Verizon Diversity Mission Statement

Diversity is a wonderful asset to an organization and brings with it many benefits. Employees bring in their own personal experiences and knowledge to the team (Burns & Kerby, 2012). Having diverse teams allows for the possibility to fix a problem or perfect a process by using different employee’s experiences and past knowledge to find solutions. A diverse workforce can drive economic growth and capture a greater share of the consumer market (Burns & Kerby, 2012). With diversity as a core value, the recruitment pool is widened to find the most qualified candidate and reduces employee turnover as a result. An organization can be highly competitive with a diversity initiative by adapting to a changing environment (Burns & Kerby, 2012).

Three ways of gaining executive commitment to diversity are to gather data and to assess the organizations current commitment to diversity to show where and why there is a need for change. The development of diversity council can also garner executive support because it offers a way for executive members of an organization to have a dialog with other members of an organization about diversity. Systematic changes are also necessary such as hiring from a diverse roster of candidates when filling a position. (Moodian, 2009,

The target of this research is to explore the diversity strategies of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ' (VA) with the objective of supporting its efficacy. Accordingly, this paper organizes this exploration into three correlating sections, the first of which introduces an overview of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) within the VA. In addition, this area summarizes the ODI installation of the VA diversity plan. This leads to the second exploration section, which outlines specific focus areas of the VA diversity plan as defined in the Standard University Publication: Best Practices for Managing Organizational Diversity (2007). The third and final segment offers a concluding synopsis along with recommendations for

As diversity and inclusion gain more attention in the society, more research has been done on their impact to organizations. Not too long ago, organizations implemented diversity management initiatives, such as affirmative action and equal employment legislations, just to fulfill their legal requirements (Jayne and Dipboye, 2004). However, diversity and inclusion have since then become a business imperative.

Diversity has been a hot-button topic for many of today’s companies. Diversity programming and initiatives are regularly implemented by organizations of all types and sizes. As it relates to an organization’s human resources operation, diversity will continue to be an ever-changing term as the work towards equitable treatment for all continues.

The “glass ceiling” has made it difficult or impossible for women to rise in the ranks. The further women progress in the workforce, the closer they are to shattering it. The glass ceiling is a term that has seen a lot of widespread use in the mass media that has caused the true meaning of the glass ceiling has been skewed. Women in the glass ceiling are in the top of middle management and they are stopping and getting stuck. Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president was arguably one of the biggest attempts in history on breaking it; “Although we were not able to shatter that highest and hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you it has 18 million cracks in it, and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time, and we are going to keep working to make it so, today keep with me and stand for me, we still have so much to do together, we made history, and let's make some more” (Quote). Just within under thirty years, women made tremendous progress in the number of women members on corporate boards. “The conservative feminist organization, Independent Women's Forum, points out that in 1973, 11% of corporate boards had one or more women members, and that in 1998, 72% of corporate boards had one or more women members” (Glass Ceiling). There is still progress to be made. Women need

The United States is a country that has a plethora of ethnicities within it from African Americans, to Indians, and Chinese. However, these particular ethnicities that make up America are under what we call the Glass Ceiling. From CEO jobs in politics or in general professions that are predominately male withholds the glass ceiling method against minorities and women. However, this invisible glass that is holding women such as myself can be broken but not evenly no matter how great in rank your position will be there is no businesses in the United Sates of high caliber will have a woman in an equal office without answering to one or multiple men in a higher position. Survey finds 73% of female manages believe barriers to advancement still

Helen Norton, “the Director of Legal and Public Policy for the National Partnership for Women and Families,” says, “Less than 5% of senior managers in Fortune 1000 companies are women and minorities, according to the fact-finding report issued by the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission in 1995” (Leporini). It was stated that “women comprise 46% of the total workforce, and minorities comprise 21%” (Leporini). The commission pushed the “corporate affirmative action as a tool” (Leporini). This helped, “fully utilize a diverse labor force and maintain a competitive presence in the global economy”

Diversity is what makes people different, not just culturally but in human differences. Having a multitude of differences in the workforce gives an organization the ability to use many ideas to reach a common goal. A person could say that a diverse group of people together in one room can accomplish greater achievements than a room filled with the same types of individuals. Managers understand the concept of diversity, and how important diversity is to the success of a company’s ability to implement programs that continue to develop a harmonious and diverse workplace. The recognition that diversity is a reality in the workforce has generated an enormous amount of activity over the years among leaders in business, government, and civil

In fact, progress for women and minorities in terms of both pay and power has stalled or regressed at many of the nation's biggest companies. This inequality shapes perceptions about who can or should be a leader.” (Hymowitz, 2008) This statement shows applicable reasoning as to why it is necessary to have equal pay between women and men in the workplace. When a company decides they are going to pay someone less money solely based off their gender without regards to their experience, it is discrimination and therefore the company is no longer an equal opportunity employer. Such practices need to be banned so our nation can truly say that we are all equal. Women need to form an alliance to prevent such discrimination from occurring and force our government to prohibit inequality in companies.

The first thing to acknowledge about diversity is that it can be difficult. In the U.S., where the dialogue of inclusion is relatively advanced, even the mention of the word “diversity” can lead to anxiety and conflict. Supreme Court justices disagree on the virtues of diversity and the means for achieving it. Corporations spend billions of dollars to attract and manage diversity both internally and externally, yet they still face discrimination lawsuits, and the leadership ranks of the business world remain predominantly white and male.

According to Heneman (2009), “The ‘glass ceiling’ is a term used to characterize strong but invisible barriers for women and minorities to promotion in the organization, particularly to the highest level” (p. 293). The glass ceiling has been a topic of debate for years causing organizations and Human Resource (HR) departments around the world to evaluate their recruitment and promotion proc

The need to understand diversity is also driven by women in the workplace. Today's workforce has the highest levels of employment participation ever by women. The number of dual income families and single working mothers has increased. Change in the family structure means that there are fewer men and women in traditional family roles (Zweigenhaft and Domhoff, 1998). Therefore, diversity issues cut across both race and gender.

With the changing demographics of the U.S. workforce (Ng & Burke, 2005) and the need for organizations to continually innovate their products and services to remain competitive, embracing diversity and the benefits its brings is going to be key to driving a successful organization

Diversity in workforce “include, but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience”(Thomas 1992). Diversity in the workforce is initially perceived as a response toward the increasing diversity of the consumers in the market (Agocs & Burr, 1996). From there, it has been observed that capitalizing on existing differences among the employees provide benefits to the organization. Diversity in workforce fosters and encourages