Conference tnpubs::tnpubs_vod

25.0. "Trip Reports" by TNPUBS::D_FLORIO () Tue Jul 06 1993 12:11

 









            DIGITAL       INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM


            To:      Distribution              Date: 6-July-1993
                                               From: Diane Florio
                                               DEPT: T&N Publications
                                               EXT:  226-7259
                                               LOC:  LKG2-2/P3
                                               ENET: TNPUBS::D_FLORIO


            Subject: T&N Publications VoD Meeting With New England Telephone


            Attendees from New England Telephone:

            o  Howard Watts-Staff Director of EEO, AAP and Diversity

            o  Rachel A. Wilkins-Human Resources representative

            Attendees from Digital:

            o  Ruth Callahan-writer

            o  Josephine Fogarty-supervisor

            o  Diane Florio-writer

            o  John Harrison-supervisor

            We met with representatives from New England Telephone on June
            15, 1993 to exchange ideas about the diversity programs within
            our respective organizations.

            Origins

            The New England Telephone diversity program was started in 1979
            by a group of 24 individuals called the Minority Managers Affin-
            ity Group. This group worked toward corporate sanction. Today there
            are many such groups, including Latin, Minority Management, Women,
            Disabled, and Gays and Lesbians (not yet sanctioned).
            In 1987, the customer services department started a conference
            on diversity as a result of human resource or "soft" issues. A
            vice president formed a diversity committee for the corporate of-
            ficers level.

            Diversity Today

            New England Telephone now has a program called Employee Devel-
            opment and Diversity. This program is managed in conjunction with
            the EEO, AAP and Disabled Veterans programs by the Human Resources

 




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            department. We discussed the pros and cons of having EEO and di-
            versity separate or tied together. Generally, we agreed that al-
            though there could be advantages to having access to EEO infor-
            mation for a diversity program, it is more productive to have sep-
            arate programs. This would direct more time into the diversity
            side of human resources.
            Closely allied with this program is the Minority Management As-
            sociation of New England Telephone/NYNEX (MMA). This is a non-
            profit corporation comprised of minority employees. They hold an
            annual scholarship awards banquet for students, community lead-
            ers, and corporate officers. The original Minority Managers Affin-
            ity group became the Minority Management Association by incor-
            porating. The incorporation was a way of self-sanctioning. The
            strength of this organization led to corporate sanctioning and
            eventually to many of the diversity programs existing today.

            They also have the Association of Management Women, Disabilities
            Access Link (Dial), and Gays and Lesbians for Corporate Devel-
            opment (GLCD). Each group has a champion, a person who defines
            the goals and objectives with the business value stated. Several
            groups share a business plan. They have a high level corporate
            committee that has representatives from many affinity groups.

            Training

            We exchanged information about how training is handled for both
            corporations. We explained that the Understanding the Dynamics
            of Difference training for all T&N Pubs employees was the result
            of the commitment by our management to bring everyone to the same
            level of awareness on diversity issues.

            They have a brochure with many courses related to issues of di-
            versity. Some of the courses were mandatory for management and
            all are available to individual contributors. Also, they hired
            an outside vendor to develop a training program in telecommuni-
            cations to get more women into the technical areas. They hold a
            Women and Technology conference for high school students and all
            exhibits are staffed by women to encourage women interested in
            the field. They have an inroads program where minority college
            students are identified as potential summer hires.

            Metrics

            We talked about the metrics of diversity. Everyone agreed that
            diversity cannot be measured and that you cannot put a time on
            it. However, both productivity and morale improves where there
            is active diversity work being done. They have not done any bench-
            marking in this area yet, but are looking into it. They felt pub-
            lishing an employee profile raises awareness.

 




                                                                    Page 3


            Performance Reviews

            We talked about the role of diversity in performance reviews. We
            explained our checkmark system and the controversy around that.
            We asked if they had the issue and how they handled it. Account-
            ability is a large part of their reviews today and to make di-
            versity happen, they felt strongly that there must be account-
            ability in this area. They are trying to make diversity a part
            of every major compentency in the review process and are look-
            ing at a process to accomplish this goal. They now have an ethics,
            quality, and diversity category as part of their reviews.

            Recommendations

            We asked for any suggestions for diversity efforts that they found
            especially useful and they listed the following:

            o  Reward diversity efforts at all levels.

            o  Publish and talk about diversity all the time.

            o  High level managers ask for diversity status from lower level
               managers.

            o  Management hold town meetings where any questions are answered.

            o  Hold brown bag lunches to discuss diversity issues.

            o  Attend as many national conferences as possible.

            o  Periodically hold cultural audits to see where we are.

            o  Get a pledge of support with any change of command.

            o  Work with other corporations and get involved in the commu-
               nity.

            o  Have a newsletter on diversity with a company profile.

            o  Read "Beyond Race and Gender" by R. Roosevelt Thomas.

            Conclusions

            New England Telephone seemed very aware of Digital's position as
            a leader in diversity work. We explained how we had many grass
            roots groups and that none of them needed to be sanctioned at higher
            levels. Also, we talked about how diversity varies from group to
            group in Digital because of differing management commitment. Our
            publications group has support for this type of activity and we
            were looking to expand our influence. In contrast, New England
            Telephone had a strong corporate commitment and some highly for-
            malized and very visible groups, but less activity at the indi-
            vidual contributor level.