Halvorson: Pretending to promote diversity.

I’m going to get to George Halvorson being one of the eight seven chief executives “honored” by a so-called “Diversity Best Practices” company in just a minute. Before I do, you should know that Kaiser Permanente is expected to report its third quarter financial results this week, and the picture is not looking good. Apparently Mr. Halvorson is beginning to run out of ways to prop up the organization’s ailing finances, and my understanding is that the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Board of Directors is becoming more and more restless. Is the reality that their individual reputations are at stake beginning to set in and prod them into having some level of fiduciary loyalty and responsibility to Kaiser Permanente? We shall see, soon…

Back to the “news” that Kaiser Permanente is desperately trying to get any news outlet (anyone, anywhere?) to pick up: George Halvorson was one of eight seven chief executive officers “honored” as a “leader” for “diversity” by a for-profit company called “Diversity Best Practices”. You might be surprised to learn that “Diversity Best Practices” is owned by a company managed by eight white men. Go figure.

The more interesting news is that Kaiser Permanente was promoting Mr. Halvorson as one of “eight” chief executives to be honored right up to Friday. Apparently, the memo was delivered late to Oakland: at the last minute, the eighth chief executive’s “award” was revoked, leaving only seven remaining. (Here’s the corrected press release.)

That’s because that eighth chief executive, Stan O’Neal of Merrill Lynch, was fired last week for incompetence, and amid growing accusations of corruption.

Great company Mr. Halvorson keeps, no?

If that isn’t enough to make you question the integrity of this so-called “prestigious” award, this better be: the chief executives to be “honored” are “selected…based on an extensive application completed by each company.” That’s it. If Mr. Halvorson says Kaiser Permanente is promoting diversity, and is convincing enough with a bit of spun statistics, he gets honored. That, oh, and he has to “become a member” and write a big, big check from Kaiser Permanente’s bank account payable to “Diversity Best Practice”…

If George Halvorson actually shared some legitimate commitment to diversity, perhaps this “honor” would be a bit more “honorable.” But, the fact is, George Halvorson has a horrible track record on promoting diversity among the executive ranks at Kaiser Permanente.

So, let’s compare that eighth chief executive, Stan O’Neal, (the no longer “honored” one) and Mr. Halvorson, shall we?

Dishonoring Diversity: Halvorson and O’Neal

To understand just how laughable this award is, you need just go back a few months to a quote given by one of Stan O’Neal’s top lieutenants: “We’re not where I want us to be [on diversity], we’re not where Stan wants us to be or where Merrill Lynch wants to be.” I see. Perhaps “Diversity Best Practices,” the for-profit company that gives out the “award,” perhaps they decided that admitting the problem is the first step to fixing the problem? So, by extension, perhaps George Halvorson talking so much about diversity (but doing very little to actually promote it within his own organization) actually counts for a lot? Who knows.

So here’s to Mr. Halvorson and his band of eight seven brothers (yes, all seven are men, and six of them are white). Congratulations on your much deserved “honor.”