For J.T. Childs Jr., diversity in the workplace has a direct impact on profits. “It’s about protecting our jobs,” says IBM’s vice president of global work force diversity.
The more a company looks like its customers–on all levels, from entry level to senior staff–the more they’ll buy from that company, he says.
He and Raiford Cockfield, an IBM vice president of market development, are conducting town meetings at IBM sites around the country to develop awareness of diversity.
Childs is responsible for IBM’s work force diversity programs and policies. Cockfield is responsible for marketing IBM products to women, minorities, gays, lesbians, the elderly and people with disabilities.
They recently visited Austin, Texas, where IBM has about 7,000 employees. Here is an edited transcript of an interview with the two executives during their stop:
Q–How has the corporate view of diversity changed?
Childs: We have moved from the moral imperative to the strategic imperative. The moral imperative says do it because it’s a nice thing to do. The strategic imperative says do it because it is inextricably linked to the success of your business. And if you don’t do it, it’s going to hurt your bottom line.
Q–How are a diverse work force and diverse customers related?
Childs: Because one looks like the other. The people who work for you are the people who buy from you.
Q–What does this mean to IBM workers?
Childs: It’s about protecting our jobs. It’s about having more people buy more of our stuff than they buy of our competitors. Those people come from all of these different constituencies that Raiford is trying to market our products to. If our people understand the importance of that bridge, of setting aside their biases so that whomever they work with is invisible. That (they) worry not about who they are or where they came from, but can they help accomplish whatever I have to accomplish to meet the goals that have been assigned to me. And if I’m successful at that, that’s how I will protect my job.
Q–What do you tell IBMers in the town meetings?
Cockfield: We’re trying to make sure that IBM employees understand the buying power of the constituents I represent. (For example, blacks, Hispanics and Asian Americans have more than $1 trillion in buying power.)
We’re also trying to break down some of the myths that may exist. For example, if you look at the statistics of ownership of PCs in white households vs. black households what you would normally see is a single number. Forty percent of white households own computers and about 26 percent of black households own computers. If you look at it from an income standpoint, you find that with incomes above $75,000, about 77 percent of black households own computers and about 75 percent of white households own computers.
The purpose is not to pit groups against groups. We’re trying to talk about these things to increase awareness and also to make sure now that as we think about products and we think about our marketplace, we’re not leaving anybody out.
Q–What can IBM employees do every day to promote diversity?
Cockfield: We have a wealth of experience, a wealth of knowledge, a wealth of ability in how to get things done. We’re trying to get IBM people involved to make sure that all this wealth of knowledge, experience, resources, we have developed over time will benefit that organization.
Q–How are IBM’s recruiting efforts focused on diversity?
Childs: We have a program that we started in 1990-91 called the Diversity Campus Executive program. We have a number of colleges that have been identified because they have very high percentages of women, black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American children and we have an executive assigned to be the liaison to the universities–we’ve got about 40 of them.
We have a program we call the faculty loan program, where we actually do loan people out to the university or educational setting for up to a year on a paid leave of absence. We have eight people actively in that program.
It’s a long-term focus. It relates not only to our campus relationships but our professional association relationships. You cannot assume today that these kids are coming up with the perspective that this is the place they’ve got to work. We have to compete and we have to compete hard because the best ones . . . have options. This (IBM) is not the only game in town. You have options in terms of job content, in terms of work location and a there will be a variety of salary ranges also. So we have to work hard at being competitive.
Q–Is it easier or harder to recruit minorities into technology jobs?
Childs: It is a fact that in the technical career path, we would like to see more women and more people of color in those classrooms at the undergraduate and graduate school level. Understanding that there is a shortage of people with those skills, it’s exacerbated when we get to the women and minority and disabled students. And they’re even in more demand. The one thing they needn’t be worried about is, “Is anybody going to be interested in me?” The better their record in terms of grades, and job experiences, the more companies will be interested in them and the higher the salary options.
Q–Are IBM’s diversity programs just for the North American operations or around the world?
Childs: I have global responsibility for the concept. We have six global diversity challenges. The first one is the global marketplace. The second one is cultural awareness and acceptance. The third, multilingualism. Fourth is the diversity of the management team, and by that we mean people managing in countries other than their native countries. Fifth is the advancement of women. And sixth is workplace flexibility and balance. We ask each of our geographies–North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa–and the general managers to monitor their progress against each of the six global challenges. Last year they had to do that and develop a set of strategies to respond to those challenges and present to their senior vice president. They will this year give a one-year update on how we’re doing.
Q–How did they do in the first year?
Childs: (They did) well. As an example, we have increased the number of women executives in IBM, from ’96 to ’97, 82 percent worldwide. We increased people-of-color executives 52 percent during the same time frame. So I would say to you the focus is there.
And it’s also an example because I know that I’m in a state where the subject of the affirmative action debate is rather intense. It’s an example that there are people in our pipeline who are ready to perform at the executive level. So we’re not putting people in jobs that they can’t perform and perform well. We are not reducing our expectations. That is not part of our strategy nor is it tolerated.
What we’re proving is that you can expand the talent base, the talent pool and the selection process and you can get people from a variety of experiences, a variety of cultures, and backgrounds that can operate at the same level you’re accustomed to seeing.
