DiversityWorking.com Announces Este Express Lines As Its New Diversity Company Member

DiversityWorking.com, a career opportunity resource and job search engine for the cultural diversity marketplace, is pleased to announce the inclusion of Estes Express Lines to its list of member diversity companies.

The largest, family-owned, less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier in the United States, Estes Express Lines has provided top-quality transportation solutions since 1931. It has now has grown into a nationwide comprehensive and technologically advanced transportation company with a worldwide reach.

Estes Express Lines is dedicated to delivering solutions that exceed their customers’ highest expectations. It is likewise committed to being a company whose quality of service is unsurpassed in the transportation industry. Because of this mission and being an Equal Opportunity Employer, too, Estes recruits the finest teams and provide superior training and development for their employees, empowering them to meet and exceed their customers’ expectations.

In its continued search for the best diversity talents to join its dedicated and driven workforce, Estes Express Lines has partnered with DiversityWorking.com, whose mission is to help companies promote their jobs, build their brand and send targeted and qualified diversity candidates directly to the best jobs possible.

Find out more about Estes Express Lines here.

NDEAM 2014: "Expect. Employ. Empower." Creating a Culture of Inclusion for People with Disabilities

The National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) 2014 revolves around the central theme: "Expect. Employ. Empower." which is all about moving towards creating a culture of inclusion for people with disabilities.

People with disabilities are among the most diligent, capable, talented segment of American society, yet they are often marginalized as they face constant challenges in and out of the workforce.

The purpose of National Disability Employment Awareness Month is to educate about disability employment issues and celebrate the many and varied contributions of America's workers with disabilities. Held annually (in October), National Disability Employment Awareness Month is led by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy, but its true spirit lies in the many observances held at the grassroots level across the nation every year. Employers of all sizes and in all industries are encouraged to participate in NDEAM.

There are activities by which employers and employees alike can participate in NDEAM to make it a meaningful, worthwhile event, and the Department of Labor suggests some ways, among which are these:

•  Review policies — NDEAM is an opportune time to review your company's policies to ensure they convey a commitment to an inclusive workplace culture.

•  Establish an ERG — NDEAM is a perfect time to launch a disability Employee Resource Group (ERG). 

•  Create a display — NDEAM is a great time to freshen up bulletin boards in break areas or other locations that employees frequent by posting positive messages about your company's commitment to a disability inclusive workforce.

•  You can find out more helpful ideas and resources from DOL here.

NDEAM traces its history to 1945, when Congress declared the first week in October each year "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week." In 1962, the word "physically" was deleted to acknowledge the needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities. In 1988, Congress expanded the week to a month and adopted its current name. Upon its establishment in 2001, ODEP assumed responsibility for NDEAM, including the selection of its annual theme. 

This year's theme "Expect. Employ. Empower." consists of these 3 powerful words, that refer to the 3 steps involved in the cycle of furthering a culture of inclusion, according to Kathy Martinez, assistant secretary of labor for disability employment policy. She writes in her article that appears in the department's blog:

"The first step in this cycle is expectation...youth with disabilities must grow up expecting to work and succeed, and the messages can’t start early enough. This expectation must then follow them through school and college and into the workplace, another critical step in the cycle. Employers must foster flexible work environments open to employing the talents of all qualified individuals. When high expectations meet inclusive workplaces, we reach the final step, and what my dedicated colleagues and I ultimately seek to achieve: empowerment."

Diversity companies are among those helping empower people with disabilities as they actively seek them out for hiring. www.diversityworking.jobs a job board whose job seekers can find jobs from companies that endorse diversity and equal employment opportunities, partners with SubmitReferral, an automated personal referral marketing system with a diveristy base of over 1 million users.

Go to www.submitreferral.com to browse for the many jobs available in diversity companies looking for people with disabilities and disabled veterans to hire.

Bob's Discount Furniture Announces Job Openings for Bilingual Retail Commision Sales

Bob's Discount Furniture, America's everyday low price furniture and bedding retailer with 53 showrooms located in 11 states in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, teaming up with DiversityWorking, has recently announced its job openings for Bilingual Retail Commission Sales who can speak both Spanish and English, for its Riverhead, NY location.

Founded in 1991 on the principle of providing unsurpassed values in the middle price range, Bob's needs motivated and career-minded team players that set the benchmark high for true sales professionals, who can champion "Bob's Way" treating people with integrity and respect while providing a world class customer experience.

To apply and learn more about the job's key responsibilities, qualifications and benefits here.

Bob's Discount Furniture is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to reasonably accommodating qualified persons with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential duties of their position, as well as building a diverse workforce that come from different backgrounds without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, beliefs, and perspectives. Thus, it partners with DiversityWorking in its search for the most talented people among diversity communities.

DiversityWorking.com is the largest diversity job board online with a mission to provide job seekers with thousands of positions to search for, matching many different professional careers and experience levels. Products and services include a resume database, job search engine, and targeted corporate diversity branding opportunities.

Workforce Diversity Inspires Innovation

Workforce diversity is said to inspire the drive for innovation, and studies have been undertaken to show how and why this is so.

