Diversity means many things to many people—but one thing is certain. Creating a culture of inclusion that celebrates and leverages diverse perspectives—from race, gender, age, language and country of origin to educational background, sexual orientation and physical disabilities—is a central objective of the country’s most forward-thinking organizations.

The United States is more of a melting pot today than at any time in its history. In the 1990’s alone, the foreign born population nearly doubled, to 31 million people. That group now comprises 11 percent of the total reported population—a mass immigration comparable to that of the early 20th century.

Hispanics, African-Americans, and Asian-Americans now comprise near to 30 percent of the country’s population at a number almost 85 million. These three groups also represent the majority population in the 10 largest American cities. They are also the fastest-growing populations in 50 of the top urban areas. By the year 2050, these minority groups will tip the scale from minority to majority.

“The total size of the Asian, Hispanic, and African-American population in this country is equal to that of the baby-boomer generation. Imagine for a moment how much discussion there has been over the last 5 to 10 years about servicing the needs of the baby-boomers. It is the sheer size of the baby-boomer population—and now the multicultural generation—which dictates that businesses must respond to the consumer needs of both audiences.” -- Saul Gitlin, executive vice president for strategic services at Kang & Lee Advertising

Corporate diversity programs were once initiated by human resource departments eager to resolve disputes of disgruntled employees: Today, these programs have evolved into high-profile initiatives, the success of which is tied directly to a company’s bottom line as well as to employee compensation performance reviews. The diversity departments coordinate recruiting efforts and ensure that women and members of minority groups own an increasing share of a company’s primary and secondary suppliers. The overall strategy is to hire a diverse work force, and then provide work-life benefits to keep people on the job.

‘The most important reason [for diversity programs] is the need for companies to reflect the demographic changes within the United States…there are emerging markets that are presenting themselves every year, and it’s important for companies…to extend their appeal to people of different races genders and to other untapped markets. Finally, the available talent pool for the workforce demands diversity programs. By 2050, 85 percent of the entrants into the work force will be people of color and women. The best of those entrants will be looking for companies with effective diversity programs.” -- Billy Dexter, president of the diversity and inclusion practice for the Hudson Highland Group, national board member, National Black MBA Association.

“In the end, we have to attract and recruit the best candidates out there—and continue to invest in our community outreach efforts.”—Bob Reed, vice president of diversity for Cingular Wireless

Some companies focus on creating partnerships with professional organizations to establish a pipeline of diverse talent. The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is a student run organization with 15,000 worldwide. Three years ago, United Technologies Corporation (UTC) became a key member of the NSBE’s board of corporate affiliates. This partnership “makes a significant difference in the ability of a corporation to find and hire diversified candidates. [UTC] is committed to making sure they have the best talent, and they recognize that you need to bring in people from different backgrounds and ethnicities to achieve what we call diversity in thought. By doing so, they are making UTC an employer of choice [for African-Americans].” – Michele Lezama, executive director of NSBE

The objective of Diversity Training is to make the company look more like its customers, and by doing so, to make it a more attractive place to work and do business. Ultimately, the winners are the organizations that capitalize on the fastest-growing demographic groups, both inside the United States and abroad. The most successful companies are those that have devoted that have devoted significant resources to making themselves more diverse and who understand how to market themselves in the rapidly expanding multicultural marketplace.

Achieving racial harmony at Phoenix House, a mental-health and substance abuse health provider based in New York. “From a clinical perspective, having a diverse staff removes a barrier to effective treatment. Race is a very important issue to some of our clients…and it allows people to engage more easily. Of course we think that any race can help another, but having racial diversity among our staff helps people work on some of the issues that are bothering them. By having a diverse staff, you can see people in a different light and help people remove some of those stereotypes, bad feelings and misplaced ideologies that may have contributed to their problems in the first place.”—John Sheehan, Phoenix House vice president

According to research proprietary research commissioned in January by the New York Times, companies that brand themselves as “diversity friendly” have a competitive advantage in the recruiting marketplace. Job seekers and recruiters in the survey overwhelmingly agreed that diversity initiatives, no matter how diversity is defined, are “extremely important.”

Among recruiters:
Minority candidates are in great demand: 67 percent of recruiters are actively involved in diversity recruiting.

Nearly two-thirds of the hiring managers in the survey said their organization’s diversity efforts are extremely or very successful.

Among job seekers:

Most job seekers (91 percent) said that diversity programs make an organization a better place to work.

Nearly all minority candidates (97 percent) would rather work in a diverse workplace than not.

In their current job searches, 97 percent of minority candidates said the opportunity for advancement and good benefits are extremely or very important to them.

A company’s image is critical to attracting minority candidates: 65 percent of minority candidates said that an organization’s reputation for supporting workplace diversity was an important factor in their decisions of where to apply.

When minority job seekers were asked to rank the importance of the different factors that would determine whether they would apply to an organization, the second most popular response, after having a reputation for supporting work-life balance, was having “a reputation for hiring and cultivating diverse employees.”

“The bottom line is they want to feel that the company is supporting their needs. One of those needs is that the company has a reputation for hiring and cultivating diverse talent.”—
Wendy Robinson, advertising research director in charge of job market research for The New York Times