Based on the self assessment, I do believe I am very adaptable and value
diversity. I was born and raised in NYC, a city brimming with people from every
walk of life. From a young age I have always valued and been fascinated with
meeting and learning about new people. As I got older I found the significance
this could have in our workplaces. When different minds come together that is
how new ideas take shape.As far as women in leadership, I think it's safe to say
and quite apparent that while times have changed and society is more open and
progressive, the glass ceiling as well as prejudices still very much exist in places
of powerful positions. In order to combat this, we need to understand that an
organizations success is about excellence, not individual perception or belief.
Diversity spawns innovation.The last two questions I would answer in the same
way. In order to both foster something and reduce resistance to something we
need an understanding of why it has value. I would explain the value in finding
solutions through a variety of methods and beliefs, and how the inclusion of
people different from one's self opens up the likelihood of finding a successful
method quicker. After taking the assessment, I can conclude that I do value
diversity. My score was a 42/50 because I answered my questions based on the
work environment that I currently work in. A few of the questions ask about
foreign people and I have yet to encounter someone foreign enough to fully
answer the question. Overall, I show plenty of appreciation for diversity. I believe
that women hold few top leadership positions because of old practices and
mentalities currently at the head of organizations. In previous times, such as the
early 1800s and early 1900s, men were the only ones who had power to made
decisions and lead. A lot of older executives and older established companies have
brought a male bias to the work environment and this rooted way has not allowed
for women to be in leadership positions. I would change the whole management
team of a workplace if I saw this kind of male dominant culture. Hiring younger
and fresh minds will allow for more modern and outside thinking. This can help
improve the work culture and start to incorporate diversity. If I were to foster
greater inclusivity in the workplace using the rational approach to organizational
change, I would include company information about the situation at hand and
make the workers feel as though they are a part of the solution to the issue. I
would then empower them to realize that the solution is close of we all follow
the same path and tackle the common goal. If I were to encounter who is
resisting diversity and inclusion changes at work, I would communicate with them,
one-on-one, to try and figure out why and what is going on with them. I would
next make it my priority to work alongside them to make them feel included yet
genuinely listened to. Based on my self assessment and based off my personality I
do believe that I value diversity. On the self assessment I scored a 50/50 which
is exactly what I expected. When it comes to diversity in the work place im all
about it and I think its really important to get to know people that are different
from you. For example I have a coworker who is of hispanic decent, his accent
is heavy and english isn't his first language. I always volunteer to work with him
because others complain about not being able to communicate with him. In all
honesty I enjoy working with him and learning about his culture. The language
bearer is there but with patience you can break through.
I honestly think that women can handle any leadership position, the problem is
that society portrays men as masculine and strong so with those titles they should
be in change. The reality is women are strong as well and when given the
opportunity we always show it for the most part. The way that I would manage
resistance in the work place would be by doing different team activities. Also I
would do group meeting often just to see how everyone is getting alone. If I see
an issue I will address it as soon as possible. I would also have a 0 tolerance
policy in place for any for of discrimination.
New reports look at females in the commercial cylinder, estimating the share of
women in positions at different career levels. The study covers 10 businesses, like
healthcare and retail, from nine different countries or regions. Women are already
underrepresented in various corporate leadership positions, and it seems like
representation is becoming worse based on the new report. The report notes that
although workplaces are implementing more programs to help address the issue of
inequity for women, companies can do more to really address the underlying
issues, such as creating "personalized development plans" and making visible
commitments. Only 1 in 4 organizations said advancing women is a top 10
business priority, and fewer respondents this year compared to 2019 said "they
expected their organizations would significantly improve gender parity over the next
5 years." Interestingly, the number in the top two leadership positions saw no
change despite national mandates in a growing list of countries that includes
Norway, Spain, France, Iceland, and Germany. Additionally, the share of women
has decreased in other positions, from junior professionals to senior vice presidents.
I think that women hold very few top leadership simply because no rich man
wants to take orders from a woman. I think it makes them feel less of a man.
