http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspot Beyond Diversity en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:44:09 GMT Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:52:33 GMT CF Blogger by DayDream Inc http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss frank@diverseworkplace.com frank@diverseworkplace.com http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=98571981-FFCA-0324-0715DCDBE4A8CBF7 In Boston in 1965 African Americans took responsibility for their children’s education. Since the all-white school board refused to desegregate the city’s schools, black parents, led by Ellen Swepson Jackson, started “Operation Exodus.” Beginning in September 1965, the Exodus Bus transported 400 black student to the Faneuil School in the Back Bay section of the city. School busing would become a highly charged issue in Boston during the seventies. Civil Rights Moment Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:52:33 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=98571981-FFCA-0324-0715DCDBE4A8CBF7 http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=98569364-FFCA-0324-07B3EE02D3D6E6D9 Come On, People, On the Path from Victims to Victors, the new book by Bill Cosby and Alvin Poussaint, is causing quite a stir, raising many eyebrows, evoking strong reactions, and, mirabile dictu (wonderful to relate), causing readers to think and act. Many believe that it was written for the black community. No way. It was written for all of us who exist in a world coming apart by terrorism, genocide, and war. It was written for people living in America, a country threatened by crises of all ilks, disintegrating family values, disparity of healthcare services, communities shattered by racism, inequality, joblessness and lack of hope. The time for talking about all this is long gone; now is the time for action.Cosby and Poussaint present in their courageous, tell it like it is style, the problems facing the black community not only with staggering statistics but with magnificent life experiences of community people. But Come On, People is much more than that. It is a book on how to live, on hope, parenting, building community, children, education, reinforcing Standard English, protecting our kids, the perils of TV, respect, cooling violence, accepting responsibility for your actions, healthy hearts and minds, family values, the high price of violence and how to go from poverty to prosperity.“In Come On, People, Bill Cosby and Alvin F. Poussaint tell an inspiring story about human beings fighting hardships and succeeding. It is a story about strong, resilient people who have overcome poverty and mistreatment. Do not be surprised if you find yourself identifying personally with the stories because you see the same struggle in either yourself or in an acquaintance or a relative. It is a stirring call for us all to complete the daunting transition from victims to victors. Come On, People will encourage you to set aside excuses and make a better life today – for you, for your children, for your community, and for your future.” Cosby and Poussaint spent over three years going around the country listening to people discuss their problems and how they took responsibility for them and solved them. The authors called these meetings “community call outs.” and They present their findings in each chapter under riveting and unforgettable Call Outs. These incredible stories “are accounts of personal setbacks and rebuilding one’s life in the face of adversity.”Come On, People lays it on the line in unequivocal terms. “It is time to have courage to believe that you can do better by asking for help and not being afraid to move forward. No matter your economic status, no matter your age, no matter your race, not matter your gender, and no matter your religion, we are all allies in changing our future for the better.” Excellence in Diversity Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:51:58 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=98569364-FFCA-0324-07B3EE02D3D6E6D9 http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=29724F79-FFCA-0324-071BC2DCA7D9A373 While Martin Luther King was in a Selma jail cell in early February 1965, Malcolm X traveled to the city in response to a call from SNCC. Speaking to students, Malcolm said he fully supported the black activists in Selma but didn’t believe nonviolent protests would work. Instead, he endorsed militant actions against racism. Malcolm told Coretta Scott King to tell her husband that he came so that whites would understand “what the alternative is” if they refused to deal with Dr. King. The students were energized by Malcolm’s speech. Coretta spent several minutes trying to calm the students, and SCLC leaders hastily postponed a planned march. Civil Rights Moment Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:04:25 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=29724F79-FFCA-0324-071BC2DCA7D9A373 http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=29700683-FFCA-0324-070D5792A1DD374D THE DIFFERENCEHOW THE POWER OF DIVERSITY CREATES BETTER GROUPS,FIRMS, SCHOOLS, AND SOCIETIESDiversity provides benefits is the central theme of The Difference, published by Princeton Press and written by Scott Page, a Professor of Complex Systems, Political Science and Economics at the University of Michigan. What attracted me to buy and read this book was Page’s claim that diverse groups of problem solvers – groups of people with diverse tools – consistently outperformed groups of the best and the brightest. People in Massachusetts who witnessed and participated in the DEC ‘miracle’ (Digital Equipment Corporation) would agree with this and attest to the truth that diversity produces