Developing Diversity Leaders

by Sandy Price

Senior Vice President Human Resources
Sprint

Employee diversity is a focus for many companies. This is certainly true for Sprint, where diversity is a key part of how we do business. By being representative of the diverse markets we serve, we are better at serving our customers. At Sprint, we take great pride in our inclusive workforce made up of talented people where all employees’ backgrounds, talents and contributions are valued. We support programs that encourage diversity and cultural viewpoints, such as Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), mentoring programs and career development tools.

“At Sprint, we take great pride in our inclusive workforce made up of talented people where all employees’ backgrounds, talents and contributions are valued.”

ERGs are an important part of Sprint’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. Sprint has six ERGs in the following focus areas: African-American, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/ Transgender (LGBT), veterans and women. These groups each focus on a different diverse audience, and they help employees learn about cultural heritages, understand the importance of diversity and inclusion, develop themselves personally and professionally, obtain insights into new areas of the business and network with diverse groups of people. About 4,800 Sprint employees belong to an ERG, and the ERGs are open to all Sprint employees, regardless of the employees’ background, heritage or location.

We are continually looking for opportunities to further our commitment to develop and maintain a diverse workforce. One area that we identified as an opportunity for growth was building a talent pool of diverse leaders. Hence, we began to focus even more on the development of employees who serve as leaders in the ERGs.

In February 2009, Sprint launched the ERG Officer Development Program. The two-year program is managed by Sprint’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion with Human Resources, for the 24 ERG officers that lead Sprint’s ERGs. This program provides ERG officers the opportunity to lead groups of employees from various business units and benefit from mentoring with senior executives, as well as leadership development training.

I have the privilege of serving as a mentor to the ERG officers, and they certainly serve as teachers to me. We discuss such meaningful topics as what it means to be an emerging leader in times of great change, the importance of developing high-performing teams, how to strengthen personal leadership characteristics, leadership in the community, and the importance of building a strong support system. We also discuss Sprint successes and challenges and how we can, together, continue to build a strong company.

While the ERG Officer Development Program is relatively new, we are confident that the participants will immediately benefit from what they learn from their experiences as ERG officers. Likewise, we are excited about their current and future contributions to Sprint, our customers, and the community.

This article has been sponsored by:
Sprint