Communicating diversity increases collaboration and creativity.
Communicating diversity in the workplace can increase creativity, reduce barriers and encourage collaboration in spite of differences. Common diversity issues include language, culture, race, ethnicity, gender, age, family status, disability and sexual orientation. However, diversity can also include psychological processes. Personalities, communication preferences and attitudes toward the same idea or project can hinder creativity and erect barriers. Understanding communicate diversity can improve group problem solving.
The Purpose of Communicating Diversity
Rather than suppress, ignore or tolerate differences, openly discussing diversity issues can relieve discrimination, prejudice or hostile work environments. The purpose of communicating diversity is to address all of these issues while establishing the framework for an inclusive, progressive and productive environment. Diversity can be communicated through assigning responsibility, promoting educational programs and progressive hiring practices.
Assigning Responsibility to Communicate Diversity
Enforcing policies, fostering a diverse management team and subscribing to equal employment opportunity standards are a few tools managers can use to communicate diversity. Responsibility in diversity communication focuses on recognizing differences but treating everyone with the same level of fairness and respect. Managers may also develop internal advocacy groups, incorporate work and family policies and conduct internal audits as routine diversity administrative duties. Holding people responsible for welcoming diversity, through policies and programs, demonstrates that differences are a valued commodity in an organization. This can motivate managers and employees to welcome and celebrate everyone's culture.
Communicating Diversity Through Education
Some organizations may have cultures that have not had exposure to educational programs or resources. Designing programs that promote leadership and education can empower non-traditional employees to do better at their jobs. Mentoring, cross training sessions and recognition programs are a few ways that managers can use educational development as a way to communicate diversity. The primary motivation of this method is to prepare underdeveloped employees for advanced roles and responsibilities as representatives of the organization.
Communicating Diversity Through Hiring Practices
Corporate advertisements can promote a diverse culture when used for recruiting staff. The images used in brochures and hiring representatives present at job fairs convey whether a company values women, younger professionals or ethnic diversity. For example, hiring managers who deliberately target historically black colleges or areas with a dense ethnic population communicate a value on diversity. The recruiting method for communicating diversity translates to both prospective candidates and also internal employees. As an illustration, when employees see their ethnicity representing the company publicly in recruiting materials, company publications and targeted partnerships, attitudes toward the organization become more favorable and productivity increases. The key to successful hiring to promote diversity communication is to represent inclusion at all levels, from C-level executives to administrators.
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