A panel of top labor-management leaders generated stimulating discussion on diversity, leadership and the future workforce at the LMC’s first Mid-Level Leadership Summit Sept. 17 at Rockhurst University.
“Leadership in an Increasingly Diverse Workplace” drew more than 20 participants to listen and discuss a vital topic. The Summit is an outgrowth of the LMC’s Mid-Level Leadership Program, which begins its first session for 2008-2009 on Oct. 1 at Rockhurst. While the registration deadline for the class has passed, the LMC will continue to accept applications using an expidited approval process through Monday, Sept. 29.
Keynote speakers John Bluford and Bridgette Williams provided compelling perspectives on the issue. What follows is a brief summary of the event though it does not completely reflect the dynamic presentations and discussion.
Bluford, chief executive officer of Truman Medical Centers, noted that keys to effective leadership include treating everyone the same with consistency in values, regardless of race, gender, religion, union status, etc. However, he added that it is key to understand cultural differences to ensure that effective communication takes place. Bluford cited examples of hospitals having difficulty with patients from different cultures, and that language translators are often not enough. Yet with understanding and a few accommodations, those cultural gaps could be crossed to improve the effectiveness of treatment. He also noted the increasing proportion of Hispanics patients at Truman, and the vital need for more Spanish speakers among the hospital’s staff.
The bottom line, Bluford said, is effective leadership. He noted that the award he received several years ago from the LMC for Leadership in Labor-Management Cooperation is “among my most prizes possessions.” That award is one sign of the “radical” cultural change he has brought to Truman, changing the way employees feel about the institution, which improved the efficiency and outcomes and ultimately the public perception of the hospital.
“When people have a vision, a direction, and you get them on the same page, you get tremendous results,” Bluford said. “If you are effective, you don’t manage people but relationships so that everyone is working together.” Bluford noted that in four different cities and institutions, his formula has worked: Get the right people, give them the resources retain them and get them to work together.
Williams, president of the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO, noted that she is no expert on diversity just because she is female and African-American. “There is no cookie-cutter” way to address diversity, she noted, as every organization and individual is different. Discussions of diversity often focus on stereotypes, she pointed out.
Kansas City has been going through a challenging process of addressing diversity in the construction workforce, Williams noted. The challenge of inclusion often is not that people are incapable, but that everyone must adapt and work within the climate. It’s difficult to relate the experiences of others when you haven’t had that experience, she added.
“We own the issue” of diversity, Williams said. “It’s up to us to collectively figure out how to address it.” She added that the agenda includes learning the value of differences, combatting discrimination and promoting inclusiveness.
Kansas City, Mo., Human Resources Director and Mid-Level graduate Gary O’Bannon brought a different take to the issue. He has written about the impact of generational differences in the workplace. O’Bannon noted his work in radio and his surprising road to becoming a city employee. During that time he has seen remarkable changes at city hall, though more work needs to be done. Kansas City has seen minorities and women in key leadership roles that were almost unthinkable when he joined the city 20 years ago, O’Bannon noted. And future changes are likely thanks to the younger generation of workers.
While Gen X and Y workers bring new challenges to the workplace, O’Bannon predicted that within 20 years, many (though not all) of the problems with race and gender will have subsided. Boomers began fighting to break out of traditional roles but are not totally free of those expectations. Yet Gen Y and X particularly do not see racial differences. Copies of an article O'Bannon wrote can be obtained from the LMC.
Alise Martiny came from a family of cement finishers, but as a girl was not encouraged to follow that tradition. In fact, she joined the craft after hearing a radio ad for Project Prepare. She was not enamored with college life at KU, and was looking for an alternative. Her father, though, did not initially support her interest. “I had a passion to make it work” and that was necessary, she noted.
Martiny faced other challenges as well, but succeeded in the craft and eventually became president of Plasterers’ and Cement Masons Local 518. She also graduated from the Mid-Level Leadership Program and worked as a business representative for the Greater Kansas City Building & Construction Trades Council before her current position helping recruit women to construction through the Builders’ Association.
Martiny, like O’Bannon, Bluford and several members of the audience, are trying to recruit women and minorities to their professions. Yet challenges are substantial. When the image exists that an organization or profession requires the “right’ connections to get in, those without such connections often refuse to try even if they are interested and qualified.
Education was unanimously agreed as a, if not the, key to diversity. Education is often not as valued in some communities and cultures, and that holds its members back. And the existing workforce requires education as to the value that those who are “different” bring to the job. Enhancing diversity is a “business imperative” as the U.S. population is becoming increasingly diverse so the issue will continue to be on the front burner of most organizations.
