Profiles in Diversity Journal
2010 International Innovation in Diversity Awards
Award of Job Selection Excellence Training for Employees In 2009, Georgia Power launched a review of the company’s internal hiring procedures with a goal of improving trust in the job selection process and managers who make hiring decisions. A Job Selection Task Force made up of 33 employees from across the company recommended that all employees be educated on how the job selection process works and what their roles and responsibilities are throughout the process. The company responded by developing separate training classes for managers and individual contributors with that result in mind. The Job Selection for Employees The company Web-Based Training (WBT) course is responded by highly interactive and uses a combinadeveloping tion of three different types of media. It begins with a videotaped message from separate trainthe CEO in which he expresses his com- ing classes for mitment to increasing employee trust managers and in the job selection process one person individual at a time. The workshop also uses procontributors fessionally-acted, videotaped scenarios based on real events that occur within with that result in mind. the company. Its objectives are to increase employees’ understanding of the job selection process, increase their understanding of their individual job selection responsibilities, and enhance their ability to use job selection information, resources and tools. The expectation is that employees not only understand the process and the role they play, but also apply what they learned so that there will be improved trust in the overall process. That, in turn, will help sustain an inclusive environment where every employee feels valued, respected and productive. The course launched in the fall of 2009. To date, 4,700 employees have completed it. It is required training and all current employees must complete it by the end of 2010. Survey results from those who have taken Job Selection Training are largely positive. PDJ 36
Pro f i les i n Di ve rsit y Journal
J u ly / A u g u s t 2 0 1 0
Award of Gibbons’ Diversity Initiative’s Excellence Supplier Diversity Program Supplier diversity programs have largely focused on the procurement of goods, which, unlike services, are subject to objective qualitative management standards like ISO 9000. Recently, many supplier diversity programs have started capturing spend in professional services, such as legal and accounting. In these professional categories, corporate leaders have established important workplace diversity objectives to ensure that diverse professionals thrive and create opportunities for M/WBE vendors. In light of the above, the Gibbons Diversity Initiative (GDI) features a brand-new supplier diversity program, GDI123, that is responsive to the different objectives of the various constituencies involved in the vendor/client relationship. GDI-123 was designed to help Gibbons P.C. and their clients realize a triple bottom line: • Meeting diverse spend goals with qualified M/WBE vendors; • Utilizing diverse Gibbons attorneys with total quality management of services; and • Obtaining competitive blended rates for legal services and/or optimum prices for other products and services. GDI-123 is client-friendly: Gibbons directs the entire business process to ensure that no administrative burden is placed on clients. Diverse spend and resource utilization goals are set with clients on a project basis. The GDI-123 Administrator oversees the assignment process for both internal and external resources. Gibbons also mentors the M/WBE providers as required and generates periodic client reports on diverse resource utilization and spend. Positive Change Outcomes: Through GDI-123, Gibbons also mentor suppliers and assists with certification. Despite being in its infancy, GDI-123 has so impressed the clients to whom they have presented it that they, in turn, have disseminated the program within their own companies and beyond as an integrated diversity solution with a triple return. PDJ