Conference to focus on benefits of diverse workforce

May 19, 2008
Crain's Detroit Business

A diverse workforce can positively impact a company's bottom line, according to a number of local companies.

They'll discuss their diversity efforts and the impact they've had during “Innovation Through Diversity,” the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion's fifth annual conference June 12.

Sponsored by the Michigan Roundtable, the Detroit Regional Chamber and Crain's Detroit Business, the conference will include a local panel with representatives from Lear Corp., Plunkett & Cooney P.C., and Henry Ford Health System.

“Research shows that a diverse workforce gets assigned tasks and projects more efficiently and more creatively than nondiverse teams,” said Thomas Costello, president and CEO of the Michigan Roundtable.

With a diverse workforce, a company has different points of view, different solutions and different frames of reference, he said.

“There are more pieces to the puzzle, and that's how (issues) get solved.”

Costello, who joined the roundtable in March, previously spent 24 years at Compuware Corp.

“The success of that company is driven on that technology, which was created by its diverse workforce,” he said.

Susan Molinari, president and CEO of the bipartisan lobbying firm the Washington Group and a member of Toyota Motor Co.'s diversity advisory board, will present a global corporate perspective on diversity and inclusion as the luncheon keynote speaker.

Also speaking is Amri Johnson, executive vice president of Atlanta, Ga.-based Cook Ross Inc., an organizational development consultancy specializing in diversity.

Johnson will discuss how companies can measure diversity and innovation, build diverse teams and incorporate diversity and inclusion into to their strategic planning.

The event takes place at the MGM Grand Detroit, with registration opening at 7:30 a.m. and a closing networking reception at 4:30 p.m.

The cost is $195 per person. For more information, call (313) 446-6078 or visit www.crainsdetroit.com/events.