Managing for Diversity
Supervisory Performance Development Programme
Facilitator Guide
© 2002, Equity Skills News & Views.
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
Overall Aim
The aims of the workshop is to support supervisors:
1.1
Begin the process of adapting and/or changing current supervisory practices to meet the demands of a diversifying workforce
(workforce changes have been triggered by political, legislative, and business strategy changes).
1.2
Develop insight and self-knowledge about intercultural competence to work with a diverse workforce.
Workshop objectives
The objectives of the workshop are to:
1.3
Understand the relationship between diversity, equity, affirmative action, and human rights
1.4
Understand the range of cultural behaviours and expectations supervisors confront each day in the workplace
1.5
Examine how values, norms, self-esteem, sense of belonging, and trust are harnessed for building a diverse team
1.6
Make meetings work in a culturally diverse workplace
1.7
Develop an action plan to identify and implement 3 diversity related change projects in own team
Workshop Method And Style
The workshop will help participants explore the critical issues that relate to Managing for Diversity (not Managing Diversity as diversity
is not a problem to be managed, but a fact of life).
The workshop is centred on a video case study/presentation in 3 Acts dealing with an affirmative action appointment. The story
unfolds to reveal the dynamics of implementing an affirmative action, equity, and diversity process.
Each act is used to trigger an exploration and discussion of key concepts, facts, feelings, and perceptions about the changes triggered
by changes in legislation, and the company’s business strategy.
Additional topics are also introduced before, and after each Act to supplement the topics participants have identified.
Tools, questionnaires, checklists, and small group discussions are also used throughout the workshop to facilitate self-analysis and
awareness about diversity issues, and to support participants in their transition to greater intercultural competence.
Design Of Facilitator’s Guide/Training Manual
The manual is designed for maximum ease of use by facilitators of all competency levels.
Layout: All text in the manual is double-spaced, 12 pt for maximum ease of reading, and provides sufficient space for the facilitator
to make personal notes and observations.
The page layout consists of a left hand section of detailed steps about ‘what to say’ and ‘what to do’ to present the content
accurately, and the right hand section comprising key words about the various steps, and symbols that act as cues for the facilitator
about what to say, what materials to use, and when to refer participants to their manual. This allows for efficient preparation and
ease of presentation.
The following symbols are used in the right hand margin to cue the facilitator:
Notes/Guidelines
Symbols/Key Words
Notes/Guidelines
Transparencies/slides
Question & answer/discussion session
Pre-prepared flipchart layout
Participant workbook
Trainer/facilitator dialogue/input
Exercise/training instrument
Symbols/Key Words
Video
The facilitator notes for each of the 8 units that comprise the workshop always start with an overview of the purpose of the unit,
guidelines to prepare for presenting the unit, and what presentation aids to have available. A copy of the required knowledge base
(articles) about a topic, and all suggested slides, and checklists, questionnaires are also reproduced and inserted at the point that it is
required by both the facilitator and participants for each unit. This format makes it easy for the facilitator to simply page/flip
through the guide and present the workshop with a minimum of preparation. Everything is always in front of the facilitator when as
you need it.
The facilitator’s guide is set in landscape, and can be easily inserted into a 2/3-ring binder for ease of use.
UNIT OVERVIEW
Unit 1: Introduction and orientation to the workshop
Purpose
The purpose of this unit is to provide participants with an understanding about the key assumptions/ideas that underpin the
workshop; to clarify the ‘language’ of diversity, equity, and affirmative action used in the workshop.
Unit 2: Act 1 - The legal background to affirmative action, employment equity and diversity
Purpose
The purpose of unit 2 is to clarify the legal basis for affirmative action, employment equity, and diversity in South Africa,
clarify/dispel the myths and perceptions that surround the emotions about affirmative action, employment equity, and diversity.
Unit 3: Act 2 - Introduction to diversity: people are multidimensional
Purpose
The purpose of unit 3 is to clarify what diversity is and the role that stereotypes, prejudice and racism plays in blocking managers,
supervisors, and employees from managing for diversity.
Unit 4: You as a culturally diverse entity
Purpose
The purpose of unit 4 is help participants examine their own cultural influences/programming to better understand themselves, and
the impact their own cultural programming has on their expectations (positive or negative) they have of the workforce they work
with; become aware of their own prejudices and stereotypes, and the impact it has on how they interact with others in the
workplace.
Unit 5: The power of organisational culture - the more things change the more they stay the same
Purpose
The purpose of unit 5 is to help participants examine the business counterpart of culture, and how it programmes the way we do
things in organisations; develop awareness about their ability and willingness to work with ‘outsiders, newcomers, and people who are
‘different’ to the mainstream culture’ of where they work.
Unit 6: Building a diverse and multicultural work team
Purpose
The purpose of unit 6 is to help participants develop insight about how to work with the major human (social and psychological) issues
that impact team functioning.
Unit 7: Managing meetings with a diverse workforce
Purpose
The purpose of unit 7 is to help participants cope with difficult-to-deal with behaviours that crop up in meetings with a diverse team;
understand the essential elements for conducting productive meetings; pay special attention to the people and diversity issues that
could interfere with a team’s ability to tap into its full potential in a meeting situation. (The steps and techniques for conducting
meetings are dealt with in a separate training module.
Unit 8: Act 3 - A vision of a diverse and multicultural workplace of the future
Purpose
The purpose of unit 8 is to identify the positive characteristics of a transforming workplace, and to have participants diagnose where
their own team is in terms of the legal framework for diversity, equity, and affirmative action; formulate an initial action plan for
change.
Materials and Equipment Checklist
A.
This guide

