Diversity in the Workplace
Diversity: The many ways we are all alike, and respect
for the ways we are different.
How to Create a Practical Diversity Plan
by Wayne Boatwright
Since starting in the position of Chief Diversity Officer
for Saint Mary’s Health Care and Battle Creek Health
System in 2002, and adding Mercy General Health Partners
(Muskegon) in 2004, I have been flattered and surprised by
the response of our communities and other health care organizations
to our Diversity Action Plan. We have had over six hospital
systems and seven private corporations request that we share
our approach to the development of our Plan and how we have
been able to create positive momentum and results.
It is important to note that we have not accomplished all
the goals we have established; however, we are very encouraged
with our progress.
My attempt through this writing is to outline our approach
to formulating our Plan as well as select areas in our Plan
that differentiate our Plan from others you may have reviewed.
1. I determined, first of all, that Diversity is part of
the overall strategic plan for Trinity Health as well as
the member organizations (Saint Mary’s, Battle Creek
and Mercy General). It is important that a diversity plan
be a part of the overall strategic vision and not “something
else”.
2. For a plan to be successful, it must have two components;
it must be measurable and there must be accountability. We
have developed a score card that helps track our progress.
I am also working with the HR department to create an area
on management personnel’s evaluations to reflect our
Diversity goals.
3. I reviewed a lot of well written, professionally delivered
plans prior to writing my own. In some cases these other
plans were considered best practice. Unfortunately, in most
cases the organizations did not show improvement in those
areas that were identified on their report cards, (i.e. recruitment,
retention, training and succession planning). It is important
to determine the needs of your organization in the area of
diversity. This can be done through facilitated discussions
with your senior team and through Diversity assessments.
4. If you do not intend to make Diversity your issue alone,
it is important that you put together a Diversity team or
council. Some experts say that more than 10 or 15 members
can be counter productive. It is important to remember that
inclusion is better than exclusion. Find a way for willing
individuals to participate. It is important to create a broad
base of participation. This should include executives, physicians,
nurses, hourly employees and community leaders. We also defined
Diversity through the team. Diversity is: The many ways we
are all alike, and respect for the ways we are different.
Diversity is more than race and gender and we wanted to create
a definition that all employees could remember and recite.
This is also a good place to emphasize that Diversity is
not just important as a Social Imperative. The Business imperative
is also critical and soon there will be a strong emphasis
on Compliance. It is important that your Council understand
the importance of Diversity from a business and compliance
perspective.
5. Support for the Diversity initiatives from all levels
of the organization is important, but senior level support
is critical. Both of our Diversity teams are co-chaired by
the President and CEO’s of each organization. The first
Diversity conference that I attended in my new position was
also attended by Phil McCorkle, President and CEO of Saint
Mary’s. One of our Diversity Champion’s at Saint
Mary’s is David Baumgartner, MD, Vice President of
Medical Affairs and Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Baumgartner
facilitated my meeting with the Medical Executive Committee
to discuss their role in the Diversity plan; he has also
been a strong supporter with the senior leadership team.
6. The length of the plan is also critical and although
it is important to develop a plan that will provide long
term sustainable change, it is also important to have some
short term wins to create momentum. Our plan is designed
for 12 to 18 months. We have created checkpoints quarterly
for consistent follow-up.
7. It is important to create plans for the overall organization;
however, individuals need to understand their specific role
in the success of the plan. I have started the Diversity
objectives with the Board of Trustees and continued through
the organization, indicating specific roles and tasks for
each level of management. As an example, the Board had the
specific responsibility of appointing an ethnic minority
member to the board before January 2003, (which they accomplished).
Another example is that the Board’s pre-meeting luncheons
will be catered twice a year by a diverse restaurant. We
started our Hispanic Month Celebration in October, by having
the Board’s luncheon catered by a local Mexican restaurant.
8. Setting appropriate goals for various managers should
not be taken lightly. I have found that often individuals
are not comfortable participating in or setting goals around
diversity, because they have not had the experience. It was
therefore important that in many instances I contacted diverse
organizations, made introductions of our management and scheduled
meetings for us to meet and share our diverse strategies
with the community.
9. Diversity training and education is critical for the
success of our initiatives. We are in the process of developing
a diversity curriculum for all of our employees. We (Education
Department and Diversity Department) have developed a relationship
with a local college to deliver some training. Our strategy
is that during General Orientation all employees would view
a 15 minute video on Diversity called “Patient Diversity:
Beyond the Vital Signs,” with a 15 minute discussion
afterwards. After employees complete their probation period,
they would receive training called “Tolerating Intolerance”,
which focuses on institutional racism. Selected employees
in the future will attend “The Institute of Healing
Racism”, and others will attend the Diversity Theatre.
Management personnel may suggest other Diversity training,
not included in the curriculum, for their employees. I suggest
that you be very deliberate in the selection of training
for your employees. All Diversity education will not meet
your objectives and can often do more harm than good.
10. As I stated earlier, it is important to make the plan
broad based. We wanted to ensure that the plan was not just
experienced and discussed by the management team. We have
created diversity topics to be discussed quarterly during
our department meetings. This ensures that we continually
keep the topic of Diversity in front of our employees until
it becomes the natural part of our organization that it should
be.
11. For any Diversity Plan to be successful, Diversity Champions
must be recognized. One measure of success is the number
of individuals who have seamlessly integrated the goals of
the diversity plan into the work plan for their own departments/divisions.
As these Champions emerge in greater numbers, the success
of the diversity plan stabilizes and grows.
For additional information, please contact Cindy @ 616 752
6198 or myself @ 616 752 6181 in Grand Rapids, 269 966 8377
in Battle Creek, or 231 739 3961 in Muskegon. You may also
contact me through E mail for any other area of discussion.
March 2005
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