Audit Methods: the ten criteria are: 1. Foundation which is the essential area that the company stands on, so it is important to look at the leadership and also to make sure that there is accountability in place, by doing this it helps to make sure that the entire company is on the same page in terms of having clear company direction as well as complying with that direction the company is going in and spells out what the consequences are for not complying with said direction. As for Home Depot it seems that the company message has become diluted as it trickles down the leadership ladder into the stores.
When I asked the in store associate development department supervisor which is the in store human resources person that does all the hiring, scheduling, and training of new hires how the store made sure they were in compliance of diversity she told me we have events. This is an example that more training is needed to make sure that she not only understands the company diversity policy but the legal aspects as well. After speaking to other employees and doing internal document searches I had to tell her that the store has a report that breaks down the stores diversity, she was supposed to find out how to access that and get back to me but after weeks of attempts and then her going on vacation I was unable to get my hands on this report. Zadek, S., Evans, R., & Pruzan, P. (2013). Building corporate accountability: Emerging practice in social and ethical accounting and auditing. Routledge.
2. Internal which is made up of making sure the recruitment, advancement, and the development is being done in the company standard so that it allows everyone the equal chance regardless of sex, age, nationality, religion, and sexual preference. This is especially critical since in today’s legal as well as the increasing social environment that they are complying with the laws and also keeping up with the recent state rulings on same sex rights. The Home Depot does a decent job in regards to this, the only improvement would be to better communicate the advancement opportunities available to employees and also perhaps have a mentoring program set up so that employees can also see what they may need to do in order to move up into other positions. Minnick, W., Wilhide, S., Diantoniis, R., Goodheart, T., Logan, S., & Moreau, R. (2014). Onboarding OSH Professionals: The Role of Mentoring.Professional Safety, 59(12), 27.
4. External issues which are making sure that they are following all government regulations and laws as well as looking to the communities each store is serving to make sure that they are taking social responsibility by hiring locally which will in turn help the community grow stronger and forms a bond between the company and the community. Home Depot is big on giving back to the community since it is one of the eight values of the company, they do this by building playgrounds, planting gardens, helping renovate veteran’s homes, and participating in Habitat for Humanity projects. Epstein, M. J., & Buhovac, A. R. (2014). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
5. Bridging is the key component that ties all three of the previous sides of the triangle mentioned above, the foundation, the internal and the external. By doing this each side of the triangle is responsible for making sure they are active participants in the triangle and helps to see any weak links that need to be addressed. I see the Home Depot having some bridging issues since in the foundation side there seems to be a lack of education of the job duties and essential reports that make sure compliance is being done, based on the example of the in store human resource not knowing the diversity report existed. Baker, N. (2010). The rotational route: as rotational staffing models become more common in large corporate internal audit groups, auditors discuss the pros and cons of a program designed to raise the bar for the profession and organizational management. Internal Auditor, 67(6), 32-37. The next three criteria are based on the textbook Under 2012)
6. On page 378 of the textbook it mentions how knowing the makeup of your board especially knowing the number of women and people of color is useful when looking to see the organizations diversity. Since this acts like a snapshot and allows to see what model of diversity they are using. If they have no women or people of color on the board or any other ethnic backgrounds it can lead employees to not feel valued and included. Home Depot does have a diverse make up of its board of directors; they have men, women, and African Americans. Some of the board members discuss why diversity and inclusion begins at the top. Frank Blake the chairman and CEO, “The back bone of business is our people – their talent, their passion and their commitment. When we cultivate a diverse and inclusive environment, we live up to our values and our customers’ expectations of us – and in return, we’re unstoppable in building a business that wins.” Carol Tome the CFO and EVP, Coporate services, “It’s important for every leader at The Home Depot to understand the power of teams and the power of diversity.”
