Abstract
The strategy of leveraging differences is new and provocative in the field of managing diversity. Therefore, effective personal philosophy should be based on uniting the traditional and new approaches in order to compete within the market and address the employees’ interests.
Introduction
My personal vision of diversity and inclusion in an organization is based on such key ideas as the value of the persons’ differences and the respect for these differences. Thus, I support the idea that managers need to do their best in order to leverage differences while contributing to the company’s benefits and teams’ creativity. On the other hand, I am sure that any person, in spite of his or her differences, has the equal right for being respected.
The problem is in the fact that diversity managers often choose only one approach, and they can only promote the differences and value the diverse workforce or they can only focus on painless inclusion strategies in order to promote respect and support in the workplace. However, this method is also not effective because in this case, diversity managers are inclined to confuse the concepts of diversity and equality. I should state that, as Chief Diversity Officer, I need to balance leveraging differences without violating the employees’ rights and hurting their feelings, and respecting the diverse workforce in terms of seeing all employees as equals.
Leveraging differences
Valuing the employees’ differences, a good manager is able to create an effective working team the members of which feel like individuals with their own backgrounds, visions, and beliefs. It is important to attract diverse candidates and focus on inclusion strategies in the context of leveraging differences. According to Davidson, the new approach to diversity in the workplace can guarantee the progress not only for the organization because of utilizing the skills and knowledge of diverse employees but also for the employees themselves who learn while collaborating (Davidson, 2011, p. 54). From this point, this new approach discussed in contrast to the traditional visions of diversity is rather working.
Respecting the diverse workforce
Still, the traditional dimensions of diversity and the approaches to managing it should also be followed. The reason is that not all practices that are usually utilized by diversity managers are ineffective. If the practice of ignoring the employees’ differences and promoting equality is not appropriate for all working contexts, such ideas as the respect for all employees despite their backgrounds and the focus on their equal positions in the workplace need to be adapted for developing the inclusion program (Rosinski, 2010, p. 12). It is important to state that these behaviors should be the element of any working community because they are generally acknowledged.
Creating an inclusive environment
The workplace should be inclusive for all individuals regardless of their differences. Nevertheless, in order to create such a workplace, it is necessary to avoid the practice of ignoring one’s differences (Arora & Rohmetra, 2010, p. 217). The alternative strategy is the promotion of a positive attitude to these features in order to contribute to the company’s progress and increasing competitive advantage within the actively developed global market.
Conclusion
From this perspective, my philosophy of diversity in the workplace depends on the challenging combination of elements of the traditional approaches and new strategies. The reason for balancing the approaches is in opportunities to achieve high results for the organization. Therefore, the balance of approaches can be discussed as the most appropriate choice.
References
Arora, P., & Rohmetra, N. (2010). Cultural intelligence: Leveraging differences to bridge the gap in the international hospitality industry. International Review of Business Research Papers, 6(5), 216-234.
Davidson, M. (2011). The end of diversity as we know it: Why diversity efforts fail and how leveraging diversity can succeed. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Rosinski, P. (2010). Coaching across cultures: New tools for leveraging national, corporate & professional differences. New York, NY: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.