Are you an example of diversity practice?

Anonymous

Wanting Diversity Practiced

So you’ve implemented diversity initiatives at your company that you want employees to practice and support. (Soni, p. 395) You’ve worked hard to ensure that the initiatives are well thought out and meet government and legal diversity requirements consistent with what you envision as necessary for being the sensitive and diversity conscious employer you want to be in this new millennium. (Mandell and Kohler-Gray, p. 41) But your employees don’t seem to be buying into diversity the way you thought they would. (Hemphill and Haines, p. S5; Soni, p. 396) Maybe its time to revisit your diversity plan and determine what you need to do in order to help your employees and you practice diversity the way you want and think it should be practiced. (Galagan, p. 42) Maybe its time to do more than implement initiatives and provide an example of what you see as diversity practice in your company. (Hickes-Clarke and Iles, p. 327) Maybe its time to be the example of diversity you need to be in order to show your employees how it should be practiced. (Mendez-Russell, p. 16) Because when it comes to diversity, followers don’t want to be told how to practice it or what it should look like; they want leadership to set the example for how diversity should be practiced. (Mendez-Russell, p. 16) You need to decide what to do. As a leader it’s up to you to determine what your followers want. As a leader it’s up to you to provide an example to the people that follow you so they can practice diversity effectively in the transformation process at your company and industry. (Mendez-Russell, p. 16; Soni, p. 404) Without leadership examples to follow, employees and followers alike can make mistakes in judgement that can result in individual deep-seated prejudice directing their focus allowing them to chart their own course, interpret their own approach, and place their own value on diversity. (Mendez-Russell, p. 16; Iverson, p. 34) Your leadership in modelling the diversity you desire is the only thing that will change the way your employees and the people you lead will change their practice. What are you going to do?

The Steps

What can you do to provide the leadership necessary to give the people that follow you the skills they need to practice diversity the way you feel it should be practiced? What steps do you need to take to help followers practice healthy diversity? The first requirement is to commit yourself to change the way your organization deals with diversity in it’s commitment to changing “attitudes, practices, structure and policies – from the executive suite down.” (Pollar, p. S4) Odette Pollar lists five steps to set up effective diversity initiatives that your employees and followers can pursue:

Create a diversity task force to provide leadership, focus and continuity to direct diversity efforts.
Design a cultural audit to identify organizational strength, climate, issues, understanding, obstacles, and challenges while helping assess training needs that enable leaders to understand the issues and concerns related to implementing diversity practice effectively.
Develop an overall strategy to provide guidance for the design, delivery, and promotion of diversity.
Deliver training that help everyone recognize diversity as an issue.
Measure diversity effectiveness by observing the sincere efforts toward diversity practice by everyone involved in the workplace.

(Pollar, p. S4, S5)

Many Managers

The challenge for most managers and leaders is mentoring the people they lead in the steps necessary to change and provide job-related and developmental feedback to employees from both majority and minority groups concerning internal practice of diversity in your organization. (Soni, p. 401) One approach is making an effort to “provide ongoing training to increase workplace relationship skills.” (Hemphill and Haines, p. S6) The best way to increase acceptance of diversity principles and practice is by developing and maintaining communication with those we lead by identifying, addressing, and modelling appropriate listening skills, thought processes and patterns, and emotional habits that enhance diversity practice. (p. S6) Providing visible examples of leadership assists people you lead by providing them “with the information, training and experience they need so that they can effectively leverage diversity in achieving their business results.” (Conklin, p. 1) Carolyn Watkins notes that managing a “diverse workforce can be a fulfilling-and frustrating task.” (Watkins, p. 30) Leadership however, requires the adoption of general practices that enhance leadership impact, promote diversity practice, and reduce the frustration for you and those you lead. Your leadership requires that you and your organization must:

Avoid stereotyping.
Make your expectations clear and standard for all employees.
Be aware of the different work and life experience levels workers bring to a job.
Create environments that provide and address the benefits and workplace issues that are important to each employee age group.
Provide flexible work schedules.

(Watkins, pp. 30, 31)

What Followers Want and Need

Followers want and need clear messages about the value of diversity in the organization they are part of “and what they are supposed to accomplish.” (Soni, p. 402) Followers want your trust for handling and resolving issues normally associated with leadership responsibility as well as clear expressions of how their leaders see the future, in word, action, and attention to the issues that shape attitudes regarding diversity within the formal and informal processes of the organization. (Kerfoot, p. 194; Nadler and Tushman, p. 188) As a leader, you will need to assess how you and your organization can make these practices a reality in promoting diversity practice that people can follow.

