Early 20th century dollars translate to modern-day diversity at Ford Motor Co.

What can you do with $5 per day? For the average American, the answer to this question may entail buying a gallon of milk, getting a car wash, or purchasing lunch from a favorite fast food restaurant. But in 1914, $5 per day took on a different meaning for a gentleman by the name of Henry Ford, the automotive innovator who sought to raise the bar for employee compensation. It was a precipitator, as Joe Laymon, group vice president, human resources and labor affairs for the Ford Motor Co. explained, for change in American socioeconomics.

“When Henry Ford started his $5 a day campaign, [it] attracted literally scores and thousands of people from around the country and around the world,” Laymon pointed out. “In fact, Ford has been given credit, as a company, for striving to create the middle class in America.”

Included in the migration of workers from around the world to the Detroit area were African Americans from the Deep South as well as those of Middle Eastern decent. In fact, 1919 marked a time in history when the first mosque was constructed in the United States, a venture funded primarily by Ford employees of Middle Eastern heritage. Both ethnic groups continue to represent a large portion of Ford’s employee population, as African Americans account for more than 20 percent of the labor force. Dearborn, Mich., the home of Ford Motor Co. headquarters, also maintains the largest concentration of Middle Eastern citizens outside of the Middle East itself. These facts and statistics are indicators of the company’s diversity and inclusion philosophies that date back to Ford Motor Co.’s beginnings.

“As Ford began to grow so rapidly in the ‘10s, ‘20s, and ‘30s, and as the automobile became more affordable, and we had highways to move from point A to point B, and we had a mechanized device that could get us there, [Henry Ford] could not afford to just say this is a company that can only employ one particular group,” Laymon explained. “So he opened up, even back then, to hiring the best, available and affordable talent in the areas where he decided to work. And as minorities and women moved closer to those employment sites, they obviously got more opportunities. As a result of that, Ford has a history of not only hiring but promoting and developing minorities, women and people with differences.”

Today, according to Laymon, ethnic minorities make up about 25 percent of Ford’s employee base in the United States. Of the automaker’s salaried employees, 31 percent to 32 percent are women and the total representation of female employees in the world is approximately 23 percent. Ford is committed to treating people justly in the workplace, particularly in terms of employee perception of diversity and inclusion.

Actions speaking louder than words

With annual expenditures exceeding $100 billion for products and services related to building cars and trucks, Ford set out to put its money where its mouth is with respect to supply chain diversification.

“We decided that we couldn’t have that money flowing through only one group’s hands,” Laymon said. He went on to describe how the company’s decisionmakers asked, “How can we make sure women and minority entrepreneurs participate in this process of building and selling great cars and trucks?”

The results of executive deliberations were Ford’s Supplier Diversity Development program that has resulted in more than $3.6 billion worth of business being developed through minority and women suppliers and the Minority Dealer Program. Laymon believes the dealer program has helped Ford become, what the company thinks, is the leader among automakers with regard to the number of minority dealerships offering products for consumers. Laymon sees the dealerships as more than just a haven for selling vehicles.

“With the dealerships, they don’t just sell cars and trucks in those communities; they also employ a lot of people,” he pointed out. “We thought that it would probably be best to have specific initiatives toward increasing the ownership of Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo and Mazda dealers. Ford has the highest percentage of ethnic, minority and women dealerships among all of the major domestic manufacturers and also the imports.”

Diversity driven by infrastructure

To guide its diversity and inclusion initiatives, the Ford Motor Co. relies on its well-assembled line of top management executives who have established a global Executive Council on Diversity. The council is co-chaired by Laymon as well as Ford’s President and CEO, Alan Mulally and all of the company’s senior leaders representing every major business group and function. The focus is to move existing leadership forums on diversity and inclusion to regular business plan reviews where the council can assess how the company’s leaders are behaving in the diversity space, asking questions such as, “Do you seek resolution of differences? Do you avail your opportunities to a variety of employees and/or potential employees to the company? Do you go out and role model initiatives?” Laymon explained. “On that basis,” he continued, “people can get compensated or not, promoted or not, or allowed to stay … or not.”

Yet another component of Ford’s diversity and inclusion infrastructure is its Employee Resource Groups. Laymon described the 11 groups as assets to the company in that they assist in not only attracting but developing and retaining individuals who might not have considered working with Ford Motor Co., or who may not have stayed had it not been for the manner in which the ERGs promote diversity and inclusion.

With a devotion to promoting both supplier and workplace diversity and a solid foundation for perpetuating its initiatives, the Ford Motor Co. is driven to improve on its diversity and inclusion program. Looking to the future, Laymon seeks to grow its diverse technical pipeline.

“We believe there is not much of a focus and initiative on the creation of engineers around the world, particularly in the United States,” Laymon said. “As engineering programs in colleges and universities become populated, we think we can encourage these colleges and universities and the students to seek a career in the engineering and technical space. … If we don’t begin to invigorate the engineering programs around the country, I think companies will have to, by default, rely on that technical support from other regions of the world.” The company is actively involved with the University of Michigan, Howard University and Morehouse College, just to name a few, creating partnerships that encourage the outreach to women and minorities in the technical and engineering space.

Laymon’s commitment to developing new technical talent, as outlined above, coupled with his seven-year tenure at leading Ford’s diversity and inclusion initiatives lends credibility to his best practice recommendations for other companies and diversity officers. He views commitment from top leadership, strong infrastructure, awareness and strategies and in the end, support and belief in meritocracy as critical to developing a diverse and inclusive workplace.

“Meritocracy says that it doesn’t matter whether you are a man, woman, African American, or if you are Jewish or Muslim,” Laymon explained, “but on the basis of your capability, competency and experience, you will be given a chance; and if you perform, you will be recognized.”