Inclusion & Diversity at Year One

One year ago, ITT elevated inclusion and diversity to a strategic imperative and named Usha Wright to the newly created position of director of workforce strategy. What has changed since then? In this Q&A, Wright addresses that question and others about how ITT is working to create a workforce that reflects the marketplace and win the increasingly difficult competition for top talent.

When you accepted this job one year ago, you noted that ITT's inclusion and diversity initiatives were sometimes fragmented and localized. What has been done to create a more comprehensive, company-wide focus on inclusion and diversity?

First and most importantly, inclusion and diversity were added to our set of core values and are now part of the ITT Management System. The Management System defines the way we do business, and we want to be clear that inclusion and diversity are non-negotiable items -- as integral to our company as honesty, fairness and quality.

We also updated our Code of Conduct and the associated training to clarify our expectations of behaviors regarding inclusion and diversity, and updated our Value-Based Leadership Development competencies so that they focus on inclusion and diversity as essential leadership qualities. In addition, we created an Inclusion & Diversity Commitment statement so that everybody at ITT has absolute clarity.

Finally we have commenced establishing external relationships to help us recruit diverse talent. An example is our sponsoring scholarships with the United Negro College Fund. And we are pursuing additional opportunities-so stay tuned!

You've created a strong framework for inclusion and diversity. But how can ITT actually change behaviors?

It starts at the top. With assistance from two respected diversity and multi cultural training firms -- the Ivy Group and TMC -- we are holding four hour workshops for members of the ITT executive council and value center presidents this month. In February, we'll offer the same training to our top 500 leaders at the Executive Forum.

Following that we will roll it out throughout the ITT world. Our corporate training is directed toward letting our employees  know what they can expect from the corporation and what we expect from them with regards to inclusion and diversity.

You were also on the agenda at the recent China Forum in Beijing. What was the purpose of your workshop there?

We spent several hours with our Chinese national employees, sharing American and European cultural behaviors and identifying the culture divides that keep us from working as closely as we should be with our people in China. 

It was an interactive session, and one of the most interesting questions was "What is one cultural thing that could be changed to make your job easier?" That spurred some great discussions. For instance, Chinese employees mentioned that their U.S. counterparts often set conference calls for Friday afternoon, which is Saturday in China. We need to be more sensitive about how our actions affect everyone on our global team.

Overall, how would you rate ITT's commitment to inclusion and diversity?

Our CEO, Steve Loranger, is extraordinarily impassioned about this, and  is committed to holding all leaders accountable for progress in this area. I'm personally meeting with all our value center presidents  to develop leadership plans to improve inclusion and diversity. Everyone absolutely understands that this is a business imperative. 

And how would you rate our company's progress?

We're making progress in a number of areas. ITT's leadership looks different than it did just two years ago, with a number of highly placed women like Brenda Reichelderfer, Lisa Blais, Gretchen McClain and Janice Klettner, and people like our new CIO Sanjay Kothary bringing a more multicultural viewpoint to our leadership ranks. Our current leadership plans are expected to build on this progress.

In addition, the ITT Board of Directors has mandated that we establish measurements to gauge our progress. We are in the process of selecting key business metrics concerning representation of women and other diversity in our leadership pipeline. We are also building a scorecard that our businesses can use to rate their performance in a number of areas, including recruitment practices and building a workplace culture that supports inclusion. We'll begin using these tools in early 2007, to establish a baseline for future comparisons.

You are ITT's first director of workplace strategy. What's been your experience in leading the company into new waters?

I have been most encouraged by the support and positive feedback that I have received throughout the corporation at all levels. Our executive team and our employees are reaching out to join me in this great endeavor. My former experience with the company has been most helpful and beneficial. In my prior position I was responsible for developing global programs regarding environmental safety and some products related issues. In my new position, I have been given the responsibility to develop deliverable products working cross culturally and in a global context. My global experience has been incredibly valuable and that is indicative in the enormous support I have received. Out first year has been great but I look forward to an even better second year!

Bringing Attention to Inclusion and Diversity

Click image above to see a copy of ITT's Inclusion & Diversity Commitment statement in English. It is currently being translated into nearly 20 languages and will be available on the new Inclusion & Diversity portal now being developed. The portal will also include printable workplace posters available in nearly 20 languages, and a wide range of tools, educational information and self-training modules.