Diversity within a corporation is
something everyone gives lip service to, but few do it
as well as Verizon and American Airlines.
Recently at the Association of National
Advertisers, Magda Yrizarry of Verizon and Denise Lynn of American Airlines participated in a panel discussion on corporate diversity best practices for Diversity Inc. magazine. Both panelists stressed the vital
importance of organizations promoting and supporting the establishment
of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) as a key strategy. ERGs have to become
not only support systems for minority employees, but true resources for
the organizations as a whole. ERGs are based on everything from ethnic heritage
to sexual orientation and their purpose is to help employees feel more a part of the corporations
in which they work. The fastest growing groups recently are veteran,
religious and generational in nature.
According to Yrizarry, a good working
objective in diversity polices and ERGs is, “being accessible across
differences.”
In a separate interview, rolling
out caught up with Ms. Lynn, who shared methods for job candidates to get a
sense of whether the company they are considering is truly committed
to diversity within their organization. –stanley yorker