They make excuses and say that women are too emotional or that they are soft
to leader and make hard decisions when they are needed. They trust a woman to
run the house hold, raise the kids, but the boys club doesn't respect them enough
to put them in charge a Fortune 500. A woman told me that some women are
not as assertive enough in the work place. She said that they don't ask for raises,
promotions, or even more responsibilities at the work place. I disagree, I think
that woman are given chances simply based on the need for diversity in the work
place legally. I think that if there weren't laws in place to force companies to be
diverse, then companies would just hire their friends or people who look and are
just like them. I actually value that in work, home and school. At work, I
actually am part of our DE&I teams at work. It’s important to be able to
implement these behaviors in a work places to be successful. It’s important to
make sure that everyone is included in the workplace aside from the fact that it
could layer turn into a human resource situation. I value diversity because it lets
me be myself. My company always say “ be you” and I ride that to fullest.
Women hold few top leadership in my opinion because men suppress woman and
it’s always a male predominant industry. Woman have to work twice as hard to
make it far and that’s speaking from experience. If I’d like to foster more
inclusivity I’d like to do more trainings and team building. It would take a group
effort to be all on board. It’s important to bring diversity to be successful. As a
woman I’m thankful to work for a company that empowers woman to be
successful. The self-assessment confirmed that I value diversity. My family and I
moved a lot and I had to attend many different schools. I truly believe, that
having to adjust to the new climate and make new friends so often, contributes to
why I value diversity. I try to listen and treat everyone respectfully. I like to
believe I am open-minded. I love to travel and try new things, including food.
My current workplace is the most diverse job I’ve ever worked. I started when I
lived in Texas and then transferred to Michigan. We are big on inclusion and
diversity. We interact with a diverse group of people and must take web-based
training regularly. I love our organizational culture. I feel we cover the good out
of each culture, especially “clan culture.”
The role of women in leadership has increased, but it is minuscule compared to
men. Hughes (2022) states, studies “concluded that a strong masculine stereotype
of leadership continues to exist in the workplace and that it will continue to
challenge women for some time to come.” (p 25) To change this climate, I
believe it would have to start at the organizational level as policies would have to
be made, to support women in leadership. At the team level, I feel creating an
environment where women are respected, valued, and appreciated will empower
them to step up and assume leadership roles.To foster greater inclusivity in the
workplace, I feel it would be situational whether to use the rational or emotional
approach. However, transformational leaders are more empowering and seem to be
more effective as they appeal to emotions and the rational approach is more
straightforward. I do understand, that you will receive more cooperation when
dissatisfaction with the problem is greater (Hughes, 2022). So, I would stress the
importance of working collectively delivers creativity and productivity; and that
division and stereotyping bring confusion, chaos, and distraction, which produces
low productivity.To manage resistance, I would make sure the reason for the
change is clear and cut. People follow who they trust (Kinicki 2021). So, I would
have a leader-follower relationship built on trust. Also, because doing what is right
is not always acknowledged and doing wrong goes unpunished, I’d make sure
reward systems are implemented. When reflecting on the result of my self-
assessment I believe that I do value diversity and work in a very diverse
environment every day with the city I work in. Everyone that I work with has a
different background which leads to a great pool of people with different ideas
working together.There are a few reasons that could account for women holding so
few leadership roles. In traditionally male dominated fields and companies with
already male leadership there seems to be a feeling of “the old boys” that
resonates within some upper management. This makes it especially hard as a
woman to move up. There is also the gender bias aspect wherein women are seen
as not being able to handle the pressure or the workload of a job the same way
that men are able. This bias only becomes worse when you have a family at
home, and you then become seen has having to “struggle” with attempting to
balance work and life whereas men aren’t seen as having that issue and are able
to compartmentalize and separate the two. Changing this situation means that we
need to change how women are seen in comparison to men and looking at people
as individuals with their own skills instead of what their gender is traditionally
“capable” of handling.Where I work we are actually in the process of
implementing programs to provide equity and inclusion. We promote opportunities
to have ideas be heard at a follower level. Leadership actively looks to followers
for ideas in this and looks to followers for ideas and areas of improvement on
projects without being biased.