benefits.Page affirms that “the power of diversity is not a new idea - the idea that our individual differences, the differences in how we think, in the cognitive tools we possess, in our perspectives – was far outside the mainstream in a society that prizes individual talent and achievement. It shouldn’t be. Progress depends as much on our collective differences as it does on our individual I.Q. score.”The book jacket sets the tone: “In this landmark book, Scott Page redefines the way we understand ourselves in relation to each other. The Difference is about how we think in groups, about how our collective wisdom exceeds the sum of its parts. Why can teams of people find better solutions than brilliant individuals working alone? And why are the best group decisions and predictions those that draw upon the very qualities that make each of us unique? The answers lie in diversity – not what we look like outside, but what we look like within, our distinct tools and abilities.”A few quotations from the Prologue will help you decide whether or not you want to read/buy The Difference: The claim that diversity should get equal billing with ability is a strong and controversial one. I show with modest rigor how diverse perspectives, heuristics, interpretations, and mental models improve our collective ability to solve problems and make accurate predictions. Some people dismiss claims that diversity is beneficial as empty rhetoric. And people have good reason to be dubious. This book provides a foundation for those claims. Identity diversity does produce benefits – not every time, not in every context – but there is a there there. Diversity trumps ability. Ability matters. But – here’s the catch – so does diversity. We’re comparing an apple to a fruit basket. Ability is a property of an individual – a nice shiny apple. Neither a person nor an apple can be diverse. Diversity is a property of a collection of people – a basket with many kinds of fruit. Diversity and ability complement one another: the better the individual fruits, the better the fruit basket, and the better the other fruit, the better the apple. rather than being on the defensive about diversity, we should go on the offensive. We should look at difference as something that can improve performance, not as something that we have to be concerned about so that we don’t get sued.getAbstract (www.getAbstract.com) posits the following recommendation about The Difference: “Are two heads better than one? Or do too many cooks spoil the broth? For a large class of problems, argues mathematician and social scientist Scott E. Page, two heads are better. That is the benefit of diversity particularly cognitive diversity. Skeptical? You won’t be after you follow Page’s methodical, quirky, and often funny analysis of diversity’s logic. getAbstractrecommends this book to readers who want a truly rigorous, formal description of how diversity brings benefits to organizations?Be prepared, however, to encounter much math-speak. The author also notes that some of the models showing the impact of diversity that he cites in the book have been tested via computer simulation only, and not in practical settings. Still Page’s results are innovative and beautiful; he maps out inviting avenues for further exploration, and brings welcome clarity to the important and contentious issues raised by human diversity.” Excellence in Diversity Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:01:55 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=29700683-FFCA-0324-070D5792A1DD374D http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=A9B0F3F1-FFCA-0324-07A78FA42B22FCEA I'd love to have a dollar for every time I've heard (and still hear) the following statement during the past 35 years. "I'd like to hire Black professionals in executive positions but they just don’t exist." Baloney. In all these years I've never failed to find Black professionals in almost every discipline from actuaries to gallium arsenide technologists to call center designers to 'you name it.'David D'Alessandro, the former John Hancock CEO, discussed this very topic in an October 8th Boston Globe op-ed article, "The great lie in African-American hiring."His points are real, true, and meaningful;""I tried to hire an African-American, there were just no qualified applicants available, and I really need to fill the job soon." I cannot tell you how many hundreds of times in my Boston career as an employer, board member, or adviser I have heard and still hear this comment when a management person is unable to fill a key position with an African-American. It is a great lie.Most times, managers have not searched diligently, or the headhunters are in such a rush to get their fee that they push the more plentiful experienced white candidates because they know managers try to fill jobs quickly before they lose the position for budget reasons or simply because they need the work done fast.While that will certainly be denied and does not happen everywhere, it occurs more than one imagines.But this great lie is widely accepted under the premise that if "at least some effort has been made to recruit a black he/she has done their duty." In other words, the "easy out." After all, business needs to go on. The rationale is "That's not prejudice - we tried."But most private companies struggle with this issue. Especially at the upper-middle and senior ranks. Most of these profit companies are run by a phalanx of white guys, a woman or two, and perhaps a black person is in their midst. There may be a few exceptions, but not many. Just peruse the senior executive and board photos in their annual reports. Case closed.One of the more fascinating things about prejudice that leads to this inaction is it's