Marvin Ellison EVP, U.S. Stores, “Embracing diversity is the key component to connecting our company’s culture with our customers.” Craig Menear EVP, Merchandising, “It is important for The Home Depot to create partnerships with minority-owned, and women-owned and small businesses…. As a diverse supplier base will ultimately lead to increased innovation and shareholder value.” (internal company nding and Managing Diversity (Harvey and Allard, document date unknown) So by reading these different leaders’ reasons why diversity is important helps to see that by having the different genders and races represented the different aspects and reason are brought to the table. Kawaguchi, A. (2013). Equal Employment Opportunity Act and work- life balance: Do work- family balance policies contribute to achieving gender equality?. Japan Labor Review, 10(2), 35-56.
7. Supplier diversity which was mentioned briefly above by Craig Menear, that by using a diverse supplier base it can create a sense of inclusion for employees by seeing that the company using local, women owned or minority owned businesses. In some locations it may make more sense to use local suppliers since the cost will be lower for shipping as well as it creates a community inclusion and can be a win-win for both sides. Since local economy is just as important to small business as it is to larger ones, each feed off one another and if ones dries up it can be bad for the other as well. Meaning that if an area has a high unemployment rate than that means less people can afford to buy goods. Duncan, D. T., Aldstadt, J., Whalen, J., Melly, S. J., & Gortmaker, S. L. (2011). Validation of Walk Score® for estimating neighborhood walkability: an analysis of four US metropolitan
8. Spending funds on diversity causes, this is a big point since it is a way for the community to see that the company cares and how it giving back. For example the Home Depot participates in the Habitat for Humanity program as well as donates items they can use rather than just throwing them in the trash can. Also right now the employees are participating in a campaign to collect soda can tops to donate to the Ronald McDonald House, and the workshops they hold for the local special needs children that can’t come when the workshops are held on the weekends. Giving back to the community is one of Home Depots core values and I think they are doing well at it but it pains me to see all the things Home Depot throws away on a daily basis and how much more they could donate. Brown, K., & Tiu, C. (2013). The interaction of spending policies, asset allocation strategies, and investment performance at university endowment funds (No. w19517). National Bureau of Economic Research.
9. Setting up measures to periodically make sure the company is meeting the goals of diversity and if these were successful or not and how they can be improved. One way to do that is to do an employee satisfaction questionnaire. Home Depot does this twice a year and it is done either as anonymously or you can give your name, it asks questions about the company in general, the work environment, it ask for age, race, sex and then complies all the results and uses the data to make changes. (govinfo, page 13) Thompson, A., Peteraf, M., Gamble, J., Strickland III, A. J., & Jain, A. K. (2013). Crafting & Executing Strategy 19/e: The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases. McGraw-Hill Education.
10. Mentoring is a good program to have in place it helps to make sure that all employees have access to the partnerships with other employees in different jobs that are available. Mentoring can be shadowing, training, teaching, or even giving advice to other employees, it is good to get the perspective of different employees since each will have a different point of view. Meaning men, woman and different cultures will all see things from different angles. I have been mentored by my supervisor in learning new tasks, and I have also mentored him when it comes to different ideas on how to solve problems. We have daily meetings for our team and everyone gives input on how they think we need to work to solve issues. It goes back to diversity as well as inclusion since a strong team will be made up of the sums of its parts not by the individual. (govinfo, page. 17) Minnick, W., Wilhide, S., Diantoniis, R., Goodheart, T., Logan, S., & Moreau, R. (2014). Onboarding OSH Professionals: The Role of Mentoring.Professional Safety, 59(12), 27. 11.
Employee wellness is a big issue when it comes to diversity since each culture, sex, race, religion, or sexual orientation will require something different beyond the basics of dental, medical, and vision. So Home Depot has a diversity and inclusion network that offers support to LGBT, Asian, Latino, African American and many others and by doing this they are taking care of the employee’s needs that apply to those in each category. (govinfo, page 17) Zhang, T. C., Kandampully, J., & Choi, H. Y. (2014). The role of employee wellness programme in the hospitality industry: a review of concepts, research, and practice. Research in Hospitality Management, 4(1/2).