B.
Slides/Transparencies

C.
Pre-prepared flipchart layouts

D.
Participant workbooks

E.
Overhead Projector

F.
Extension cord

G.
Flipchart stand, paper and Press Stick

H.
Board markers

I.
Pens and paper for participants

J.
Name tents for participants

Unit 5: The power of organisational culture - the more things change
the more they stay the same
1. Purpose
The purpose of unit 5 is to help participants examine the business counterpart of culture, and how it
programmes the way we do things in organisations; develop awareness about their ability and willingness
to work with ‘outsiders, newcomers, and people who are ‘different’ to the mainstream culture’ of where
they work.
2. Duration
60-90 minutes
Preparation for this unit
Create the recommended slide/flipchart for item 4.2
1. Details: What to say and what to do
1.1
State the following:
1.1.1
‘A key objective of the Employment Equity Act is to foster a business climate, which EE Act stipulates
values and harnesses the power of diversity. To achieve this objective, employers are removal of organisation
required to remove organisation culture barriers that work against the employment culture barriers
interests of designated group.’
1.1.2
‘Culture is the invisible threads that directly affect the way employees as a group Org. culture shapes
(stress not as individuals) collectively think, feel, and behave when at work (the people’s behaviour ANF
company vibe or personality). You cannot see it or touch it, but you sure know it is people shape org culture
there.’
1.1.3
‘Company culture is used by social scientists to describe a whole way of life, ways of Learning the ropes is
acting, feeling, and thinking, which are learned by whole groups of people as if by passed on to newcomers
magic in the course of working for a company. Some people call it learning the ropes.’
1.1.4
‘Company culture is about the difference between say a Pick n Pay, a Checkers, and a
Org culture makes the
Woolworths Food Hall. Basically the same merchandise, same equipment, same difference
suppliers, similar business systems, but very different atmosphere/vibe. The
people/employees who work at these stores generally come from the same places, but
you can tell the difference between them even blindfolded!
1.1.5
‘The important points to remember about company culture is that it is neither good, Org. culture not good or
nor bad, that it is a collective or group phenomena, it evolves over a long period of bad
time, and is imbedded into ‘the way we’ do things around here’ by the leadership Evolves
through the people management and financial systems. The only important point about Org. culture helps or
company culture is whether it helps or hinders leaders carry out mission and goals. In hinders achievement of
the context of diversity – does it help or hinder the company, through its supervisors, mission
and managers, from creating a diverse and multicultural work environment.’
1.1.6
‘What makes for these differences, and more importantly you may be asking what has
company culture got to do with managing for diversity’.
1.1.7
‘The easiest way to learn about the power of company culture over your behaviour as
an employee, and how you are likely to manage for diversity is to not talk about it, but
to analyse what kind of company culture exists where you work. Company culture can
be mapped and described if you know the right questions to ask to discover the
personality of your organisation’.
1.2
The objectives of the next exercise is to assist you to:

Analyse the invisible thread of company culture that binds people into distinct groupings that
think, feel, and act in similar ways (i.e. what is the group’s work culture)

