A world of difference

Sensitivity, preparation, and training determine whether or not a company achieves a successful relationship with minority employees. Here's how to make that happen.

By -- Logistics Management, 6/1/2000

The work world is changing. The nation is moving from a manufacturing-based economy to an information-based economy. The skills employees need on the job bear little resemblance to those their parents and grandparents required. And to top it all off, unemployment is so low that most companies are finding it difficult to fill open positions.

The shape of the U.S. workforce is changing as well. Today, nearly three-fourths of the U.S. population is classified as white. About 12 percent are African-American, while 11 percent are Hispanic. Asians and Native Americans make up less than 4 percent and less than 1 percent of the population, respectively. But that's changing fast. According to the President's Initiative on Race, by the year 2050, whites will represent only 53 percent of the U.S. population. Hispanics will make up almost one-fourth (24 percent) of the population, while the number of African-Americans will grow to 14 percent. Asians will increase to 8 percent, and Native Americans will represent 1 percent of the population.

These changes in the workforce and in the nature of work itself are affecting many professions, including logistics. Logistics managers seeking employees, therefore, need to reach beyond their traditional labor pool to women, minorities, and immigrants. As with any new hire, people in these demographic groups need job-specific training and support. But employers may need to take some additional steps to make their relationship with a diverse workforce a successful and productive one.

Differences Do Make a Difference

The first step in developing a successful relationship with a diverse group of employees is to be aware that differences in education, life experience, language, culture, gender, and expectations can have a great impact on workers' performance and job satisfaction. As the title of one book puts it, "Differences Do Make a Difference."

Many companies have employees undergo sensitivity or awareness training that helps them understand the different attitudes and beliefs that women, minorities, and immigrants bring to their jobs. Awareness training helps employees understand their company's culture and the economic value of managing diversity. And there is a connection between diversity and the bottom line, says Mauricio Velásquez, president of The Diversity Training Group in Herndon, Va. Understanding diversity can help companies elicit the highest performance levels from all employees, he believes. "Diversity," he says, "is about creating a culture where each individual can thrive and contribute to the organization."

Sensitivity training typically calls on employees to articulate their own values and misconceptions about gender, race, and ethnicity. They also learn why traditional management styles may not be effective with a diverse workforce and learn other approaches that will be more successful.

Managers may decide that they need to implement a formal diversity-management program. These programs address personnel issues like hiring, promotion, and career development. The ultimate goal of a diversity-management program is to create a workplace in which every employee can reach his or her full potential regardless of race, gender, or culture.

Some companies prefer to focus on personal development instead of on formal diversity programs. One such company is GATX Logistics of Jacksonville, Fla. About 55 percent of the company's 3,200 employees are minorities. "Our emphasis," says Ron Peterca, vice president of human resources, "is on equal treatment for all people as opposed to particularly targeting minority groups."

GATX Logistics worked with a consultant, Development Dimensions International, to implement a personal-development program that promotes good communication, cooperation, and self-esteem among all employees. Managers, for example, are taught to listen and respond to individuals with sympathy; ask for help when needed; share thoughts, feelings, and rationales; and provide support without removing responsibility, Peterca explains. "We try to understand whatever people have in their history that makes them what they are ... that has a way of cutting through some of those cultural divides."

That attitude is reflected in GATX's individualized training process, which provides employees with job-specific training, pairs them with mentors, and enables them to continue their education. By focusing on helping individuals succeed, Peterca says, GATX has been able to help talented minority and women employees move up to such positions as warehouse supervisor, regional general manager, and vice president of sales.

Training Success Stories

Training can address problems that may arise due to a lack of education, English-language skills, and experience with workplace expectations. Many companies find that training that reflects the specific needs of a diverse workforce can benefit everyone: Employees gain skills and job satisfaction, while employers gain a reliable, well-trained workforce. The following examples show how two companies used training to help their employees meet performance requirements:

Boldt Metronics International (BMI) of Palatine, Ill. BMI designs and manufactures precision metal-stamped components for industrial and consumer electronics. The company has more than doubled its workforce in the last two years and now employs 330 people. Many of them are immigrants who speak Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish. BMI has partnered with Harper College to offer English as a Second Language (ESL) courses on site and also provides each employee with job-specific training. The ESL classes teach everyday communication as well as job-related language skills, explains Vicki Hoevemeyer, BMI's people development manager. Combining ESL with job training is especially important for BMI, she says, because the company is ISO-9002 registered. It is critical that employees understand the kind of documentation and written work instructions that ISO requires.

The program, in place since 1996, has been a success on several levels, Hoevemeyer reports. "Since 1996, people who started out with very little English have gone from machine operator to supervisory positions, and others have moved off the floor into office positions," she says. The program also has improved communications between employees as well as between employees and supervisors. "Communication has increased dramatically, and we have much less need for meetings and translators," she continues. Most importantly, she adds, the program promotes employees' personal growth while enabling BMI to maintain the highest standards of quality and accuracy.

World-Wide Solutions of Columbus, Ohio. World-Wide Solutions is a Puerto Rico-based consulting company that is trying to alleviate the truck-driver shortage in the United States by training and hiring Puerto Rican citizens as longhaul drivers. A subsidiary, The Trucking Institute, trains students to meet industry standards and obtain their Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDLs). Another subsidiary, Quality Driver Source (QDS), leases graduates of the program to U.S. motor carriers. The first group of 20 drivers arrived in March under contract to M.S. Carriers, a truckload carrier in Memphis, Tenn.

Duff Swain, chairman of World-Wide Solutions, emphasizes that his company is not just offering driving jobs, but rather is creating a career-development path for people who want stability and economic advancement. They are attracted to the program in part because the pay and benefits were designed to address the needs of the specific population that the company is recruiting, he says. Those who are accepted for driver training must speak English, meet a certain psychological profile, and show evidence of employment stability, Swain explains. Because they will be living and working in an unfamiliar environment, they also receive additional English-language instruction and "social adjustment" training about what to expect in terms of daily life and workplace expectations.

Critical to the success of the program, Swain says, is continuing education and support after the drivers are here. M.S. Carriers has provided bilingual dispatchers to ensure accurate communication, but Quality Driver Source manages the progression of on-the-job training and provides an ombudsman who acts as liaison with the employer. Drivers who perform well may train for other positions, such as dispatcher or driver trainer. Swain expects that approach to be successful because many of the new hires have worked in such fields as education, business, and law enforcement. "If we're bringing in former schoolteachers," he notes, "they could become trainers faster than we could teach a driver to be a trainer."

Commitment Boosts the Bottom Line

Hiring and managing a diverse workforce can help companies address the labor shortage, raise productivity, and improve product quality. It also can improve the quality of life in the areas where facilities are located and increase a company's sales.

One shining example of how that commitment can boost a company's bottom line appears in the book The Growth and Development of Logistics Personnel, written by researchers at Mississippi State University and published by the Council of Logistics Management. In 1991, six manufacturers in the Mississippi Delta region began a program to retrain displaced agricultural workers who were mostly poor, often illiterate, minorities. Through apprenticeships, leadership training, and job-specific training, together with basic literacy and math courses, the employers were able to develop a workforce that was, in the words of one manager, "the best I've ever had." After five years, these companies increased employment; implemented cellular manufacturing, JIT, and kanban practices; increased productivity, inventory turnover, and inventory accuracy; and improved product quality. Those are achievements that any company-regardless of the makeup of its workforce-would strive for.

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