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Diversity
is Good Business
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Local companies
are making a commitment to business diversity.
By William Poe
More than one hundred area companies have made a public commitment
to business diversity and are taking steps to strengthen minority
entrepreneurship and recruitment in the region. Leaders of those
companies say expanding business diversity within their companies
is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do.
“It is the right thing to do, but it is important from a business
standpoint,” says John W. Bachmann, managing partner with Edward
Jones. “We’re also thinking there will be great opportunities from
a customer development standpoint in investments. African-Americans
may be the most underserved and the most attractive market segment
that we see, and we intend to be competitive in that market. Further,
we think it’s important that our workforce reflect our society,
and we will be a stronger company and better able to compete.”
“Business diversity is the right thing to do and is just good business,”
echoes David L. Steward, chairman and CEO of World Wide Technology,
Inc. “It broadens our base to technologies that are new and innovative
that can give us a competitive advantage in our field. We have very
diverse companies that come in from all over the country to provide
presentations on their products and services.”
Bachmann and Steward are both charter members of The St. Louis Business
Diversity Initiative, a collaborative business-initiated effort
to help companies and firms in the St. Louis region attract and
retain a talented, diverse workforce and develop a diverse supplier
base. The Initiative also aims to connect minority students and
other prospective employees to employers and to connect minority
suppliers to purchasers.
The sponsors of this Initiative are the RCGA, Civic Progress, (funding
the Initiative) the St. Louis Minority Business Council, the Leadership
Council Southwestern Illinois, FOCUS, St. Louis 2004 and the Regional
Business Council. The Business Diversity Initiative’s mission is
to make the St. Louis region a great place, a place in which people
want to live and a place to which people want to move.
Also dedicated to the Initiative is Andrew Taylor, president and
CEO of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. He says, “Diversity has always been
important to Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and we provide active leadership
in the St. Louis community on a number of business diversity and
minority initiatives such as supplier diversity. We are committed
to ensuring that our suppliers—and the makeup of our workforce—mirror
the communities we serve. It’s just good business.”
Craig Schnuck, chairman and CEO of Schnuck Markets Inc., says increased
diversity has other benefits as well. “We’ve found that with a more
diverse organization we can make better decisions, because we have
more input from various points of view.” He also says Schnucks can
now better identify and satisfy “the needs and wants of our customers”
and now has “more access to products and some services that we didn’t
have available to us before and that are important to our customers.”
And it’s not just local business leaders who say business diversity
is good for business. Fortune magazine, for example, recently reported
that companies on its ranking of America’s 50 Best Companies for
Asians, Blacks and Hispanics regularly outperform the S&P 500. “Minority-friendly
companies tend to be superior performers,” says the magazine.
Further, it is estimated that by 2005 more than one-half of those
entering the job market will be minorities and not just African-Americans,
either. Business leaders say they are aware of the latest U.S. census
data that shows, for example, accelerating population growth among
Hispanics, especially young Hispanics who have just entered or soon
will be entering the workforce. Nationally, the 33 million Latino
population is nearly equal to the 35.5 million African-American
population. In St. Louis, African-Americans are by far the largest
minority, but ethnic populations have swelled in recent years with
Hispanics, Asians, Bosnians/Serbs and other Eastern Europeans adding
a zesty international flavor to the community.
The market influence of minorities is increasing dramatically, too,
as minority spending power more than doubled during the 1990s, say
researchers.
In St. Louis, attention on diversity, while nothing new, is being
brought into sharp focus by the St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative.
Charter members of the Initiative include manufacturers, health
care providers, media companies, professional service firms, builders,
banks, retailers, wholesalers, transportation companies and others.
Bachmann says Edward Jones has a couple of reasons for energizing
its efforts to further diversify its workforce. “First, we’re trying
to see to it that we’re providing opportunities for able people
throughout our company. It’s our strong belief that there will be
a shortage of workers in the next 10 to 20 years. If you’re not
an attractive employer to people regardless of their background
or race, then you’re going to be less competitive than your peers.
We’re trying to become the employer of choice in the St. Louis area.”
Steward’s company, which employs 600, says his company has always
practiced what the initiative preaches. “We look at the very best
talent we can find out there.”
Enterprise’s Taylor adds that his company benefits from diversity
“by realizing cost savings, by gaining a larger pool of qualified
suppliers, and by receiving higher quality products or services
due to increased competition. Minority firms contribute both to
job growth and to the overall economic health of St. Louis.”
The St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative is well on its way to
helping businesses develop a more racially diverse workforce and
supplier base as part of a comprehensive effort to make St. Louis
a nationally-recognized, minority-friendly region. (For the initiative’s
business-related purposes, a minority is a racial or ethnic minority.
Minority businesses are defined as firms or companies that are at
least 51 percent owned, managed or controlled by racial or ethnic
minorities.)
And participating companies are not necessarily the biggest in the
area. Many mid-size employers, such as Holland-Hinrichs Construction
Co. and Color Art Office Interiors, have joined the initiative.
Each company participating in the initiative has agreed to:
- Provide
information about employment and vendor opportunities
at the company.
- Provide
information for a directory of contacts regarding diversity
employment and purchasing matters.
- Provide
limited information on a confidential basis to an independent
auditing firm that will tabulate statistics in the areas
of hiring diversity, promotions diversity and minority
purchasing.
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The initiative itself is, in essence, a collaborative resource serving
to strengthen workforce and marketplace diversity.
Within the last several months, the initiative has:
- Recruited
100-plus area large and mid-size companies as charter
members.
- Published
a diversity business guide outlining the broad strategies
that can work to increase diversity. The guide outlines
strategies including goal setting; building a diverse
workforce through advertising, recruiting at universities
and colleges with significant minority student bodies,
and forging partnerships with minority professional organizations;
creating outreach partnerships through internships and
mentoring; and developing relationships with minority
businesses through education and training, minority supplier
lists, participation in minority business development
organizations, minority
supplier fairs, vendor brochures, financing, and joint
ventures.
- Completed
a draft of a voluminous “best practices” guide that details
the successful diversity programs of local companies.
- Begun
development of a resource manual with regional and national
contacts and information and a directory of employment
and purchasing information about the types of employees
companies seek and the kinds of goods and services they
purchase.
- Held
one of the first Senior Managers’ Purchasing Seminar featuring
a national cast of panelists discussing the ingredients
of a good relationship between minority vendors and sponsoring
businesses.
- Hosted
two workshops during the sixth annual Missouri Black Expo
at America’s Center.
- Developed
a web site (www.stlbizdiversity.com) to include the best
practices guide, the resource manual, and information
for minority job seekers. Job seekers can obtain names
and information on companies committed to diversity, and
companies can access information on Minority Business
Enterprises and other resources and help them fulfill
their diversity initiative.
- Begun
to collect company data to provide the basis for periodic
public reports on aggregate minority employment and diversity
statistics in the region.
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Businesses participating in the initiative, and even those that
are not, benefit from the knowledge and experience of other private
sector employers, learn more about the practices that are working
and benchmark their own success against other area companies. They
also enjoy improved access to a broader talent pool and supplier
network.
For more information on the Diversity Initiative, please contact
Wilihemena Shackleford at 314/444-1121.
William V. Poe is principal of Poe Communications, a St. Louis
advertising and marketing communications firm. |
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