Most people would agree that cultural diversity in the workplace utilizes our country’s skills to its fullest potential and contributes to overall growth and prosperity. But there is a widening gap between the rich and the poor and one of the reasons for this is that minority groups like African, Hispanic and Asian Americans are unfairly relegated to lower skilled, lower pay positions and unable to fulfill their fullest potential. Corporations have been quick to realize that diversity pays dividends back to the company by making it easier to retain good employees, lowering costs and developing a reputation that help attract new employees.
Formal statements relating to diversity at IBM can be found as far back as 1953 by the then CEO Thomas J Watson Jnr, who said: “It is the policy of IBM to hire people who have the personality, talent and background necessary to fill a given job, regardless of race, color or creed.”
This was from IBM’s first equal opportunity policy letter, a year before the U.S Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education which we read about in week 3 (Rico, B., 345). It was the ruling that the segregation of white and African Americans children in public schools on the basis of race that denied African Americans the equal protection guaranteed by the 14th amendment.
IBM have created a policy called Diversity 3.0 (IBM) that may sound like a software program but is actually a policy that is grounded in the Equal Opportunity legislation and compliance. IBM’s Equal Opportunity policy has different levels from Diversity 1.0 which is the law that was past in the mid-20th century to Diversity 2.0 which was created in 1990’s with the focus on eliminating barriers and understanding regional constituencies and differences between them. As the demographics have changed in America and the increase migration of different ethnic groups, IBM has adapted their workplace to be more flexible and began Diversity 3.0 which is focused on work-life integration. In addition, in the last five years, IBM’s has created policies that deal with ethnic values that link together with Diversity 3.0. IBM believes that their diverse workforce is a competitive advantage and by consciously building diverse teams helps them create the best results for their client. This shows IBM commitment to tackling the diversity issues way before the U.S government was to begin its campaign for diversity.
The chart below is a break down of IBM minority workforce, broken down between Blacks, Asian, Hispanics and Native America. I will focus on the Asian workforce and how they contribute and interact with their fellow employees. We can glean much information on what the Asians workforce is most interested in and gain insight from their interactions with co-workers based on job title.
This data was taken in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Asians roughly account for 50% of the Minority workforce at IBM, which is a very large number and account for 13% of the entire workforce. Asians have been groomed to want to excel in business and most have a passion for computers. IBM has a prestigious name that most people are attracted to and have to compete vigorously to enter into. The job categories that one can enter into at IBM are split into seven groups. Most Asians are either Professionals or into marketing which tells me a lot about how much IBM has wanted to accommodate diversity. I do not know many Asians that are into Marketing. Asian have been stereotyped as not being creative as others ethnicity groups. The world and China itself has brought the stigma of China being a copycat nation rather than a true innovator (Wadhwa,V, 2008) . So it is a relief that Asians are given to opportunity to excel in whatever field they desire at IBM.
To quote an IBM manager on Chinese workforce, He states that “Chinese are rated highly on hierarchy and low on individualism and middle of the road on assertiveness and masculinity”. (Ambler, T. 2008).
From this statement, Chinese are perceived as somewhat passive and middle of the road when it comes to making difficult decisions. This negative view of Chinese employees can hinder them from jobs such as Managerial positions that require proactive stance and decision making.
IBM business activities such as hiring, training, compensation, promotion and recreational activities are conducted without discrimination of race and comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws, including those dealing with equal opportunity. Managers at IBM are expected to ensure a work environment free from all forms of discrimination and harassment. IBM has been giving many awards for its proactive approach to ethnic diversity, for Asians it has received. It has been awarded as one of the Top 20 Companies for Asian Americans by Asian Business Ventures for the seventh consecutive year, 2009 (IBM, Awards) .
Aside from IBM’s diversity team within human resources, three other groups within IBM have formally identified roles in the implementation of the company’s overall diversity strategy. These are IBM’s Diversity Council, diversity contact officers and diversity champions.
The Diversity Council - IBM’s Diversity Council, chaired by our CEO Philip Bullock, ensures that IBM visibly encourages and values the contributions and differences of employees from various backgrounds. Its key objectives are to heighten employee awareness, increase management awareness, and encourage the effective use of IBM’s diverse workforce.
Cultural awareness/acceptance in action - Cultural diversity education and awareness initiatives at IBM can be grouped under two headings: individual professional development and general staff awareness.
Professional development - IBM manager ‘Quick Views’ are, as the name suggests, intranet-based resources designed to give managers essential and accessible information to conduct business successfully with clients or colleagues from another country. Topics include: culture and globalization, culture and business and diversity and multicultural management. So if a manager is called upon to travel suddenly to a new culture, Quick Views offers handy hints on business meeting protocol.
Another professional development initiative is IBM’s ‘Shades of Blue’ – a more in-depth program for managers who are engaged in cross-cultural business interactions or have multicultural teams. A shade of Blue is a unique learning experience in developing cross-cultural competence. The workshop-based tutorials train employees in:
• Understanding the cultural bias of each team member and their impact on mutual perceptions.
• Why certain behaviors and communication styles fail in some cultures.
• Identifying approaches to address cultural gaps that could lead to misunderstandings.
• Handling issues about team decision-making, giving or receiving feedback and conflict resolution.
The courses cater to individual managers or members of an established multicultural team and are designed to heighten awareness of each person’s own cultural biases and increase their sensitivity to other cultures. The shades experience can be a powerful team-building exercise for multicultural teams to transcend cultural differences and become a high-performing team.
General staff awareness and polices - IBM’s cultural diversity strategy relies on raising the general level of awareness of different cultures within the organization. General initiatives include:
• Celebration of Chinese New Year for employees.
• Publication of a diversity calendar, showing various dates of cultural significance that might be relevant to employees and business relationships.
• Introduction of a floating holiday program where employees can exchange a public holiday for a significant cultural holiday.
• Employee representation at an IBM global conference on multicultural people in technology.
Looking to the future, the most valuable learning for me has been to clearly distinguish religion from cultural diversity. Simply, cultural awareness and acceptance is the theme rather than religious observation.
The proof of programs, such as those designed to promote cultural diversity, lies in the results. Retention rates, staff satisfaction, client feedback and new contracts will all determine how successful the company has been.
No comments:
Post a Comment