Archive for the ‘Diversity’ Category
SHRM Diversity Conference - October 27, 2008 (Day 1)
Posted by JasonMore than 1,000 attendees are expected to attend the annual SHRM Diversity Conference and Expo in Atlanta, GA. Although there is no SHRM twitter stream to follow (SHRM hasn’t posted since May), there is no shortage of great session content, speakers, and networking opportunities!
There were 16 different sessions on Day 1 of the event. A couple sessions that created some buzz were “Creating Your Comprehensive Diversity Strategic Plan” by independent consultant Grace Odums, and “Engaging White Men in Diversity Efforts - Why it’s Essential and Where do they Fit” by Tim McNichol, managing partner from White Men as Full Diversity Partners.
In the exhibit hall, the award has to go to the ladies wearing the bulls’ horn hats (Ann, Mona, and Cindy) from The LifeMoxie Company! LifeMoxie specializes in people and their potential - and offer everything from mentoring solutions to moxie skills. Click here for more information and to register for their upcoming webinar “7 Steps to Creating Strategic, Sustainable, and Successful Mentoring”. You can also read their article on “5 Ways to Mess up Mentoring“.
And of course, if you want the scoop on the conference, the place to hang was with Hazel. One of the most customer-oriented individuals I have ever met! Talk on the street here included the Election, Job Losses, Leadership in Diversity, and more.
Check back tomorrow for more information on this years conference, sessions, speakers, and attendees.
Company diversity hiring practices lack depth.
Your company’s website might boast, among other things, the variety of its employees, and the atmosphere of community that pervades. But public relations angles aside, just how committed to achieving a diverse workforce is your organization?
Many companies’ current efforts are deceptive in their effectiveness. The underlying problem with many diversity hiring practices is that they are superficial at best.
Novations Group, a Boston-based global consulting group, surveyed 2,556 senior human resource and training and development executives to look at diversity hiring programs, with some telling results. The top diversity hiring initiative, at 57 percent, was that companies review their hiring practices to ensure that they are inclusive.
SHRM To Release Diversity Research, Online Tools in 2009
In 2009, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) plans to release new products as a result of two years of study:
- Research on diversity attitudes, perceptions and practices in global organizations.
- An index rating and ranking of 46 countries on their diversity readiness.
- Results of a diversity practice analysis that outlines the body of knowledge for the diversity management field.
- Online tools to help diversity and inclusion practitioners do their jobs better.
Want to Recruit top Latino Talent? Start Young.
Melvin Diaz, a sophomore at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, doesn’t really know what he wants to do when he gets out of school. He doesn’t know if he wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and work for Verizon. But he is sure about one thing: “Verizon truly values its Latino employees.” And that’s exactly the type of brand loyalty the company wants to create with young Latinos.
By the year 2050, more than one in five working-age people will be foreign-born, with nearly a third of these individuals from Latino backgrounds. And while companies know a successful succession and recruitment plan is critical, even the most progressive companies on The 2008 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® list have trouble recruiting top Latino talent
Highlights from the 30th Annual NBMBAA
Posted by JasonI had the opportunity to attend the 30th Annual National Black MBA Conference and Exposition in Washington, D.C. This was my seventh time in attendance to the annual event, and one of the best to date.
From the 23 strategic partners to the 350+ corporate exhibitors, a conference highlight continues to be the job match program and career fair.
The overall objectives of the annual NBMBAA Conference and Exposition are:
- To serve as a resource for diversity recruitment and hiring solutions
- To provide branding and imaging opportunities for our corporate partners
- To create an environment in which the corporate community is given direct access to the senior undergraduates and MBA students seeking entrance to the job market
- To further enhance the management skills and productivity of NBMBAA members through a series of focused panel presentations and workshops
- To provide a forum for prominent guest speakers
- Provide marketing and sales venue
I would also like to provide recognition to the following 2008 award winners:
- Florida A&M - national champions in the case competition
- Michael and Ramona Woods; and Laurna Godwin and Jessica Perkins for being honored as distinguished African American Entrepreneurs
- 10 additional award winners at the Grand Affair and Welcome Reception
See you in New Orleans for #31 in 2009.
Diversity Recruiting - Efforts to recruit a more diverse array of jobs at Harvard are good, but not excellent. Although the Wall Street crisis might have job-seekers in a panic, Harvard’s Office of Career Services (OCS) is countering the downturn with a new philosophy and a new interim director, Robin Mount. Many graduating seniors are nervous about the weak economy this year, as there is sure to be a reduction of job openings in the popular finance sector (last year, 20 percent of graduates went on to work in financial services or management consulting ). Fortunately, well before the economy’s recent plunge, OCS had already begun work on this year’s initiative: a push entitled “turning up the volume on diverse career options” that is intended to make students aware of job offerings in areas other than investment banking and consulting. OCS has restructured and expanded its offerings into 16 new industry “clusters,” such as “Architecture, Urban Development, and Green Construction” and “Creative Arts” in order to make the job market more navigable for students.
Accommodating multicultural customers or recruiting the right sales professionals may require some changes to your infrastructure. The multicultural consumer and real estate professional requires language, religious, and philosophical considerations if you are going to win them both as customers or team members. Being respectful of their religion, philosophical beliefs such as Feng Shui, and their English language proficiency are a few things to consider.