easy to believe such statements whether they are true or not. And that acceptance allows people an excuse to not change the dynamic.” Excellence in Diversity Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:41:27 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=A9B0F3F1-FFCA-0324-07A78FA42B22FCEA http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=A9ADFB81-FFCA-0324-07C340AF195C4A2E Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy were among those arrested for protesting segregation at the Monson Motor Lodge in St. Augustine, Florida. When they and other protesters returned to desegregate the swimming pool, James Brock, the motel manager, screamed: "Get out."When they didn’t move Brock came back with a container of hydrochloric acid and shouted, "This is acid. If you don’t get out, I’ll pour it in the water." They didn’t, so he did!Would you believe that Brock was so angry that the very next day he put an alligator in the pool to discourage activists. Civil Rights Moment Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:38:12 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=A9ADFB81-FFCA-0324-07C340AF195C4A2E http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=420984C6-FFCA-0324-07F4D5258E063E9E People want to work for a company that is welcoming and inclusive. Some make a company’s commitment to diversity an important element in their job search. Why be one of a kind? Why work in a place that is not inclusive or where you will not be judged on your performance?How do you check out a company’s record or stance on diversity and inclusion? Use your network to find out who works at the company – get the answers to your questions. Look at the company’s website. Some websites have a lot of window dressing – “All that is baseline. It’s not proof of a real commitment,” says Sondra Thiederman, a consultant on workplace diversity issues in San Diego. “It’s a nice symbol but symbols aren’t worth very much. You have to go further.” A word of caution,  if you have to be an MIT engineer to navigate their website to find diversity, it is doubtful that the company is serious. Surf the Internet to track down articles about the prospective employer; look up pending discrimination suits. Look at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s website (http://www.eeoc.gov/); it lists major lawsuits and settlements.  Use the peripatetic method of getting information (Aristotle walked around while he was teaching, so, in order to learn his pupils had to walk around with him.) When you go for the interview, get there early, walk around, and talk to people. Note how many people of color there are, look at interactions, cultural differences. Are people friendly, interacting with and respectful of each other, working across cultural lines? At the initial interview, observe the number of minorities and women in senior or professional positions; ask about minority representation at executive levels and on the board of directors.  “Candidates should not be shy about telling a hiring manager that they care about diversity and ask about the company’s efforts and policies in that area. Ask how many senior officers are women and minorities, and how that figure has changed in the last five years. Find out if women and minorities are moving up at some kind of reasonable rate and whether they are interviewed for every opening. Ask about retention rates: high turnover among people of color is a bad sign.” (Taking a Closer Look at Employer’s Diversity, Kemba J. Dunham from the Wall Street Journal Online) Luke Visconti, partner and co-founder of DiversityInc, “Remember that few places likely will be perfect.” Look for the company to have serious involvement in diversity. Visconti defines serious as a “concerted, coordinated diversity effort with top management attentive, measured, and accountable.”Unfortunately, there is little you can do to counter the actions of corporate executives who just don’t get it. Maybe they will learn some day; probably not. Jimmy Breslin once said, “The only place that nothing is in doubt is the cemetery.” Excellence in Diversity Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:37:41 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=420984C6-FFCA-0324-07F4D5258E063E9E http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=4206FB5C-FFCA-0324-0778996D44C6CB35 “We are tired. We are tired of being beaten by policemen. We are tired of seeing our people locked up in jail over and over again, and then you holler to be patient. How long can we be patient? We want our freedom and we want it now.”SNCC Chairman John Lewis – excerpt from March on Washington Speech.The first draft of John Lewis’s March on Washington speech reflected SNCC’s militancy. It called some political leaders “cheap.” And it asked the question, “Which side is the government on?” Movement leaders, trying to keep the Kennedy Administration as a march ally, were upset and demanded that Lewis cut those references. SNCC folks got hot. As he recalled the standoff, Lewis was ready to put up a fight. But A. Philip Randolph, looking ‘beaten down and tired,’ spoke his piece: “I’ve waited all my life for this opportunity. Please don’t ruin it.” Lewis relented, saying there was no way he could say no to such a dignified plea.” - Civil Rights Chronicle Civil Rights Moment Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:34:54 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=4206FB5C-FFCA-0324-0778996D44C6CB35 http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=BBF25750-FFCA-0324-071F7208C698DA56 A sad irony of the Civil Rights Movement is that it took the arrest, beating, or death of white activists to call attention to the terrorism inflicted on black Americans. The