I define diversity as a variety of races, ethnicities, cultures (we’ll get to that in a second), and beliefs. Diversity is not one thing alone; it’s a combination of many. One of the things that I often find myself pondering is how diverse people are in their interests? Why do certain people enjoy hiking, while others prefer sitting on the beach? Why do some try to master rock climbing? Why do people enjoy sewing? What makes the avid cyclist avid? The answer is simple – diversity.
Culture is about a way of life, or, a group of people that have a commonality to the way they live. I view organizational culture in the same way. Organizations establish their missions and values. As associates, we are supposed to support the company’s mission and live by its values. That doesn’t mean that a company’s values are necessarily different or the same as our personal ones. And, if they are different, then perhaps we should be part of a different organization. Not all organizations are for everyone.
For me, managing diversity is understanding and working with people of different cultures. It’s not so much about numbers but about people and how organizations maintain flexibility in dealing with the differences. What may be important to me is not necessarily important to someone with a different cultural background. To truly be a multi-cultural organization, a company must recognize that people from different cultures value different things. For example, a truly multi-cultural organization wouldn’t select Christmas as the only “holiday” it recognizes and insist that all associates take their time off during the dates set forth by the company, regardless of their beliefs or religion. The adage, “treat others how you would want to be treated,” is no longer applicable in today’s work environment. In a truly multi-cultural organization, it would be to “treat others how they want to be treated.”
If I were responsible for developing a diversity training program, I would ensure that there is strong leadership buy-in and support. I would also establish a succession program that would include diversity in the leadership group if it did not already exist. Further, my program would involve managers to support it, but it would likely also include associates that were culturally different to help develop the program. I don’t know what, exactly, it would consist of but I would start by providing solid reasoning for the training to ensure the learners understand why and how necessary the training is. There is still a lot of “this is ‘Murca,’ and people need to adjust to our culture.” That mindset is not what organizations need.
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