On Sept. 21, 1953, IBM Chairman Thomas J. Watson Jr. wrote a memo encouraging his staff to "hire people who have the personality, talent and background necessary to fill a given job, regardless of race, color or creed."

IBM Corp. is proud of the letter, which was written 11 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In fact, it shows up in the 2001 annual report as an example of the values IBM said it never abandoned even as the computer industry moved into the 21st century.

Though the Armonk-based computer giant has a range of new initiatives to attract women and people of color, dedication to diversity goes back decades, said Ted Childs, vice president of work force diversity.

IBM promoted its first woman vice president in 1943; the first black salesman was hired in 1946.

Of the 150,000 people IBM employs today in the United States, 32 percent are women and 23 percent are minorities. The 9,000 or so IBMers who work in Westchester and Rockland counties reflect the U.S. work force, Childs said.

Childs acknowledges that IBM's work force doesn't mirror the U.S. Census, but said employees approximate the proportion of science and engineering graduates who are women and minorities. According to the National Science Foundation, women earned 48 percent of the bachelor's degrees in science and engineering in 1998, the most recent year available. Minorities earned 24 percent of bachelor's degrees.

Though Chairman Louis V. Gerstner and Chief Executive Officer Samuel Palmisano are white men, IBM is promoting women and minorities into management slots — including line-of-business positions that can lead to the CEO's office. They include such top executives as Linda S. Sanford, senior vice president and group executive for IBM's Storage Systems Group. IBM's chief information officer, Philip S. Thompson, is the second black man to hold that post.

Women fill 28 percent of management jobs. Minorities make up 15.5 percent of managers.

"Women and people of color are getting an opportunity to compete, and they are breaking through. They are getting critical jobs that are an important part of this company's success," Childs said.

Though other companies extol the values of diversity, IBM has a track record of promoting people of color and women, said David Thomas, professor of organizational behavior and human resource management at Harvard University and author of "Breaking Through: The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America."

"IBM has gone further than most companies, and especially technology companies, which in my view basically don't think that diversity matters," Thomas said.

The past nine years under Gerstner have been golden ones for minorities at IBM, Thomas said. "The untold part of Lou Gerstner's legacy is he has moved more African-Americans into general manager jobs than in the entire prior history of IBM. He really moved that needle," Thomas said.

Though Gerstner's mandate was to rescue IBM from near collapse when he came aboard in 1993, the IBM chief made diversity a priority. "What's also great about the IBM story is that they accomplished this in a period where they were trying to turn around a failing business," Thomas said.

IBM's efforts have ranged from expanding family leave to creating flexible working hours to promoting mentoring relationships. Employees can participate in one of eight task forces created in 1995 for women, Asians, blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, people with disabilities, 50-plus-year-olds, and gays and lesbians.

The task forces bring together rank-and-file workers and top managers, which is rare in big corporations, said Paulette R. Gerkovich, director of research at Catalyst, a nonprofit research and advisory organization focused on women in business. "It's really critical to be able to filter issues, especially around diversity, to the ears that can hear them," she said.

When Working Mother started putting out a list of companies friendly to women 16 years ago, IBM was one of "a handful" that made the cut, said Jill Kirschenbaum, the editor in chief.

Today, competition for a slot is fierce, but IBM still ranks in the top 10. "IBM is a trailblazer on the work/family front. Every year they set high standards, and every year they try and top them," Kirschenbaum said.

IBM's diversity agenda helped make it No. 1 in a ranking by Business Ethics magazine. Editor and publisher Marjorie Kelly said companies are evaluated on a range of benchmarks, among them service to women and minorities. IBM's record on diversity was a key factor in its selection as the most ethical company in America, she said, pointing to 63 child care centers, adoption assistance and manager incentives to hire and promote minorities and women. "My impression is that they do particularly well with women and minorities," Kelly said. "They seem to be at the forefront of what companies are doing with diversity."

