets of $170.8 billion on March 31, 2011, is one of the nation’s largest financial services holding companies. Through its flagship subsidiary, SunTrust Bank, the company provides deposit, credit, trust, and investment services to a broad range of retail, business, and institutional clients. Other subsidiaries provide mortgage banking, brokerage, investment management, equipment leasing, and investment banking services. Atlanta-based SunTrust enjoys leading positions in some of the most attractive markets in the United States and also serves clients in selected markets nationally. The Company’s mission is to help people and institutions prosper by providing financial services that meet the needs, exceed the expectations, and enhance the lives of our clients, communities, colleagues, and ultimately our shareholders. SunTrust’s 1,665 retail branches and 2,924 ATMs are located primarily in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. In addition, SunTrust provides clients with a full selection of technology-based banking channels including online, 24-hour customer services...

Words: 518 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Diversity Audit

...middle class white people, J.Crew has been successful in making their clothes available and popular with younger people of all races while maintaining their affluence and exclusivity. J.Crew has reported a jump in sales corresponding to the increased diversity in their target markets. The retailer is also making strong efforts to tap into the buying of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual communities with their androgyny. The company has a desire to embrace change while maintaining the classic brand staples that they are known for. The company C.E.O. Millard Drexler is able to reshape his vision for the company by making store visits with the company president where they hear firsthand from customers and frontline sales associates. To help conduct my audit, I will use a diversity audit survey including, but not limited to, questions about recruitment & selection, application process, interviews, current retention and progression, training, company culture, equal opportunities, and time off. As a former J.Crew employee I have access to their hiring process and will also have access to interviews with current J.Crew employees. There has been a lot of media buzz about the company and the publics view of J.Crew and their diversity as a company and as a brand. I will be able to use these articles as research tools in addition to official company profiles from...

Words: 437 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Diversity Audit

...Diversity Audit Managing Global Diversity HR582 June 16th 2011 The organization that I have chosen is National Consumer Panel or NCP. I have been working for NCP for a year now and I decided to use them for this project for two reasons. One is because I currently work there and will have access to the information I need and two I feel that the company can be more diverse when it comes to upper management. I work as a Customer Service Representative for NCP in Syosset, New York. NCP gathers information from consumers (who we call panelist) and sells that information to businesses that are interested in consumer shopping interest. We gather this information by sending our panelist a barcode scanner which they use whenever they purchase an item, then once a week they transmit that information over to us. They also are sent surveys about the products they purchase and there likes and dislikes of various items. My first step will be to retrieve as much information about the company and their position on diversity. I should be able to get this information from the HR department and their intranet site. Although this company is nationwide I will narrow my research to the New York office. From there I plan on interviewing with personnel from HR and upper management, I feel that this will not be a problem because I do have a working relation with all these people. Once I have gathered all my information I will begin to determine what is the right course of action for this...

Words: 2832 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Ups Diversity Audit

...UPS Diversity Audit HR582 - Managing Global Diversity image Table of Contents Executive Summary Businesses as a rule consist of various structures, whether in its people, customers, or board members. With that being said, I have chosen to audit the diversity within the global organization: United Parcel Service (UPS). The diverse makeup of this company shows the assorted roles within each department from corporate management down to the actual labor force doing the work. Conversely, without proper management skills, managers could neglect to acknowledge the role of each part of the corporate structure. Consequently, a distinctive form of audit is necessary, an audit that can deliver information of how well UPS manages the diversity of its resources. In order to perform this audit properly, a set of sound quantitative and qualitative criteria is required. I will be evaluating the diversity initiatives of UPS, one of the most prolific package delivery service companies in the world. The assessment will indicated whether or not UPS has a sound ability of diversity management. Diversity Audit UPS Organizational Background I.1. Corporate History Currently, United Parcel Services Inc. is the largest package delivery company and leading universal provider of specialized shipping and logistics services in the world in terms of delivery scale. UPS delivered more than 10 million packages to millions of destinations in 200 countries, with over 462,000 employees...

Words: 3835 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Starbucks Diversity Audit

...Executive Summary This paper will focus on the diversity audit that has been done for Starbucks Coffee Company. The audit will have a description of the company’s background along with viewing the company’s different types of practices that they use that involves diversity. We will be viewing the company’s statements and conducting research on previews interviews and even viewing news articles about the company. We will find out what the organizations diversity practices will consist of according to the deep research that will be conducted. The audit will consist of learning about the background of Starbucks and how the company addresses and approaches diversity within their organization. The paper will be focusing on David A Thomas and Robin J Ely’s three paradigms of diversity which consist of” discrimination and fairness, access and legitimacy and learning and effectiveness paradigm” to compare and contrast the methods that Starbucks uses as a form of diversity. Finally, making some suggestions and recommendation on how Starbucks can improve their current state of diversity. First we will discuss how Starbuck came about the companies background along with the diversity methods they have been using allowing them to become very successful. Organizational Background Howard Schultz is the CEO of Starbucks and the founder of this company since 1982. In his opening mission statement he states “Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit-one person, one cup and one...

Words: 2578 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Diversity Audit in Mental Health

...A Diversity Audit in Mental Health Setting TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Page 3 INTRODUCTION Page 4, 5 BACKGROUND Page 5, 6 LITERATURE REVIEW Page 6, 7, 8, 9 BENEFITS OF MANAGING DIVERSITY Page 9, 10 PROGRESS TOWARDS MANAGING DIVERSITY Page 10, 11 RESEARCH QUESTIONS Page 11, 12 METHODS ` Page 12, 13, 14 DISCUSSION Page 14, 15, 16 LIMITATION Page17, RECOMMENDATIONS Page 17, 18 REFERENCES Page 19, 20, 21, 22 APPENDIXES A Page 23 APPENDIXES B Pages 23, 24, 25, 26 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which employees...

