Ana Privado, human resources manager at an Atlanta factory, brought a Declaration of Tolerance signed by plant employees to the Center.

"My staff is about half African American, half Hispanic, and it was a big struggle," said Ana Privado, the plant's human resources manager. "It was always separate in the breakroom and separate when people helped each other on the line."

Two years ago, when Owens Corning mandated that every plant create a team to push diversity efforts, things began to change.

"Once we started getting to know each other more, the employees were glad to understand things about each other that they didn't before," Privado said.

Under its new policy, the company required diversity training for all new employees and also required that each plant have a committee to set diversity goals for its workforce.

An integral tool in the plant's diversity education was the Center's handbook 101 Tools for Tolerance. The handbook contains a variety of simple ideas for promoting equity and celebrating diversity at school, work, in the home and in the community.

At the back of the handbook is the Declaration of Tolerance, a pledge that people can sign and mail in to the Center to show their commitment to promoting tolerance and valuing diversity.

To kick off their diversity efforts, employees made a poster of the Declaration of Tolerance and asked everyone in the plant to sign it. They also had the handbook translated into Spanish to accommodate their bilingual workforce.

Each manager was asked to set a personal diversity goal, taken from one of the 101 suggestions in the handbook, and post it for all employees to see. Soon, other employees wanted to choose their own diversity goals and post them as well.

"We had a newsletter that went out each month announcing people's goals," Privado said. "One learned a foreign language, one went to a school and read books. Last year, mine was when somebody would say something inappropriate, I would try to stop them and not cooperate with them.

"We hold activities that allow us to learn more and care more about each other, to encourage inclusive behavior, and to learn that differences are not bad, they're just different," Privado said.

The company made diversity efforts such a high priority that in order for a plant to receive a "manufacturing excellence" award for the year, it had to meet its diversity goals. "A plant can have the best production and be the safest plant and not get 'manufacturing excellence' if they haven't met diversity goals," Privado said.

As part of the Atlanta plant's efforts, a trip to the Center for the diversity council members was arranged. The council visited the Civil Rights Memorial, learned more about the Center's work and presented Center staff with the Declaration of Tolerance poster signed by plant employees.

"Our recent trip made me realize how far we as a people still have to go and at the same time, how far we have come," said Andy Morgillo, a financial analyst who visited the Center with the group. "I was surprised at the number of active hate groups that still exist in the U.S., and I was reminded of the oppression that existed in this country just half a century ago."

Companies order hundreds of handbooks
Each year, dozens of other employers order 101 Tools for Tolerance as well. The Center receives requests from large international corporations such as Owens Corning, state and local government agencies and small business owners, all interested in promoting diversity efforts among their staffs.

"The workplace is one of the most common places where people interact with those different from themselves, so it's a good idea for employers to ensure that their staff members are understanding and respectful of each other while on the job," said Jennifer Holladay, co-editor of 101 Tools for Tolerance. "We're very glad to know that our handbook is helping to promote more tolerance and equity in workplaces across the country."

For the staff at the Owens Corning plant in Atlanta, diversity awareness efforts yielded great results, and those results didn't go unnoticed. The plant did receive the company's "manufacturing excellence" award last year, recognizing not only their production rates but their commitment to a tolerant and diverse working environment as well.

SPLC Report
June 2003