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| Read/Purchase Full Report About Us Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology Division on Earth and Life Studies |
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Success Story
Rohm and Haas is a multinational chemical company approaching its 100th anniversary. It is an example of a firm that has found the engine of innovation runs best when fueled by a diversity of cultures, perspectives, and thought processes. Rohm and Haas was founded as a pan-Atlantic partnership, between a European scientist and a newly immigrated U.S. businessman. The free flow of ideas among people who are different was, and remains, a birthright of the company.
The company faced a challenge in the earl 1980s when management realized that its scientific workforce was beginning to reflect only a portion of the wider community of scientists. People of color were not consciously excluded, but in a world of diverse customers, employees, and competitors, there was a monochromatic appearance to the technical workforce.
Dr. Jim Burke, then manager of Technical Recruiting for Rohm and Haas, reflected recently on the actions that were taken. In retrospect, he said, "We took on the challenge with a pretty standard recruiting approach which required seeking out minority candidates, working hard to make our company attractive to them, and putting a support system in place to help them get off to a good start. When I look back a quarter century, and try to identify the one element that was most critical to recruiting success in those days, it would be the creation of a critical mass of minority employees so individuals could form their own network. They had a peer community to help them deal with both the successes and frustrations of the discovery process in a large chemical company," he added.
Early on, Rohm and Haas provided a variety of internships and summer employment opportunities for students, "This is possibly the most important tool for companies to use in attracting promising diversity candidates, "Burke said. The company purposely provides a critical mass of minority summer employees so that the students can organize their own social community and networking activities after working hours. The company’s objective is to make all employees feel welcome and respected, and to have the opportunity to share ideas with their peers.
Today, Rohm and Haas employs some 17,000 people, with approximately half of that population in the United States. Stacey Adams, Corporate Director of Diversity, has the challenge of monitoring the company’s ongoing diversity performance and managing a core set of activities, all designed to ensure the company has available the widest range of talented people to ensure the success of the enterprise well into the future. "I believe that a richly diverse workforce, in all of its forms and hues, is an absolute competitive advantage for anyone doing business in the global marketplace. We will achieve all of our diversity expectations when we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills and competencies to protect our franchise, "Adams said>
Although recently retired from Rohm and Haas, Jim Burke joins Stacey Adams in the conviction that companies who hold diversity as a core value will ultimately sharpen their competitive edge. Adams is particularly passionate about the importance of management responsibility. "We spend a lot of time on the topic of ownership and accountability. From the Board of Directors to the executive officers and divisional managers, there is a rock-solid accountability built into our performance management system. People are entirely free to delegate authority as needed, but when it comes to ultimate ownership, our leaders recognize there is no way to avoid or delegate this responsibility."
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Rohm and Haas, Raj Gupta, states the issue clearly: "Diversity is a business imperative in our company; everyone is expected to make sure there are no barriers in place to finding, developing, and recognizing the most talented people available. Anything less is management failure!"
Identification of diverse talent at all levels is an ongoing process for Rohm and Haas. Partnering with several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is a key strategy for technical recruitment. These partnerships include relationship opportunities, campus recruitment efforts, research collaborations such as Leadership Education and Development (LEAD), Black Executive Exchange Programs (BEEP), National Organizations for the Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (SHPE), and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) have helped in the talent identification process.
Rohm and Haas has four employee networks (Women’s Leadership Network, African American Leadership Network, Asia Pacific American Network, Hispanic Latin Leadership Network) that focus on the recruitment and professional development of their membership. Programs include the following:
Diversity outcomes are included in the written objectives of all company leaders, including the CEO, who answers to the Board of Directors. Company-wide diversity performance is reviewed by the board on a quarterly basis, and individual unit performance is tracked at management levels.