Macy's Diversity

Now more than ever a company needs to be diverse in their leadership and throughout the entire company. Moreover, to reach this extraordinarily diverse market, it takes an extremely diverse workforce that is able to tap into to their various differences to understand exactly what a diverse customer base needs and wants, which provides greater innovation in productivity. Furthermore, research has proven that for every 1 percent rise in gender diversity there is an increase in sales of 3% and in for each 1 percent increase in ethnic diversity there is a 9% rise in sales, this can equate large revenues for the firm that reaps the rewards of having a diverse staff (Smedley, 2014).

Once such company that makes diversity a priority is Macy’s. Accordingly,

leveraging diversity and making sure it is a part of a firm or a company is a forward thinking strategy that can have a big impact. Enacting diversity isn’t always easy, it can be met with some resistance as change can be difficult for some people but in this melting pot of a world it is expected and needed to be considered progressive and innovative. Let’s examine how Macy’s has leveraged its diversity and how they are considered sextraordinary.
According to Fairchild (2015), Macy’s is one of the most diverse companies in America, and they did it quietly behind the scenes. The former CEO and Chairman of Macy’sTerry Lundgren started deep with his board members which currently consists of 50% women and contains African Americans, and Asian Americans (Fairchild, 2015). Not just the board is diverse, indeed the company has been hiring a diverse staff for some time and this behaviour trickles down throughout the company and it makes a great impact.
The reason for all of this is because Terry Lundgren, the CEO and Chairman for many years believed that the business should be run by people just like Macy’s customer demographic (Fairchild, 2015). An amazing way to incorporate diversity in a company is to start from the deepest and highest level. Just like people say that manners and politeness starts at home.
The current CEO Jeff Gennette, says Macy’s believes that it is essential to their business plan and is ingrained in the very fiber of the company. The Senior Vice President says in order to strengthen the bonds with their customer the staff should reflect the diversity of the customers. In fact this inclusion can even be seen through the supply chain.
Shareholders, which include the community, understand that a company that values diversity in their workforce cares about not just profits, but providing jobs for the local populace, which equates into greater goodwill and increased positive word of mouth.

Accordingly, having a diverse staff attracts a more diverse employment pool of candidates so taking advantage of the diversity that is already in place can be advantageous to the company. Macy’s does that through a unique initiative that fosters growth of minority and women owned businesses.

Moreover, Macy’s is committed to giving back to community and brought about an initiative called The Workshop at Macy’s, in which Macy’s showcases minority and women owned businesses and since that time has purchased more than $1 billion dollars from these businesses that are owned by such a diverse and multicultural background (The Workshop at Macy's, n.d.).

Macy’s is committed so much to diversity that 50 % of their management staff are women and that includes the higher positions such as executive management and up. Macy’s has been such a success that they were honored to accept an award from the Women’s Forum of New York’s Muriel F. Siebert Leadership Award in 2014 (NYSE, 2015). Furthermore, Macy’s even believes in having a diverse group of Santas at Christmas with some that speak Spanish and others that are black (Licea,

2017).
We can see that Macy’s has done such a great job at leveraging their diversity and making sure it isn’t just a façade for the world to see but an actual and realistic plan of action. Creating and forming a diverse group to be board members of a company is probably the single most amazing thing a company can do to attain diversity throughout. The executives at Macy’s have done a great job of making sure the company is being run by people who are reflections of the customers. Furthermore, even with the new CEO it seems as though Macy;s intends to continue their diversity and inclusion programs to ensure that all their customers regardless of ethnicity feels welcome and included inside the doors of Macy’s.