The best way resistance to diversity and inclusion can be managed would be to
start by listening to all groups of employees and listening to what their needs,
issues, and concerns are to understand the issues that employees face within a
company. This way management can address them and show through taking action
that they strive for conditions to improve for everyone instead of just a few select
groups. Making sure that everyone is heard, using values that appeal to everyone,
and making sure that opportunities are open to everyone within the company are
an important way to keep everyone included. Looking at the results of my self-
assessment, I believe that I do value diversity. In my business, there can be no
stereotyping, no racism, no sexism, and so on. I own my own
handyman/automotive repair business. I spend the majority of my time either riding
on tractors, handling heavy machinery, or repairing both. I have experienced the
disbelief of those I have done jobs for, even heard "wow, I didn't expect a
woman to be able to do this or that," or my personal favorite, "I would never let
my woman do the work you do." This is common, especially where I live. I'm in
a rural part of the south, and to be honest, I wouldn't have been able to get
some of the business I do now without my dad. He always tells people who
question it that he would pit me against any five of their other workers any day.
And then I prove his point. As I have felt how it feels to be biased against I
tolerate none of it from those who work for or with me.
The reason that women hold such a small number of leadership roles is because
although there have been many steps toward equality, the society we live in is
still very much so male-dominated and there is still a lot of gender bias in the
world. it is a true fact that women are considered as more transformation leaders
than men. However unfortunately due to patriarchal society and male-dominant
social structure women often face gender-based discrimination and are biased in
jobs as well as everyday life.
In order to change this type of perception and views on women, we must change
the discriminatory belief system that tells us that men are superior to women and
women cannot be in charge of critical positions such as ceo of a big firm. In my
opinion, women are as capable as men and in some cases, they are better than
women as shown in a study that women are better transformation leaders.
For any organization aiming to grow and termed as the best organization following
the best HR practices hailed not just inside the organization but also outside of it,
gender diversity plays a very important role as the practice of valuing skills and
competencies irrespective of the gender of the employee, makes an organization as
a great place to work. Similarly, the gender pay gap, reflected as a percentage of
male earnings, demonstrates the difference between male and female earnings,
which leads to reduced lifetime earnings of females as well as their pensions.Thus
ensuring gender diversity as well as designing a pay system that is equal in pay
to both men and women is important not just from ethical point of view but also
a compliance required by the law. Following are the necessary steps required in
ensuring gender diversity and designing an equitable pay system for both males
and females. I am a Black female educator, working in a Middle School where
the student population is possibly 85% Hispanic with possibly half of that total
living at or below the poverty line. The teaching staff is 85% Black and most of
this total lives well above the poverty line. There is a lot of fostering inclusivity
back and forth between the students and the staff. We enjoy the culturally
inclusive events at our school that help the staff learn about the diverse Hispanic
culture and likewise enjoy having them enjoy the highlights from the Black
culture. We do not make it overly evident that our salaries afford us things that
their families cannot afford by wearing flashy clothing and jewelry or even driving
overly expensive vehicles during the school year. We still dress and remain
professional throughout our endeavors on campus. Our leadership took a rational
appeal to this reality in an effort to foster our mission of creating meaningful
relationships with our students.
Women leadership can be viewed as emotionally fueled, whether that is the style
or temperament of the individual leader or not. Women who have more of a
masculine appeal seem to move up the corporate ranks and into positions of
power more rapidly than women who embody the typical feminine energy in their
outward appearance including dress and hairstyles, their mannerisms, and even the
way they speak ( weather they are very submissive in their speaking approach,
speaking softly or having a deeper voice and a very firm demeanor when
speaking). For instance the creator and CEO of Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes,
adopted a very deep voice and began to dress in dark monochromatic colors, with
pants and turtleneck shirts, taking away her feminine qualities, to gain the respect
of the male dominated medical tech community she was apart of.
