Diversity Executive - September 2008 - (Page 40)

that inherently enables all employees to realize their full potential and helps our company deliver on our promise to make health care work for everyone we serve.” Horizon’s view of diversity begins with recognition that employees’ varied backgrounds can provide more skills and perspectives to the organization. Thus, the company strives for greater diversity in its workforce. Marino describes this inclusive environment as one that embraces the diversity of employees, members, health care partners and the communities served, while valuing the best of what every individual has to offer. “In our environment, each of us beneﬁts from having a voice in the work we do,” he said. “As a company, we beneﬁt by capitalizing on new ideas and different perspectives that can help us not only meet, but exceed, customer expectations and our standards for operational excellence.” This philosophy is manifested in Horizon BCBSNJ’s many diversity programs. One of these includes a reverse mentoring arrangement, in which high-potential minority employees mentor the company’s top executives on the perspectives and challenges of individuals from different cultural or ethnic backgrounds. This program also provides the high-potential minority employees the opportunity to engage in constructive discussions with the senior team. Another diversity initiative at Horizon BCBSNJ is the Inroads Intern Program that was reintroduced to Horizon in 2005 to recruit and train outstanding Asian, AfricanAmerican and Hispanic college students for corporate and community leadership. A third major program is diversity training for all directors, managers and supervisors that was rolled out in the summer of 2008. According to Marino, the feedback received from directors in the ﬁrst week of implementation was overwhelmingly positive, and participants have been encouraged to go back to their respective groups and share their experiences with staff to set the tone, as managers and supervisors prepare to attend the upcoming sessions. “Through the diversity initiatives we have planned, we will continue to devote resources, time and energy to strengthen the professional and personal relationships that will help us achieve a more inclusive environment,” Marino said. “These efforts are designed to help us make the most of our company’s diverse workforce, to make us better and stronger in every facet of our business — and in our ongoing commitment to providing world-class service to our members — while improving health care quality by partnering with physicians and hospitals.” – Brian Summerfield Matthew J. Espe IKON Office Solutions Inc. IKON Ofﬁce Solutions’ circle of friends might look a bit more diverse than other diversity and inclusion champions. The company has numerous initiatives aimed at creating business impact, and part of the reason for this is its outside-the-box deﬁnition of diversity. IKON’s “Diversity Circle” includes 17 dimensions the company uses to deﬁne diversity. These range from the standard — gender, race and age — to less traditional concepts, such as socioeconomic status, thinking style, proximity to work and parental status. “We promote diversity as a core value so that we beneﬁt from the talents and strengths of a diverse organization,” said CEO Matthew J. Espe. “Diversity-focused organizations create environments in which creativity and new ideas built from various viewpoints lead to business success. A strong diversity initiative can attract the best and brightest talent and improve the quality of the workforce.” In 1999, IKON created its Diversity Council, charged with promoting diversity, as well as ensuring the company reﬂects the communities it serves through its 25,000 employees and workplace culture. The company engages in regular reviews of each of its diversity efforts, starting with Espe and moving throughout the organization to all functional and business leaders. One of these efforts involves IKON’s recruitment process. Through varied job-posting networks and job fairs, the company works to bring talent from all experiences onboard. Further, it employs mostly Certiﬁed Diversity Recruiters who have a thorough understanding of the business impact of diversity, as well as proven methods for ﬁnding diverse talent. IKON — which created revenue of $4.2 billion in 2007 — also creates competitive advantage through its supplier diversity strategy. The company engages women- and minority-owned businesses and offers “equitable opportunities to compete for contracts to supply goods, services and equipment.” Small, small-disadvantaged, veteran-owned and historically underutilized business zone (HUBZone) companies also are included in this program, which helps these businesses ﬂourish and establishes IKON as a corporate citizen. Recently the company was able to advance its diversity efforts when the government granted it approval to participate in the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Mentor-Protégé Program. This program helps small businesses compete for government contracts via the encouragement of private-sector mentoring relationships. Mentor companies provide ﬁnancial and/or subcontract assistance 40 Diversity Executive | www.diversity-executive.com | September/October 2008 http://www.diversity-executive.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Diversity Executive - September 2008

Diversity Executive - September 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Leadership Connections Guest Editorial Diversity Executive Online 2042: A New Business Era Begins The Rules of Attraction Where to Look for Diverse Talent Like Minds Think Great Culture Teams Target Business Opportunities at Luxottica Retail Special Section Rebalancing Gender At ING Americas, the Color of Diversity Is Orange Profile Business Intelligence Case Study Strategies Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources

Diversity Executive - September 2008

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