Multiculturalism in foodservice: how diversity impacts your business

Nation's Restaurant News, August 12, 2002

Objective

Nation's Restaurant News and' the MultiCultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance initiated the 2002 Diversity Study to assess the industry's policies and progress toward multiculturalism.

This study, sponsored by Coca-Cola Fountain, is a follow-up to the 2000 Benchmark Diversity Study, which measured the depth of diversity as a policy in the industry. The 2002 study also sought to understand how diversity efforts are applied across organizations from hourly workers to corporate officers and board members. The intention was to gain a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of diversity initiatives and programs currently in place, to understand how companies ensure support of those programs and to identify success stories for case study treatment.

The second study was conducted entirely online, and the results were compiled by NRN Research.com. Nation's Restaurant News sent the survey to 240 people at the 200 companies of the publication's Top 200 annual chain rankings. Most of them are well-known brands and operators.

The survey consisted of 12 basic questions, most of which could be answered by yes or no. They were expected to glean more information than the five questions of the 2000 survey did.

The ease of replying to the questions on the Internet and the allowance of a full two months for the respondents to do so helped improve the response rate of this year's survey, compared with the 2000 survey. In that study, questionnaires were submitted on paper or by phone over a five-week period.

Nation's Restaurant News received responses in some cases from more than one person at a company. The total responses were 144 for a 60-percent response rate, compared with nearly 30 percent in 2000. Among the surveys returned online, 68 were answered completely. Not all respondents answered every question on the survey.

A wide range of restaurant executives responded to the survey, from chief executive officers and company presidents to human resources vice presidents and directors of training.

Summary

Although the 2002 survey had a greater response rate than the first study, many of the answered questions show little change in the way companies manage and address diversity issues. Only about 56 percent of the 121 people who replied to the question said they have a corporate diversity statement, compared with 54 percent in 2000. (See figure 1)

Corporate diversity statements once again most commonly are communicated through employee manuals and training.

While 104 people responded to the question of whether they have a person responsible for leading diversity efforts, only about 40 percent said yes, down from the 68 percent two years ago. (See figure 2)

Of those that do have a designated person to Lead diversity efforts, more than three-fourths share that responsibility with other executives. Those persons reported to a wide range of supervisors, from directors of training to chief executive officers.

Supplier/vendor diversity programs also appear to have declined over the past two years. Although 96 people responded to the question, only about a quarter indicated that they have a vendor/supplier diversity program in place; 76 percent said they do not. In the 2000 survey 32 percent indicated that they had such a program. (See figure 3)

Fewer people also admitted to having ethnic marketing programs. Of the 86 who responded to the question, 35 percent said they do, down from 57 percent two years ago. (See figure 4)

Of those who do have ethnic marketing programs, slightly more than half--54.8 percent--retain a minority/diversity agency for those services. That is an increase from the 30 percent who said they used such agencies in 2000. (See figure 5)

The 2002 survey asked company executives if they have specific goals for their diversity initiatives and target areas for those goals. The majority of the 96 responders to the question--almost 62 percent--had not set specific goals. (See figure 6)

Of the nearly 40 percent that did, the list of areas those goals were targeted at included creating an inclusive workplace, helping management better understand ethnic/minority issues, increasing the number of qualified job applicants, reducing employee turnover and increasing the percentage of ethnic/minority employees in the workforce. (See figure 7)

Despite the fact that some of the companies had corporate diversity statements and had set specific goals for their diversity efforts, the majority of respondents indicated that they had no minority persons on their boards of directors or among their corporate officers, top managers and regional managers.

Fewer respondents filled out that section of the questionnaire that asked for the percentages of black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander and Native American board members, senior executives and managers. Each category received 53 or less responses.

An analysis of the percentage of minorities in those positions showed that three-fourths of the respondents do not have any blacks on their boards, two-thirds do not have any black corporate officers, about 53 percent do not have any blacks as top managers, nearly 60 percent do not have black regional managers and one-fifth do not have any black unit managers.