DIVERSITY IS TRUE MEASURE OF DIVERSITY AT THE TOP

Diversity is True Measure of Leadership at the Top

BY MARK KENT

Thirty-six years ago, Wendy’s debuted its now-iconic “Where’s the Beef?” commercial, starring an elderly woman demanding more meat from her fast-food hamburger. The catchphrase was a jab at burger rivals. It was so impactful the company still uses the campaign.

Amid the energized social injustice movement, numerous Fortune 500

companies have been scrutinized for lackluster internal initiatives to truly cultivate a diverse workforce and leadership team.

While some corporations have created new roles and departments within corporate and supplier diversity, what really counts are the results. The lack of results has left very little meat between the buns, making many of us wonder where’s the diversity?

In order to get results, we need to know where the process of hiring diverse candidates breaks down into actual practice. There must be processes in place to ensure that diverse candidates are prepared for opportunities to gain P&L (profit and loss) and functional experience.

I think of myself during my time at Humana, which ranks No. 56 on the Fortune 500 list of companies. I joined Humana in 2004 as a project manager and left the company 10 years later as the regional president and CEO leading the medical practice division of the company responsible for nearly $1.3 billion in

revenue.

I look back on my time there fondly because I was constantly challenged. There is an established process for diverse candidates to be identified, given an opportunity to gain necessary experience, and most importantly mentorship from executives. From Humana’s boardroom through its leadership ranks it is a very diverse company, which has consistently outperformed its peers in many ways including the bottom line.

Many companies publicly promote the idea of diversity on their websites, and in their ad campaigns, but behind closed doors brush over the issue. These companies are missing the business case for diversity. Not only is it a good thing to do, it’s also good for business.

Research has shown diverse workforces bring measurable, positive results. One study found that U.S. companies, from 2012 to 2017, with three or more women directors, reported earnings per share that were 42 percent higher than

those companies with no women as directors.

In 2017, another study found that companies with at least one ethnic minority on the board had an average increased return on equity of 2 percent more than companies without such diversity.

We must demand to know how companies measure their diversity pipeline to the C-Suite and if diversity is a metric used in the performance evaluation of executives and the board. We must also know what percentage of their performance evaluation diversity constitutes, and the aligned incentives.

As we say in business, show me your budget and your trackable metrics and I will tell you what’s important to you.

Mark D. Kent, FACHE, FACMPE is the CEO of Total Health Medical Centers. He is a board certified Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and American College of Medical Practice Executives

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