I think the best way to manage resistance to diversity and inclusion is to face it
head on and highlight all the things that make others different from the norm, and
from our persona as apart of an organization. Whether its a different way of
learning the skill that everyone has to have to do your job or coming from a
different culture or being of a different gender/sexual orientation. It may make
people uncomfortable but it will also make them more aware and if confronted
enough they will more than likely develop a great deal of understanding, respect,
and acceptance. Even if there is an "agree to disagree" feel on particular lifestyle
choices or political stances or family values, at least those differences have been
pulled out for all to make some sense of and be aware of and hopefully make
those people who embody the differences feel like they have been made apart of
the culture in which they earn a living. As I reflect on my self-assessment I do
believe I value diversity, When I held the position of school secretary I was faced
with lots of diversity. In most public school settings diversity is everywhere.
Families of different ethnic backgrounds are a vital part of the school's character.
Also, students and staff who identify with a gender not assigned at birth. I
strongly believe everyone has the right to be heard, respected, and happy.
Women hold fewer top spots in leadership despite the research showing women
are more transformational leaders because of gender bias. The workplace has for
so long had men in power, that in some cases both men and women are not yet
comfortable being led by a woman in the workplace. Women have proven
themselves over and over, that they are effective leaders. As a woman, I plan to
first become a successful leader in my workplace and to take all the bias out of
the recruitment, hiring, training, and promotion process.To foster greater inclusion
in the workplace, I would begin during the hiring process. In order to evaluate a
candidate without byes, I would request anything that may identify the person's
gender or ethnicity. Things such as name, gender binding clubs, or anything that
does not highlight the candidate's qualifications should be removed from the
resume'.No matter where change occurs, resistance is sure to play its part. Most
people fear change, but in order to grow change is necessary. I feel if the change
is introduced correctly and with good intentions, resistance will be minimal. Not
only do I value diversity, but am proud to say that I work in a very diverse
environment to which not only do I have a diverse pool of coworkers, but also
students (I work at a High School). Being in such location enables me to daily
interact with people of all races, gender, ages, etc. and through all that I have
grown to adapt more to the changes of the different generations.The inequality of
women holding top positions is something I yet don't understand, but have seen
change more through out time. Top corporations have women in power now
compared to before and it seems that this is becoming more common in other
countries as well. Our school's network CEO is a woman along with many of its
leadership. If I could eliminate one thing that may or may not help is applying a
"label" to when presenting a person in power. We often hear in the news or
presentations how a "woman" is now leading such and such company or has
accomplished this and also for men so for me that's not necessary.To make it a
more fair and inclusive workplace I would start by eliminating the requirement of
having to put your name on a resume. An establishment should judge/accept you
based on your skills and qualifications so getting rid of an obvious indicator of
what gender and even possible race you are I think would make it more fair. I
can't say that I've always had positive experiences in others recognizing the
importance of ultimate consideration for one another, but I take it as a learning
experience for them and me.Women and the disparity of leadership roles to male
counterparts is a mystery to me. The only thing that I could consider is some
ultra ancient unknown code that is valued greatly by the untouchable elite founders
of mankind. No.. But seriously... I understand that it has to do with the US
maintaining a stance of a male dominated country in order to "save face" with
other countries who do not share the same point(s) of view in regards to who
should be making decisions. If that's not true, then that's a great theory because I
didn't read that anywhere. I really, just now, looked at it from a global
perspective.The results of my self-assessment proves that I do value diversity. My
results show that I understand the importance of valuing diversity and I exhibit
behaviors that support my appreciation of diversity. An example from work that
shows I value diversity by respecting my coworkers opinions and ideas being as
though they are different from how I normally think or would suggest. I think
women hold few top leadership positions compared to men because women still
don't get the respect that they deserve due to archaic ideology. To change this
situation I could work towards being a women in power and giving opportunities
to women who experience being overlooked. To foster greater inclusivity in my
workplace I could self-educate and create an agenda to make the workplace a
more inclusive atmosphere. I would manage resistance to diversity and inclusion
practices in the workplace by listening to to all employees concerns, ideas, issues,
and needs. I would make all opportunities available to all employees no matter the
gender or work group. Those are ways I would manage resistance. As I reflect on
my self-assessment results, it is very clear that I value diversity. As a Human
Resources Manager, it is my job to value everyone's diverse beliefs and cultures.
