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Other industries offer retention successes to follow
By Catalina Camia
freedomforum.org
04.16.02
Diversity consultant Ron Brown said newspapers can learn how to retain journalists of color by studying the success stories of Procter & Gamble, Xerox and other Fortune 500 companies.
Speaking at the American Society of Newspaper Editors convention, Brown offered editors these tips from other industries:
Help employees get the right start by providing appropriate first assignments and strong first supervisors. Brown said employees of color who do well in their first assignments at a company often stick with that corporation. He encouraged editors to match employees with good first assignments and supervisors who have the training and skills to nurture and mentor new hires.
Support employee network groups. Brown recounted the story of an African-American executive at Xerox who credited his success at the company, in part, to the black employees' group. "These groups serve the function of coaching, relating to corporate norms and building skills," he said. "These networks also help reduce social isolation."
Give younger people or new hires more responsibilities at the start of their careers. Non-media companies have found that this is a good way to develop high-performing work teams and increase their diversity, Brown said.
Expose employees of color to top leaders in decision-making roles. Several companies have successfully groomed managers of color by having "conversation tours" or organizing "shadowing" experiences that allow minorities to learn from key executives, Brown said. By working alongside top executives, he said, employees of color who are interested in management get to see how decisions are made and how organizations work. Employees of color often develop mentors and career plans from these conversation tours.
Brown runs a diversity and management consulting firm, Banks Brown, in San Francisco. He has been a longtime adviser to minority journalism associations and other news industry groups.