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CPGjobs supports diversity
at all-star summit in Texas

The leadership of CPGjobs took a high-profile stand for diversity at the Texas Diversity and Leadership Conference, May 15-16 in Dallas. Penny Sallberg-Carrillo, executive vice president of CPGjobs, addressed the crowd, and Michael Carrillo, the firm’s president, participated in an hour-long panel. The event attracted hundreds of executives and diversity advocates and featured speeches by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, United States Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral and many others.

The California Diversity Council, of which CPGjobs is a sponsor, is hosting its own California Diversity and Leadership Conference in San Francisco, September 20-21. Speakers at the California event will include Dennis Kennedy, CEO and founder of the National Diversity Council, actress Geena Davis and Chris Gardner, the Wall Street success story who inspired the film, “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Chancellor Robert Birgenau of the University of California, Berkeley, is honorary chair of the California summit. CPGjobls is a sponsor of the California event and the California Diversity Council and a supporter of the Texas Diversity Council. Both organizations are part of the National Diversity Council. For more information visit www.californiadiversitycouncil.org.

Sallberg-Carrillo spoke immediately after Gen. Powell. As president of the Southern California Chapter of the California Diversity Council, she promoted membership in the California group, urged cooperation between the two chapters and also told the crowd about making a difference. “A boy comes across a bunch of starfish stranded by the tide and starts throwing them back in the sea. A man comes across the boy and tells him he’s not making a difference to the thousands of dying creatures on the beach. The boy picks up another starfish, throws it into the sea, and says, ‘It makes a difference to that one.’ I told that story because diversity is a huge task and sometimes it seems we’re not making a difference. But we are, one person, one heart, one mind at a time,” Sallberg-Carrillo said.

Michael Carrillo joined a panel called “Diversity and Anglo Males--What’s In It for Them?” with Rich Burns, director of HR planning and projects for the University of Texas; Steve Dryer, senior vice president of leadership development for Alltel Corporation; and Brian Lastovia, regional operations support director for Wal-Mart. Carrillo addressed several questions--he said Anglo males should support diversity because it improves profitability and increases results for the entire organization. “Diversity is not a win-lose proposition, but a win-win,” he observed. Asked how to enroll Anglo males in diversity, he said companies need to educate male managers on the importance of diversity to their organizations and reward diversity performance. “Unless there is accountability there will be little progress on diversity.”

CPGjobs honored

CPGjobs received a Diversity Champion Award from the Texas Diversity Council. Other companies recognized included AT&T (the conference’s primary sponsor), Brinker International, the Coca-Cola Company and TGI Friday’s.

Sallberg-Carrillo said “the main reason we were in Dallas was to support diversity, which is so important to our clients--we need to be at these events.” Michael Carrillo said the company’s participation is part “of CPGjobs’ long-term investment in being a diversity champion. Not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it is good business practice. It is important to have a diverse workforce that reflects your customer base. Diversity improves relationships both inside and outside your company.”

The two CPGjobs executives attended a wide range of diversity seminars, including “Diversity Recruiting Strategies: Increasing the Diversity Pipeline,” “Smart Women Take Risks,” “Diversity ScoreCard: Calculating the ROI,” “Diversity Best Practices,” “Women ‘Take Care’ and Men ‘Take Charge,’” “Image & Power: Building Credibility in a Male Paradigm,” and “Avoiding Mistakes that will Derail Your Diversity Council’s and Organization’s Success.”

“It was the best Texas Diversity and Leadership Conference yet,” Sallberg-Carrillo. “We got a lot of inspiration and a lot of information for ourselves and our clients. We also were able to network with some of the top executives in the country and some very interesting people."

The importance of diversity

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 84 percent of Fortune 500 HR managers say their top-level executives think diversity management is important. One reason for executives' overwhelming support of diversity management is the changing face of American business. "Creating diverse work teams is especially important as corporate structures change," Michael Carrillo says. "The ranks of middle management have been thinned, and new methods of communicating and executing are required to achieve management goals."

"There is no magic bullet for diversity," he says. "Achieving real diversity throughout an organization requires creativity and commitment. It also requires courage, because it means going against tradition and changing entrenched power structures. If your company is trying to attract diversity candidates and can't, check what your reputation is. Just paying lip service to diversity can kill you in the marketplace."

Carrillo says companies should focus on two critical areas to achieve their diversity goals: "First, we must promote the advancement and retention of women, people of color, older executives and others already in our industry. Second, we must groom a new generation of managers to lead our organizations in the 21st century."

"Employees should be encouraged to provide honest input into the process, even if that means hiring an outside firm to help," Carrillo says. "You may be surprised at what you find when you conduct a truly searching diversity assessment. Check out the diversity survey at DiversityInc.com."

"My clients are competing for customers worldwide, working with vendors around the world, and managing the most diverse workforce in history," Carrillo says Diversity management is not just one tool, it is the competitive edge that will mean the difference between companies that survive, thrive or fail in the coming years."

Companies interested in improving their diversity outreach by joining the California Diversity Council should contact Penny Sallberg-Carrillo, penny@cpgjobs.com, president of the Southern California Chapter at (626) 535-0143, or Nicole Howard, mnhoward@smud.org president of the Bay Area Chapter at (916) 732-5981.

See photos from this event.

Michael Carrillo is president of CPGjobs, the CPG industry’s leading candidate recruiting service for HR professionals and employers. You may contact him at Michael@CPGjobs.com or call (626) 535-0143.

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WELCOME ABOARD: CPGjobs welcomes Alberto Culver Company, Corazonas Foods, McCormick, The Campbell Soup Company, Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmetique, USA, Premium Retail Services and Safeway to its growing roster of CPG industry clients. For the complete list visit CPGjobs.

DIVERSITY EVENTS: The California Diversity Council will host the California Diversity and Leadership Conference in San Francisco, September 20-21. Speakers at the California event will include Kennedy, actress Geena Davis and Chris Gardner, the Wall Street success story who inspired the film “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Chancellor Robert Birgenau of the University of California, Berkeley, is honorary chair of the California summit. CPGjobs is a sponsor of the California event and the California Diversity Council, part of the National Diversity Council.

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MARK YOUR CALENDARS: For the NACDS Marketplace, June 16-19 in San Diego; Fancy Food Show, July 7-10 in New York; Shopper Insights in Action, July 11-13, in Chicago; Home Media Expo, Entertainment Merchants Association, July 17-19 in Las Vegas; the Online Merchandising Workshop, San Diego, July 18-20, the Hispanic Retail 360 Summit, August 1-3 in Dallas, and the Home Textiles Market Week, August 12-16 in New York. See CPGjob’s Calendar for more events and updates.

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