A Team Approach to Inclusion and Diversity
Bob Ellis leads the new global leadership team dedicated to creating a world-class inclusion and diversity culture at ITT.
In December 2007, ITT took its inclusion and diversity efforts to the logical next level with the appointment of a global leadership team.
- Bob Ellis succeeded Usha Wright as Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer. He joined ITT from Northrop Grumman, where he established the strategic diversity function for a key division. He now leads ITT’s inclusion and diversity work on a global basis from ITT's home office in White Plains, New York.
- Tomas Leal comes to ITT with extensive inclusion and diversity experience in the oil and gas industry and oversees ITT's inclusion and diversity efforts in Europe and Asia. He is based in Basingstoke, U.K.
- Amy Taney, who helped build the inclusion and diversity program for ITT's Industrial Process business, is now developing inclusion and diversity programs and processes for North America sites from her office in Seneca Falls, New York.
They -- along with the recently appointed inclusion and diversity champions at every value center -- form ITT's new Inclusion and Diversity Center of Excellence. Recently, Ellis offered insights into his team's plans for making inclusion and diversity more ingrained in ITT's culture.
Where would you say ITT is on the path to building an inclusive and diverse work environment?
Usha Wright and her team did an outstanding job of laying the foundation by creating three regional workforce strategy councils and a company-wide inclusion and diversity commitment statement. Our priority for the newly formed Inclusion and Diversity Center of Excellence is to build on that foundation. We want to establish ITT as a premier global organization that truly understands the value of having an inclusive and diverse workforce as a source of competitive advantage.
What are your immediate priorities?
First, we want to collaborate with ITT leaders at all levels to define and institutionalize a corporate-wide global mindset. Next, we will partner with our Value-Based Leadership Development team to enhance the operational excellence of our inclusion and diversity champions. Finally, we will facilitate authentic and multi-directional communication to enable innovation and continuous improvement of our inclusion and diversity efforts.
How does the creation of the new global leadership team accelerate ITT's inclusion and diversity progress?
Both Tomas and Amy bring significant and diverse intellectual and emotional qualities to the table. As a team, we will leverage our global resources, including thought leaders and best practices, to foster world-class levels of employee engagement. And we will also utilize lean and Six Sigma processes -- including more rigorous measurements -- to improve our people processes and performance.
What is the main message you want to relay to employees?
Inclusion and diversity is an exciting and challenging journey that includes all employees at all levels of the company. Done right, it creates a value stream that impacts every way in which ITT conducts business. And with a strong foundation and a strong team, we have the elements we need to do it right.
ITT's Inclusion & Diversity leadership team (l. to r.): Tomas Leal, Amy Taney, Maria Underwood (executive assistant) and Bob Ellis.