Targeting Multicultural Customers - How to Get the Right Infrastructure in Place
For example, organizations often try to apply mainstream practices to multicultural marketing and recruiting, which often is contrary to the communication style of the multicultural consumer and professional.
Diversity Edge Magazine Selects its 2008 D.E. Diversity Champions
For the second consecutive year, Diversity Edge is highlighting a group of 20 diverse and dynamic individuals and recognizing them for their commitment to and achievements in diversity.
The D.E. Diversity Champions 2008 list is comprised of diversity advocates on many levels such as: influential leaders and members of diversity related professional organizations; corporate diversity and other officers that help spread diversity in their companies; community and political leaders who serve diverse communities; and thought leaders who drive the research and development for diversity education.
Diversity Recruiting and Workforce Trends. Are you Prepared?
Posted by JasonDiversity, collaboration, and your workforce impact the success of business. The press about the workforce, aging demographics, and talent shortages is everywhere. Consider the following:
- Gen X and Gen Y make up the core demographic of social networking sites [i.e. Facebook and MySpace]. Generating an estimated 90 million viewers every month, between business, industry, professional, and internet groups.
- According to the bureau of labor statistics the United States will face an overall labor shortage, continuing for decades. In 2 years, the shortage of skilled workers is expected to hit 10 million. By
- 2030, the estimated shortage is projected to hit 35 million.
- By 2015: Hispanics will make up an estimated 15.9% of the labor force, up from 13.7% in 2006. African Americans will make up 12% of the labor force, up from 11.4% in 2006. Asians will make up 5.1% of the labor force, up from 4.4% in 2006.
- By 2012 people of color will make up 35% of the workforce, and by 2015 students of color will make up 47% of college enrollment.
- An estimated 3.3 million white collar jobs and $136 billion in wages will shift from the United States to low-cost countries by 2015.
- People with disabilities aggregate income tops $1 trillion; they are the largest minority population in the United States that spans all other minority groups.
Integrating an overall workforce and diversity plan - as well as aligning it to your business strategy is critical. While “planning” alone is not enough, questions you should integrate include:
- How will we successfully compete for our unfair share of future talent?
- What is our value proposition?
- Are we prepared and equipped to attract, hire, develop, and retain the talent needed to meet our business and member objectives?
- What sets us apart?
- What are the implications for our business?
Remember the buzz years ago about “the war for talent”? While there are arguments on both sides of the table about the shortage - some argue - “it’s a shortage of talent” vs. a “shortage of people“. Both present real challenges. Are you prepared?
From DiversityInc, 5 Tips for Working with Executive Recruiters.
Top Executives to Convene for Diversity Town Hall Meeting Slated to Open the 22nd Annual NAMIC Conference
Diversity alters P&G marketing.
Retiring Boomers Prompt Increased Employer Interest in Phased Retirement Programs, According to Hewitt Survey
Microsoft’s Diversity Program Clicks into High Speed
The New Case Against Immigration: Both Legal and Illegal
By Jason Buss.
The HR Metrics Center just launched a new on-line business service for human resource professionals. The web site provides an on-line capability for human resource professionals to build HR or human capital metrics for their organizations. The HR Metrics Center includes a dynamic on-line survey providing the ability for member organizations to benchmark their HR metrics against industry averages. I attempted to register and try out the free service, and haven’t been able to log on, and never received the confirmation e-mail. I hope their service is better than the stock photo’s on the site.
Groundbreaking CEOs were honored this week for for Excellence in Diversity Leadership.
Corporate category winners included:
- AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah: Paula F. Downey, President
- Campbell Soup Company: Douglas R. Conant, President & CEO
- Deere & Company: Robert W. Lane, Chairman & CEO
- The Procter & Gamble Company: A.G. Lafley, Chairman & CEO
- Prudential Financial: John R. Strangfeld, Chairman & CEO
- Siemens PLM Software: Tony Affuso, Chairman & CEO
- Siemens Energy and Automation: Dennis Sadlowski, President & CEO
- Siemens Power Generation, Inc.: Randy Zwirn, President & CEO
HR responsibly. That’s the tagline for HR Bartender, the recently launched weblog from human resources consulting firm Internal Talent Management (ITM) Group. HR Bartender is a strong mix of human resources musings, tips, and useful information peppered with fun facts and recommendations about food and drink from ITM Group president and blogger Sharlyn Lauby.
By Jason Buss.
Diversity, Inc. revealed top companies for African Americans.
While revenue may being growing in the RPO arena, reducing costs by 40% while increasing quality has to be an extreme example from the most broken recruiting function a RPO provider could find.
As a follow-up to my post on AllianceQ, I came across an article on Workforce that highlights two big challenges:
- Passive job seekers aren’t likely to be drawn into the AllianceQ database
- Corporate Recruiters don’t review Resume’s in their own system, which makes the additional value questionable
In the article, Phil Haynes, managing director of the alliance, said its job-matching approach from QuietAgent is superior to the typical method of comparing résumés against job descriptions. While both résumés and job postings can be poorly written and result in firms missing the best candidate for the job, he said, AllianceQ relies on a competency-based system designed to better connect job-seekers and openings.
