The General Electric Company (GE) is a diversified technology, media and financial services company with products and services including aircraft engines, power generation, water processing, security technology, medical imaging, business and consumer financing and media content. GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide, and Diversity Manager Lani Hall leads the diversity and inclusion efforts for GE Energy, a $22B global business division, driving its diversity recruiting strategy. Ms. Hall shares her insight and experience with GE’s commitment to workforce diversity.

Lani Hall Diversity Manager, GE

First, can you tell us a little about your own background and history with GE?
I've worked for GE for almost 17 years across four different divisions in various locations. I love working here, especially in a role that allows me to use all my HR competencies to drive change. We expect the business [unit] will grow to $40 billion over the next few years and currently has 40,000 employees working in over 100 countries and 700 locations. The work I do in diversity and inclusion touches all of them in some way.

Before coming to GE, I spent almost 10 years working in the communications industry and the federal government. I've been able to take those skills, combined with my HR experience and the training I received in the GE Human Resource Leadership Program, to develop to where I am today. And I am still growing!

What challenges have you encountered recruiting Hispanic employees?
We have found it challenging to find technical engineering talent who are interested in going to locations that aren't necessarily the urban centers of the U.S. We have businesses in many great small towns, but some Latino employees may not be as interested in relocating to these areas because of the possibility that there are more limited numbers of other Latinos and community support structures in those locations.

What methods have you found to be most effective for recruiting multicultural candidates?
Our most effective method has been providing great career and growth opportunities, as well as a network of other multicultural employees with whom new hires can establish relationships and share experiences.

We use multicultural employees in our recruiting process so potential hires can see someone they can relate to, and identify with, at the start of the process. We encourage our current multicultural employees to be very open and candid about what it's like to work in our company

We also use diverse interview teams at our sites so potential employees get a view of our commitment to an inclusive culture. We also share with them the future opportunities that may be available in Latin America or other global locations should they decide to join our company.

How do you define and meet your diversity goals and objectives? How does your department measure success?
We have a Corporate Diversity Council made up of senior business leaders who develop our diversity vision, mission and strategy. Each individual business within GE also has its own Council that mirrors the one at the corporate level. In my business unit, GE Energy, I chair the Council along with our Business President and CEO, and our Vice President of Human Resources.

We meet quarterly with our senior leaders to discuss our global hiring footprint, current and future talent demands, retention, talent in the pipeline, and our corporate culture.

Are minority hiring and retention metrics tied to your professional recruitment staff? How does your department measure success?
In our businesses we have a diversity recruitment leader who is responsible for the recruitment of diverse talent. Given the global nature of our business and the fact that 50% of our employees are located outside the U.S., our leaders are highly engaged and committed to finding the best talent for our teams.

In terms of retention, each manager in our business understands their hiring and attrition and is held accountable for the results. Due to the demand for energy, the talent pool in our industry is strained, so our managers do their very best to find and keep good people.

Our measure of success for recruitment and retention is simple — more great people joining, less voluntarily leaving.

What do you say to those who feel that diversity programs are more about complying with EEO requirements and public image, rather than a real dedication to finding diverse candidates?
As a U.S. government contractor, we have an obligation to comply with all laws related to Equal Employment Opportunity. There are also countries outside the U.S. that have similar regulations that companies must comply with in order to do business there.

But our dedication in this area goes far beyond compliance with legal obligations. The most successful business models have workforces that reflect the market they serve. Our goal to get as local and as close to our customers as possible, wherever we are in the world, helps to ensure we can respond quicker to customer’s needs. We need to have decision making expertise and capacity close to and readily available for our customers. We recognize the power of diversity and the strength that results from inclusion. Our business and workforce inclusiveness creates a limitless source of ideas and opportunities.

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The ability to manage diversity and inclusion is core to our growth strategy. Many innovative ideas come from our organization’s capacity to include and accept all ideas from everywhere.

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What initiatives exist to help your current workforce value diversity?
We have strategic initiatives tied to attracting, developing, promoting and retaining talent. It includes everything from leadership engagement, affinity networks, surveys to periodically measure the cultural temperature, and work/life programs to support the needs of a contemporary workforce.

The most requested initiative we offer is our flexible work arrangements program, which helps employees balance their professional and personal obligations with options like telecommuting, remote working, reduced hours, part-time, flex time and compressed work weeks. GE also offers paid time off, family leave and care programs, education programs and adoption assistance.

