Diversity Executive - November 2008 - (Page 29)

Purpose, Alignment and Patience Given the complex, interrelated contextual environment that measurement inhabits, what can practitioners do to effectively draw the connection to the bottom line? It starts with a clear purpose and direct alignment to organizational objectives — followed by patience and consistency. “[It] starts out with being able to identify solidly what are the business objectives, what is it that’s preventing you from being able to meet that and then beginning to deconstruct that with diversity lenses and operational process,” Hubbard said. “Sometimes there is not enough thought about why you think diversity and inclusion is going to be beneﬁcial,” Phillips said. “It’s kind of a blanket ‘this should be good’ without a real rationale for what it is that diversity is going to bring to your ﬁrm that will lead to that bottomline improvement.” That approach can lead to ineffective or failed measurement. Practitioners need to be prepared to do the kind of sophisticated analysis that effective measurement requires. “Sometimes people jump too soon, and they may not have enough of the conversations to think about what are the implications, how are they going to use it, what are they going to do with the data.” Ferdman said. Identifying a clear purpose arises out of diversity and inclusion’s alignment with broader business objectives. Plummer calls this “going plaid,” meaning that to be effective and measurable in real business terms, practices must be integrated into the larger business strategy structure. “For diversity to be a stand-alone initiative or a layered initiative, it’s not going to be effective,” she said. “It really has to be tied to the business objectives. Practitioners and chief diversity ofﬁcers have to ﬁnd a way to get in the game around whatever the end product is of the organization.” At Cleveland Clinic, that end product is to deliver the best possible care for patients. To achieve measurable results, diversity efforts have to add value to that broader business goal. “We add value by increasing the cultural competence of our employee base so that they can deal effectively with our diverse patient population,” Plummer said. “The themes that we create — our objectives and our metrics — are deﬁned by how much we are hooked to those strategic themes for the organization.” Then, once you begin to measure, you have to be patient. In that regard, diversity and inclusion programs and initiatives are much like any strategic change to organizational process or launch of a new product in that the impact may not be visible right away. “Do you expect that same kind of bottom-line impact when you go with a new product?” Phillips said. “If you change your process and you do something different, how Creating a Measurement Plan Plummer recommends creating a strategic plan from the beginning that includes measurable goals and a realistic time frame. It’s a seven- to eight-year journey from the beginning to the point where there will be noticeable change, she said. Here are her guidelines for planning: Years 1-3 Build capacity and develop infrastructure. Years 4-6 Implement, define metrics and test what is most effective. Years 7-8 Clean up and make efforts more defined, internalize practices and hone in on “what moves the needle.” “My best advice to somebody starting out is to have that vision at the beginning and be clear on it,” Plummer said. Many practitioners get derailed after the first two to three years when they’re called to deliver results. “People start to say, now we’ve built this expensive house; how are we paying the rent here?” she said. “You have to be able to show how you’re related to those objectives.” long do you think it’s going to take before you have some bottom-line beneﬁt, and how are you going to know that bottom-line beneﬁt is due to that particular change and not something else?” Taking a measurement perspective, while challenging and complex, is necessary both in the long term and the short term. “We’ve seen too many good diversity organizations get cut out of the budget for the wrong reason,” Hubbard said. “It wasn’t because they weren’t doing good work. They just couldn’t show it.” While it may be difﬁcult in today’s rapid-ﬁre business environment, taking a long-term measurement perspective ultimately pays dividends. “The ﬁrms that are doing the hard work now will be able to look back in a few years and really see the beneﬁts of what they’ve been doing and the fact that they’re out ahead of their competitors on these issues,” Phillips said. « November/December 2008 | www.diversity-executive.com | Diversity Executive 29 http://www.diversity-executive.com

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

Diversity Executive - November 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Leadership Connections Guest Editorial Diversity Executive Online Middle Management Roadblock ‘Hidden Winds’ Hinder Progress The Domino Effect Supplier Partnerships Unlock Economic Opportunities Measuring Diversity Special Section: Who’s Who in Diversity and Inclusion Dimensions of Difference Overcoming Language Diff erences Business Intelligence: Combating Subtle Discrimination Case Study: Shifting Diversity Into Overdrive Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Strategies

Diversity Executive - November 2008

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