Dragon Boating as part of corporate diversity programs. ^(05/08/2002)

'Rowing Together' Aim of Diversity Program
Sat Apr 20, 7:05 PM ET

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Reuters) - It's springtime again in Boston, the stately oaks and maples are blooming along Commonwealth Avenue and tourists are pouring in to visit the art galleries and museums and hear the crack of the bat at Fenway Park.

Among the portents of the season are the Chinese Dragon Boats navigating the tranquil Charles River, their crews practicing for the 23rd annual Dragon Boat Festival races held June 9.

For the first time, 17 Mellon Financial Corp. employees, drumbeater included, will enter this year's race. They can be spied hunched over their oars at practice in a bid to get their 39-foot craft up to speed.

No, their employer -- a global financial services firm with $2.6 trillion worth of assets under management -- hasn't chained them to the oars. Joe Ailinger, the company spokesperson assures us that Mellon's sailors all volunteered.

Rather, their participation is part of a corporate diversity initiative to involve Mellon's New England employees in a variety of activities to help them appreciate one another's culture and customs.

For example, during February, the cafeteria offers traditional African-American cuisine as part of Mellon's Black history Month events. On St. Patrick's Day, Irish step dancers perform.

March was Women's History month and June will feature a "shared heart" exhibit "celebrating a gay and lesbian lifestyle," according to Sarah Allen, Mellon's first vice president for human resources for New England. In August, there'll be a Caribbean steel drum band, and so on.

The company also stages quiz shows before an employee audience in which manager contestants are challenged to answer questions about culture. When stumped, their frequent response is, "Gosh, I didn't know that," Allen said. Many employees in the audience are learning new facts, too, about their co-workers, she said.

The event ideas are coming up from the grass roots, not being handed down to employees from the top, Allen said. Last year, the financial house polled one in five of its 3,000 Boston staffers to get their thoughts. The corporate goal, she said, is to ensure Mellon has "the most inclusive work environment possible."

It's not enough that Mellon attends recruiting events to attract minority talent, Allen said. "We make sure opportunities inside the company are as broad as possible, because nothing works unless you have that spirit."

Indeed, some firms with affirmative action initiatives have seen capable minority employees quit after a short time, convinced they are being treated unfairly and can't get ahead.

Long-ingrained prejudices against minorities at some companies clearly remain a problem. Sometimes they surface in ugly ways. Recall the famous episode captured on tape in which oil company executives mocked their own minority workers. Read the press accounts of class action bias suits against corporations.

So what better way to erase those old prejudices -- and their underlying fears -- than to get diverse employees rowing on the same crew?

"When we come together to attend our events, people bump into people from other departments and it fosters collaboration and friendship for life," spokesman Ailnger said.

One outcome of the Mellon initiative is that through celebrating diversity employees recognize they don't have to imitate the lifestyles and standards of the Old Boy Network at the top.

"People spend so much time at work you want to be sure that people can be themselves and don't have to conform to a specific box," is how Allen put it.

A hopeful sign for the future is that the biggest boosters at Mellon's diversity events are the new hires fresh out of college. "They are very interested in not only learning their job function but about the world around them," Allen said.

In theory, when these open-minded staffers rise into senior management through diversity programs such as those at Mellon and elsewhere, corporate hiring and promotion will be based ever more strictly on merit.