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Progressive organizations are finally beginning to make the connection between Diversity Performance and Organizational Performance.  Business leaders are getting the message – institutions that fail to effectively manage Diversity are just as doomed to under-performance as are those that fail to manage cash flow, or manage deployment of human resources to align to organizational priorities.

Surprisingly, it’s taken a little longer for those leaders to recognize that a diversity proficient organization can only be achieved through systematic investment in diversity skill-building.

Consider this.  In “Corporate America” professionals must demonstrate certain competencies, such as the ability to perform statistical analysis, or use a computer, that few if any of us are born with.  These skills are only acquired through months or years of training. Professionals successfully complete assignments and accomplish tasks they could not possibly manage effectively if equipped only with their “natural abilities”.  Yet we routinely overcome these challenges.  It’s widely understood that appropriate training is a precursor to success.

Yet just as no one was born with the skills required to build a spreadsheet, no one is born with an innate expertise in managing diversity.  Unfortunately, diversity management skills are not only largely absent from the corporate training “curriculum”, but have been mis-characterized as “window dressing”, or knee-jerk efforts to be “politically correct”, rather than sound, savvy business practice.

Organizations understand that an appropriately trained workforce is a critical component of business success.  But, where do diversity management skills fit in? Isn’t the best strategy for “managing diversity” to downplay it?  Don’t we just cause unnecessary division among ourselves when we shine the spotlight on those things which make us different from each other?  Isn’t a sense of fairness, combined with “colorblindness” all the skill necessary to “manage diversity”?

In fact, diversity skills are often antithetical to our “natural” ways of thinking and interacting.  Moreover, diversity maturity is so increasingly critical to business success that diversity skill training should be as pervasive and routine as computer skill training is today.

In our natural state, human beings are predisposed to be drawn to, concerned about, and aligned with those who share our beliefs, experiences, and values.  And conversely, we treat those who appear to be significantly different from ourselves with, at best, a certain level of caution.  We tend to marginalize those who are outside of our “social circle”.  Those circles might be drawn by common values, life experiences, race, religion, or gender.  We embrace the neighbor who roots for our local sports team.  We hail the fellow alumnus from our alma mater like an old friend, even if we never met him before.  And our reception of the graduate from the rival school, or the fan of the opposing team, is just a bit less warm, if not spiced with outright rivalry.

This type of behavior is completely natural, and just as completely problematic when carried over into the workplace, or the classroom. Just because a co-worker wears their hair in an unfamiliar fashion doesn’t mean their input into a team project shouldn’t be sought out just as quickly. Nor should a boss who is a different color or gender be deemed less approachable. Each of us can identify similar behaviors from our own personal experiences and observations.  These are behaviors that are as natural as they are destructive to organizational effectiveness.

Organizations that recognize the power of effectively harnessing diverse talent will outperform the competition.  Smart organizations will make sure that every member of the team is “diversity skilled” and perhaps, one day, even “diversity-certified”. The continuing trend towards globalization of markets, and powerful demands for growth that drive even regional and locally-focused businesses to seek out new customer demographics, makes sophistication in diversity management an increasingly fundamental skill set. Investing in diversity effectiveness is just good business, plain and simple.

Diversity and Leadership in Business – Basic Principles

• Diversity Effectiveness drives business success

• Effectiveness Diversity Initiatives are grounded in business imperatives

• Leaders Teach. . . and Learn

• Effective Leaders leverage Diversity to Win in the Marketplace

Bill Woodson is the founder of Forward Motion Management Consulting, a diversity and business strategy consulting practice. Before launching his entrepreneurial career, Bill served in a variety of product-focused roles at Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and Ethicon Endo-Surgery.  If you have questions or comments on this article, you can contact Bill at bwoodson@forwardmotion.biz or (513)677-9144.

 

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