Handbook of Corporate Communication and Public ... - Blogs Unpad

13 Improve recruiting – go beyond putting
advertisements in the paper. Be more visible
at career fairs. Go to a wider range of
universities to recruit.
14 Take time while hiring. Don’t do it too
quickly. ‘Emergency hires’ can’t be done
carefully. Go slow and get somebody
really good for the job. Go past the
typical criteria for hiring. Only using referrals
won’t accomplish the diversity goals.
Instead of looking at educational background,
look at their talent. Look creatively
at the past history of candidates’
work. Even though I am at a lower level
let me do some hiring or at least be more
involved in the hiring process.
15 Maintain, embrace and apply more of the
quality of work–life policies that the firm
brags about. Don’t offer policies, if managers
don’t intend to use them. Walk the
talk.
16 Establish a diversity council and define
what it will do. It’s not going to work to
just talk about diversity. This group should
be very active.
17 Get individual groups of particular minority
categories together for sessions like
this. Blacks, Asians, women, etc. See if
they have more ideas to share when they
are only with persons with the same category.
If you want to get to the truth, do
this to get a definite sense of the peer
groups.
18 Do a quarterly newsletter that highlights
diversity features, and initiatives. If it is
put online attach it in an easy to find and
read manner. Overall we are in a growth
mode and we need to be able to get to
know the new people.
19 Report to us. We want to hear the results
of what the groups said in these focus
groups.
Study of mid-level managers
The second study that provides a view of the
attitudes and perceptions of personnel in a
white-collar industry of investment banking is
based upon a focused set of ninety-minute
interviews with twenty-five mid-level managers
in the mutual funds division of the firm.
The sessions focused both on information
gathering and coaching the managers. This
again was a form of action research because
the interview provided an opportunity to
conduct a constructive dialogue on some
of the issues of concern to the interviewees.
The focus of the interviews was on both the
process of evaluation and the impact of dealing
with a diverse workforce. Topics included
discovery of diversity sensitivity, coaching
people through difficult performance evaluation
sessions, working for candour, honesty,
openness in performance management
sessions, maintaining a climate that is nondefensive,
and the general problems the
supervisors faced in dealing with those who
reported to them.
The performance evaluation issues
reported by the managers were as follows:
1 Adapting performance appraisals to different
types of people is a challenging
process. Many are not sure of how their
perceptions fit within the context of the
cultural background of those who come
from very different cultures.
2 It would be beneficial to receive more
feedback regarding the nature of my leadership
style. I’m not sure how it fits a
range of different people.
3 Dealing with someone who used to be a
peer and now I am her/his boss.
4 Discussing issues that are team issues with
individuals.
© 2004 Sandra Oliver for editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters, the contributors