Danielle Sonnenberg
"The construction industry talks often about the competitive environment for projects when the true competition is for an entire generation of talent -- and we will lose that talent to other industries and professions if we can't get our high-performing individuals to look inside themselves and bring their best talents to work, no matter what their race, gender or background," says Peter Strange, CEO of Messer Construction, a 900-employee company based in Cincinnati.
Ed Rigaud, CEO of Enova, a plastic-injection molding company, focuses on how important diversity is in the early phases of creative conceptualization. "Workplace diversity fosters innovation and leadership in business globally. The best formula for innovation is when you mix a wide range of diverse backgrounds, interests and knowledge into the crucible in which creative ideas form. By contrast, homogeneous businesses are at a disadvantage, because they can't leverage the diversity of perspectives, knowledge and experience."Talk About It
For some companies, dealing with diversity is still a challenge. Tim Mulvaney created the Mulvaney Group, which encourages dialogue between people at work who don't normally deal with each other, and about topics they might avoid discussing. Mulvaney actually goes inside the workplace to encourage these conversations. One instance was between two colleagues who worked at an organization that provided services across all different religions. One employee wore a crucifix around her neck, and her colleague felt that would interfere with the ecumenical mission of the organization. To resolve this issue, the two employees met to discuss both the importance of religion and the validity of this concern.
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