violence in St Augustine, Florida provoked a strong response from two very prominent elderly women from Boston who staged a sit-in at St. Augustine’s Ponce de Leon Hotel on March 31, 1964.The two ladies were Mrs. Malcolm Peabody, the mother of the governor of Massachusetts and Mrs. John Burgess, wife of the Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts. Their arrest and jailing brought national attention to St. Augustine. All of the major newspapers of the nation as well as television and radio stations began to cover events here and broadcast them to the nation and the world. Civil Rights Moment Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:43:15 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=BBF25750-FFCA-0324-071F7208C698DA56 http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=BBF1CB9A-FFCA-0324-0717F0B17E51310C We complete our look at Talent Management with another direct quotation from Talent Management: A Critical Way To Integrate & Embed Diversity by Lynne Morton who can be contacted at www.linkage-inc.com.Corporate Examples: How Talent Management Really Helps DiversityTwo very different organizations have explained how their use of Integrated Talent Management has helped them achieve the ideal state of Diversity.The first is a small consulting firm with 150 employees. This firm embodies the Talent Mindset and fully integrates all its processes. They note that their cultural style is extremely collaborative, that opportunities are perceived by all as available or attainable, and that their employees were born in 28 countries. They attribute the success and uniqueness of their culture to their Talent Mindset and integrated approaches. They are a truly diverse organization, without actually even having a defined Diversity initiative. They do offer harassment awareness training, but find no need to structure specific recruitment or retention initiatives. Diversity has become part of their culture, thanks to their Talent Mindset.The second example is a global manufacturing company, with 65,000 employees. This organization has extensive programs and processes to support Talent Management. However, they admit that Diversity itself didn't generate the results they'd hoped for, especially in terms of recruitment. When they shifted their thinking to Talent Management, though, letting Talent Management set the needs, they started to think much more broadly and achieved their reframed objectives. The objective became Talent Management - with Workforce Diversity being an enabler of that. As a result of aligning Diversity goals and objectives to those related to Talent, they, too could make progress and find Diversity becoming part of their culture and the way they work.These two examples show us that by reframing thinking - by leading with Talent goals and by operating with a Talent Mindset, Diversity objectives can be attained.Other Benefits For DiversityDiversity is not only still struggling to get on the corporate agenda, but it is also still struggling to get some mind share from leadership. Talent Management has already achieved that. That's another reason to link Diversity to Talent Management - to get on the CEO agenda.Talent is top of mind for leaders today, in the public and private sectors alike. Virtually all studies of top management cite talent-related issues as critical to the business. The Conference Board study was no different. In fact, the Society for Organizational Learning recently defined a current leadership challenge as "adapting the organization and leadership to the diversity, pace, uncertainty and speed of the external environment…" Key elements cited include; "multi-cultural sensitivity, appreciation, diversity and adaptability, related to the increased global nature of work and companies."The Conference Board study showed that CEOs are actively engaged in talent-related initiatives. In many cases, even Boards of Directors are involved. Whereas Diversity has still struggled with getting general managers involved, aligning Diversity with Talent Management opens the door for much more involvement. Additionally, that involvement will take the shape of more than just participation in programs - it will take the shape of ownership and accountability. Because that is what's happening in the world of Talent Management. Excellence in Diversity Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:42:39 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=BBF1CB9A-FFCA-0324-0717F0B17E51310C http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F8115B9B-FFCA-0324-07528E269C8617DC On the night of June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers, the 37 year old Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP was shot in the back as he crossed the front yard of his home. He staggered toward his front door and then fell, dead. Evers had been one of the most effective and articulate activists against segregation. He drew national attention when he investigated violent crimes against blacks and organized a boycott of Jackson, Mississippi merchants. He assisted James Meredith in his successful efforts to gain admission to Ole Miss in 1962. His assassin, Byron de la Beckwith, a white supremacist, was tried twice for Evers’ murder in the 1960s but in both trials all white juries failed to reach a verdict. In 1994 he was tried again, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. We came to realize in those last few days, last few months, that our time was short. It was simply in the air. You knew that something was going to happen, and the logical person for it to happen to was Medgar. It certainly brought us closer during that time. As a matter of fact, we didn’t talk, we didn’t have to. We communicated without