Texas Instruments recognizes that a diverse, empowered work force is a means for achieving a sustained competitive business advantage. Because of this belief, TI has taken great strides in recent years on its journey toward not only embracing diversity, but weaving it through the very fabric of the corporation.
Diversity is rapidly becoming integrated into the TI corporate culture through training and education, the formation of employee diversity groups, development of a variety of programs and enablers, and the setting of new corporate policies.
In 1989, TI formally endorsed a corporatewide diversity initiative when Jerry Junkins, chairman, president and CEO, put his top management team to task. The mission: develop a vision for the kind of company TI believes it should be in the year 2000.
TI states its commitment to employees as: "We will expect the highest levels of performance and integrity from our people. We will create an environment where people are valued as individuals and treated with respect and dignity, fairness and equality. We will strive to create opportunities for them to develop and reach their full potential and to achieve their professional and personal goals."
Following the creation of vision statements and action plans, TI created a number of programs to address the diversity challenge. TI's Diversity Vision, which emerged from this process, aims to create an environment that recognizes, understands, values and utilizes the unique skills and abilities of all employees.
Diversity awareness
TI recognizes the need to examine beliefs, attitudes and behaviors throughout the organization in order for the culture to evolve toward TI's vision of diversity. This is facilitated by internal and external education, training and awareness programs.
Since 1989, TI managers have actively participated in a variety of seminars and workshops on managing and valuing diversity. As the interest in and need for diversity programs grew, TI expanded its programs to include training for TI's different business groups through workshops, panel discussions and educational forums.
Today, thousands of managers, supervisors and employees from all parts of the company have attended diversity training. The training helps participants become aware of their cultural differences and any unconscious behavioral patterns that could impede advancement of minority or women employees.
Diversity networks
In addition to the participants in awareness training, TI employees have formed a number of grassroots organizations to help TI, and themselves, move toward the diversity vision. To date, employees have formed about 20 women, African-American, Hispanic and Asian diversity groups within TI to deal with issues facing them in the workplace and the community.
The following employee initiatives form the core of TI's diversity program:
African-American initiative
The TI African-American Employees Initiative was formed as a quality improvement team to focus on professional development, employee advancement, community action and networking for TI's African-American employees. The group has five primary objectives:
Development of leadership skills with special
emphasis on diverse role modeling. Continue to develop the next generation of
potential leaders for TI. Create a positive impact on perceptions and
awareness of African-American abilities. Establish a mentoring program for new employees. Position TI to better compete in an increasingly
diverse environment.Chinese initiatives
TI has two groups dedicated to their Chinese employees: the Information Technology Group Chinese Communications Support and the Semiconductor Group Chinese Initiative. Both groups share a common mission: to work individually and collectively to promote intracultural synergism, understanding and recognition of the Chinese culture, and to learn about the American culture. The groups also share six objectives:
Improve members' communication skills. Foster communication among members and others
at TI. Help members overcome shyness and cultural
differences. Help members become more successful TI contributors. Develop leadership skills. Enhance TI's competitiveness via a diversified
work force.Hispanic initiatives
TI has two groups working on the concerns of its Hispanic employees: the Information Technology Group Hispanic Forum and the Semiconductor Group Hispanic Employee Initiative. The groups work together to identify and promote opportunities that facilitate the placement, retention and career development of Hispanic employees at TI in order to achieve a diverse quality work force. The groups share common objectives:
Encourage networking with its own members
and others at TI. Establish effective mentoring and counseling. Promote recruitment to quality Hispanic professionals. Promote TI's awareness in the Hispanic community.
Promote community involvement among Hispanic
TI members.Indian initiative
TI has one group dedicated to the concerns of its Indian workers. The Semiconductor Group Indian Diversity Initiative works with other diversity initiatives to promote career advancement and mentoring through networking, communication and counseling. In addition, the group works to promote cultural awareness and facilitate an information-sharing channel for visitors to and from India. The group has five primary objectives:
Encourage networking with its own members
and others at TI. Establish effective mentoring and counseling. Promote recruitment of quality Indian professionals. Promote TI's awareness in the Indian community. Promote community involvement among Indian
TI members.Women's initiatives
TI has seven different initiatives working on issues concerning TI's female employees: the Attleboro Professional Women's Initiative, the Corporate Services Women's Initiative, the Corporate Staff Women's Initiative, the Defense Systems & Electronics Group Women's Initiative, the Information Technology Group Women's Initiative, the Semiconductor Group Women's Initiative and the Stafford Women's Initiative. The groups work in partnership with management to create an environment in which women fully participate and thrive in all areas of TI business, benefiting both women and the company. The groups have five objectives:
Provide a platform for women to share information. Support senior management in defining pertinent
concerns to women. Provide opportunities for women to gain support,
particularly in the engineering environment, where women traditionally feel
more isolated. Assist senior management in formulating new
policies. Become an award-winning company recognized
as a great place for women to work.Diversity forum
At the center of TI's diversity initiatives is the TI Diversity Network (TIDN), made up of representatives from each of the company's diversity initiatives. The Diversity Network provides a forum for the various initiatives to share ideas, solicit support and build coalitions. Its vision is to maximize and utilize the full talent of TI's work force to enhance TI's global competitiveness. Network projects include diversity benchmarking, career development, communications, community involvement and diversity award programs.
