We’re a company that supports diversity, and work to make sure our hiring of minorities matches the ratio in our community and industry. Recently a friend in HR in another company told me that this only a start. What else should we be doing? —Jon B.

The support of diversity goes beyond just hiring minorities. It’s a firm belief and commitment that people differ from each other in many ways, and that valuing those differences is the strength of any organization. It means hiring and developing people based only on their ability to do a job well, not on how similar they are to other work groups.

In their book Dynamics of Diversity (Crisp Publications),Odette Pollar and Rafael Gonazlez point out that in the U.S., the white-male-dominated, large, corporate environment is no longer the norm: Women are now almost two-thirds of all new employees in the workforce. One out of four people is African-American, Hispanic, or Asian-American. Immigrants make up the largest share of the U.S. population increase. There are more people over 65 than there are teenagers. Ten percent of the population is gay or lesbian.

So being in tune with diversity means a company recognizes and respects the many ways we differ:

Pollar and Gonzalez developed a checklist that can help you decide the level of diversity in your company. Consider your workplace multicultural if:

• One-half of the managers are women.

• The percentage of minority employees reflects your local population mix.

• Men and women work at all levels and in all positions throughout the organization.

How much do you contribute personally to diversity in the workplace?

• Do you eat lunch with different people every day?

• If you can, do you offer special projects or challenges equally to people from different

races or language groups?

• If you can, do you suggest supplemental training equally to all employees?

• Do you promote employees based solely on their qualifications?

• Do you try to ensure that no groups of employees are hired only for certain jobs (Asian-

Americans in production spots, whites in managerial positions, etc.)?

In your opinion: (Yes or No)

• Given the diverse workforce you have, are you getting the same productivity, level of

morale and teamwork that you’d get if every person in the company was of the same sex,

race and nationality?

• Are all your employees working at their best?

• Are there any groups of people (for example, women, minorities, immigrants, gays or

lesbians, older people, or people with disabilities) who have a higher turnover rate than

the general population of employees?

• Does your management pursue the goal of a diverse workforce, and reward

achievements?

• Does the leadership of your organization express a vision that encourages diversity as a

business goal?

• Are diversity issues addressed regularly in program design, policies and company

literature?

• Is your management skilled and comfortable in communicating with clients, employees

and customers from many backgrounds?

So, how does your company integrate (more) diversity into its business strategy?

Diversity specialist Simma Lieberman (www.simmalieberman.com) works with people and organizations to create environments where people can do their best work. She says some organizations don't know how to integrate diversity into the overall business strategy. “They may hire more people of color and women, but don't address systems and processes for recruitment, and retention, promotion, mentoring and leadership. It's not enough to talk about diversity, or have a few training sessions without creating a change in the culture of the organization from the top down.

“Diversity initiatives need to begin with an assessment of the organization, no matter how big or small, to identify how employees perceive things. It’s more than just race, and gender; it includes differences like age, ethnic background, work function, education, sexual orientation and religion.”

Lieberman says the first step is for the CEO and decision-makers to meet and review their business goals. They need to understand that a diversity initiative will create new business business opportunities and help them achieve their goal.

“The next step is to conduct a cultural audit to identify key areas for the diversity initiative. Some organizations may balk at the idea of surveys, focus groups and interviews, that it is a waste of money, time, and training without knowing where to focus. Training may not even be the solution. You have to examine all systems and processes from recruitment, hiring, performance evaluations, promotion, and marketing. As you address each of these its crucial that as in any consulting relationship, you establish a process for feedback and communication.”