words. It was a touch, it was a look, it was holding each other, it was music playing. And I used to try to reassure him and tell him, “Nothing’s going to happen to you, the FBI is here – laugh – everybody knows you,  you’re in the press, they wouldn’t dare do anything to you. (Myrlie Evers, wife of Medgar Evers.) Civil Rights Moment Tue, 24 Jul 2007 11:51:33 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F8115B9B-FFCA-0324-07528E269C8617DC http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F80FDBD1-FFCA-0324-078145CDA1DB3F73 What are today's top concerns of HR executives? A survey published by ORC Worldwide (www.orcinc.com), a human resource management consulting firm, states that the top issues in HR in 2007 are finding, developing and keeping talent. Nearly 62 percent of those responding to the survey opined that talent management is the most pressing strategic issue. Some of the other critical issues ranked by HR executives are:• leadership development• cultural transformation activities• diversity• succession planning• workforce planning The term, talent management, was coined by McKinsey & Company in 1997 and encompasses the acquisition, assessment, development and retention of a workforce. Some refer to this as human capital management. Talent management includes performance management, that is, how companies drive performance at the individual level.Some believe that it is all about talent management, that is, having the right talent in the right place at the right time – that’s what matters. Really? The demographic of today's workforce is changing. Diversity in business today is an integral part of the effective management of human capital. Organizations subscribing to the “it’s all about talent management” theory must insure that the talent being managed is inclusive and representative of their client base, customers, and the community.According to Integrated and Integrative Talent Management: A Strategic HR Framework (The Conference Board, 2004 www.conference-board.org/), talent management is an evolving and complex field. It is a holistic approach, comprised of the integrated framework, created from eight categories of initiatives. These are:• Recruitment• Retention• Professional Development• Leadership/High Potential Development• Performance Management• Feedback/Measurement• Workforce Planning• Culture"It is in the last area - Culture - where initiatives relative to Diversity lie, along with corporate values, flexible workplace and internal communications. However, it's not the particular initiatives that are of importance; it's how they fit together to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts" (Talent Management: A Critical Way to Integrate & Embed Diversity, Lynne Morton www.pisols.com/org/lynne.html)We'll have more to say about this in our August blogs. But as one retired HR executive put it:Companies can't have Talent Management without the talent. They can't get talent without a diversity hiring initiative. They can't initiate without accessibility to resources and this is where diversity hiring comes in. It would be nice to let the cart, full of talent, roll down the path to success. But let's not put it before that reliable horse called diversity. Excellence in Diversity Tue, 24 Jul 2007 11:49:55 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F80FDBD1-FFCA-0324-078145CDA1DB3F73 http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=2CBBDDF7-FFCA-0324-07C576AE98B92BCD Paterson in the mid 1960s was an old city, a caldron rushing to erupt. James Hirsch in his book, Hurricane The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter, called it the "the wild west on the Passaic." Christopher Norwood’s book On Paterson is vivid. "The mills, the redbrick buildings where people produced commodities and became commodities themselves still stand in Paterson, but most are abandoned now. The looms are no more, their noisy, awkward machinery long vandalized or sold for scrap. Vines, weeds and sometimes whole trees have grown through their stark walls, the walls unadorned except for small slits, outlined in a contrasting brick pattern, left for windows." In this period the mayor was sharply criticized for turning the city into a police state; there were charges of police brutality and torture. Jim Hirsch sets the scene in Paterson at this point in its history: Paterson's swelling black population especially feared the mostly white police force and resented the mayor's apparent indifference to their grievances. By the middle 1960s blacks were about 20% of the city’s population. Between 1950 and 1964, 18,000 blacks and Hispanics moved into Paterson as 13,000 whites moved out. At the same time, good factory jobs were disappearing quickly, creating tensions between whites and blacks for a piece of the shrinking economic pie. Many black immigrants settled in the Fourth Ward and established taverns and nightclubs. Housing there was a shambles. Old wooden structures slouched beneath the weight of their new occupants; many of the units lacked plumbing, central heating, or private baths. A citywide survey showed that when a black family moved into a tenement, the rent was increased. There were long waiting lists for low-income municipal housing, and when blacks tried to move out of the Fourth Ward, they were refused or stalled by white real estate agents. Health conditions were horrid. A protest group offered a bounty of ten cents for each rat found in a home and delivered to City Hall. A court injunction snuffed out the rodent rebellion.Many times, while visiting the homes of families on Graham Avenue, I thought that people I saw in the slums of Korea were a step-up in living conditions and had more of a chance at a decent life. To describe