All walks of life
Companies that create an inclusive work environment find it gives them a competitive edge
In the made-for-guys, made-by-guys video gaming industry, women are scarce. So building a company like Harmonix Music Systems, where one in five employees is female, is a real feat.
And it makes a difference in the products. The female characters in the Cambridge company's games, which include the blockbusters Guitar Hero and Rock Band, look more like actual women than the usual exaggerated Amazons.
"A lot of places will talk about wanting diversity, but they just want it for numbers and appearance's sake," said Helen McWilliams, a designer and lead writer. "Harmonix wanted diversity to improve the games."
Workforce diversity has been a legislative goal for more than 40 years - since Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned employers from using race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in making a hiring decision. Age, disability, and pregnancy are now also protected, and diversity is becoming a business imperative as the United States grows more diverse and globalization brings distant markets within reach.
The companies that foster an inclusive work environment - resolving diversity-related complaints to improve retention, providing equal access to career opportunities, and promoting diversity of thought throughout the workplace - often find those efforts improve products and services.
"You can have diversity, but not have inclusiveness," said Shirley Davis, director of diversity and inclusion initiatives for the international trade group Society for Human Resource Management. "When you have both a diversity strategy and a culture of inclusion, then you'll start to make a lot more quantum leaps in terms of engagement, in terms of retention, in terms of recruitment."
It's unclear how well companies in Massachusetts or elsewhere are embracing diversity and inclusion because the government rarely requires disclosure of demographic data. But the Commonwealth Compact, housed at the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Boston - a project launched by three business and civic leaders, including Boston Globe publisher Steve Ainsley - is beginning to collect workforce statistics from more than 100 local organizations. Each agreed to provide information such as how many female or ethnic minority employees have received promotions compared to their white male colleagues.
The Compact aims to publish its first report by early December in hopes of prodding employers to increase efforts and helping Greater Boston reverse its "reputation for intolerance" and become "a welcoming, diverse place to live and work for all people."
A recent online survey of 2,500 human resources executives nationwide, conducted for Boston consulting firm Novations Group, found only 14 percent said they don't make an effort to hire from the broadest pool of applicants possible. According to the survey, 57 percent of the executives did review hiring practices to insure they are inclusive.
However, that's "a meaningless statistic," said Fredrick Smith, regional vice president of sales for Novations. "It's one thing to bring in great minority candidates, but the employer must also make sure the environment the individual enters is receptive to people who are different. And it's not just about being nice. Management has to do what's needed so that the new hire becomes a contributor as fast as possible. This may mean coaching or giving the person developmental assignments."
Harmonix has a greater percentage of women and ethnic minorities in senior management than in its overall workforce, a measure of its commitment to diversity. Employees stay with the company, because they know they can rise through the ranks. Game designer McWilliams has earned an average of a promotion a year since starting as a game tester four years ago.
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Some companies aim to encourage diversity at other workplaces. Law firm Bingham McCutchen this year surveyed its 300 US vendors, from office supply companies to telecommunications providers, about their diversity initiatives.
"There are a lot of ways we can vote, one of which is with our buying power," said Ralph Martin, managing partner of Bingham's Boston office and cochair of the firm's diversity committee. "For companies to know we do pay attention to this is important."
Creating an inclusive atmosphere can also mean helping women and minorities feel comfortable pointing out problems to higher-ups. Boston builder Shawmut Design and Construction created a "people of color networking group," where ethnic minority employees meet monthly with an outside consultant to confidentially talk through their concerns.
As a direct result of the group's recommendations, Shawmut has trained 17 employees as volun teer ombudsmen, whom any worker can ask to be a confidential adviser or intermediary in work-related conflicts.
Ombudsman Christina Arico Turtle, a financial systems manager, steps in a couple of times a month. "It definitely helps with retention," she said. "People have an opportunity to get help so they can get better, as opposed to having situations go on and on and never improving."
Other companies, like Pyramid Hotel Group in Boston, resolve in-house concerns by turning them over to diversity trainers certified by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Pyramid, which manages the Boston Harbor Hotel and 39 other properties, pays diversity expert EQuality Consulting to investigate complaints from employees and guests and recommend corrective actions.
"If you're going to be serious about diversity and serious about making it something that is a pillar of your culture, then you have to do these kinds of things," said Bob Foley, Pyramid's chief talent officer. "We want everybody - guests and employees - to feel they're in a comfortable environment. It makes good business sense."
Nicole C. Wong can be reached at nwong@globe.com. 