Executive Summary

Leadership For Pluralism In The Workforce

Ron James
Chief Executive Officer of US West Communications - Minnesota

May 1992

"Cultural diversity" has become a fashionable buzz word, but our challenge as business leaders is to remove it from that semantic holding pattern and integrate it into our business strategy.

To begin, we must clearly picture the shifting demographics in the world around us. In Minnesota during the last decade, population growth for African Americans has been 79%; Native Americans 60%; Hispanic Americans 70%; and Southeast Asian Americans 150%. The projection for the coming decade is that these growth trends will increase while white population growth will decrease.

In the meantime, corporate America is knocking on the doors of businesses around the world, frequently calling on people of different backgrounds. Shouldn't our organizations reflect the cultural diversity of the global marketplace?

Closer to home, we should be asking for change in our businesses, schools, communities, and governments to facilitate the growth and contribution of people of all backgrounds. Our future economic prosperity depends on it, because the people represented in the changing demographics are our future customers, employees, and shareholders.

I'd like to describe what U S WEST is doing, and you can decide whether it will be useful for your organization.

The long-term commitment to become a diversely populated corporation starts at the top. Our vision is an environment in which people can achieve their full potential regardless of race, sex, culture, sexual orientation, disability, age, or other perceived differences.

• U S WEST officers are directly accountable to reach goals on a "Pluralism Performance Menu."

• An ongoing education program features one and three day workshops on the value of human diversity and diverse workforce leadership.

• Resource groups representing people that are different provide developmental activities for their members, reach out to the community, open a channel of communication between the resource groups and senior executives. The resource groups link and form Pluralism Councils.

• In our Pluralism Councils, employees at all levels plan and implement pluralism activities in the company. The councils support volunteers in monthly pluralism activities, bring important issues to employees' attention, and work outside of the company in community-action roles.

• Monthly pluralism events with a monthly socio-cultural theme provide scheduled, noon-time activities to help employees learn and grow.

• We also work to insure that hiring, employee-development, and promotion all reflect the diversity of our workforce.

Some may argue that the costs are high for these initiatives, but we believe it is an investment in the future prosperity of our organization.

In addition to being "the right thing to do," it's smart business.

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