As a Leader

You can enhance your influence on diversity and follower behaviour within your organization by embracing and practicing eight important diversity traits. You and your organization can practice enhancing follower practice for diversity by:

Being self-aware and willing to understand and explore your roots, experiences, values, and beliefs that help you recognize the value of your personal identity influences, view of others, and the impact your decisions and choices have on shaping diversity.
Finding out where others are coming from in order to create collaborative and cohesive relationships that will enable you to listen and understand the diversity concerns of those you lead.
Being aware of others and the environment to enable you to maintain a broad point of view when making decisions that allow you to minimize opposition to diversity in the ranks.
Communicating openly and honestly in order to connect with people who feel fear, anger, anxiety, and uncertainty and be willing to hear and act on input from those you lead.
Avoiding exclusionary behaviour that alienates people by being attuned to people’s emotions and needs in order to gain their respect and loyalty in dealing with the diversity issues that arise.
Fully committing to implementing diversity efforts.
Intentionally dealing with possible dangers or deficiencies in the implementation and practice of your corporate diversity practice to avoid any possible threat to the growth of internal diversity.
Remaining active in the promotion of diversity and practicing what you preach; letting your behaviour and actions become determining factors for the success or failure of your diversity practice.

(adapted from Diversity Leadership by Armida Mendez-Russell’s, p. 16)

Conclusion

So how does your leadership line up? Are you providing the example necessary to ensure your employees and followers understand how to practice diversity? (Mendez-Russell, p. 16; Soni, p. 404) What changes do you need to make to enhance your organization’s ability to improve diversity practice that others can follow? (Mendez-Russell, p. 16; Soni, p. 404) The time to respond to questions like these by taking steps to ensure effective diversity practice is now. You need to decide what to do to improve your diversity practice for those you lead and your organization by revisiting your diversity plan and deciding what you need to do to help your employees and you practice diversity the way you want and think it should be practiced. (Galagan, p. 42) You need to decide how to provide a positive example for diversity practice by your employees and in your company. (Hickes-Clarke and Iles, p. 327) You need to decide what to do:

As an example of belief in the value of the employees you lead. (Kerfoot, p. 194)
As an effective change agent in transforming your company and industry. (Mendez-Russell, p. 16; Soni, p. 404)
As an example that demonstrates that the attitudes and behaviours you express through you leadership is key to change. (Mendez-Russell, p. 16)

The decision is yours. Will you do what it takes to practice the diversity necessary for employee and organizational change? Will you practice diversity that makes a difference to your employees and organization? Will you change what you are doing to promote and realize the change needed? Give the people you lead and your organization the chance it needs to make diversity something worthwhile. It all starts with you and it all begins now. Good luck.

References

Conklin, W. (Fall 2001) Conversations with diversity executives. Diversity Factor, Volume 10, Number 1, p. 5-14.
Galagan, P. (April 1993) Leading diversity. (interview with Ann Morrison). Training & Development, Volume 47, Number 4, p. 38-44
Hemphill, H., and Haines, R. (July1998) Confronting discrimination in your workplace. HR Focus, Volume 75, Number 7, p. S5
Hicks-Clarke, D., and Iles, P. (2000) Climate for diversity and its effects on career and organisational attitudes and perceptions. Personnel Review, Volume 29, Number 3, p. 324-345
Iverson, K. (April 2000) Managing for effective workforce diversity. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Volume 41, Issue 2, p. 31-38.
Kerfoot, K. (June 1997) Leadership: believing in followers. Dermatology Nursing, Volume 9, Number 3, p. 194, 195.
Mandell, B., and Kohler-Gray, S. (March1990) Management development that values diversity. (unbiased selection of management candidates). Personnel, Volume 67, Number 3, p. 41-48.
Mendez-Russell, A. (December 2001) Diversity leadership. Executive Excellence, Volume 18, Issue 12, p. 16.
Nadler, D. A., and Tushman, M. L. (1997), Competing by design: the power of organizational architecture. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Pollar, O. (December 2001) A diverse workforce requires balanced leadership. Workforce, Volume 77, Issue 12, p. S4, S5.
Soni, V. (September/October 2000) A twenty-first century reception for diversity in the public sector: A case study. Public Administration Review, Volume 60, Issue 5, 395-408.
Watkins, C. (September 1999) Grads to grannies. Food Management, Volume 34, Issue 9, 30-36.

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