Starwood makes the grade at diversitybusiness.com, with an article on its diversity philosophy and business practices.
- "Our goal is to have the various [consumer] markets out there represented internally at all levels and at the decision-making table where strategies and budgets are decided." --Ana Mollinedo, vice president, diversity, communications and community affairs, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide
I was particularly interested in the company's ideas on how to rejigger the balance between the high number of employees of color at the bottom of the ladder and the low number in management. The answer: "To correct that issue, Starwood is implementing a program that prepares associates at its hotels for promotion into management. While the program is not specifically for women and employees of color, it is being structured so that 70 percent of the participants are women and people of color, says Mollinedo...'The program exposes participants to mentors and develops their skills. If an employee in house-keeping has the skills to become a department head, then the training will develop those skills.'"
But this brings me back to something I posted back in July about only rewarding those who move into management--what I'd really like to see is a company that finds ways to reward those who may not want to be managers, but who are pretty darn good at what they do right where they are, whatever their race, ethnicity, religion, or whatever.
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