Workplace Diversity  - by Linda Trignano

According to Census 2000 one out of every four Americans identified themselves as a member of a minority group, up from one in five 10 years ago. This means that the workplace of 2007 is becoming even more culturally diverse. Managers and others are often required to continually rethink the ways they work with people. Workplace diversity includes a broad array of differences that are common in the office of today. Some of the profound areas of change taking place in the workforce include differences in race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, age, multi-generational workers and immigrants. Whether you are working with others of diverse backgrounds or managing a team that fits this criteria, you need to follow some sound practices in order to ensure your success and theirs.

1. Respect every individual. Manage fairly and equitably. Be sure to check you own actions to ensure that you are not favoring one type of person above others. In some cases this might mean favoring male co-workers over female workers. Or it might mean ensuring that you are being fair to some workers who have English as a second language. A quick review of your behavior will work to keep any of this type of behavior out our your worker interaction.

2. Make an effort to gain some knowledge of the ethnicity of your co-workers. In today's fast-changing world, we are often asked to enlarge our scope of acceptance of new and different aspects of diversity. In an effort to help yourself or your co-workers you might want to make an effort to gain more knowledge about the diversity of those your are working with. Often, to know is to understand. This might be as simple as a lunch time discussion or could be a topic at your next staff meeting.

3. Provide additional training when needed. After a company restructuring, I found myself in the position of supervising a hearing impaired employee. Her only way of communicating with me and other co-workers was lip reading and sign language. Since none of us knew sign language, I decided to offer my team the opportunity to learn a working knowledge of signing. We brought in a tutor and for 8 weeks we learned enough to improve the communication process. While this is only one example, it does serve as a guide for incorporating a deeper understanding of diversity. In addition, we all gained an unexpected skill. 

4. Take swift action to stop any negative interactions that might erupt over diversity differences. Be quick to get to the bottom of any squabbles or tension by calling the parties together and showing that you will not tolerate any negative actions toward anyone. While this issue is not limited to diversity differences, it does seem to result in more than a few tense moments among diverse people working together. Your "lead by example" attitude of no tolerance for discrimination is what's called for here.