When a complaint passes to my desk, I treat everyone involved with respect and
do not treat anyone differently. Another example is my weekly HR forum
meetings, which include all HR positions to gather in the conference room. We go
through projects that we have and we ping ideas off each other. All of those
ideas are creative, diverse, and so great.There are more men in top leadership
roles, as opposed to women in the workplace. It is so unfortunate, and it is
bothersome that this is only slowing improving. I feel that there is zero excuse
for this to be a slow transformation, and not a quick change in enterprises. I feel
that men are in these roles because they are deemed as "stronger" or "mentally
capable", which can be very offensive to women in the workplace. Slowly, we are
starting to see changes, but women need to continue this conversation and pave
the way for our future generations.If I wanted to foster inclusivity in the
workplace, I would gather the Corporate staff in a conference room and start with
a SWOT analysis. From there, we could all foster a plan for growth, and work
together as a team.I deal with resistance to change and diversity on a weekly
basis in my position. There are many who fear change or who worry about their
role in the workplace when extreme change happens. The best advice I give to
those employees is "1. Don't panic. and 2. Everything is always subject to
change.". For employees who are not open to diversity in the workplace, I enroll
those employees in a sensitivity training and we attempt to grow those employees,
before termination. I believe from my results from the self assessment and
personal experience I value diversity pretty regularly. My personal opinion is most
qualified women in organizations feel that top level management is still seen as a
good old boys club. Even though the research shows that women are viewed as
and make better transformational leaders, only a small percentage of women make
it to this high level of management. I would encourage all women and men alike
to challenge themselves to reach new heights within the organization. Most people
just need someone to encourage them and push them out of their comfort zone to
achieve what they have always wanted to do. In addition I believe the workers
who are hard working, reliable, and have a good attitude while they are at work
deserve to get promotions and advancement opportunities. I would openly
encourage others that are resistant to diversity to give it a fair chance to see the
positives that may come from it. I think as working professional we can learn a-
lot about the people, cultures, personalities, actions from the people we work with.
This openness to diversity allows coworkers from different background and interests
to work together to achieve the company goals as one. The results from my self-
assessment shows that I have value diversity for example, while in the military I
was able to observe and learn how other countries value their beliefs and how
they are diversified by their religion and race. In the military, everyone is trained
to become a team regardless of your background or gender. This learning aspect
of diversity has allowed me to carry this through life at work, school at home
and everywhere I go. I think that previously men held more top leadership
positions compared to women due to the mindset of thinking men had more
assertive personalities and spoke up more and women were not educated or
deserving. I think today things are already changing with more women being in
top leadership roles because they are deserving, and change is needed. The best
person for the position for the top leadership position need to be chosen and stop
all the diversity and political aspects that comes along.To foster greater inclusivity
in the workplace you need to provide training with question-and-answer session to
ensure employees understand the background and what we are you are trying to
accomplish. Communication and open dialogue are key for the success of the
program to be established. The way I would manage resistance to diversity and
inclusion practices in the workplace is to ensure that our workforce is trained and
aware of diversity and inclusion. Most issue arise when there is no understanding
and communication, and they may not be aware in the first place. While I was in
the military, I establish a program to take one of the lower enlisted Soldiers and
put them in charge for day so they could gain an experience and knowledge to
see what leader go through every day that opened their eyes to see what happens
on the other side. I feel like I value diversity, even though I went to a HBCU
and worked in mostly all male work-fields. I value diversity because even though
we are all so similar we are so very different. I have two children and they are
raised the exact same way but they are two very different people. So how can
me and the people I work be expected to do the same job and think alike. When
I was in the army there were people from all around the world, male and female,
and all kinds of different races. In the demographic analysis, we compared the
executive population of the more senior leaders to managers and supervisors. We
further analyzed the data by gender. Not surprisingly, we found that the executives
and senior leader were rated significantly higher on their ability to value diversity
and practice inclusion than were the middle managers and supervisors. There were
also absolute differences between males and females, but those differences were
not statistically significant. Repeatedly we have seen how prejudicial behavior by a
senior executive can have an extremely negative impact on the culture of an
organization. As I reflect on the results of the self-assessment, I share a great
belief that I value diversity. In previous employment, my first diversity training
course was titled “Cultural Competency,” where we learned about traditions of
cultures. I lived in California (new to me) and did not realize the number of
dialects and races were represented. This course taught me how to work with and
embrace traditions of different cultures. This began my diversity journey to today.
