MULTICULTURALISM
and
DIVERSITY
WHY DIVERSITY?
 Legal
Requirements
 Labor Force
 20%
of employees are traditional
 Native born whites = 10% of workforce growth
 2010: 15% of workforce will be native born whites
 Increasing number of PWD
 35-54 age group > 50% of workforce
 Customer
Appeal
 750
million PWD = $461 billion
 Market Development Organization
 Creativity
Demands
 Impact on bottom line.....
WHY DIVERSITY?

“We made diversity a market-based issue….It’s
about understanding our markets, which are
diverse and multicultural.”


“Diversity is not just the right thing to do. It is
a long-term, strategic business factor that has a
significant impact on productivity, workforce
motivation and innovation, market
competitiveness, teamwork and customer
loyalty.”


Lou Gerstner
Mike Bagshaw
"This is no longer simply a question of common
decency. It is a question of business survival.“
MANAGING DIVERSITY
 Objective:
 Numbers:
Equal representation
 Avoid problems through “color-blindness”
 Has
the objective been achieved?
 Means
 Expanded
recruiting
 Discrimination-free selection
VALUING DIVERSITY
 Full
utilization
 Work relationships
 Recognizing & value differences
 How?
VALUING DIVERSITY:
Building Positive Relationships
 Enhance
awareness of group differences
 Concerned
 Increase
with valuing differences
self-awareness
VALUING DIVERSITY:
Building Positive Relationships
 Enhance
awareness of group differences
 Concerned
 Increase
 Build
with valuing differences
self-awareness
Relationships
VALUING DIVERSITY:
Building Positive Relationships
 Enhance
awareness of group differences
 Concerned
with valuing differences
 Stereotypes
 Increase
self-awareness
 Build Relationships
 Empathy
 Provide
Common Experience
 Eliminate "us vs. them" mentality
For all employees
 Guilt free
 Focused on the present situation

VALUING DIVERSITY:
Pillars of Change
 Visible
top management support is essential
 Consider
composition of IBM task forces
 Email from Sr. VP of Human Resources
 Engage
employees
 Integrate diversity w/management practices
 Train
Supervisors
 Hold managers responsible
 Agendas
 Accommodation




Alternative career paths
Extended leave
Flexible scheduling: Flextime, Job sharing
Link diversity goals to business goals
VALUE DIVERSITY
 “Diversity
means embracing the rich tapestry of
skills, experience and ideas that come from the
varying backgrounds that society offers today.”

Mike Bagshaw
 “The
whole point is to draw on the uniqueness of
each employee. If people feel that they must censor
what they say and how they act, the major benefit
of diversity is lost.”
Robert Lattimer, diversity consultant