In an article named The Top 10 Economic Facts of Diversity in the Workplace by Sophia Kerby and Crosby Burns, although it was partially pertaining to the workplace, it pointed out that, “Diversity fosters a more creative and innovative workforce. Bringing together workers with different qualifications, backgrounds, and experiences are all key to effective problem-solving on the job. Similarly, diversity breeds creativity and innovation. The nation’s workforce should be a densely diverse organization because they are there to protect everyone regardless of the race. Exposing everyone to difference backgrounds, languages, faces, and etc… helps be more open-minded of everything and less bias to the beliefs we have grown up to. It has absolutely improved the national culture! America is now such a diverse place, regardless of certain tragic circumstances. I believe the sooner people start to leave ignorance behind, the more ahead we will all be. Diversity as a construct, in itself is always positive. The more diverse an environment is, the more it pushes us to see we are not more superior than others. To enforce diversity and sustain it, you must have people willing to change, willing to make an effort to turn away from what we thought was once right, and constantly reinforcing what we learn.
According to Managing Diversity in The Workplace by People Scout – A True-blue Company, to manage diversity in an organization on a long-term basis is, “…organizations need to ensure that they effectively communicate with employees. Policies, procedures, safety rules and other important information should be designed to overcome language and cultural barriers by translating materials and using pictures and symbols whenever applicable”. Creating clear expectations and informing employees what the environment at that specific organization seeks, will attract people with those same qualities. Making it easy to each person in a way they can understand is the best way of getting through to everyone.
I honestly enjoyed watching this last TED Talk for this course! Vernā Myers was the name of the speaker, and she did an outstanding job at portraying her point. She explained that we should stop being in denial of what we say to others by thinking we mean what we say at times and be real! Sometimes we say things out of habit just to “show” an image that we want others to believe we are. When we start to analyze what our actions mean and get to know our real self’s, this will help create genuine relationships with others. Another action she mentioned was to stop being bias. She explained how she was on a plane and saw a female pilot but as soon as turbulence hit, and the plane was rocking she doubted the female pilot’s abilities and assumed a male pilot would know better. Whether you are a male or female, neither gender is superior to another, and we all have our own gifts we are talented in. Lastly, be aware of racial indifferences. Look at data that proofs your bias wrong. I love how Vernā Myers stated that, “biases are the stories we make up about people before we know who they actually are.” I cannot tell you how many times I have caught myself doing this whether it was voluntary or not. Bettering ourselves is, not stereotyping a certain race and appearance together and assume who they “are.”
Takeaways I will apply to my workplace after taking this course would have to be, stop unconsciously stereotyping people, try to be even more diverse, and embrace change for the better. We all come from a different place, culture, and beliefs but that combined creates a successful environment.
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