Profiles IN in DIVERSITY Diversity JOURNAL Journal PROFILES
2009 International in DIVERSITY Diversity AWARDS Awards INTERNATIONAL Innovation INNOVATION IN
Building Trust th through Better Job Selection
Award of Th goal is for every employee to feel Excellence The
val valued, respected, and productive, and the outcome is predicated on the quality of the relationship between a manager and employee. To achieve this goal, Georgia Power is focused on improving management skills in six areas: performance feedback, job selection, representation, retention, communication, and retaliation awareness. President and CEO Mike Garrett asked two executive officers to increase trust in the job selection process and in managers making hiring decisions. They chartered a 23-employee Job Selection Task Force (JSTF) to identify issues and make recommendations. The JSTF closely reviewed the company’s well-defined selection process and eventually recommended 15 specific best practices and behaviors to build trust. These actions, addressed in mandatory workshops for managers, included: Precise • P recise identification of skill sets required for the position. Better • B etter coordination between the hiring manager and candidate’s immediate supervisor regarding developmental feedback. Clarity • C larity on where race, gender, and ethnic representation fit into the company’s seven-step job selection process. In addition, a high-level project manager was assigned to implement recommendations, which required a collaborative process between executive management, human resources, diversity organization, corporate communication, and outside consultants. Since January 2009, the team has conducted 42 workshops and trained 82 percent (862) of managers eligible for training. For any broad-based culture change initiative, the ultimate proof of sustainability takes many years to achieve. However, current internal and external survey results show progress: Workplace • W orkplace concerns about job selections declined noticeably. • 885% 5% of employees believe their immediate supervisor cares about them. The • T he item, “Promotions go to those who best PDJ deserve them,” increased by 11 points. 32
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D&I Inclusion to Innovation Training In
Award of The D&I Inclusion to Innovation Excellence Th
Tra Training seeks to open up participants’ minds to differences or similarities they may not have known existed. The D&I Inclusion to Innovation Training establishes a sustainable foundation for cultural change and elevates the visibility and awareness of Harrah’s Harrah’s D&I D&I program. program. By By engaging engaging leaders, leaders from front-line management to front-line employees, it is made clear that D&I is an important concept in the organization. The training clarifies the cognitive diversity that exists in our daily environments and helps people to think innovatively to resolve these issues. The Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument™ (HBDI) is one example of how the training enlightens people about the different inherent thinking styles and how individuals can better relate to their coworkers to improve business relationships and drive measurable business outcomes. The benefits and positive changes from the D&I Inclusion to Innovation Training have opened the minds of people within the organization to the potential for diversity to be used as a business tool. Diversity is no longer seen only in the context of something that must be done to ensure equal treatment, but rather as a business imperative that Harrah’s must embrace to satisfy its customer base and continue to think innovatively and maintain an edge over competitors. The feedback on the training from the 2,300-plus key leaders who have participated so far has been a 97 percent rating of either “excellent” or “very good.” The testimonials compiled by facilitators after the session make very clear the effect that the sessions have on participants. Many state that it is the best training they have ever experienced and that their eyes are truly opened to the potential for cognitive diversity to PDJ positively influence business.