Source: theHRDIRECTOR
Date: Summer 2006
Author: Richard Lowther, HR Director, DELL

At Dell, we believe that there is a compelling business case for diversity. A diverse workforce is not just the right thing to do; it is the right business thing to do.

Diversity can help organisations identify and capitalise on opportunities to improve products and services while at the same time enabling organisations to attract and retain talented employees. Those who perceive diversity as an exclusively moral imperative or a societal goal are missing the larger point. Workforce diversity needs to be viewed as a competitive advantage and a business opportunity.

Increasingly, diverse workforces are required to understand and respond to the needs and aspirations of ever more diverse customers. Dell, for example, has employees in 34 countries that serve customers in more than 140 countries around the world. Each customer has a very different requirement and expectation of the company.

Diversity in the workforce, at all levels, is essential if organisations are to better understand these needs and translate them into products and services which can be effectively marketed. However, in order for an organisation’s diversity strategy to succeed, it is leadership commitment from the CEO downwards. Dell’s commitment to diversity is driven throughout the company from the founder Michael Dell and our CEO Kevin Rollins. It is because of the support at this high level that our diversity programmes have become the success that they are.

Without board level support any attempts to implement diversity programmes are likely to fail. Organisations need to establish realistic priorities and objectives, and there has to be an ongoing assessment and development of policies and practices in order to meet the particular diversity needs of the organisation. This should include management and employee training along with implementation of the necessary support processes. If successfully managed, diversity can be a strategic tool to build a stronger, more flexible organisation.

“think globally but act locally”

Our commitment to diversity is supported locally with each region working to implement their programmes in alignment with our overall global diversity strategy. Our policy is to think globally but act locally. For obvious reasons, programmes that work in some countries simply do not work in others. It is important to take on board local culture and needs to ensure the success of the overall global strategy and its objectives.

In order to support our strategy we have set up the Dell Global Diversity Council. The purpose of the council is to provide global direction, vision, mission and corporate goals for diversity management at Dell. Made up of executives representing different perspectives, backgrounds and experience in managing diversity, the council is tasked with creating an environment of employee respect and inclusion, increasing our success in recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce. One of our most successful diversity programmes has been aimed at women. For example, in Germany there was a definite need to attract women into leading management roles.

“In Germany it is not yet commonplace to see women in management positions. This is why we implemented a number of dedicated programmes designed to give women a career opportunity at Dell. The success is already visible; 30% of our German senior management team are now women and the general manager of our second site in Halle is also a women,” explains Benedikt Morsey, HR director for Germany & Austria.

In addition, our flexibility programme has been equally as successful. Today, employees want flexibility, improved work-life balance and empowerment to do their job how they want. What’s important to us is that staff get the job done and achieve results – no matter when, or where, they work. Since we have put a global diversity strategy in place we have seen increased productivity and staff retention. I would recommend organisations to take a look at implementing a strategic diversity programme if they have not already done so. Effective diversity management is helping us to eliminate barriers, enabling us to access the talent of all our people and ensuring our future success in terms of both an improved bottom line and maximisation of shareholder value.