Recognise that there are distinct practices that make groups more or less receptive to change,
and the ability to absorb newcomers

1.3
Take steps to overcome stereotypic and prejudicial thinking imbedded in the group’s culture
Processing the activity:
1.3.1
Have participants team up, and conduct an interview using the questionnaire (see
below) and to record only key points for each question. One person is to be the
interviewer/recorder, and the other participant the interviewee.
1.3.2
At the end of the interview period, have participants divide into 2 groups – the
interviewee group, and the interviewer group. Have the interviewers establish and
consolidate the key themes that emerge from the information supplied. The
interviewees are to assist the interviewers by clarifying answers where needed. (An
alternative is to assemble the group and have the facilitator establish and consolidate
the key themes with the help of the group).
i)
At the end of the interview period, have participants divide into 2 groups – the interviewee group,
and the interviewer group.
ii)
The interviewers will be required to establish and consolidate the key themes that emerge from the
information recorded.
iii)
The interviewees are to assist the interviewers by clarifying answers where needed.
Diagnosing Organisational Culture
Interview
1. Instructions
1.1
The purpose of the exercise is to uncover/discover the practices that shape this company’s
personality and cultural ways.
1.2
Assign one another the role of the interviewer, and interviewee.
1.3
Use the interview guide to gather information about how ‘we do things around here’.
1.4
The interviewer needs to use good follow-up questions to uncover enough information to be able
to map the culture. Interviewer needs to record notes on the interview guide, and be ready to
share the information from the interview with the group.
2. The unit/section/department you work in
2.1
Q: What do you think is the most important factor in making where you work (this place)
what it is today (the people, the history, the market, the country, the economy)?
2.2
Q: What have been the greatest successes where you work (why was this a success, what
made it a success)?
2.3
Q: Think, about times of crisis, where your place of work had its genuine troubles. What
were they? What was responsible? What was the outcome?
2.4
Q: How did people respond to the crisis, how successful were they at handling what
happened where you work (and you) as a result?
Working in the company
2.5
Q: Are there many rules here? Are most of them written or unwritten?
2.6
Q: What kind of activity or behaviour is encouraged? (What is given public praise? What is
given awards, like pay rises and promotion?)
2.7
Q: Can the rules be broken, would they be broken if it were seen to be in the best interests
of where you work?
2.8
Q: If a person (anyone) joined where you work today, what would be the most important
things to tell them about how to get by/succeed here?
2.9
Q: Is there much jargon to learn here, many peculiar ways, much language to learn which is
unique to where you work?
2.10
Q: How do people know who fits in well here? What kinds of people do fit? What kinds do
not? What happens to people who do not fit in well?
2.11
Q: How does management let people know how well they are doing in their jobs? [Is it
systematic and ordered, is it the same for everybody, do people get a chance to criticise
their boss?).
Management
and
company
style
(Management
=
all
first
line
supervisors/managers excluding executive/top team)
2.12
Q: How can you tell how high up in the organisation an individual is? (What are all the signs
of seniority, what are the ones an outsider would not notice, but an insider would?).
2.13
Q: How do people get on with each other, on a day-to-day basis, inside the company?
(Informal/formal, friendly/distant, helping/competitive?)
2.14
Q: How would you expect your colleagues to respond for example -if you made an obvious
mistake, if you were to come in differently dressed, and you did better at your work than
anyone expected?
2.15
Q: Is there a big difference between the way people behave toward colleagues or coworkers and how they behave towards bosses or subordinates? How does it differ?
Company leadership (senior leaders and top team)
2.16
Q: What are the visible signs, which show how the mine is being led?
2.17
Q: What should a leader in the organisation never do, or be seen to do?
2.18
Q: How do the bigger decisions get made here?
2.19
Q: What part do you play in this decision-making?
3. The environment
3.1
Q: How are outsiders treated? (Customers, investors, suppliers?)
3.2
Q: Does the company play a big part in the local community? If so, how?
4. Introduction to the discussions
Stress the following at the start of the feedback discussion:
4.1
‘You are likely to be surprised by some of the conclusions drawn from this exercise. The Surprised at what you
information may either come as a total surprise, or confirm what you already know about what find
makes this place tick’.
4.2
The discussion is likely to uncover ‘sensitive’ information about the leadership of the mine. You Sensitivities
are to treat all information and insights that are developed here today as confidential. All
information is to remain in this room’.
4.3
4.3 The discussion is not meant to be ‘gripe’ session about issues such as salaries, and working Not a gripe session
