San Fernando Valley  Business Journal - June 11, 2007

Do Well-Intended Programs Suffer During Tough Times?

By Mark R. Madler

 

The value of a workplace diversity program may be best shown by the decisions made during economic downturns.

Do the programs stay, continuing their goal of making the working environment reflective of society at large and promoting awareness of different cultures and lifestyles?

Or do they get cut and possibly send a negative message to the employees – and the non-business world – that the company no longer considers diversity to be important.

The larger a corporation, the more extras they may add to their diversity programs – mandatory training, feedback surveys, cultural events, and employee network or support groups; programs that cost in the millions.

All are important yet at the same time not necessarily untouchable when a budget crunch occurs.

The Associated Press, for instance, announced in February the cancellation for 2007 its program designed to increase the diversity among news photographers due to budgetary reasons.

During flush times, there are more options and funding available for the voluntary programs a company puts in place, said Rhoma Young, a human resources consultant based in Northern California.

It’s when a company begins to cut back that employees become fearful and territorial about their jobs that they are not as open to different cultures, Young said.

The industry that a company is in determines whether cuts are made in diversity during tough economic times. If the company is one that works with the public and needs a mixture of races and ethnicities to market a product or deal directly with customers it will be less likely to make those cuts than, say, a manufacturer, Young said.

“A bank as long as they have live tellers will need a diverse workforce,” Young said.

Hospitals and other healthcare providers in general are not as affected by bad economic times as some industries and so would not be as likely to cut back on diversity programs because of their close contact with the public.

“We would respond and adjust staff based on patient care needs instead,” said Sherman Oaks Hospital Human Resources Director Kim Carney.

The hospital staff undergoes periodic in-service training on dealing effectively with those from different cultures, Carney said, adding that the ethnic groups it treats the most are Hispanics, Pacific Islanders and Asians.

While bilingual skills are helpful with Hispanic and Tagalog speaking patients, the hospital in general has an English-only policy, Carney said.

“The patients tend to be more comfortable with that,” Carney said.

The reasons for starting diversity programs has less to do with the economy than with responding to an event or a trend the corporate culture sees or because the legal or human resources department wants to have one, said David Gray, director of workforce and family program at non profit policy institute and think tank New America Foundation.

“Once they start they are harder to remove because it might signal a step back to certain employees,” Gray said. “People are reluctant to add them for that reason.”

Diversity programs can best be protected when they are tied in with a firm’s business objectives.

When a company has such programs because they think it is the right thing to do or to build awareness and understanding – both valid reasons – they may be more susceptible to the budget cut ax because they are not necessary, said Peter Bye, president of the MDB Group, Inc. in New Jersey.

But if a company’s diversity and inclusion strategy is about what it needs to reach business goals that is something that management can be convinced should stay, Bye said.

“It will be much less likely to be something that will be cut because they realize this is about how the people work together to achieve the objectives,” Bye said.

Southern California with its wide mix of races and ethnicities is unique in the opportunity presented to employers to create diverse workplaces.

According to state statistics, the population of Los Angeles County was estimated to hit 10.2 million in 2006. Of that number, more than 7 million are Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, African American or Native American. About 150,000 were estimated to be multi-racial.

Seeing those numbers makes it understandable why Sherman Oaks-based author and urban historian Joel Kotkin said that in Los Angeles diversity programs are a “hangover from a different era.”

What he gets from talking with employers is they are struggling to find the best people possible to fill positions, Kotkin said, adding that what the business world needs to do is upgrade the skills of those entering the workforce regardless of their ethnicity.

The businessman who won’t hire a talented minority won’t be in business for very long, Kotkin said.

“When a vast majority of the young workforce is minority and you don’t have minorities and limiting your pool of people, you are hurting yourself,” Kotkin said.

 

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