The Diversity Challenge

What is Diversity…

Broad term that encompasses many differences, including:

• Age
• Disability status
• Military experience
• Sexual orientation
• Economic class
• Educational level
• Personality characteristics
• Lifestyle.

Features of the enlightened workplace

• Presence of a philosophy of pluralism and relentless efforts to eliminate racism, sexism, ageism, and other discriminations
• People having reason to believe that they are accepted and respected and that their voices will be heard

Importance of diversity

• It creates innovation in the workplace.
• Brings diverse talent ans skills.
• Approach to new ideas.
• Helps to grow the talent pool of your workplace.
• Brings inclusiveness and open environment.
• eventually helps to increase employee performance due to welcoming environment

Benefits of Diversity

• Increase in workforce creativity
• Broader range of knowledge and skill
• Better decisions based on different perspectives
• Better services provided to diverse populations
• Ability to recruit excellent talent from the entire labor pool

Gender Diversity in the Workplace

Participation of women in the workplace continues to increase

• Leaders must address the changing workforce and the needs of women
• Increasing numbers of women are occupying C E O positions in corporations

Natural differences exist in the way men and women communicate

• For most men, report talk is primarily a means of preserving independence or negotiating and maintaining status in a hierarchical social order
• For most women, language of conversation is primarily a language of rapport

Guidelines to Manage Mixed Groups

• Accept the premise that a man and woman can work together without having an affair
• Make business decisions based on competence rather than gender
• Recognize that romantic relationships can exist that are not counterproductive
• Let employees know that discreet, responsible behavior is expected
• Avoid the temptation to protect employees from themselves
• Focus on possibilities rather than problems and seeking to guide rather than control

Women in Leadership Positions

Increasingly, women in high leadership positions come from the business world •

• Women constitute 14.6 percent of the corporate officer ranks of Fortune 500 companies

During the past decade, women have started businesses at twice the rate of men

• Currently, over 25 percent of small businesses in the United States are owned or operated by women

Women constitute over half of the managerial workforce, and they serve in a growing number of leadership capacities in government

Generational Differences

Age difference is an important dimension of diversity

Today’s cohorts and their different attitudes and expectations

• Veterans: Represent a treasure of experience and wisdom
• Baby boomers: Value economic security and are focused on social conditions
• Generation X: Expect less job security and are motivated by work-life flexibility, the opportunity to learn, and egalitarianism
• Generation Y: Tend to be tech-savvy, racially and ethnically diverse, multitaskers, and independent
• iGeneration or Generation Z: Use social media extensively and view rapid social change as a constant

Diversity and leadership go hand in hand…

Effective leaders have an integrative approach

Leaders bring together and integrate people of different cultures, races, genders, personalities, and stages of development into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Integration is a building up in which the identity of the individual is preserved yet simultaneously transcended.

Effective teams that result welcome other points of view, embrace opposites, and seek to understand all sides of every issue.