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By Rose Ann Martinez
Diversity
isn’t just a buzzword, it’s an opportunity — exactly how, I must admit,
I am still learning. In joining the Diversification Committee, I figured
I would capture a better appreciation of IAAM’s efforts to promote
diversity. However, it might be best to gain an actual understanding of
the concept before forging ahead to help promote it. First order of
business was to find a role to play on the committee, and with the help
of Shura Lindgren, Diversification Committee chair, I was assigned to
help create a “suitcase” session to be taken to a variety of IAAM
specialty meetings. The intent was to create a turnkey program that
could hit on introductory elements of diversity activation at our
respective facilities. As we all routinely ask, “How does this help me
back at my facility?
Working with Jyo Singh of the Seattle Center, I met
Maria Batayola, human resources manager, also of the Seattle Center.
Maria has shared numerous insights with us on diversity, and it must be
said: I can’t help but take this opportunity to thank her for her
contributions to date.
Diversity in the workplace can most certainly adapt to
your business goals or needs, or reveal opportunities to further improve
an already efficient operation. But before you determine those
applications, you must consider the various approaches.
Diversity as a
Business
Principle When considering diversity as a business principle, the
inherent question posed is, “How can diversity have a bottom-line impact
on my business performance or model?” The opportunities run the gamut:
improved morale, employee retention, etc. But the tougher question is,
“How does my organization actually get to those results? What does it
mean to promote and support diversity?” Similar to the  discussions at
the diversity sessions held thus far, consider these examples of
application.
Accessing nontraditional market share.
Facilities can promote diversity by
simply studying the individuals that do not often visit our facilities.
What are the profiles of the patrons that frequent your venue? And
correspondingly, which profiles are not present? If you were to
specifically target market to these consumers, where would you place
your advertising or promotions?
While we don’t want to abandon the proven mechanisms to draw
business, we can pursue new avenues of messaging that welcome and
embrace the non-traditional customer. As an example, an arena
traditionally booked with sporting events and concerts might choose to
solicit convention and expo/trade business, school assemblies and
graduations, etc.
At the AT&T Center, we are fortunate to have some 7,000
parking spaces which allow us to host non-traditional automobile
displays, criterium courses and 5K charity races. We were even
approached to host marching band practices for schools competing
elsewhere in a citywide event. We are now sending limited, but
concentrated, communications to our school districts, locally based
charity groups and other contacts.
Providing excellent
culturally appropriate customer service. What tools are
provided to your workforce to successfully deliver excellent customer
service? Remember that diversity isn’t an extension of risk management –
it’s an opportunity to enhance the customer experience, create a
stronger affinity in your community and reinforce the overall brand of
your organization. Open up the policy manual for your guest services
staff and you’ll find all kinds of procedures on how to deal with
expected, traditional situations and challenges.
But what should your staff do when they encounter an
unexpected, non-traditional customer? San Antonio is a convention town,
and at times attracts people from all over the world. These folks will,
occasionally, show up in our lobby without notice, inquiring if we
conduct building tours or have a gift shop. We might not be able to
train our staff to speak a vast collection of languages, but we can do
our best to provide pictorial representations of some of the
information, such as hours of operation, core services and costs, etc.
Even if we can’t convey the exact message, we can be
prepared to make a genuine attempt, which in effect fosters the
environment for the customer experience. Facilities can always count on
one fundamental truth – there’s always a patron that’s in the experience
for the first time. What can we do to welcome, encourage and reassure
them in our venue, especially if they are non-traditional patrons?
Recruitment of a
diverse workforce. Are you making it known that you are
looking for a diverse workforce? Traditional postings of positions can
be found in newspapers, official web sites and other standard forums.
But if you’re looking to recruit a diverse workforce, there are
alternative methods available. Are you advertising in ethnic newspapers
and publications, university campuses or senior communities? Have you
considered grass-roots efforts such as churches or community agencies
that can help generate awareness about your employment opportunities?
As an example, if you’re looking to secure a summer
intern, instead of placing the usual posting in a campus Career Center
or student union, contact the university department head for the
corresponding field. Do they have recommendations for a particular
student or would they be interested in awarding the internship
recommendation based on academic performance?
On a different perspective, if you’re looking to
recruit an operations manager, instead of posting only in special event,
facility-related forums, try postings in hotel industry publications,
amusement park trade circulars and even general real estate management
publications. The transferable skills-set is out there, complete with
diverse backgrounds and experience to boot.
These are just a few examples of diversity activation
presented so far at some of IAAM’s gatherings and specialty meetings.
The committee will continue to work on these “suitcase sessions” as well
as the general session for coming IAAM conferences. We encourage you to
join us and attend and participate in our efforts. We also encourage you
to take the time and get to know your community; is your venue a true
reflection of your environment? Your business should resemble and
service the customers around you.
Additionally, I encourage each member of our industry
to seek out and spend time with your respective Human Resources or
Diversity liaison for your venue, city or county. Maria Batayola has
been an invaluable asset to me, as have our Diversification committee
and IAAM. I can only imagine the untapped diversity assets still waiting
to be unveiled.
fm
Rose Ann
Martinez is assistant general manager of the AT&T Center in San Antonio,
Texas.
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