Leadership Tips & Teamwork

Diversity Q & A

Question: I am all about this diversity thing and our company has been trying to hire African-Americans but every time we do, there is always a problem and we end up having to fire them. Should we be lowering our standards for employment so that we can have more black people working here?

Answer: Well, there are many things that come to mind with this question. First the direct answer to your question is no. I do not suggest that standards be lowered so you can meet some kind of self-imposed quota system. It does not honor a member of a minority group to lower expectations for them.

There are many things that contribute to a minority member’s lack of success in the workplace. First, I would want to know how many African-Americans have you hired? Your question sounds like a sweeping generalization based on limited experience. Second, is your company a place where an African-American worker would feel welcome? What is the diversity climate of your workplace? Third, is your company one that expects a great degree of acculturation on the part of the minority worker and a lack of assimilation is the basis for you saying that African-American workers simply do not work out? Finally, many minority workers claim that they are not told about their performance deficits and given an opportunity to make changes prior to disciplinary action or being fired. It seems that the good intentions of some supervisors in wanting to be supportive of minority workers and women, often put them at a disadvantage by not providing them with timely feedback. Those are the initial thoughts that come to mind with your question.

If you would like to talk to me about it further, you may email me at Kim@CoachingoforExcellence.biz or call 708-957-6047.

The Platinum Rule

Do you remember the golden rule? We all learned it: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Most of us were raised with this philosophy and it served us well. However, I am suggesting that in a diverse workplace, we need to upgrade the golden rule. Perhaps the rule our parents taught us was the  golden rule and what I am now proposing could be called the platinum rule.

The new rule is: “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.” It is not enough anymore to simply treat others as you would want to be treated because not everyone is like you. We need to take the time to dialogue and have conversation around how others want to be treated and then proceed in that fashion. Imagine how much better a world we could create if we only asked.

Diversity Quote

“Diversity without unity makes about as much sense as dishing up flour, sugar, water, eggs, shortening and baking powder on a plate and calling it a cake.”
---C. William Pollard

When put like this, one gets a great visual! It’s not enough to say that you hire women, blacks, and Hispanics. Simply giving someone a job is just the beginning. Do you remember the days when the United States was called a melting pot? That analogy didn’t hold up because it meant that we take all these diverse peoples, add them together, stir things up and come out with a melted down version and everyone is the same. That is what many businesses are supporting today. It’s acceptable to hire women and minorities as long as they “act” like white males. Corporate America is still striving for the melting pot. What we need is a salad bowl where everyone can maintain their unique flavors but when put together, the salad is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

We will not truly value diversity until there is unity. People and differences will no longer be tolerated; they will be respected and appreciated. We need a sense of teamwork and togetherness. We must value the differences and actually see and understand how what each person brings to the table is an asset. I remember when women wanted to be firefighters and many men argued and complained that women had no right to attempt to do manual labor that required the strength of a man. One of the things I always thought about is what if there were a structural fire and a child was hiding in a small space. Wouldn’t it be possible that a woman might be able to enter a smaller space and calm a frightened child? Her differences adds an advantage to the team.

Instead of being frustrated by differences, we must learn to recognize them and find a way for those differences to create a stronger team, provide value in the marketplace and generally enhance the lives of those who experience it. There must be unity or minority members will not feel comfortable sharing their expertise, people will go about doing things in a random fashion and too much time will be wasted arguing about who is right instead of looking for ways to leverage the contributions of each member of the team.

Book Review: Voices of Diversity

Voices of Diversity:
Real People Talk about Problems and Solutions in a
Workplace Where Everyone is Not Alike
By Renee Blank and Sandra Slipp

This is an excellent book to assist managers who are attempting to do the right thing for minorities and women and just don’t really know how to proceed. This book can be very enlightening about the unconscious systems that are in place that keep minorities and women from prospering in the workplace. The first two chapters discuss the make up of the American workplace and issues such as stereotypes, which are dangerous, and group tendencies, which help us to be aware of certain possibilities within a group. These first chapters also discuss group identity and individual differences, which are often greater within a group than between groups.

The second part of the book has individual chapters devoted to the following groups: African-Americans; Asian-Americans; Latinos; recent immigrants to American; workers with disabilities; younger and older workers; gays and lesbians; women and white men. In the first section of each chapter, the authors summarize their extensive interviews with members of each of these groups. The interviewees actually described the issues, as they see them, in their own words. It is very valuable to hear the unadulterated comments from the workers, who may be intimidated to bring up the same issues or concerns to their supervisors. Then in the second part of each chapter, specific workplace scenarios are discussed. The situations are analyzed, with the mistakes outlined and suggestions for improvements offered. Reading this book and following the suggestions will help any supervisor be more sensitive to the needs all their employees.

The final two chapters in the book are dedicated to giving advice on how to communicate better to facilitate understanding in diversity-related matters. One chapter offers suggestions for those who are not a member of the majority at work, while the final chapter is written for managers or supervisors attempting to facilitate understanding in a diverse workplace environment.

I would highly recommend this book if you are seriously ready to hear what your employees have to say and are prepared to do something about it. Click here to order.

Diversity

I know that diversity has been a big topic of conversation ever since the early 1990s when research supported the demographics that by the year 2000, 85% of the entering workforce would be female, African-American, Asian-American, Latino, or new immigrants. The fact that white males would be a minority entering the workplace was a wake up call for corporate America .

How have we done sine then? I suggest that there has been definite improvement in the area of hiring but it seems that once women and minorities are hired, there are informal, relatively unconscious systems in place that prevent advancement of the minority worker or women, even today.

