LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. — As workplace demographics shift, corporate boards of directors and CEOs are declaring workforce diversity to be one of their top people priorities. The Inclusion Paradox: The Obama Era and the Transformation of Global Diversity, a new book by Chief Diversity Officer Andrés Tapia of Hewitt Associates, a global human resources services company, defines and examines the difference between diversity and inclusion in the workplace and how companies can achieve both to create a stronger and more engaged workforce.

Through a collection of stories, insights and observations culled from his experience working with organizations to cultivate diverse and inclusive workplaces, Tapia explores the implications that the transformed economy, business world, society and political landscape have had on diversity and inclusion on workplaces around the world. He explains that for companies to be truly inclusive organizations, employers need to rethink many of the common assumptions about diversity in the workplace. Among these is the notion that differences must be minimized. On the contrary, Tapia
believes companies should constructively call out workplace differences and start a dialogue to help shape programs and policies that take these differences into account.

"Companies often interchange the terms 'diversity' and 'inclusion.' In reality, I believe diversity is the mix, and inclusion is making the mix work," explained Tapia. "In other words, many companies have gotten very good at getting the right mix of people in the door, but have been unprepared for how to make that more complex mix work once it comes together. Companies have been good at creating a workforce that looks different, but they aren't adequately prepared for a workforce that thinks differently. They've fallen short when it comes to understanding how to develop a corporate culture where all employees feel included, respected, comfortable and able to do their best work."
 
The book also explores the cultural implications of Barack Obama's election to President and how this event affects strategic efforts around diversity and inclusion. Tapia points out that these cultural implications will affect personal, group and institutional relationships.

"Many people believe that Obama's election signals that the U.S. has graduated to a 'post racial' society. But the controversies and discussions raised by his election confirm that there's still so much work for us to do as a society before the we can claim that title," said Tapia. "However, this give companies the opportunity to re-energize and re-direct conversations around diversity in order to bring about true transformation to workplace diversity."

In The Inclusion Paradox, Tapia addresses a number of important questions around diversity and inclusion, including:

• What are organizations overlooking that could strengthen their internal pipeline of diverse talent?
• What barriers can we remove to support greater advancement of women?
• What are the unspoken and hidden issues affecting the inclusion of those with disabilities; those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender; those who come from different countries or faiths; those from different generations?
• How can organizations provide health care and retirement benefits that address the unique needs of African-American and Latino employees?
• How can global teams work more effectively across language and cultural barriers?
• What can organizations do for their employees to address the need for work-life flexibility?
• How can increasingly diverse teams manage their differences to achieve better business results and improve employee engagement?

The Inclusion Paradox: The Obama Era and the Transformation of Global Diversity is available at Amazon.com. Members of the media can contact Hewitt Associates' public relations department at 847-883-1000 to obtain a copy of the book.

About the Author
Andrés Tapia is Hewitt's Chief Diversity Officer and Emerging Workforce Solutions leader. He is responsible for leading the company's internal and external diversity vision and strategies. Andrés is frequently quoted in the national media as an expert on diversity issues, including BusinessWeek, FORTUNE magazine, New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
 
Andrés has received numerous awards for his work towards diversity and inclusion including, Chicago United's Business Leader of Color Award (2007), and Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement Éxito Award (2008). He is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow (class of 2008) and is on the board of Luna Negra Dance Theater.

About Hewitt Associates
Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW) provides leading organizations around the world with expert human resources consulting and outsourcing solutions to help them anticipate and solve their most complex benefits, talent, and related financial challenges. Hewitt works with companies to design, implement, communicate, and administer a wide range of human resources, retirement, investment management, health care, compensation, and talent management strategies. With a history of exceptional client service since 1940, Hewitt has offices in more than 30 countries and employs approximately 23,000 associates who are helping make the world a better place to work. For more information, please visit www.hewitt.com.

Maurissa Kanter

,  Hewitt Associates,  (847) 883-1000

MacKenzie Lucas

,  Hewitt Associates,  (847) 883-1000