Making IBM a diverse workplace was on Watson's mind back in 1953. A half-century later, that goal is closer to reality. Here are some of the people who make up IBM's work force in 2002:

The Evangelist

Ask Sarah Siegel what it means for her to lead IBM's sales and marketing efforts to gays and lesbians, and she hesitates. "I have to come up with something that doesn't sound too mushy," Siegel said.

But it's impossible for the 36-year-old onetime Web producer to disguise the enthusiasm she brings to her job, which she took on full time in June. "I had been doing it for love on the side since 1995," Siegel said.

Siegel's role is part recruiter, part saleswoman and part missionary. She spreads the word that IBM is a gay-friendly place to work as well as a company that wants to do business with gay and lesbian decision-makers.

IBM created Siegel's position after the company's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual Task Force asked Global Services chief Doug Elix to dedicate people and dollars to gay marketing and recruiting.

A lesbian herself, Siegel said she feels respected in her role. "When else would I be giving quarterly updates to Doug Elix, the No. 2 or No. 3 man, if I hadn't taken this position?" Siegel said. "I really feel like IBM is saying: 'You can be totally yourself, and we'll give you a salary to do it.' "

Those good feelings have spilled over into her home life. Siegel said her new job is one of the reasons that she and her partner of 10 years recently decided to become parents. "Being able to help lead a team dedicated to the GLBT market in a giant company like IBM made me realize that anything, anything is possible," Siegel said.

The Mentor

Rod Adkins became an IBMer in 1975. Never mind that he was still in high school — when an IBM employee visited his class to talk technology, he was sold. "I knew IBM was a company I was interested in," Adkins said.

That memory also inspired Adkins to become a beacon for other youngsters. As IBM's general manager of pervasive computing, Adkins is plenty busy bringing computing power to everything from cell phones to refrigerators. But he finds time to encourage young blacks to consider the sciences — and IBM. "Diversity is one of the areas I've spent a lot of time with. I actually have 32 mentoring relationships. I've dedicated myself to a real focus on our pipeline," Adkins said.

Adkins has been active in the National Society of Black Engineers since college, where he was one of only 24 blacks among 1,400 students. Adkins also has leadership roles in several other organizations, including co-chairman of the National Black Family and Technology and Awareness Week. "If kids show an aptitude toward math and science, we nurture that, to make sure that they can compete in the future for some of these high-tech jobs," he said.

A natural at science and math as a kid, Adkins said he had the chance to shine at IBM. "I've been successful at IBM not because I'm black, but because I've delivered on business commitments and producing positive results. It can be challenging at times in terms of being a minority, but what really keeps me going and motivated is being respected for leadership, contribution and results. At the end of the day that's what really counts."

The Scientist

Irving Wladawsky-Berger arrived in the United States from Cuba on Oct. 18, 1960. He brought a love of math, a burning curiosity about how things worked — and a taste American baseball and the music of salsa queen Celia Cruz.

His family settled in Chicago, where he finished up high school and ultimately received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Today, he's IBM's vice president of technology and strategy. A visionary who emerged from IBM's research labs, Wladawsky-Berger spearheaded the company's e-business and Linux initiatives and today is tackling the emerging field of computing-on-demand.

His Cuban heritage doesn't come into play much at work — except when it's time to give a talk in Latin America or when he meets with other Hispanics. Then, a shared heritage of cuisine, language — and especially music — make for easy camaraderie. "Anybody who is Latin, and especially if they come from Cuba, will immediately know who Celia Cruz is. There's just a set of things we know and we share," Wladawsky-Berger said.

He's been active in IBM's Hispanic Task Force, one of several created in 1995 to encourage relationships among employees with similar backgrounds. "I've been mentoring quite a number of young Hispanic workers at IBM," he said.

Not all of them share his fluency in Spanish. "You have to be careful because sometimes people don't speak Spanish. If they are fluent, we'll talk in Spanish. And I think it's something that we all enjoy," he said.

The Boss

When Al Zollar joined IBM 25 years ago, he was one of several young black computer scientists recruited about the same time.

