Keith Ruth was very surprised when he was approached by Price water house Coopers' (PwC) chief diversity officer, Chris Simmons, to help lead the firm's corporate diversity effort. Why was he so surprised? Because Ruth is a white male, and it is common knowledge that diversity programs aren't designed for white males, right? Not according to Simmons.
When he became PricewaterhouseCoopers' chief diversity officer in 2004, Simmons was given a directive by the U.S. chairman to move diversity "off the sidelines" and "into the mainstream." That meant fully integrating diversity into the firm's daily operations including client assignments and employee promotions. At the same time, diversity leaders were being named for PwC's four business units. Although Simmons is African American, he was concerned that none of the diversity leaders being named as a business unit diversity leader was a white male. He believed that having a Caucasian male champion diversity would be instrumental in helping to bring other white males on board. After all, he reasoned, they are still the majority of workers in most large firms. Frank McCloskey, Georgia Power's first white male head of diversity, insists that it would be difficult to create a sustainable diversity initiative if the majority of the workforce felt there was nothing in it for them.
Since becoming a PwC diversity leader, Keith Ruth has had much success reaching many people Chris Simmons admits he had had a difficult time reaching.
Case Study Questions: Answer the following questions
1. Do you believe recruiting white males to lead diversity programs is a good strategy for garnering support for diversity? Why or why not?
2. What leadership skills must Keith Ruth and other Caucasians use in order to be effective diversity leaders? Contrast them with skills that minority leaders must use.