Transcript Denise Lynn 2008 Colloquium on Global Diversity

Diversity at American Airlines :
An Integrated Business Strategy
Denise Lynn
Vice President, Diversity and Leadership Strategies
Colloquium on Global Diversity
American Airlines: a Tradition of Marketing to Women
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Diversity at American Airlines
Our goal:
 Grow loyalty among our increasingly diverse customer and employee base
 Develop and implement a diversity strategy directly connected to our business
objectives
Our approach:
 A holistic approach that integrates traditional diversity initiatives with market goals
using cross-functional teams and processes
Our results:
 Enhanced understanding of diverse employees and customers
 Organizational diversity strategies aligned to diverse market business goals
 Diverse teams and interdepartmental partnerships that require employees to think
differently about how work gets done at American Airlines
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DRAFT
The First Step: Re-define the Diversity “Conversation”
Enhance
Brand
Equity
Protect the Brand
Compliance
© 2005 Mill Square Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Next: Inventory All Existing Assets that Matter to Diverse
Customers and Employees
Products/Channels
Marketing
• Do our products
appeal to diverse
customers?
• Can diverse customers
easily purchase our
products and use our
services?
• Do diverse customers
see our messages in the
media they use?
Diversity
Business
Strategy
Human Resources
Suppliers
• Do the demographics
of our supplier base
reflect those of our
customers and
employees?
© 2005 Mill Square Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
• Are those messages
targeted, relevant and
appealing to them?
Corporate Citizenship
• Do we support the communities
and organizations that our
employees and customers care
about?
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• Is this a great place for
diverse employees to
have successful
careers?
• Does our workforce
reflect the diversity of
our customers and
communities?
American Airlines Infrastructure for Success:
Defined Roles and Senior Executive Participation
Executive Steering
Committee
Core Team
Adv, PR, Sales,
Corp Citizenship,
Market Research
Executive Sponsors
Mar Com , HR
Extended Team
Employee Resource
Groups
Diverse
Segment
Marketing Lead
Supplier Div,
Customer Service,
Products, Online
BOD Diversity
Committee
External Advisory
Councils
Marketing
Agency Support
Human Resources Diversity Strategies
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Making Diversity An Integral Business Strategy
A Few Examples…
Products/Channels
Marketing
• External Customer Advisory
• BusinessExtrAA for diverse
small businesses, non-profits
• Segment –specific AA
Vacations promotions
Councils
Diverse
Segment
Business
Initiatives
Suppliers
• Expanded Tier 1 and 2
supplier diversity goals
• Inclusion of LGBT-owned
businesses in diverse
supplier network
© 2005 Mill Square Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
• AA.com/women and
AA.com/rainbow
• Steve Harvey partnership
• Bi-Lingual Hispanic Marketing
Campaign
Human Resources
• ERG participation in
Community
• Susan G Komen cross-
Segment Marketing Plan
development
segment partnership
• Diversity Strategies
• Sponsorships of nonprofits that
serve diverse populations
• JLT
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Business Results at American Airlines




Active employee engagement and buy-in to diversity
– Participation in business decisions (ERGs)
More inclusive marketing for all our customers
– Diversity perspective starting to influence other marketing decisions
Faster speed-to-market of new ideas and programs
– Employees working in cross-functional teams instead of in “silos:”
this breaks down barriers so work get done more quickly
Better loyalty with increasingly diverse employees and customers
– Differentiating American Airlines in the industry
Greater understanding of diversity as a key business imperative
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Benefits to our Customers: Being Relevant In Every
Customer Interaction
Key Travel
Influencers
Marketing
AA.com &
Online
Experience
AA Diverse
Customer
Experience
Airport, On-Board
& Reservation
Center
© 2005 Mill Square Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Community
Presence
Products &
Services
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Moving Forward: Challenges and Obstacles



Measuring results
– Hard to establish metrics and baselines
– Thinking about diversity in quantitative vs. qualitative ways
Budget concerns
– Difficult to sell an increase in the marketing budget
– Territory issues
Visibility
– How to get attention for the importance of diversity in a crowded
internal marketplace
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