Words: 5237 - Pages: 21

Free Essay

Sagara

...Feature articles Workplace diversity: developing a win-win-win strategy Joan Marques iversity as a topic earns more attention today than it has ever received before, and the reasons are easily understandable: global migration is increasing, the internet is enabling communication on a worldwide scale, and business leaders are continuously in search for less expensive resources and lower wages to pay. All these trends result in progressively diversified workforces locally and internationally. D Joan Marques is Instructor, Business and Management, Woodbury University, Burbank, California, USA. Increasingly, companies allocate special room for diversity practices on their web sites. Yet, there are some interesting observations that may not necessarily be new, but should nevertheless regularly be brought to the attention of business leaders. Why? So that they can keep track of the best way to develop and implement diversity in their organizations. Let us briefly look at the right reasons and the right way, beginning with the right reasons. The right reasons Often, organizations pride themselves in implementing diversity in order to accommodate customers. But there is only limited reason to be proud of this way of bringing diversity to the workplace. What these companies overlook is that they apply diversity only as a means toward an end, not as an end in itself: B They apply diversity with the primary mindset of profits. They reach out to their customers, but do not...

Words: 1363 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Seven Reasons Why Xerox Should Be Motivated to Diversify Their Workforce

...workplace diversity. The reasons why Xerox should be motivated to diversify their workforce is more talent will be employed at Xerox if employees of all cultures and race are hired because diversity is a key to achieving critical business results. Furthermore, there will be more knowledge sharing employees can share cultural traits, market demographics and help develop companies develop robust knowledge management and market intelligence systems that create productive people and an innovative company by recognizing and respecting diversity and empowering individuality. Enhanced Productivity by processing varied skills, competencies and capabilities of different races and cultures, Xerox can increase its productivity worldwide (Xerox) that will make them a prominent player despite the economic slowdown in technology spending. Reduced Discrimination at Xerox woman and minorities make up for 52% of the workforce and 42.5% of Xerox senior executives are women or people of color or both (Xerox). This motivates employees in a way that they feel like they appreciated and valued. Besides, its make them challenge each other’s underlying assumptions, freeing everybody from convention and orthodoxy. Xerox has strict discrimination policies as well. With the inclusion of women in the workforce, Xerox developed a form of “flex time” that allowed for a better work/home life balance which has increased productivity which clearly shows how Xerox shows its values workplace diversity. They also...

Words: 822 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Gender and Diversity in the Workplace

...Abstract Diversity encompasses characteristics that categorizes individuals and allows for self-identification. Diversity presents itself in two different forms, visible and invisible. Those that are visible forms of diversity include ones physical appearance, sex, race, age, ethnicity, speech patterns and language. Those that are nonvisible include characteristics such as religion, national origin, illness and sexual orientation (Clair 2005). When discussing diversity in the work environment, most often times they are discussing the outward, visible characteristics, however invisible social identities are common in the workplace. Gender is one of the most common viewed issues when looking at diversity in the workplace. The glass ceiling and equality issues are analyzed and discussed frequently. Discoveries have been made that support the idea that woman should be on more Boards and should be making more decisions on allocations of monies. This paper seeks to address how diversity impacts an organization and how managers can make diversity work for them.   Introduction According to Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly, and Konopaske (2012), Diversity is a term that describes the cultural, ethnic and racial differences in a population. A more comprehensive definition by Gibson et al (2012) indicates that diversity is “an array of physical and cultural differences that constitute the spectrum of human attributes. There are six dimensions of diversity which include: age...

Words: 2636 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Diversity in the Workplace

...Short Essay | Diversity in the Workplace | How it can create business related advantages | | Madison Roney: 7660183 | 5/15/2013 | | In modern western society, the diversification of culture has increased dramatically in recent years. With this shift, along with the growing competitiveness of the labor market, corporations have been forced to hire more employees who are not familiar with the spoken language or societal norms present in western culture. Many corporations, as much as 80% according to equity activist Trevor Wilson, consider cultural barriers to be a burden on their managers and fellow employees. As a result, these corporations fail to treat their employees equitably. (Hayes, 1999). One could argue, however, that the diversification of employees within the workplace has various business related benefits such as improved efficiency, bottom line revenue, and relationships formed with co-workers, managers and customers alike. However, to ensure its success, principles of transformational leadership must be used on the part of managers and various challenges must be overcome in order for these benefits to take full effect. This is not the first time in Canada's history where ethnic equality in the workplace has been a subject of interest. In 1993 the New Democratic Party in Ontario, whom was the provincial government at the time, enacted an employment equity law to ensure fair employment opportunities to workers from select minority groups. This legislation...

Words: 1570 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Diversity

...group in the U. S. by the year 2010. In order for companies to fully and aggressively compete in the marketplace, they will need to consider these statistics and work towards attracting, recruiting, developing and retaining a diverse workforce. This will be critical if they are to survive. They will also need to recognize that the market they cater to is becoming more diverse. Diverse groups are a growing percentage of the buying power in the United States. In order to maintain competitive advantage in the sector they serve, organizations will need to truly understand its customers, clients, members and employees and will need to create an organizational climate that is welcoming to all. The Birth of the Diversity Movement The “Diversity” Movement was born in 1987, when the Hudson Institute launched a study titled “Workforce 2000”. The study projected demographic trends that would impact the workplace, as we knew it by the year 2000. One of the predictions made was that there would be a marked growth in the number of women and minorities entering the workforce. In fact, the report suggested that women,...

Words: 2841 - Pages: 12