If there is to be a true advancement in the area of valuing diversity, then the system must be revised so that there truly is equal opportunity for advancement for everyone, including the white male. I am not advocating for a system that promotes workers who are incompetent to meet some type of quote system.

What I am suggesting is that management begins to closely examine the formal and informal systems that are in place that prevent advancement by women and minorities. Of course this is a monumental task and many would like to believe that it is unnecessary---that there is no problem here. That is part of the problem. On the surface, it seems that things or improving, however, under close scrutiny there are many flaws.

Why would a company make a commitment to this self-introspection? Wouldn’t it make things worse before they got better? The answer to the second question is quite possibly yes. The answer to the first question is bottom line dollars and cents, as well as the fact that it is the humanitarian thing to do.

America is a multicultural nation that is becoming more multicultural daily. That is a reality. Unless a company intends to market and sell to only mainstream America , the contributions of minorities and women in the workplace are invaluable. This does not even begin to touch on the advantages of diversity for the global market!

Addressing the diversity issue is a three-part one. The first step is what I call Awareness. This is a time for individual self-reflection for each member of the workforce. There are many skilled training programs available that are designed to raise the awareness of the individual. If this step is missed, then taking the next two steps will be ineffective.

Individuals must develop a certain amount of empathy and understanding for the experience of being a minority in the country. With this empathy and understanding, a new motivation will develop to learn more and to be in tune with the needs of female and minority workers on the job. Even those who believe that they are aware and knowledgeable will be surprised at how much they really don’t know.

The second step involves honoring, respecting and valuing the diversity of each individual. Diversity is so much more than race and ethnicity. It has been defined as a total way of life and is learned. Take a white person and have him raised by African-American parents, and his culture will be that of African-American. Conversely, a black child raised by Caucasian parents will have a Caucasian culture.

When difference is truly honored, respected and valued, no longer are people concerned about who is right and who is wrong. There is a place for everything and no one is wrong. What works best in one situation may not work best in another. Everyone’s opinion is valued. Instead of shutting down when differing views are expressed, the new paradigm is to listen for the wisdom in the difference and the means to incorporate it into the way things are currently done for the good of all.

The final, and perhaps the most difficult, stage is to examine the systems that are already in place. One of the systems that has continually been blamed is that to get along in the world of work, women and minorities need to “act” like white males. It is this acculturation that will currently get a person ahead.

This is fine in the short run for the company, however, in the long run, when embracing difference, having workers who are comfortable with their own culture who can bring with them the advantages and benefits from that culture into the workplace is invaluable. Also, setting it up so minorities and females realize that they must acculturate on the job is not a good thing for the worker. People want to be their authentic selves in all situations and why shouldn’t they be permitted to be that unless it interferes with the quality of the products or services produced?

There are several other systems in place of which most in management are completely unaware. It generally takes a consultant from outside the system to come in and do a complete analysis of what is working and what is not. Once the areas for improvement have been identified, then the real work begins!

There are some companies in America who have been working on workplace diversity for years and are still striving for higher levels. To truly be committed to the process is probably a lifetime commitment. Diversity appreciation is more of a journey than a destination.

Contact Kim for a consultation or corporate diversity training at 708-957-6047 or email at kim@coachingforexcellence.biz.

Diversity in the Workplace

This post’s focus is on diversity in the workplace. This has been a hot topic for at least the past 15 years and I am committed to the notion of equality and fairness for all, including white males. After all, isn’t that what our founding fathers had in mind when they wrote the words, “All men are created equal”? Do you think they only meant white-skinned, Protestant, males of European descent? Let’s hope not. What I believe is that most of the isms (racism, sexism, ageism, etc.) come from two camps--ignorance from a lack of direct experience and fear.

Those who fall into the first category are people who are basing their belief system on very limited and possibly negative experiences with members of the target group or no direct experience at all. Our allegiance to our biases may come from loyalty or connection to others who have expressed strong prejudices against the target group. When we are raised in a household or a segment of society where stereotypes are freely expressed about a particular group, then it becomes uncomfortable to stand against those belief systems, particularly when it leaves us standing against loved ones and those we have known our whole lives.

Also, it’s possible to have had a single or a few negative experiences with members of a particular group. It’s human nature to distance ourselves from wrongdoing so when we are involved in a negative experience, we attempt to categorize how our offender is different from us. If we can latch onto race, ethnicity, gender or age, then it’s somehow a relief to be separate from the perpetrator. The problem with this, however, is that we are developing broad, generalized prejudicial beliefs about a group of people that is based on just one or a few of its members. How would you like to be judged by what a few members or your identified group do?

For those in the second group, fear develops from the scarcity mentality. How often have I heard it stated that the United States should close its borders! “We have enough immigrants and they are taking away all the jobs from good, tax-paying American citizens.” These are the people who believe that since they got theirs, no one else should be allowed to have a part of the promised rewards. After all, there won’t be enough for everyone. There is a fear that something will be taken from them.

There is an even bigger fear that mostly comes from an unconscious place. When you are a member of the majority group and that group has been oppressing minority groups for whatever reason, there is always a fear that if the minority group(s) gain power, then they may do to the majority what was done to them. This is not a valid reason not to make right what has been wrong. It may be human nature to seek power but as a people, as human beings, we must seek ways to create power with each other instead of craving power over each other. That is what diversity in the workplace is all about. All people coming together--bringing with them their unique talents, skills and abilities in an effort to create the best possible products and services for a diverse marketplace. Isn’t that a concept you can get behind? Let’s start today.

Click here to purchase Kim's book, Leveraging Diversity at Work.