The Diversity Network's mission is to champion the full involvement of people at all levels and aspects of TI's businesses by providing a resource network for TI diversity initiatives and giving feedback to TI management on diversity issues. The Diversity Network has six objectives:
Provide a forum for the various initiatives
to share ideas and solicit support. Share resources and minimize duplication between
the diversity initiatives. Create synergy between the diversity initiatives
in order to accelerate the effectiveness of each individual initiative. Promote TI's commitment to diversity. Publicize activities, successes, metrics,
issues and concerns. Mentor new initiatives.Corporate diversity programs
TI sponsors five corporate diversity programs that help diverse employee groups to be better employees and be better represented within TI. Some of these groups also help minorities outside of TI.
Minority Business Development. This group
identifies and helps enable minority businesses to qualify and successfully
compete for TI business and for opportunities with other companies. In 1994,
TI had more than 750 minority suppliers. Work and Family Program. TI's family-friendly
benefits and programs include flexible work arrangements/leaves of absence;
new mother's rooms; parenting and elder care seminars; and health and wellness
programs and benefits. TI also conducts studies on prevalent issues such
as child care and flexible working schedules. Diversity Training and Awareness. TI offers
a two-day "Managing Diversity in the Workplace" course to managers
and employees throughout the organization. Awareness activities are also
sponsored by the different business groups. Workshops, forums, panel discussions
and videotapes are available to employees through the diversity initiatives.
Dallas Together Forum. TI is a founding member
of this organization of Dallas businesspeople who have endorsed participation
in a unique covenant to increase ethnic and minority economic opportunities
in the Dallas area by publishing the results of their ongoing efforts in
the areas of minority hiring and procurement. Dallas Women's Covenant. TI has endorsed the
Dallas Women's Covenant by pledging to publish specific goals and results
in the areas of hiring women and procurement from women-owned businesses.Diverse teams
TI has also integrated diversity into its successful utilization of self-directed work teams. Not only have self-directed teams made headway toward flattening the management hierarchy at TI, they have helped enrich cultural diversity at all levels.
Self-directed teams of diverse employees work together continuously at TI to handle business challenges and opportunities. This approach, as opposed to the former use of problem-solving teams that only meet weekly, has lowered costs by reducing management layers and has motivated employees to work more effectively. In the context of a diverse workplace, participation in self-directed teams enables members to learn more quickly to accept and appreciate each other's cultural differences.
TI's Defense Systems & Electronics Group (DSEG), where diversity teaming is most fully developed, attributes much of the credit for winning the 1992 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award to the use of self-directed teams. Today, DSEG's focus is on diversity, empowerment and teaming as the enablers to drive quality improvement.
Mentor programs
Several areas of TI also have activated mentor programs to provide further support to TI's diverse employee population. The programs are invaluable tools to enable all employees, including women and minorities, to obtain career coaching and counseling, and to establish relationships with successful managers.
Policy changes
With the commitment of top management, TI is making major policy changes to accommodate the needs of its increasingly diverse work force. One example is a new policy and training program for all TI employees dealing with sexual harassment. TI has updated its long-standing policies against discrimination and harassment to specifically address this issue.
The Human Resources Department selected members of TI's women's initiative groups to help develop the policy. The initiatives also participated in focus groups for input and evaluation when the diversity training program was created. Additionally, a subteam of the TI Diversity Network developed and conducted "brown bag" workshops to increase women's skills at handling inappropriate behavior in the workplace.
Cultural audit
In tandem with the work being done by TI management and its internal diversity groups, Texas Instruments also conducts outside research to help direct diversity policy. For instance, in 1992, TI worked with Texas A&M University to assess the culture of TI beyond traditional diversity issues.
The purpose of the study was to establish a baseline of TI's current culture; identify key themes that exist in the corporate culture; identify barriers or obstacles that might keep employees from contributing to their fullest potential; indicate where training and education efforts should be focused; and guide the development of future human resources policies and practices.
As a result of this study, TI implemented changes to polices regarding time off, the annual attitude survey, the company's "Open Door" policy and its diversity program.
Work/Life
In September 1993, TI worked with Rodgers & Associates to assess the impact on the company of employees balancing work and personal responsibilities. Results of focus groups, individual interviews and a random sample of almost 16,000 employees brought an important issue to the forefront.
The study showed that TI's abilities to acknowledge and respond to these special needs of employees are critical for the company to attract and retain the best people and enable them to reach their full potential. The study also addressed issues such as dependent care, alternate work schedules and personal leave.
Survey results prompted TI to respond in 1994 with the creation of a new, full-time position of "Work/Life Programs Coordinator." The coordinator is responsible for developing a strategy to address these issues. Progress is being made in many areas, including new mother's rooms, parenting seminars, telecommuting and flexible schedules.
Results
TI has made excellent progress toward its diversity vision, but the journey is not over. For example, in 1994, the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce named TI "Corporation of the Year." A long-time TI employee, Debbie Smelko, received the "Against All Odds" award from the American Paralysis Association in 1994. The first woman to receive this award, Debbie credits TI with contributing to her ability to succeed. In addition, women and minorities have been selected to serve on the company's leadership teams that report directly to TI's Strategic Leadership Team.
TI also has signed Private Sector Covenants in the Dallas area, whereby TI agrees to make public its progress in procurement, hiring and filling upper-level jobs in terms of women and ethnic minority group members.
While many challenges and opportunities lie ahead, TI is committed to the diversity vision as a strategy to achieving a sustained competitive advantage.