conditions. Rather this is a serious attempt to find patterns of behaviour that can either help, or
hinder your chances of becoming more skilled at managing for diversity into the future’.
5. Questions for discussion
5.1
Q: How did you find the exercise? What was it like to analyse the personality of the mine?
5.2
Q: What are some of the themes you uncovered about ‘the way we do things around here’?
5.3
Q: How did these themes develop here?
5.4
Q: What effect do the culture/themes have on the way you act/behave as a supervisor?
5.5
Q: What are the values that drive these themes? Can values be changed? If values are fairly
fixed, and unchanging, what can be changed? (Lead the discussion towards the conclusion
that practices can be changed, but not values).
5.6
Q: Which (people and financial) systems, policies, procedures (written or unwritten) keep
these themes and values operating, and therefore influence the way supervisors work with
people? (Stress as a group of supervisors, and not as individuals)
Culture dimensions
6. Mapping the culture
6.1
Have the following pre-prepared slide or flipchart available to chart/map the dimensions of
culture.
Rate the following on a scale of 1% to 100% and plot a graph for the 7 items
Open Communication Style
Closed Communication Style
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
Outsider/Newcomer Focused
Company/Insider Focused
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
Tight Control (of people/rules)
Loose Control (of people/rules)
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
Results focus (what)
Activities and Process Focused (How)
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
Open to Risk
Risk Averse / Closed to Risk
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
People First
Job/Company First
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
Conventional with Solutions
Creative with Solutions
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
Avoid Changes
Embrace Change
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
6.2
In the light of the information available from the interviews reach a consensus decision and rate
each dimension.
6.3
Place a circle along the continuum for each dimension. Connect the circles and create a line
graph. Discuss conclusions drawn (from the pattern of scores) about the mine’s culture, and its
likely ability to take on the challenges of Managing For Diversity.
6.4
Continue with the exercise and ask the following questions:
6.5
Q: What will the (likely) effect of these themes be on the way the leadership of this mine is
likely to manage for diversity?
6.6
Q: How easily will designated groups/newcomers be accommodated and acclimatised by
the leaders to the business culture of this mine?
6.7
Q: What needs to change in this culture to cope with the changes brought about by
Government legislation and business requirements of executive leadership (the top team)?
6.8
Q: What actions need to be taken to manage for diversity?
Culture map
Rate the following on a scale of 1% to 100% and plot a graph for the 7 items
Open Communication Style
Closed Communication Style
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
Outsider/Newcomer Focused
Company/Insider Focused
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
Tight Control (of people/rules)
Loose Control (of people/rules)
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
Results focus (what)
Activities and Process Focused (How)
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
Open to Risk
Risk Averse / Closed to Risk
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
People First
Job/Company First
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
Conventional with Solutions
Creative with Solutions
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
Avoid Changes
Embrace Change
1%
30%
50%
70%
100%
7. Concluding comments
7.1
‘A long- term change effort is required to change a business-culture. The kind of change we are
advocating impacts everything that has been taken for granted in the past. Set clear expectations Org. culture change is a
with yourself and your direct reports so they understand what you are embarking on is a several- long-term effort
year systemic change as opposed to eight hours of diversity training’.
7.2
‘Time, energy, and emotional commitment from supervisors (as individuals and as a group) is
essential. If so many resources are involved, and if commitment is usually only lukewarm from the
top, why do it? In a word, your survival. Becoming more inclusive is just one piece in today’s
supervisors’ skill tool kit’.
7.3
‘Expect discomfort for yourself, and your direct reports. Change is unsettling. The human species Expect discomfort
likes predictability and homeostasis. Change disrupts them both. If you can create a psychological
climate open to diverse people, you will also end up with an organisation that is more open to new
and different ideas’.
8. Make the following transition statement to bridge to the next unit:
State that the following:
8.1
‘This morning we examined the “what” and “why” of Managing for Diversity’.
8.2
'After the break we will focus on the ‘how’ of ‘Managing for Diversity when working with Mission
Directed Work Teams i.e. working with culturally diverse teams, and making meetings work in a
culturally diverse work environment’.
8.3
‘The next two units will focus on the role of perceptions and values, and their impact on team
functioning, and meeting success
Break for 45 –60 minutes