Beyond our reputation for supporting diversity in the workforce, GE is also acknowledged as one of the best companies for developing leadership talent. We focus diligently on recruitment at the start of the pipeline, beginning with our campus recruiting programs. We offer a myriad of training for employees at all levels and all functions to ensure our employees are always learning and growing. Our company invested more than $1 billion in training and development initiatives and also provided a global network of online learning with nearly 3.4 million online courses completed in 2007.

How does your employee onboarding process help promote an inclusive atmosphere for diverse employees, right from the start?
We assign employees a buddy in their offer letter to make their transition into GE easier. In addition, various affinity networks provide orientation and networking sessions that all new employees are encouraged to join in order to meet other employees who have been in the company longer. Our business has a year-long orientation program, called Power-On, to help new employees meet new people and leaders, understand organizational interfaces and key process, and to help them come up to speed more quickly.

What programs does your company offer to minority groups? Do these groups meet on company time?
We have affinity networks and employee groups in our business that offer opportunities to engage in the company. Employees, regardless of their personal diversity, can voluntarily join and participate in any of these groups. Activities include attracting new talent to the company, providing personal and professional development courses, networking, mentoring and community service opportunities. By participating, employees get to connect with each other, and also with company leaders who are very active in these groups.

Our GE Women's Network just celebrated its 10th anniversary and has more than 150 "hubs" around the world, reaching over 120,000 women across the globe. We also have an African-American Forum, Hispanic Forum and Asia Pacific American Forum – all of which have senior leadership sponsorship. We also have a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender employee group.

All of these groups meet on company time, and GE provides financial support to all of them. The real story is our employees are very committed to the success of the groups and voluntarily plan, develop and execute key significant, business relevant, programmatic activities to help our company drive its diversity and inclusion goals.

What is your company’s leadership commitment and involvement in diversity? How has the CEO or other top officer of the company embraced or championed diversity?
Our company has a long history with women and minorities working at GE. One of our early pioneers in the late 1800’s was Lewis Latimer, an African American technologist, who we have an annual award named after. Diversity at GE has evolved over the years, and the company has made many great strides. Jeff Immelt is the co-leader of the GE Corporate Diversity Council, along with Deb Elam, our Chief Diversity Officer. They meet on a quarterly basis with the diversity leaders of each of our businesses to review our progress.

We have strong and proven processes in place to drive diversity hiring and promotions throughout the Company. These processes range from our Session C annual talent review where leaders are measured on growth traits such as "inclusiveness" to GE’s support of our affinity networks.

What role does diversity play in the overall success of your organization? How are you able to correlate bottom-line results to workforce diversity?
The ability to manage diversity and inclusion is core to our growth strategy. Many innovative ideas come from our organization's capacity to include and accept all ideas from everywhere. The Wind Energy business and many of our Ecomagination and Imagination Breakthrough projects are the result of us listening and including diverse ideas, opinions and thoughts.

In 2006, 30% of Company officers and 39% of senior executives were diverse (women, U.S. minorities or non-U.S. citizens) versus 22% of Company officers and 29% of senior executives in 2000. Nearly one-quarter of GE's leadership comes from outside the United States. What we found through experience is simple: creating and nurturing a culture of respect, opportunity, candor and inclusiveness creates an environment where diversity can thrive anywhere in the world.

What would you say to Latino candidates applying to GE today? What can they do to use their language and cultural skills to their best advantage?
APPLY, APPLY, APPLY and have all your friends APPLY!

There's no other company that can offer the breadth of products and career experiences all within one company. If you contact me directly, I will put you in contact with a Latino employee who will share their story and experiences and you will walk away knowing GE is right for you.

What do you want prospective diverse employees to know about GE and its commitment to diversity?
Diversity is real here and you matter. Our company wants your talent, ability and ideas to shine through and is doing everything it can to make sure you can live out your dreams here. I am diverse and was able to live out my dreams and so can you. I would not tell you to join our company if I didn’t believe in all it had to offer.

Learn more about:

• Careers with GE
• Diversity and Inclusion at GE

About the Author: LatPro Inc

An innovator in the online employment industry, LatPro was launched in 1997 to become the very first job board connecting Hispanic bilingual candidates with employers. Our staff authors share targeted advice gained during our 10 years serving Hispanic jobseekers and diversity-conscious companies.

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