May 05. 2004
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Page A3
Diversity Summit Inspires Local Workforce
M ix o f
Learn as much as you can about
people individually —their relation •
ships, d em o g rap h ics, h obbies,
etc,— to try to understand them
better.
Focus on the word "w e.” “ If you
ban the word "they" in meetings or
workshops, watch how the dynam
ics change,” he offered.
Conference attendees appreci
ated the hands-on lessons Hayles
and other speakers offered.
"I really liked the link between a
com pany’s diversity actions and
its financial perf ormance,” said Gail
Kamara, a senior customer service
representative at Northwest Natu-
in d iv id u a ls
b o o st c o m p a n y
b o tto m lin e
S usan V oct
F or the P ortland O bserver
Companies that employ adi verse
workforce have a competiti ve edge
that can boost the bottom line.
Speaker after speaker drove that
point home at the New Frontiers in
Diversity Summit.
"Being ‘different’ is no longer
thought o f as ’less than,’” said
Robert Hayles, a highly respected
d iv e rsity c o n s u lta n t w ho c o
authored the book Diversity D irec
tive. "In fact, if you view things
differently than I do, you’ll see
something I don’t. Those differ
ences and that diversity bring value
to an organization, resulting in bet
ter decisions.”
T he April 28 conference at the
O regon C onvention C enter was
o rganized and presented by P ort
land G eneral E lectric, draw ing
nearly 1,(XX) participants for a day
filled with inform ation and inspi
ration.
Hayles, who led tw oconference
workshops, supported the connec
tion between diversity and busi-
bv
T abitha P ow ell-T urner, who
works in admitting at Providence
Health System, said she learned
Diversity consultant Robert Hayles explains how organizations
much more than just the cognitive
with a diverse mix o f people usually outperform those where
pieces: "W e explored real practical
m ost folks are alike.
issues that don’t just affect corpo
rations, but impact our com m uni ference included Providence Health
ties daily.”
System, Pacific Power, Tri-Met.
Susan Vogt is a Portland free
Other major sponsors of the con- Fred Meyer and Northwest Natu- lance writer.
Sum mit speaker Jehan Sadat, wife o f slain Egyptian president.
that a heterogeneous pool o f com
petent people will, on average, per
form better over time than a hom o
geneous group," he said.
H ay le s c a u tio n e d th a t a
com pany's attitude toward diver
rating, characteristics. That attitude
frees them to collectively "think
outside the box.”
"It’s the dynamics o f that par
ticular mix of individuals that makes
all the difference,” he explained.
“It’s what they do together, that’s
different.”
After making the business case
for workplace diversity, Hayles of
Judy Shepard,
fered several strategies for helping
whose son was
it become a reality:
murdered be
Company leadership must take
cause he was
the risk to value individual differ
guy, spoke out
ences. "It takes trust and good re
against hatred at
lationships to treat people differ
last week's
ently in a way that benefits them
Diversity Summit.
individually,” Hayles said.
Find the pivotal person within
the organization and work wi th them
on diversity initiatives. This may
ness performance by citing 30years
sity is critical to achieving this per be the person most opposed, or it
o f research conducted by experts
formance bonus. Organizational could be the chief financial officer.
in business and organizational de
support is the key element that helps Usually, if you convince this per
velopment.
employees look at their differences son, those who are “on the fence ”
“Study after study demonstrates
as distinguishing, rather than sepa- will follow.
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