Remarks of Eva S. Hardy
Senior Vice President - Dominion
at the
Women in Nuclear Conference
November 9, 2004
"Diversity: The Changing Face of the Nuclear Workforce"
Thank you… It’s a real pleasure to
join you.
I want to commend the conference organizers for
inviting me — a professional communicator — to address a group of
women nuclear professionals. Any group whose acronym is "WIN" clearly
has its act together.
I’m a big believer in the value of gatherings
like this — and not just for the technical information that is shared.
The networking opportunities can be invaluable — not to mention the good
meals that often go with them.
As the last speaker on the program, I won’t
be offended if some of you have to eat and run. I know all about busy schedules,
deadlines and getting to the airport on time.
But I really want to encourage you to stick around
if you can. I promise I won’t mention spent fuel, license renewal or new
nuclear construction — not even once.
What I do want to talk about is another topic
that affects each and every one of you — workforce diversity.
The fact is, you women are more than just affected
by the topic of diversity. You have helped create it in the nuclear
power industry.
Fifteen or 20 years ago, I could not have made
this speech. There wouldn’t have been an audience for it. Virtually every
seat in the room would have been occupied by a man, and the term "diversity"
would have been a contradiction in terms.
You’ve certainly come a long way. And I’m
bullish about the prospects for additional career growth and progress —
for reasons I’ll go into shortly.
Today’s companies are diversifying their
workforces — and they’re doing so for a variety of reasons:
Some see it as little more than legal cover to ensure compliance
with equal opportunity and affirmative action laws;
Some link diversity to their marketing or business communications
strategies;
Some use diversity as a change agent to introduce cultural
change in the organization;
And others simply want to do the right thing and be perceived
as socially responsible.
Those are all valid reasons to embrace diversity. But they’re
not the main reason.
Let’s be candid. Workforce diversity is a strategic
business concern in the 21st Century. There’s a talent war going on out
there. No respectable company can afford to limit its ability to attract and
retain the best employees it can find.
We may be living in the Age of Information, but smart companies
know their most prized assets are the ones that walk on two feet and have eyes,
ears and brains.
The case for business diversity centers around competitive
advantage… and learning to capitalize on the differences that people bring
to the workplace.
As the old saying goes, "People have one thing in common
– they are all different."
The challenge for my company — and for every company
— is helping our employees understand, accept and make positive use of
diversity to improve business performance.
I can’t tell you how many times in my career I’ve
seen hidden resentments and misperceptions take a toll on productivity, profitability
and employee morale.
Senior management that 1) values diversity and 2) promotes
its principles to the workforce … is far more likely to reap the benefits
of reduced employee conflict… and better teamwork and communication among
the rank and file.
I had hoped to come here armed with some hard numbers showing
the impressive gains women have made in the nuclear industry. Unfortunately,
those numbers don’t seem to exist. Calls we made to the Nuclear Energy
Institute in Washington and to the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations in
Atlanta made that clear.
So the bad news is, we’re short on statistical evidence.
Industry-wide data on diversity just isn’t available. But the good news
is, there’s lots of anecdotal evidence to back the nuclear industry’s
claim that it’s reaching out to women and minorities like never before.
For example, the industry has wisely identified a need to
increase its visibility at career fairs and conferences sponsored by the Society
of Women Engineers, the Association of Black Engineers, and the National Association
of Black Engineers, to name a few.
To use the language of advertising, the industry is also devoting
significant resources to re-brand itself.
It is reaching out to attract more women engineers and skilled
craft people — just as individual companies are doing.
Exelon, for instance, has an outstanding diversity program
that focuses on employee retention.
My company, Dominion, has a number of excellent programs that
I will share with you momentarily.
The public sector is stepping up as well.
The U.S. Department of Energy has an aggressive program that’s
getting good reviews.
It’s called the "Majority/Minority Program,"
and its goal is to partner small black colleges with major universities, such
as Tuskegee University and the University of Cincinnati, to develop nuclear
engineering programs at the smaller schools.
Another new and interesting DOE program called "The Harnessed
Atom" was recently adopted by a Pittsburgh high school, the first in the
nation to do so. This program promotes greater understanding among high school
students of nuclear energy and engineering, power plant design and operation.
These are all encouraging signs.
It’s vital for the private and public sectors and the
educational community to support and fund initiatives that broaden awareness
and expose the next generation to opportunities in the nuclear field.
My company, Dominion, understands the value of inclusiveness
and is actively working to promote diversity — on a variety of fronts.
We don’t look at diversity as some kind of “feel
good” objective. We see it as a strategic business advantage and one more
tool we can use to hit our corporate financial targets.
We address diversity through a number of different channels:
An educational grants program that targets
math and science education in grades K through 12;
A college scholarship program that supports
students interested in studying nuclear, electrical, mechanical and civil
engineering.
[Note: Millstone has two such scholarship programs — one with the University
of Connecticut School of Engineering, and one with Three Rivers Community
Technical College].
The annual "Strong Men and Women: Excellence
in Leadership" program.
Dominion has produced this award-winning series of educational
materials since 1991 in conjunction with Black History Month. The materials
highlight the achievements of outstanding African-Americans and are distributed
to schools and libraries in the states where Dominion does business.
A web-based "Multicultural Calendar"
of selected events and celebrations from different cultures. The calendar
includes profiles of Dominion employees from various backgrounds.
A variety of community outreach programs
administered by our Community Affairs Department or Corporate Philanthropy.
Dominion’s Executive Diversity Council is made up of
officers from each of our business units. The Council oversees all of our diversity
initiatives and makes sure they are aligned with the company’s business
objectives.
Four employee-led diversity councils currently implement our
diversity programs and sponsor training for company supervisors, managers and
directors. These employee councils are a critical link to the workforce and
our efforts to promote a corporate culture that values different perspectives.
In 2005, Dominion will roll out a new five-year strategy for
its diversity programs that will target four areas:
succession planning…
enhanced internal and external communications via our web
site…
recruiting and retention policies…
and the creation of more employee diversity councils.
These examples give you some idea of what Dominion is doing
in the area of diversity.
Our approach may not be right for your organization. Every
company is challenged to find its own manner of addressing diversity in ways
that support its business objectives.
I firmly believe, however, it’s the companies that do
more than "talk the talk"… that truly value workforce diversity…
that will have a significant competitive edge over those that don’t.
In today’s business world, the organization that employs
people — not in spite of their differences but because of them —
is the organization that will get the most bang for its diversity buck.
As American anthropologist Margaret Mead once said: "If
we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize
the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social
fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place."
You women in nuclear have made a place for yourselves in what
was not so long ago a decidedly man’s world. But the nuclear world, like
the larger world around it, is changing.
You are a big part of that change.
I applaud you for your courage… I congratulate you on
your success… and I thank you for the opportunity to share some of my
thoughts about diversity.
