‘We have failed as a country’: Biz leaders shed light on state of corporate diversity

The message from Johnny Taylor, president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management and a South Florida native, was stark: “We have failed as a country.”

He was referring to the attempt, now spanning many decades, to make America’s companies more diverse.

“We did this all wrong,” Taylor said. While embracing differences was well intended, he said, it is ultimately “counter-human.”

Taylor was speaking at the International Career and Business Alliance’s 10th anniversary conference in Hollywood last week. ICABA, based in Plantation and primarily focused on advancing business people of color, used the occasion marking its first decade to induct members into a newly created Hall of Fame. Eleven individuals from around the world were selected, including Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald.

Yet even as the inductees were celebrated, panelists and attendees engaged in blunt discussion about the ongoing obstacles faced by minority entrepreneurs of all kinds, including women and, increasingly, older workers.

The principal problem, Taylor said, came down to prioritizing diversity ahead of inclusion. It’s the latter — and finding common ground — that should be the goal, panelists said.

And why should diversity or inclusion matter in the first place? In his keynote speech, Donald addressed the issue. From a business perspective, he said, you will simply be able to sell more goods and services to a wider audience if the group running those sales looks like the audience it’s trying to sell to.

“Without fail, a diverse group of people will outperform almost every time,” Donald said.

By definition, he said, innovation means “diversity of thinking.”

Donald’s comments were echoed by ICABA founder Jerome Hutchinson. In an interview, Hutchinson made the case for why inclusiveness must be part of any company’s bottom line.

“If you’re selling a product or service to everyone, but your boardroom is filled with only one type of person, eventually you’re going to have a problem,” Hutchinson said.

He added: “This is not a morality play,” Hutchinson said.

Yvette Miley, senior vice president of MSNBC and an ICABA panelist and Hall of Fame inductee, said companies can talk all they want about diversity and inclusion. But what matters most, she indicated, was actions. “Who do they hire, fire, and promote?”

Speakers also discussed older workers. Carla Harris, founder and CEO of the South Florida-based People Institute, a corporate advisory group, said businesses are rapidly approaching a phase where some senior employees may now be working alongside — and even reporting to — colleagues young enough to be their great-grandchild.

“We have to start thinking about these issues,” she said.

Taylor also highlighted the age issue, noting that phrases like “She doesn’t have much more runway” are now used to sink an older worker’s career.

“I thought we said we had a labor shortage,” he said, referencing a frequently cited cliche that companies now find it hard to hire qualified candidates.

Change he said, must ultimately start at the top.

“Human resources has a role to play,” he said. “But everything rolls down hill.”