My current employer has taken on training the company in Equity, Diversity, and
Inclusion (ED&I). We have four (4) workgroups, of which I led the
Communications group. Our training is ongoing (1+ years into inceptions). All of
these interactions have certainly given me a new perspective to value diversity in
the workplace.
There have been great strides for women in the workplace today. I feel women
have not exceled into top leadership positions due to a feeling of tradition that
women were not equal to be leaders. I think the workplace felt women versus
men, lacked the education, tough exterior for business meetings with men, and
being a nurturer gave them a sense of being weak. I feel to change these
parameters, we must continue to provide educational opportunities for women,
encourage the start of their own business, and compete with men and apply for
leader-based positions that are currently dominated by male counterpart. If we
cheer women in on to apply for positions beyond the glass ceiling, this will
transition into confidence for belief that they can compete with men in the
workplace.
To foster greater inclusivity in the workplace, using rational versus emotional
approach would be a challenge. I would initiate a round-table conversation with
staff and use a series of questions to find out what inclusivity means to each of
them. After readings, I would randomly choose a staff member to read their
response and ask staff respond with ways to turn their answers into real-world
inclusivity at work.
I would create mock work scenarios and ask employees (the audience), to put
themselves in the shoes of a manager to handle resistance of an employee to
company practices of diversity and inclusion in their workspace. Another scenario
could include employees sharing family traditions to analyze how their values
could enhance how to understand why we need diversity and inclusivity in the
workplace. As I reflect on the results of my self-assessment I do believe that I
value diversity. Diversity is the practice of involving people from a range of
different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders. I believe everyone
has the right to their voice their opinion differently, as long as it isn't bringing
any bodily or emotional harm to another person. If I have to host a meeting I
start off with the bases of the meeting and my thoughts in regards to the matter,
but I then open the floor to hear from others. Women hold less leadership
positions compared to men due to stereotyping. Women are viewed as nurtures and
such kind and sweet individuals who may not be able to get the job done
because their emotions could cloud their vision. This situation can be changed by
providing mandatory leadership meetings , and simply questioning the individuals
of how they would handle a certain situation if it were to occur before hand. If I
wanted to foster greater inclusivity and diversity in my workplace I would need to
be transparent, and use inclusive language . I would manage resistance to diversity
and inclusion in my workplace by allowing development opportunities to be
available to everyone and not just a certain group of people. I would make sure
I'm actively listening and my assistance is available to all groups of people. In
completing the self-assessment, and reflecting on the results I do believe I value
diversity. At work, I enjoy working with others with a different background than
mine, I find that I learn different methods and ways of thinking than my own.
My occupation is in Human Resources, in my course of employment I come
across different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, I enjoy assisting these
individuals and I recognize that I have to respond to them accordingly.I believe
women hold few top leadership positions compared to men because they have not
been given the same opportunities as men. Since men are in top leadership
positions, they have to have open-mindedness in order to allow women to hold
those roles and become part of their peers. What can be done to change this
situation is to educate leaders and mandate diversity training.As I mentioned
before, the best method of managing resistance to diversity and inclusion practices
in the workplace is education. Education, training, and leadership academies in the
workplace are a great manner in changing people's views and mindsets.
The results from my self-assessment were very helpful in helping me to
understand some things I already had an idea about regarding myself as a person
and bring it to the work place. I am definitely a person that values diversity. I
am a person who has my beliefs and convictions of what would be considered
right , wrong, acceptable, or unacceptable. However, I am open minded enough to
know not everyone will agree with me, and that is ok. I am very open minded
that something I may deem to be right can be enhanced just by being diverse
and open minded. That is a crucial part of leading in the workplace. For example,
in my job we need to have an open mind and put the right work attitudes above
all. I am in a place where I work with and we have clients with people from all
walks of life and different lifestyles need to be accommodated and included. This
would not be an option without diversity being valued. We even have trainings
regarding diversity and inclusion in my job. It is valued highly.
