By: Emmanuel Ngomsi, Ph.D., All World Languages and Cultures, LLC.
The intersection of people from different cultural backgrounds and experiences coming harmoniously together for a uniformity of purpose is Diversity and Inclusion. Trust me, it is not easy!
Workplaces are increasingly becoming diverse, and clientele base increasingly multicultural. Diversity and Inclusion and the pursuit of Equity are not new concepts. They are not going away either. In fact, your business will rely on how efficient it manages diversity in the future than it does today. The notion of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DIE) should be one of the core values of your organization. Most importantly, these concepts must intentionally be infused in all your daily activities.
Here are my few tips to promoting cultural diversity, inclusion, and equity in your workplace.
1. Education is the key to successful cultural interaction among managers and employees. In my 30 years as cultural educator and coach, I learned that most cultural blunders in the workplace come more from lack of understanding of self and others than from malicious intent. Everyone in the organization must be trained on the benefits of diversity and inclusion.
2. Cultural competency is an invaluable workplace skill. It starts with each employee recognizing the need to become multicultural by making a point of educating self about different cultural values and traditions of coworkers and their work approach. It then continues with the organization offering the possibility to all employees to identify their biases, explicit and implicit, via all means available including scientific inventories.
3. Your organization may need to design a plan for ‘intentional diversity recruitment’. Because diversity representation is a prerequisite to inclusion, your recruitment plan should include posting job openings to reach broader audiences; drafting job descriptions to attract candidates from all cultures; posting inclusive messages on your website.
4. Once you hire a diverse workforce, do not assume that newcomers will perfectly fit into the fabric of the organization. They come with different cultural baggage that may prevent them from instantly integrate. An effective coaching and mentoring program (from internal or external experts) are necessary to create an inclusive workplace that ensures that everyone is called to the table and valued.
5. Diversify your leadership and boards. Numerous research data conclude that diverse leadership attract diverse employees that in turn attract diverse clientele. The same data support that including women and minorities on the board of directors significantly increase the company’s bottom line.
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6. Because your employees, clientele and the community you serve, or sell to, are vigilant about your diversity and inclusion stand and practices, a good tip is to include them in all your communications: all marketing materials, statements on your website, sponsorship of cultural events, and more.
7. Managers in addition to developing cultural intelligence and a high level of confidentiality, you should build the trust that will candidly create an open-door policy where employees can feel comfortable coming to you with concerns related to their treatment because to their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, or other cultural factors.
8.When in doubt, ask; ask; ask questions! Do not assume that you understand every cultural situation that you see or hear. The most common mistakes I have seen in various workplaces is mispronouncing someone’s name, which is very offensive to a lot of people as their identity is thus damaged. If you accidentally cause offense, apologize.
9. Keep constant in mind to treat others as they want to be treated (Platinum rule), not as you want to be treated (Golden rule). This helps create a workplace where different perspectives are valued and embraced and helps foster productive business relationships.
10. Finally, do not expect diversity and inclusion to happen overnight. It takes time for all of us to adapt to new ways of doing things and to bridge cultures, individually and collectively. Cultural education and training must be ongoing and diversified; only a few hours a year would not do it.
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By: Emmanuel Ngomsi, Ph.D., All World Languages and Cultures, LLC.
The intersection of people from different cultural backgrounds and experiences coming harmoniously together for a uniformity of purpose is Diversity and Inclusion. Trust me, it is not easy!
Workplaces are increasingly becoming diverse, and clientele base increasingly multicultural. Diversity and Inclusion and the pursuit of Equity are not new concepts. They are not going away either. In fact, your business will rely on how efficient it manages diversity in the future than it does today. The notion of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DIE) should be one of the core values of your organization. Most importantly, these concepts must intentionally be infused in all your daily activities.
Here are my few tips to promoting cultural diversity, inclusion, and equity in your workplace.
1. Education is the key to successful cultural interaction among managers and employees. In my 30 years as cultural educator and coach, I learned that most cultural blunders in the workplace come more from lack of understanding of self and others than from malicious intent. Everyone in the organization must be trained on the benefits of diversity and inclusion.
2. Cultural competency is an invaluable workplace skill. It starts with each employee recognizing the need to become multicultural by making a point of educating self about different cultural values and traditions of coworkers and their work approach. It then continues with the organization offering the possibility to all employees to identify their biases, explicit and implicit, via all means available including scientific inventories.
3. Your organization may need to design a plan for ‘intentional diversity recruitment’. Because diversity representation is a prerequisite to inclusion, your recruitment plan should include posting job openings to reach broader audiences; drafting job descriptions to attract candidates from all cultures; posting inclusive messages on your website.
4. Once you hire a diverse workforce, do not assume that newcomers will perfectly fit into the fabric of the organization. They come with different cultural baggage that may prevent them from instantly integrate. An effective coaching and mentoring program (from internal or external experts) are necessary to create an inclusive workplace that ensures that everyone is called to the table and valued.
5. Diversify your leadership and boards. Numerous research data conclude that diverse leadership attract diverse employees that in turn attract diverse clientele. The same data support that including women and minorities on the board of directors significantly increase the company’s bottom line.
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6. Because your employees, clientele and the community you serve, or sell to, are vigilant about your diversity and inclusion stand and practices, a good tip is to include them in all your communications: all marketing materials, statements on your website, sponsorship of cultural events, and more.
7. Managers in addition to developing cultural intelligence and a high level of confidentiality, you should build the trust that will candidly create an open-door policy where employees can feel comfortable coming to you with concerns related to their treatment because to their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, or other cultural factors.
8.When in doubt, ask; ask; ask questions! Do not assume that you understand every cultural situation that you see or hear. The most common mistakes I have seen in various workplaces is mispronouncing someone’s name, which is very offensive to a lot of people as their identity is thus damaged. If you accidentally cause offense, apologize.
9. Keep constant in mind to treat others as they want to be treated (Platinum rule), not as you want to be treated (Golden rule). This helps create a workplace where different perspectives are valued and embraced and helps foster productive business relationships.
10. Finally, do not expect diversity and inclusion to happen overnight. It takes time for all of us to adapt to new ways of doing things and to bridge cultures, individually and collectively. Cultural education and training must be ongoing and diversified; only a few hours a year would not do it.