Features
From Bland To Brand
Deanna Hartley, 07-11-2010
Say someone is in the market for an electronic device. Would that person be more inclined to purchase one from a lesser-known retailer or an industry leader? If quality and reputation were important, the brand name likely would win that person’s business.
There is a parallel between the aforementioned customer scenario and similar activities in the diversity realm: Organizations with a strong diversity brand are better positioned to attract and retain candidates with diverse backgrounds.
Some 72 percent of the 10,000 employees surveyed in Kenexa’s 2010 WorkTrends study said their organizations had a strong track record of recruiting people of diverse backgrounds.
“That would indicate the extent to which [a company is] using a diversity brand and that diversity brand is actually being translated into their recruiting practices,” said Brenda Kowske, research manager and consultant for the Kenexa Research Institute.
Ten percent of respondents said they joined their current organization because of its diversity policies and initiatives, reiterating the significance of a diversity brand. “If you don’t pay attention to that, you’re limiting your applicant pool and therefore may not end up with the best person for the job,” Kowske said.
Further, extrapolations from the study reveal that while 18 percent of respondents from organizations labeled as having a pro-diversity climate were seriously considering leaving in the next year, the number rose to 42 percent for organizations in which diversity isn’t a focus, Kowske explained.
Determinants of Diversity Brand
“Our diversity brand is about who we are and how we work as a company,” said Magda N. Yrizarry, vice president of workplace culture, diversity and compliance at Verizon. “Strategy and initiatives are important, but what’s outlined in those documents must ring true for employees and our customers.”
Yrizarry said Verizon is proud of having received numerous best-in-class diversity honors; the industry awards serve as a valid benchmarking exercise. However, they do not define the organization’s diversity brand.
“We believe our diversity brand is what the organization represents to employees, customers and shareholders,” she said. “Our diversity brand is as good as a customer’s last experience with us, the impact of our latest innovation on the communities we serve or the feeling our employees have after the end of hard day’s work.”
Todd Corley, senior vice president of diversity and inclusion at Abercrombie & Fitch, said an organization with a strong diversity brand can prove its commitment to diversity and inclusion.
“When you are challenged by somebody on the outside looking in or people internally wondering what you’re all about, you can point to, ‘Here are the things we’ve done in this space — if it’s [in] the GLBT community, the African-American community, whatever it is; your diversity brand is essentially tied to: What have you really done?” he said.
Pushing Value-Add
If an organization’s brand enjoys a good reputation, it’s more likely to attract customers and diverse talent. Verizon has made diversity a core value, and because its company and diversity brands are matched in intensity, the company has been able to leverage its diversity brand as a competitive advantage.
“It’s what’s behind that brand — a commitment to deliver a superior experience — that helps you retain customers or retain a loyal employee,” Yrizarry said. “In terms of new talent, we’re seeing entrants into the job market looking for the usual attributes in an employer, but more and more they’re also looking for employers that provide a social benefit and have a values-rich culture. What differentiates [us is] our diversity brand, and [we’re] privileged to serve an increasingly diverse, global marketplace. A similarly diverse workforce allows us to better understand our customers’ needs and preferences, and deliver innovative solutions and superior customer experiences.”
Similarly, at Abercrombie & Fitch, cultivating a diversity brand is critical to further the company’s business objectives.
“We have a generation that’s the most diverse there has ever been, and for them it’s a standard. So you can’t be in our business model and go after the folks we go after on college campuses [and] high schools and not have a reputation around this work,” Corley said. “It’s the minimum expectation of what an associate wants, and our associates talk about it in many ways.
“We have a book that captures some of those thoughts about what people are involved in, so we have to make sure we’re doing those things, because if we’re not, we’re not delivering on the promise we’ve given them, nor are we delivering on the expectation they have as customers or as employees because we often employ the people we sell our products to.”
High Standards
As the bar to make diversity and inclusion relevant to customers and meaningful to the business continually moves higher, Yrizarry said Verizon is up to the challenge because the company’s diversity brand is grounded in a customer-first commitment. That commitment is met through a highly capable, committed workforce that enjoys a “good place to work,” but it doesn’t stop there.
She said the brand is equally dependent on a broad set of diverse suppliers and community partners that help the company deliver its broadband and wireless networks, which do many things: connect friends, family and industry and address social issues such as education and health care, provide better service, drive innovation and improve not only business, but also people’s lives.
“Early on, our commitment to diversity led us to be among the first companies to talk to our customers in their preferred language,” she said. “A couple of years ago, we began using high-tech two-way video to improve communications with disabled customers, and our technology is hopefully improving the quality of life of people with disabilities.”
At Abercrombie & Fitch, perhaps the most visible indications of a burgeoning diversity brand are changes in its applicant and employee populations.
“Our diversity brand has improved greatly from when the department was put in place,” Corley said. “When we look back at the percentage of people who are applying from different racial and ethnic groups, it’s light years ahead of where it was. We have an associate population that is 49 percent people of color at the stores, and that wasn’t the case five years ago.”
And while the retailer has measured noteworthy improvements thanks to its diversity efforts, Corley said the company hires diverse candidates at a rate that not only keeps pace with that growth, but exceeds it.
“There’s a correlation between the diversity of our associates and the reputation we’ve embraced because people are applying; they’re being hired in different positions that cross the spectrum of roles and responsibilities; and I would argue because of that, people who see them say, ‘I can be there, too,’” he said.