When it comes to woman in leadership, I believe I have a sort of mixed view. I
strongly feel woman have to work harder to prove themselves and show we are
capable of leading. I have been very fortunate to have been promoted to
leadership in many aspects and chapters of my life. I think this is in large part
to how I handle myself in general. I am a very relaxed easy going personality
and when stress arises, I almost never allow myself to show stress or anxiety. I
think this helps show I can make calm cool decisions without letting emotions get
involved. Woman unfortunately are presumed to be emotional or sensitive. This
may be the case in areas of our lives, but does not discard a woman as a leader.
We are able to multi-task like champs, so this is something that balances us out.
Where I work, there are many woman leaders all throughout the company. I think
that if promotion was based more on merit and work ethic and not on gender or
even who we may be friends with, this would not be such an issue.In order to
foster greater inclusivity in my workplace, I feel it would have to be a two part
implementation. The first being with new employees entering the company and the
second with current employees all the way from the board of directors, the CEO,
and down to the first level. No one or position should be overlooked in receiving
trainings and work related activities to show the value of inclusivity and diversity.
The goals of the meetings and trainings would be to show we are all one
company working for the same mission. A good example would be pairing buddies
randomly throughout the company no matter the level of position to come up with
an activity to focus on inclusivity. This way everyone can meet and learn to
work.Based on my self-assessment I believe in the value of diversity. Diversity not
only provides different insights, but the way I see it it allows a person to become
more open minded. Diversity is not only a racial perspective, it's a cultural
background and a life experience factor. In my line of business, I intentionally
ensure to hire a diverse team in order to be more innovative. I am also chair for
the Hispanic diversity and inclusion forum at my organization. This has helped me
realize that the intent of this diversity forum is not to target Hispanics, but to
bring diverse groups together to educate and provide leadership guidance.I believe
that women hold few top leadership positions compared to men due to a few
factors. A woman has to work twice as hard to prove herself capable. Women are
typically looked at being more sensitive than a man, so certain roles make it
more difficult for women to be in due to being stereotyped. I see it in my
organization quite frequently. As for a way to change this stereotype, it comes to
weeding out old mentalities to the new. It won't continue being easy for women,
but many strive to make it every day.When I try to foster greater inclusivity in
my workplace, the main focus is to look at hiring individuals from all different
backgrounds with the mindset of what that will bring about. As I mentioned
earlier I believe inclusion means bringing people together to have a common
purpose or mission. Any type of resistance should be discussed and understood.
There might be a reason that be handled in manner to change the mindset. It all
starts with the individual and the change in culture. After completing the
assessment I believe I value diversity. Last week I used an example of
stereotyping while driving. If another car is too slow, or driving slowly in the far
left lane one could guess the race/gender of the driver. Honestly it could be
anyone and it isn't fair to judge entire segments of the population on a single
experience. Unfortunately stereotyping happens at work as well, and I consciously
make the decision not to do it. I am tempted when I see a young person with
their pants hanging off their backsides to prejudge their work ethic and how they
will get along with their coworkers. Some times they are good workers, sometimes
they are not. It is never related to their appearance, but more what kind of
person they are, and everyone is an individual.I don't know why there are not as
many women in top leadership positions in the past. Could be there was no
interest in hiring women from larger companies, or perhaps there were less women
in the workforce applying for those positions. My current plant manager is a
woman, and she is the first woman plant manager at this plant, and we have
been running over sixty years. It was such a big deal she made the paper, and
the local city magazine. The last three plants I worked at, all of the plant
managers were women, and my company is pushing hard to have it's top
leadership positions representative of our population as a whole.Personally I have
been requesting that the positions I am looking to fill are posted externally, and I
am including folks from diverse backgrounds in the interviewer panels. If I am
interviewing a woman candidate I want at least one woman with me interviewing.
