Diversity In Action

An expanding Nikon seeks advanced IT pros

"With only 500 employees everyone has to work more efficiently, but they realize the rewards are bigger," says the senior employee relations manager

Nikon's Doug Silverman: more efficient work, bigger rewards.

"With only 500 employees, everyone has to work in a more efficient manner, but they realize the rewards are bigger," says Doug Silverman, senior employee relations manager.

Compared with other parts of Nikon, the instruments division looks for the largest number of technical pros, Silverman explains. Like the rest of Nikon, it has a global footprint.

"Employees in the instruments company must expect to travel to Ireland, Israel and other countries. It's their job to localize Nikon's software for the U.S. market, and they work closely with our Japanese contingent."

A recent conversion to SAP has created a company need in the IT area. "The majority of our recent senior application specialist and program hires have been women, so our IT department now has a good balance of male and female," Silverman notes.

As part of its diversity initiative, Nikon dedicates time to technical societies like SACNAS, NACME, SHPE, NSBE and SWE.

Techies with advanced degrees are beginning to fill sales and product specialist positions, Silverman says. "Some doctoral candidates are realizing they don't want to spend their entire life in the lab, and a sales or product specialist position becomes a perfect solution for them.

"In fact," he notes, "our product applications are getting so technically oriented that we really welcome PhDs. We recently hired three of them as imaging sales representatives."

Nikon's "hiring smart" program attracts new candidates through employee referrals. "The program also trains our management staff on the legalities and ethics of recruiting. And we've found that retention is higher with an employee referral."

Although Nikon does not have a formal mentoring program, Silverman says some 60 percent of employees reached their current positions through the company's job opportunity program. "After a year, employees are given the opportunity to attend interactive meetings with human resources," Silverman explains. "We develop organizational charts to help them plot their career paths and see exactly what new skills and education they need to advance."

This program is just one of the many advantages of a small organization, Silverman notes. "We can offer career advisor seminars. I can meet with each employee personally, and HR always has an open-door policy with employees."

Silverman recently inaugurated Nikon University, a new program for current managers; techies are welcome. The modular training program focuses on skills like management, communication, ethics, diversity and conflict resolution.

"It's an interactive, hands-on program where HR folks travel to the offices and meet with managers," Silverman explains. "On completion, participants are eligible to move to a different level of management."

The company is also proud of the work/life balance programs it offers. They range from yoga classes to medical screenings, family events to financial counseling. "We are a small company with a global presence, interested in the health, happiness and physical well-being of our employees," Silverman declares.

D/C