Diversity Executive - September 2008 - (Page 64)

PROFILE continued from page 57 “Fundamentally, if you’re going to be a successful global company, the more your workforce and culture mirror your customer base, the more effective you’re going to be in the marketplace,” he said. “You’re better able to understand the needs and desires and values of your customers and address them effectively. It’s good business sense to have an inclusive work environment, and it also allows us to tap all of the brain power in all of the markets that we serve.” “We think that’s critical to create an environment in which people really feel they can bring their whole self to work and contribute their best to the company in an inclusive environment where they’re listened to and their ideas, perspectives, experiences and backgrounds are valued,” said Denise Lynn, American Airlines vice president of diversity and leadership strategies. creasingly occupied by females and minorities.” Arpey said American’s efforts to increase the diversity of its employment ranks have been particularly rough going because the airline industry has been in turmoil since Sept. 11, and has consistently reduced its management workforce. “That makes it challenging to try to make strides in terms of inclusion, but I think we’ve got a good track record of doing so,” he said. “If we create an environment where folks feel welcomed, included and they feel they can build careers here, that can only be good for our business over the long run. We’re very fortunate to have a Board of Directors that not only mirrors, but helps shape our values with respect to being inclusive. We have a very diverse Board of Directors who are women, African-American, Latin-American and Indian. In some ways, our board is a reﬂection of what we’re trying to do with our company.” Like most CEOs, Arpey has a lot on his plate. Dealing with ﬁnancial struggles — the company posted a $612 million loss in the ﬁrst half of 2008 — rising fuel costs, hiring freezes and ﬂight schedule reductions, AMR still has managed to reduce its net debt for the third time since 2006 and continues to fulﬁll its pension-fund obligations. Arpey also is actively working to accelerate replacement of many of American’s MD-80 ﬂeet with more efﬁcient 737-800 aircraft and extend its reach into new locations such as Moscow and Milan. Yet, his diversity colleagues maintain, despite these competing priorities, Arpey remains a key driver of American’s diversity and inclusion efforts. Michael Collins, managing director of diversity strategies at American, said Arpey possesses a quiet strength, and Lynn said she is ready and willing to promote Arpey’s commitment to diversity and inclusion throughout the organization. “Gerard is deﬁnitely an advocate for the diversity strategy and initiatives, which is why we have an organization devoted to it,” Collins said. “He pays very close attention to the Diversity Committee of the board’s feedback on how we’re doing. He’s not one of these people that jumps up and down and beats on the table, but he has made his position clear on the importance of diversity and inclusion here at American Airlines.” “We have a long history of diversity at American — all the way back to having the ﬁrst female pilot back in the early 1970s and the ﬁrst African-American ﬂight attendant in the ’60s,” Lynn said. “Gerard took over in 2003, and he’s continued that focus. As with any CEO, he needs to rely on the people below him to lead the company in their own areas. It’s our responsibility to lead the thinking with regard to diversity and to make sure the senior team stays focused on it. That’s a role we take very seriously.” « “It’s our responsibility to lead the thinking with regard to diversity and to make sure the senior team stays focused on it. That’s a role we take very seriously.” – Denise Lynn, Vice President, Diversity and Leadership Strategies, American Airlines Inc. “Gerard clearly is focused on this. He’s answerable to the board, and we have a board diversity committee that oversees our diversity strategies and priorities on a regular basis. So from the top of the company down, we establish objectives around diversity, and it cascades so that each leader creates their own objectives for their department that support the overall corporate objectives.” American’s Board of Directors’ Diversity Committee is made up of ﬁve of the board’s 13 members. Earl Graves, author, entrepreneur and founder of Black Enterprise magazine, chaired the committee until his retirement from the position in the summer of 2008. The committee now is chaired by former Dallas Cowboys football star Roger Staubach, founder of The Staubach Co., a global real estate advisory ﬁrm. “I think we’re somewhat unique as a company in that we actually have a Board of Directors that is focused on diversity and inclusion, and our efforts on this ground are not [solely] by the management team,” Arpey said. “And these efforts are not just related to employment; they’re also related to our supplier base. We’ve had programs that we’ve put in place to drive inclusion in our workforce for minorities and women, and we’ve also had programs in place for our supplier base. We’ve spent about $3 billion with minority-owned and female-owned businesses, and at the same time we’ve seen our management ranks and ranks throughout the company in- 64 Diversity Executive | www.diversity-executive.com | September/October 2008 http://www.diversity-executive.com

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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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