Meritocracy Breeds Diversity, As Well As Excellence by Kathleen Mayton

Summer 2009

The best way to achieve diversity is to focus on performance, not pedigree. Companies succeed by identifying employees who are willing to take responsibility for their careers by developing leadership skills and seeking out opportunities for self-advancement. When companies (including law firms) build true meritocracies -- where results are valued above all else -- I have found that diversity occurs naturally.

I like to think that my own career is a good example. As one of relatively few women appointed to the position of General Counsel, I have been fortunate to receive tremendous opportunities from my employer. However, I am certain that I would never have been able to rise through the company if I was unable to deliver solid results. Again, this has nothing to do with my gender, but it has everything to do with honing and demonstrating my abilities.

At the same time, even the best-run companies may have trouble attracting diverse employees and occasionally need to take deliberate steps to do so. For example, Rollins, Inc.’s core business is pest control and, for a variety of reasons, positions like pest-control technician or salesperson have traditionally not drawn many female candidates. However, we have observed that when those positions are staffed with women employees, they frequently meet with success.

To help address this issue, Rollins management commissioned "The Women’s Resource Group," which is comprised of women across all different levels of the company. The WRG created a long-term, multi-pronged plan that includes developing a corporate-wide mentoring program and networking with outside women’s groups. The WRG has also made relatively small but meaningful recommendations such as featuring pictures of women technicians in recruiting brochures and modifying uniforms to make them more comfortable and appealing to female employees.

The strong backing of Rollins’ upper management has been a critical component of this effort. It is safe to say that without support from the very top, even the best-intentioned ideas will have difficulty gaining traction. The issue, of course, is not that anyone is against increasing diversity, but simply that individual managers and supervisors are busy with the day-to-day operations of their jobs. The conspicuous involvement and support of senior management sends the message to all employees that these initiatives are high priority.

It is important to point out that these efforts are not meant to be altruistic. Rather, Rollins believes that widening the pool of candidates will enable us to find the best performers. As a bottom-line-driven organization, Rollins hires and promotes employees who are honest, hard-working, and have superior interpersonal skills. These qualities are excellent indicators of future performance, and they cross all lines of gender, race, and educational background -- companies just need to be willing to dig a little deeper than the face of a résumé.

I believe many legal employers -- and law firms in particular-- overlook this fact. There is an interest in hiring the top-tier students from the most prestigious law schools, but that recruiting strategy has some obvious limitations. While high grades and LSAT scores can be good indicators of certain intellectual abilities, they tell a recruiter little about whether an attorney will thrive in the workplace by providing clients with aggressive representation and great results. A summa cum laude from an elite law school might do terrific research, but that does not necessarily mean he or she has the judgment and interpersonal skills to provide practical legal advice or handle an anxious client. Employers who rely heavily on the name of a candidate’s school and neglect to explore these deeper character issues will miss the opportunity to hire excellent employees who bring a wealth of perspectives and experiences to their work.

Of course, the responsibility to create advancement opportunities for diverse employees does not rest solely with management. Young professionals must take ownership of their careers by seeking out leadership training, both formal and informal. Sometimes, it can be as simple as reading a good book on leadership. More often, it requires more involved and sustained efforts such as cultivating a mentor relationship, building out your network, and learning the art of graceful self-promotion. These all take time, and you will encounter setbacks. But, as I still need to remind myself, leadership is a journey, not a destination.

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Kathleen Mayton is the General Counsel and Vice President of Rollins, Inc. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries Orkin, Inc., PCO Services, HomeTeam Pest Defense, Western Pest Services, and The Industrial Fumigant Company, Rollins, Inc., provides essential pest-control services to over two million customers in the United States and abroad.

Ms. Mayton received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts and her J.D. from Emory School of Law. She began her career with Rollins in 1990 as a staff attorney. She later became the Assistant Vice President of the human resource department, and in 1995 was named General Counsel.