A research undertaken last year provided compelling evidence that diversity unlocks innovation and drives market growth—a finding that should intensify efforts to ensure that executive ranks both embody and embrace the power of differences.

The aforementioned study analyzed two kinds of diversity: inherent and acquired. Inherent diversity is that which involves traits you are born with, such as gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Acquired

diversity is that which involves traits you gain from experience: Working in another country can help you appreciate cultural differences, for example, while selling to female consumers can give you gender smarts.

The team of researchers considered companies whose leaders exhibit at least three inherent and three acquired diversity traits as having two-dimensional diversity, according to the article on Harvard Business Review.

Their findings?  

By correlating diversity in leadership with market outcomes as reported by respondents, we learned that companies with 2-D diversity out-innovate and out-perform others. Employees at these companies are 45% likelier to report that their firm’s market share grew over the previous year and 70% likelier to report that the firm captured a new market.

The important elements of 2-D diversity, as the researchers point out, are what many diversity companies have already observed to be the driving force behind innovation: a diversity of thought, a diverse workforce that includes minorities large enough to form critical mass, and leadership that values differences.

A much earlier study, Global Diversity and Inclusion: Fostering Innovation Through a Diverse Workforce, by Forbes Insight, presents key findings, some of which are:

• Diversity is a a key driver of innovation and is a critical component of being successful on a global scale.
• A diverse and inclusive workforce is crucial for companies that want to attract and retain top talent.
• Responsibility for the success of company's diversity/inclusion efforts lies with senior management.
• Significant progress has been made to build and retain diverse workforces, but there are still some impediments to companies' efforts.

Three Traits of Successful Diversity Companies

What makes a successful company? And what does it take for a company leader to be able to command such fierce loyalty from his/her employees?

The recently concluded saga of Market Basket, wherein its 25,000 workers walked out from their jobs in support of their beleaguered ousted president, Arthur T. Demoulas, showed the business world and the rest of the country what Shirley Leung of Boston Globe wrote in their report something remarkable about the power of workers and customers, and the importance of being a benevolent CEO when too often big business trumps all.

Martha Teichner of CBS News tackles the question of whether there is a connection between workers feeling well-treated by their employers, and the bottom line, and she shares the examples of 3 big companies, including Market Basket, providing evidence that there is indeed a link between treating employees well, putting people over profit, and company success.

The following are the top 3 common traits of successful companies that diversity companies do share as well:

1. Company Culture: For successful companies, culture is about attracting and hiring the people who would be most successful in that specific organization. And it's about driving the behavior that makes the company successful. (Entrepreneur.com) 

For diversity companies, diversity is inherent in their culture. One such diversity company is Nestlé Purina. Nestlé Purina is deeply committed to cultivating a culturally diverse and inclusive workplace, for a diverse workforce that reflects their consumer base is an essentail. For its diversity efforts, Nestlé Purina has been consistently recognized. This year, it is named as St. Louis Business Journal Best Places to Work, for the 7^th consecutive year. It has also been named as one of the 25 Best Places to Work for Recent Grads by Experience, a ConnectEDU company. This award honors employers around the country that offer a team-oriented company culture, employee benefits that promote work/life balance, extraordinary opportunities for career growth and are a best-fit for young professionals. It also received from the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association a Corporate Diversity Award in 2012.

2. Leadership: People who run an organization set the tone for the company's culture, attitude and values, which can either lead to success or derail the business. As part of the company culture, knowledge, beliefs and behavior determine who gets hired, which goals are a priority and how business decisions are made. Successful organizations have leadership that hires people who are a good fit for the company's goals. The attitude of leaders obviously needs to be on the positive side for them to bring the organization to success. An organization that values taking responsibility and making necessary changes when circumstances call for them also is more likely to be successful. (HoustonChronicle) 

Diversity companies are likewise run by strong leadership steering their people towards success.

Microsoft, one of the country's diversity leaders, is well-recognized for its diversity leadership. In 2013, it was named No. 2 on Best Companies for Leadership List, by the Hay Group, and America’s Most Inspiring Companies List, by Performance Inspired, Inc. In 2014, it is names Best Multinational Workplace in Europe for 7^th consecutive year, by Great Place to Work Institute, and Top 50 Best Places to Work in STEM fields for Native Americans and Alaska Natives for 2^ndconsecutive year, Winds of ChangeMagazine. These are only some of a long list of prestigious recognition and awards given to Microsoft, year after year.

3. Audience Knowledge: The best brands have a thorough understanding of the demographics of their target market, what their interests are, and how they communicate. Understanding the target market is critical because it provides direction for the tone and reach of a marketing campaign, along with the overall identity of a brand, while helping to create an organic, human connection between a business and its audience.(Forbes.com)

Diversity companies reflect the communties they serve and as such have great understanding of their target markets. By bringing different perspectives, sound judgment and extensive cross-border collaboration, KPMG professionals help to enable clients’ informed decision-making wherever they do business and no matter how far-reaching their operations. It is among this year's Fortune's Best Companies to Work For.

Diversity companies care for their people. A culture of workplace diversity with a strong leadership that supports diversity forges a binding trust between the company, its people, customers and business associates, thus ringing in success in every way.