The message he received: IBM values diversity as well as technology skills. Today, as general manager of the Lotus team, it's a value he puts into practice when he makes hiring decisions. "Every time we're thinking about a specific position, we make sure we have a diverse slate. It's part of the fabric of our organization," Zollar said.

Because his organization develops and sells software tools for collaborating in teams, sensitivity to a variety of viewpoints is vital. "Our whole focus is on people and how people communicate and learn. Being able to be in tune with all kinds of people makes us better at doing that," Zollar said.

The Lotus team includes a gay black man who is vice president of marketing and a female British national engineer. "They bring a perspective that — if we had a group of all white males — I think we would miss," Zollar said.

The Veteran

Susan M. Whitney's expectations for her career at IBM weren't high when she joined 30 years ago. She had worked for Big Blue during college, but she was assigned to run the switchboard — hardly glamorous work. When she started full time, she figured she would work for a few years, then get married and quit to start a family.

What chance did she give herself for becoming an executive? "Zero."

Today, the 52-year-old Whitney is general manager of the eServer xSeries and is one of the company's top 55 executives. It takes two secretaries to manage her schedule, which includes traveling three to four days a week.

Whitney guessed right in a few particulars. She did get married, and she has a 14-year-old son, but instead of quitting, she took a six-week leave. Though IBM's policies would have allowed more time off, Whitney didn't want to risk her career. "There were no proof points or role models, at least in the environment that I was working in, that would make it evident that a woman could have a baby and come back and be a motivated executive," Whitney said.

The first woman to lead the Intel-based server team, Whitney has never had a woman boss. Her generation might well be the last for which that's true. Women executives now play key roles in nearly every business unit at IBM, including storage, database, PCs, Unix and services.

Early in her career, she would walk into meetings to find that she was the only woman. Today, "I can literally say I have been in more meetings where the male is the exception," Whitney said.

The Newbie

Every day on her way to the cafeteria at IBM in Armonk, Ivy Tseng passes a board posted with awards the company has won for its efforts on behalf of women and minority employees.

"The company definitely takes pride in being recognized for these things," said Tseng, who said she picked IBM primarily for the professional opportunities it offered.

When she applied to IBM last summer after finishing her MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Tseng assumed her Taiwanese heritage wouldn't be a barrier. Growing up on Long Island after coming to the United States at age 3, Tseng considers herself to be an "American who happens to be Asian." Now 30, Tseng said her youth rather than her ethnicity sets her apart around company headquarters.

Even so, Tseng appreciated the two-day training session she participated in when she was hired in September. "They made it very clear at the orientation that this is a company that supported diversity and wouldn't tolerate prejudice," she said.

Tseng said she believes that the opportunities she'll be offered will be based on her skills, not her skin color. "The one message that I've gotten here is this place is a meritocracy," Tseng said. "Your output speaks for itself."

The Salesman

Raiford C. Cockfield isn't keen on the word "diversity," and "minority" is even worse.

" 'Minority' implies 'less than' — and if you're in a sales environment, the last thing in the world you want to do is to go out and call somebody 'Mr. or Mrs. Less Than,' " said Cockfield, vice president of market development for IBM.

Cockfield is charged with marketing IBM's products and services to businesses owned by women, blacks, Native Americans, Asians, Hispanics, gays and lesbians, people with disabilities and those over 50. "I resist people putting labels on what we do, because when all is said and done, the dollars we get look just like the dollars that come from anybody else," he said. "I sometimes hear, 'Oh, you're doing diversity stuff,' and I say, 'No, I sell, just like all the other sales units do.' "

How much new business has his group brought in? "Last year we did over a half a billion — that's not chump change," Cockfield said.

Today at IBM, diversity is about dollars as well as people. Cockfield is helping educate IBM's sales team about what it means to sell to someone other than a traditional white male. "All we're trying to do is bring a lot of these customers to life. To just get you to realize that they're no different than the people next door, the people you go to church with, or went to school with. They're just all people."

The Advocate

One day last year, a newly graduated software engineer showed up for her first day at IBM Corp. A Middle Easterner, the woman wouldn't remove her veil to be photographed for her identification badge because she didn't want to be seen uncovered by a man.

