Raytheon’s focus on customer success, growth and shareholder value would not be possible without talented people throughout the company. To retain and attract the best talent, it is essential that we continue our journey of inclusiveness. While we are pleased to have received recognition for our work in this area, we realize that none of us in the company can walk around with a 1,000-page book detailing how to get inclusiveness right. It needs to be natural and intuitive, a matter not just of the “head” but also the “heart.”

We believe strongly that our inclusive culture is a key differentiator in today’s competitive talent landscape. Our employees and potential employees have a choice, and we want them to choose Raytheon.

We also need to successfully reach across the generations in our workplace to leverage differences for success. Many of our men and women in uniform are of the same generation that is now just entering the workforce. New generations in our company will increasingly be developing solutions for their generational peers in the field. Whether one is a “Boomer”, “Gen X” or “Gen Y”/ “Millennial” employee, we have created an inclusive culture that values and respects different opinions — indeed, a culture that seeks them out in order to best analyze a problem or create a solution for our customers. As a result, we have created an energized environment that embraces change for the opportunities — not the challenges — it provides.

Our talent discussions go well beyond the challenges of today; we also need to be sure the pipeline of future engineering talent is strong. We believe that U.S. industry faces a tough challenge in this area and we are trying to help. We have taken a leadership position with the Business-Higher Education Forum’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Initiative — and are proud of our efforts in this area and of our diversity recruiting efforts on campuses.

In 2005, we launched a new community outreach program called MathMovesU to encourage 6th- to 8th-graders to get excited about math and its potential. We want to connect young minds to the possibility of an exciting and successful career path — one that can match this generation’s specific interest in technology with a career in engineering, research, programming and science. We have only just begun our efforts to engage these young students, but their response has been both rewarding and promising. To see a young student’s face light up when he or she finally understands the linkage between the latest video game and mechanical, electrical or software engineering — it is a great feeling and an investment in our country’s future.