If I am interviewing a veteran I try to have a veteran with me interviewing.If I
was using a rational approach to organizational change I would set diversity
quotas. I need a fifty-fifty split men and women. And equal numbers according to
race. I would shoot for representation from all protected classes like veterans, and
disabled. Change can be hard, and if there was resistance to inclusion and
diversity practices I would start with training, one on one meetings with HR. I
would set clear expectations and boundaries, and check to make sure they are
being adhered to. I have a high value for diversity. I was recently certified in
DEI (Diversity Equity and Injustice) through a SHRM accredited course and the
USF Muma College of Business. This week's elf assessment is very telling. If you
really value diversity you'll see if through this week's assessment and consciously
look for ways to re-think stereotypes, levels of prejudice and biases that we
sometimes build inherently. Diversity is beyond race and ethnicity, it's age, gender,
social disparity, LBGTQY concerns, civiil injustice and so much more. Diversity is
considering all of these sectors or subgroups and uniting them for the common
good. It's 2022 and the Lily Ledbetter ACT is in place (thanks to President
Obama) but women still hold few top leadership positions, and earn 70 cent to
the dollar of our male counterparts - this is proof that diversity is needed and
gender is still a barrier to success. Sure, we are transformational leaders, I THINK
WE NEED A FEMALE PRESIDENT IN THE U.S. TO FINALLY BREAK
SOME OF THESE HORRIBLE 'GOOD OLE BOY CYCLES', but until we truly
honor diversity and remove gender as a threat and inequality - this won't happen
in the U.S.
Sure we have a black female vice-president right now (so we're close) but
changing minds, means changing centuries of bad behavior. It starts with us
individually, in the work place with small conversations with colleagues who aren't
'like-us'. This is small and subtle but starts a positive culture of acceptance in the
workplace.
A diverse team makes for better synergy. The differences of those team mates
(age, experience, background, gender, talent, life experiences, perspectives,
communication styles etc.) allows those people to come together to make an
impact. Good synergy will normally lead to high productivity. The people on the
team will feel valued and appreciated. They may even feel vulnerable but open to
expressing themselves and delivering higher results because of a better workplace
relationship. In a team setting, when I feel valued I want to give more and
contribute to the project. I have no problem being innovative and sharing ideas
with my colleagues to support the end-goal. Team synergy is a bigger buy-in to
management as well. The more team synergy, the less management has to worry
about conflict and challenges among the team members. The organization should
give the due importance to women in not just new talent hires but also in
promotions, thus ensuring equity at all levels. The critical departments of gender
inequality must be identified and special attention must be given to address gender
bias in those areas. Getting women come in power or at important decision-making
positions in organizations is also one important step in ensuring appropriate balance
in males and females staff. I agree some times it can be challenging not to
classify someone from their appearance or actions based on previous experiences
you may have had in the past. I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt
and treat everyone fairly until they give me a reason not to trust them. I think
having a woman and others from different backgrounds sit in on interviews can
give you a unique prospective from multiple angles from multiple people. They
may see the positives or negatives in a person you are interviewing that you may
not have picked up on during the interview. I am glad to hear that your
employer has taken the opportunity to train its employees in Equity, Diversity, and
Inclusion. I am a firm believer that education is key. Training sessions and
academies for employees, including its leaders, is vital to the success of the
agency. I believe employers who value their employees will make an effort in
training their employees. Both the employer and employees will benefit from it
which can lead to employees feeling valued and wanting to stay longer with the
employer. I totally agree with you by being in the Army you must work around
all kinds of people from all over the world from different backgrounds both
women and men but at the end of the day everyone comes together to complete
the mission. For me, I mostly worked around men most of my career and only at
the end had the chance to work around women n the military which I had no
issues with diversity and feel like any one is deserving to be leaders regardless of
their gender. Now the military is starting to select women for combat arms
positions after these positions have only been for men. This was a major change
and impact for the U.S. Army which took effective communication for this to
happen and for Superiors understanding diversity and inclusion in today’s world.
