One Culture, 100,000 Faces

by Mick Doherty

The words which flash across the screen during American’s newest
commercials are already familiar to employees system wide:

We are an airline
But it’s become clear we are more
We are a way of life
The freedom to come and go
Anywhere, any time
With confidence and peace of mind
We are an airline that is proud to bear the name … American.

“We hope those words ring particularly true in the workplace, as well,” says Di Ann Sanchez, vice president of Diversity and Talent Management. “We’re taking important steps to ensure that ‘the freedom to come and go, with confidence and peace of mind’ applies to the way our employees experience the company, as well as our customers.”

In the March 21 Jetwire which announced the new corporate cultural leadership initiative, CEO Don Carty spoke plainly to this goal, in saying “employee culture … starts with a workplace where everyone feels comfortable — where folks are recognized for their contributions and valued for who they are. It starts with a place where people don’t have to deal with behaviors that devalue them based on their color, their religion, their gender or their choice of life partners.”

In a follow-up Jetwire the same day, Sue Oliver, senior vice president of Human Resources, supported Carty’s call to action in saying, “We want to ensure that our employees are protected from discrimination and harassment. Our AA culture is rich with an inclusive tradition that continues to guide and instruct us towards a better tomorrow. We are ’100,000 faces’ … celebrating the diversity of our family.”

This week, in the first part of what will be an ongoing effort, Jetnet is featuring some of the stories behind this important new initiative.

• # You’ll read about individual heroes like NYC-based Caribbean/Latin America customer sales representative Jacqueline Rosario.
• # You’ll meet the four people who make up the new Board of Directors Diversity Advisory Committee.
• # You’ll get updated information about the “backbone” of the initiative, the 14 active Employee Resource Groups and the Diversity Advisory Council.
• # You’ll read about AA’s Diversified Supplier program, which is committed to selecting the optimal supplier while enhancing AA’s cost competitiveness.
• # And in helping to further ensure the ability to evaluate progress, employees are being asked to fill out a quick survey — available in the “Human Resources” section on Jetnet’s front page — to verify your ethnic background. (Available Monday afternoon.)

So, just how does a company with more than 100,000 employees worldwide build and enhance a single, unified, yet diverse corporate culture? The “construction” process uses four primary building blocks:

• # Compliance, as outlined in our Workplace Environment Policy, IMPACT 2002 training classes, required for all managers, are already underway.
• # Management, with a focus on performance management and coaching/counseling skills and how to effectively develop employees are being incorporated into leadership development and supervisor courses in more detail.
• # Inclusiveness, through the building of diverse teams and recognizing and capitalizing on differences.
• # Cultural Leadership, through leveraging diversity for optimum business results, challenging the status quo, embracing change efforts and recognizing contributions.

“Even in tough times,” says Carty, “Perhaps especially in tough times, we simply can’t lose sight of those things that make a company great. We all deserve a safe, harassment-free place to work. We’re committed to having that place at American. And that’s what cultural leadership is all about.”