Paterson in the late '60s would take volumes. Daily life on Paterson’s River Street, Graham Avenue, and Fourth Ward had more than its share of riots, acts of civil disobedience, injustices, disagreements with the political and ecclesiastical power structures, anger, violence, beatings, fights with welfare, and court appearances. While the battle for Paterson was being waged, someone said: "We're winning a few skirmishes, but losing the war." Civil Rights Moment Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:15:15 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=2CBBDDF7-FFCA-0324-07C576AE98B92BCD http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=2CAA8B85-FFCA-0324-0794EFDD70786AD8 "A man or woman who is good enough to shed his blood for this country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards. More than that no man or woman is entitled to, and less that that, no man/woman shall have."        - Theodore Roosevelt    The civilian job hunt can be daunting for returning veterans. Coming home is not always as easy as it seems. Some have trouble with the images of violence, some experience financial difficulties as a result of a drop in pay while serving their country, and others have lost their jobs while deployed.Human resources and recruiting industry professionals are in perfect positions to help veterans through the difficult transition when coming home from a military conflict. We can take the time to meet with them, help in their networking activities and provide information critical to their job search and career development. We can give them a list of useful websites, job hunting tips, tools and advice on managing their job campaign.Companies and recruiting firms can sponsor Job Campaign Workshops for these heroic men and women. These workshops should cover a host of subjects including: Tips on writing a resume Skills assessment Interviewing skills Evaluating their interviews Communication skills    Responding to ads       Effective listening Finding opportunities   Building and using a network Financial management during the job search Developing and executing a marketing plan Building a list of target companies Researching a company    Using the Internet      Selling their credentials at career fairs Evaluating job offersCongratulations to Captain Mike Manning on his promotion to Major. Mike, a 31 year old Army Airborne Ranger with a wonderful wife and three children, has seen deployments in Kosovo and Iraq. We had lunch when he returned from Iraq last year and talked for almost three hours. When the elderly man and woman at the next table got up to leave, the woman shook Mike’s hand and said, “Thank you and your men for all you have done for us and our country.” That’s what we all can do: simply thank them. Excellence in Diversity Thu, 14 Jun 2007 23:56:20 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=2CAA8B85-FFCA-0324-0794EFDD70786AD8 http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F3C521C4-FFCA-0324-0781117BC4CC976B THE LAST FRONTIER FOR DIVERSITY?Publicly traded boards of this new century will not look like the boards of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. As a result of the recent scandals and new governance reforms, extensive changes and far reaching transformations are happening daily. Boards will be more independent and active, more engaged and diverse, more reflective of their communities and customer base. The essence of this metamorphosis is board composition. Investor pressures and new laws will mandate a new and different board composition. Sarbanes-Oxley doesn’t demand racial or gender diversity but it forces companies to look for directors with special skills and talents. Companies must realize the need for different viewpoints in the boardroom and must look beyond their conventional sources to recruit independent and qualified candidates. Board prospects will have the experience, skills, commitment and courage to represent the stakeholders, to contribute to the growth of the company and to make the board effective. A company's commitment to diversity is defined not only by how many minorities it employs but the extent to which the components that impact and influence its business objectives are diverse; this is governance, a corporation's board of directors.Consider these statistics on Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies: Fortune 500 companies (www.elcinfo.com) 8.1% of board seats are held by African Americans 32% of companies have no African American directors 68% have at least one African American board director. Fortune 100 Boards (www.catalystwomen.org) As of September 30, 2004, board seats on the Fortune 100 companies totaled 1,195. Women occupied 202, or 16.90 percent, of those seats, and men occupied 993, or 83.10 percent, of the seats. Women and minorities held 28.79 percent of the seats, while overall, white men held 71.21 percent of the seats. All minorities held 178 seats, or 14.90 percent, while white men and women held 1,017 or 85.10 percent, of the seats. African Americans held 120, or 10.04 percent, of the seats, with African American men holding 93 seats, or 7.78 percent, and African American women holding 27, or 2.26 percent of the seats. Hispanics held 46, or 3.85 of the seats, with Hispanic men holding 40, or 3.35 percent of the seats and Hispanic women holding 6, or .50 percent of the seats. Asian-Americans held 12, or 1.00 percent of the seats, with Asian American men holding 9, or .75 percent, and Asian American women holding only 3, or .25 percent of the total seats. Excellence in Diversity Sun, 03 Jun 2007 04:00:00 GMT http://www.diverseworkplace.com/blogspotdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F3C521C4-FFCA-0324-0781117BC4CC976B