"Changing Face of Diversity"
Letty Kluttz, PHR
Society for Human Resources Management/FORTUNE, September 2002.
According to this survey by the Society of Human Resources Management and
FORTUNE magazine, most companies’ spending on diversity initiatives
held steady or increased between January and April 2002. The majority of
respondents believed that the economy had not significantly impacted diversity
spending and expected funding would either remain the same or increase in
the near future, with the most common increases dedicated to programs that
dealt with the issues of race and ethnicity. Few companies reported adding
new diversity training and development initiatives in January, with issues
of age, sexual orientation and language skills the least likely to receive
additional attention. However, a follow up in April revealed a slight growth
in spending, with the most common increases coming in the areas of ethnicity,
race and religion.
The study also looked at how companies prioritize diversity issues. In
January, respondents ranked diversity initiatives dealing with ethnicity
as their top priority, followed by disability, race, age, religion, gender,
sexual orientation and language skills. The April follow-up survey revealed
a significant shift in priorities with race topping the list, followed by
gender, ethnicity, disability, age, language skills, religion and sexual
orientation.
The study was based on responses from 361 HR professionals and was administered
in two parts with the first survey done in January 2002 and the second in
April 2002.
