Diversity at USAF Many human resources practitioners have argued that increasing diversity in an organization can contribute to adding value to the organization and in some cases improving the competitive advantage of that organization (Richard, 2000). The conceptual background of this line of thinking is that culturally diverse groups improve the quality of decisions, for example by "stimulating nonobvious alternatives" (Richard, 2000). As literature on diversity increased, many corporations began to consider what increased diversity looked like, and began to undertake specific strategies not only to increase diversity but to leverage that diversity for competitive advantage. Some of the best practices ended up being part of things like the Diversity Inc. tracking of corporate diversity, which relies on a set of different measures to evaluate the diversity practices of an organization. The USAF can look to the best performers with respect to diversity to develop a set of best practices found in those organizations.

The Companies

The first company is AT&T, which ranks fourth on the Diversity Inc. survey. According to Diversity Inc., AT&T relies on "four pillars of diversity: employees, community, marketing and suppliers." It has focused on hiring an increasingly diverse pool of talent to its company. But beyond that, AT&T has also instituted initiatives to ensure minorities are visible in its marketing, that it works with an increasing percentage of minority-owned suppliers and that it has a program to help in disadvantaged communities. Some of the specific things that AT&T does are:

Mentored 160,000 at-risk high school students as part of the Aspire Mentoring Academy

Has 3000 sales reps who speak another language besides English

Six executive-level scholarships and 12 service-disabled veteran-owned business leaders

Ranks #1 on the number of Employee Resource Groups

#1 in Recruitment of minorities

#1 in Supplier Diversity

#4 in Mentoring

#5 in Veterans

#6 in LGBT employees

These successes have driven AT&T to rank fourth overall on the latest survey. But there are other companies whose diversity programs may be less established that are also doing good work on the diversity front. One of those is the Kellogg Company, cereal maker. Kellogg made the top 50 for the fifth consecutive year on the following strengths:

21% more visible minorities in senior management than the overall average

50.6% more women in senior management than the U.S. average

Executive compensation tied to diversity objectives

Senior executive level commitment to diversity

Another company is General Motors, which ranked 48th on the list. GM has enjoyed diversity successes in the following areas:

Double the average supplier diversity

Substantially higher rates of mentoring by second and third-level managers

CEO commitment to diversity

Only automaker as member of National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

Executive compensation tied to diversity performance

There are several things in common among these three companies, from which best practices can be derived. Clearly, leadership commitment is an essential component of increasing diversity. The pro-diversity attitude starts at the top, because that is where resources are allocated, lower-level executive compensation is set, and where the foundation of the organizational culture is laid. CEO commitment has proven essential to these companies.

Incentives matter. In a couple of these companies, the incentives for senior executives were in part tied to diversity measures. In general, people will do what they have been specifically motivated to do. There are many ways to motivate people, but performance incentives are particularly effective. Tying one's bonus at least in part to the ability to achieve diversity measures will create motivation where there otherwise might not be. It is up to senior management to create these sorts of motivation schemes.

Mentoring plays a big role in diversity programs in the corporate world. One of the reasons is simple -- these companies do not just want diversity at lower levels, but they want to have a diverse group of future leaders to draw upon. It is at the leadership level where diversity will be most valuable. In addition, some of the measures used by groups like Diversity Inc. include diversity in senior management. Ultimately, no company is going to promote somebody unqualified into senior management, so the mentorship programs exist to ensure that women and minorities have equal access to the pathways that lead to the executive level; this is a means by which, over time, the glass ceiling can be broken.

USAF

These best practices form the core of...

Air Force. The USAF can look to corporate leaders, because they have been the most innovative with respect to promoting diversity -- they do not mandate it, they promote it. There are definitely differences between corporations and the USAF, however, in terms of leadership, culture and the pathways to the top. However, a company like GM has a highly-bureaucratic structure and has been able to increase diversity, so there are things that the USAF can do.
First, it begins at the highest levels of organization. There needs to be a vocal, visible commitment from the top. The current Air Force Secretary, Deborah Lee James, has announced a commitment to increasing USAF diversity, outlining nine proposals to help with this objective. She notes that the junior enlisted force is diverse, but that there are few opportunities going forward for women and minorities (Losey, 2015).

In the corporate world, mentorship is a key means by which this challenge is overcome. While critics argue that quotas will be used to meet targets, it is better for the Air Force to develop talent than to put people into positions they are not ready for. A lack of mentorship is one of the identified gaps that keeps people from moving higher in the ranks, not ability. Women leave the service at twice the levels of men, in the middle of their careers. There are reasons for this. The real role that mentoring plays is with respect to knowledge and culture transfer -- how people learn to be leaders, to think strategically, and also mentorship provides better access to contacts as well.

Expanding flexibility with respect to work-life balance is a key issue that should be addressed. There were a few elements in James' plan that addressed this, so that when somebody needs to divert their career mid-stream, it is not so difficult for them to re-integrate later. There are significant challenges with that currently.

Challenges

There will be some challenges for increasing diversity. As Losey (2015) points out there are some cultural issues. Many within the USAF have trouble buying into the concept of diversity, and that is where additional work will need to be done. Further, some of these might be a higher levels, which makes it an even bigger challenge, because leadership buy-in is such an integral part of a successful diversity program. Another challenge will be patience. It is one thing to have a plan, but the plan has to be realistic. It is impossible to radically change a culture overnight, but it is also impossible to magically promote thousands of people overnight without utterly disrupting the organization. Diversity is a process, not a destination, and the goals set with the diversity program should reflect that.

Changes

Changing the culture is the biggest issue. The Secretary usually has a short tenure, which can be quite different from a corporate CEO. It is easier for them to ask for commitment because the rank-and-file know that the CEO might be there for a long time to see it through; this is not the case with the Air Force Secretary. Thus, the onus for attaining the needed buy-in comes from insiders, the top military brass, the ones who have been in the USAF for decades and who not only have formal authority but informal authority as well. The changes will have to be driven by those individuals, not just by James. If it is established that the diversity program is not going anywhere, then people will be more willing to buy into the program, when they otherwise might not.

Conclusions

The USAF is undergoing a diversity program to raise the level of diversity, particularly at the higher levels of the organization. There are some structural barriers that need to be removed, in particular with respect to mid-career issues, but there are also cultural barriers that will need to be addressed. A clear vision from senior USAF leadership, not just the Secretary but those who have served, will go a long way to ensuring that the changes stick, because cultural leadership is imperative to the success of the current diversity initiative. Further, the goals of the program need to be tied to overall organizational goals; buy-in will not occur if people think it is diversity for diversity's sake.

References

Diversity Inc. (2016). The Diversity Inc. Top 50. Diversity Inc. Retrieved May 9, 2016 from http://www.diversityinc.com/the-diversityinc-top-50-companies-for-diversity-2016/

Losey, S. (2015). Air Force Secretary's diversity plan will mean quotas, critics say. Air Force News. Retrieved May 9, 2016 from http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/careers/air-force/2015/03/09/air-force-secretary-deborah-lee-james-opportunities-women-minorities-and-enlisted-airmen/24505205/

Richard, O. (2000). Racial diversity, business strategy and firm performance: A resource-based view. Academy of Management Journal. Vol. 43 (2) 164-177.