Since the culture at most companies has been shaped over time by white male executives, women and minority managers are at a disadvantage when it comes to differences in communication and leadership styles.
At PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Chris Simmons, who is black, heads a diversity program that includes mentoring, conferences and one-on-one talks between partners and staffers who are women or minorities. Mr. Simmons comes from operations rather than human resources. Most recently, he oversaw PwC's mergers and acquisitions.
Few diversity leaders are white men. But Mr. Simmons believed that white men might pay more heed to diversity concerns if they hear them from a white man. "We really have to get away from this model of it just being white women and minority people," he says.
As a white male, tax partner Keith Ruth was surprised last year when he was asked to help PwC's diversity efforts. Some employees questioned his qualifications. But Chris Simmons insisted. "A lot of the people we want to hear the message are white males," Simmons says.
Early on, Mr. Ruth asked the tax practice's regional leaders to periodically review client assignments to make sure projects were being distributed equitably. He also ordered a review of performance evaluations to make sure women and minorities received sufficient feedback and career advice. And he is organizing a conference focused on career issues for women.
Through one-on-one talks with younger accountants Ruth realized that minorities sometimes lack the alumni network that can help advance careers. "It's little things like that which I don't think most partners knew," he says.
Diversity Tips
Experts recommend ways to integrate diversity concerns into daily operations:
1. Enlist white males, as well as women and minorities, to help lead diversity efforts.
2. Involve managers so diversity issues become part of routine business decisions.
3. Have the chief diversity officer report to the CEO.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2007