Diversity can be defined simply as the spectrum of characteristics that any one person embodies. These characteristics span education, employment history, culture, gender, and race, among many others. Diversity in an organizational context refers to the extent to which the organization seeks and values a diverse workforce and incorporates its value of diversity into all strategies, programs, and practices for the benefit of the entire workforce. A diverse workforce can be a powerful asset for organizations. It can result in a stronger, higher performing workforce that can help an organization innovate and solve complex problems to meet organizational objectives.
The Evolution — Today, many organizations are trying to determine what they received for their investment in diversity programs created during the late 1990s. Organizations want to understand the return on their early investment in diversity programs — such as training and cultural observations — to help them make a more targeted investment and impact on future diversity efforts. In addition, the nature of diversity issues has evolved. Organizations are now grappling with generational issues, aging workforce issues, and workforce disability issues (i.e., surge of disabled veterans). All of these changes require organizations to have mature and flexible diversity strategies and programs to respond to this changing landscape.
The Global Marketplace — The boundaries of business have stretched in recent years to encompass the global marketplace and consumer. The presence of US-based organizations in countries across the globe is pervasive — from the workforce they employ to the goods and services they sell, organizations can no longer focus solely on a domestic marketplace. This global presence translates into new diversity challenges and issues that employers must address to maintain global relevance. These issues include outsourcing, management practices, and cultural observations.
The Efficiency Challenge — Managers are continually asked to perform functions more efficiently and to use leaner processes; the same applies to human capital, diversity, and EEO professionals. Often, internal Diversity and EEO/EO departments need additional resources to execute strategies and analyze current programs to ascertain their continued need or effectiveness. Balancing organizational impact with the need for lean resources is difficult, and many diversity and EEO organizations end up forsaking impact for efficiency and compliance-oriented programs.
Our capabilities encompass six targeted areas:
Booz Allen tailors its approach to each client engagement. Whether we help clients develop a strategic plan for diversity, conduct a diversity workforce analysis, or assist in a full-scale design of a diversity or EEO program, Booz Allen brings to bear its unsurpassed understanding of critical issues and industry best practices. With a firm grounding in measurement and statistical techniques, we effectively design data collection and data analysis strategies. With our expertise in management and business analysis, we also help link EEO and diversity initiatives to organizational performance and the organization’s bottom line.
We have successfully developed diversity and EEO initiatives for various clients, including:
Contract Number: OPM-01-01050
Contract Period: 31 March 2012