Diversity Executive - November 2008 - (Page 45)

continents. Prior to joining Cardinal Health, she was chief diversity ofﬁcer at EMC, diversity director at Agilent Technologies and a diversity consultant. Sabo also has held business development and engineering positions and was recognized with the Systems Engineer of the Year Award in 1995 and 1996 while at Hewlett-Packard. At Cardinal Health, Sabo focuses on developing a long-term global workforce diversity strategy in partnership with the company’s leadership team. The strategy highlights diversity communication, recruiting/retention, training/development and life-work integration. “Diversity is recognizing and appreciating the collective mixtures of our differences and similarities, valuing and seeking out these differences as a strength, all to maximize our competitive advantage through innovation, proﬁt and adaptability,” she said. “Inclusion is building and sustaining a culture where people are engaged and motivated. Inclusion is the environment we create to allow diverse differences to thrive.” That focus on diversity as competitive advantage, and inclusion as a way to create a culture that supports engagement and motivation, carries through to Cardinal Health’s strategy. “The marketplace is undergoing massive demographic shifts, which affect customers and the talent pool,” Sabo said. “To meet and exceed our customers’ expectations, we must reﬂect these demographic shifts in our workforce.” According to Sabo, women make 80 percent of health care decisions in the home and are becoming critical decision makers about the quality of care. Women also make up 23 percent of hospital CEOs, 46 percent of pharmacists and 28 percent of practicing physicians. She said minorities make up 44 percent of practicing physicians. In addition to the diversity within the hospital workforce, Sabo said there is increasing diversity in the consumer base. “Cardinal Health recognizes the diversity of its customers and the patients they serve, and we believe it’s important that we mirror that level of diversity,” she said. “We also understand that diversity brings with it the ability to increase creative thought, which leads to increased innovation.” Cardinal Health has received several awards and recognitions for its commitment to diversity and inclusion. In the past few months, it has received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2009 Corporate Equality Index, which rated 583 businesses based on their policies and practices relating to LGBT employees, investors and consumers. Cardinal Health was one of the 259 businesses that achieved a perfect score, compared to an average rating of 83 percent for Fortune 500 companies. The company also was recognized by the Career Communications Group as a most admired company for Hispanics and African-Americans. – Mike Prokopeak Does a Diversity Focus Perpetuate Racism? Cyndi Selke Chief Diversity Officer Ford Motor Co. At Ford Motor Co., diversity and inclusion isn’t just about programs or initiatives: It’s about people. For this reason, the automaker works to ingrain respect and inclusiveness into the very makeup of the company, from its business plan to its daily operation. “It’s included in communications, in messaging with our customers, with our business partners, and it’s certainly something we look at in our surveys,” said Cyndi Selke, Ford’s chief diversity ofﬁcer. “It’s so much broader than race and gender. It is See what diversity leaders are saying, and join the conversation on the Diversity Executive Network, a community dedicated to advancing diversity and inclusion in today’s organizations. diversity-executive. com/network http://diversity-executive.com/network http://diversity-executive.com/network

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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