Security officers figured it was a case for Ted Childs, IBM's vice president of work force diversity. But Childs said he wouldn't make the call. He just reminded the guards that IBM has a commitment to respecting people's religious beliefs. He remembers telling them: "Do you really need to see her face to verify that you've made a good employment decision? As long as you don't bother her beliefs, you don't have to come back to me, but you have to work it out with her."

A compromise was quickly reached. "She had her picture taken, and she agreed to take off her veil. The picture was taken and processed by a woman. That badge has the security strip she needs to get into the building. Once she gets into the building she puts that badge in her pocketbook. She has a second badge with a photo with her veil — that's the one she wears at work," Childs said.

A simple solution? Yes, but one that was made in the context of an environment that values diversity. Childs is IBM's point man on the topic. Ask him about IBM's record, and be prepared for dozens of dates, benchmarks and awards.

But Childs doesn't just recite facts and figures — he invokes them in a passionate sermon that begins with IBM's hiring its first disabled employee in 1914 and doesn't end until the company has notched its 16th year on Working Mother magazine's best companies for moms list.

His voice quickly rises when he makes a point he feels strongly about — such as why IBM offers employees three years of family leave with full benefits. "At 30 percent women, and with women in key technical jobs, it became a business issue. This is how we attract the best and keep them. They're not less valuable after they become pregnant. When you hire, you hire for a 30-year relationship — protect that relationship!"

Childs not only oversees IBM's programs, he talks them up. Pick up Fast Company magazine, and there he is. Profiles in Diversity Journal? Childs again.

Childs is eager to sell IBM's message of inclusion partly because of his own positive experiences. "I find IBM appealing as a black man because of the core value of respect for the individual. That's why I've been here 34 years — because I believe that there's an opportunity here to be respected for who I am, what I am, how I think."

The Telecommuter

As a parent of a first-grader and a fourth-grader, Maria Ferris has gotten used to nearly every room in her house announcing, "Kids live here." But when she steps into her third-floor home office, she's no longer in Raleigh, N.C. She's at IBM. Though no one at IBM headquarters has a dormer window like the one in Ferris' house that looks out onto a cul de sac of pear trees, she is as much a part of Ted Childs' diversity organization as when she worked in Armonk.

It isn't a job prerequisite, but it turns out that Ferris, manager of work/life and women's initiatives, has taken advantage of many of the programs she oversees. "We've always struggled with that balance of being a dual-career professional family," Ferris said.

She joined IBM 23 years ago as a systems analyst in Endicott, N.Y. She met her husband there; both were IBM managers.

When it came time to adopt a child in 1990, IBM provided resources and referrals. "That was very helpful because adopting a child can be daunting," Ferris said.

When she won the diversity post in 1995 and was asked to move to Armonk, IBM found a job for her husband as well.

Then, in 1998, it was her husband's turn to get a new job, this time in Raleigh. But, "instead of me looking for a different job, I just took my job with me," Ferris said.

Childs was happy to approve the decision to allow Ferris to work from home full time. "He felt immediately better that he wasn't going to lose me."

IBM helped Ferris install a special phone line in her home so she can receive faxes, talk on the phone and go online with her ThinkPad at the same time. IBM also provided access to the internal telephone system. She originally planned to come up to New York once a month. But the transition was so easy, she stayed away for seven months at the start. "People had no idea I was in Raleigh," Ferris said.

Ferris said she enjoys taking breaks in mid-afternoon to snack with her kids and help them with their homework before heading back upstairs to work.

About 33 percent of IBM's 320,000 employees work away from their desks, a perk that's particularly welcome among women employees who happen to be mothers, Ferris said.

IBM also allows employees to adjust their starting and quitting times by as much as four hours. Ferris herself used to go into the office at 6:30 a.m. in order to leave by 2, shortening her son's time at day care and helping her care for a newborn daughter. "I just got the job done when it was convenient for me. What we're focusing on at IBM is the results."

Source: The Journal News