Managing Diversity Programs Through Communications Essay Research

Managing Diversity Programs Through Communications Essay, Research Paper

Managing Diversity Programs Through Communication

Jackqueline Raho

May 31, 2000

Abstract

“Organizations must look at diversity now as a critical factor in their future success, not just a social imperative… A diverse workforce is now an important competitive advantage.” (Jose De Anda, assistant human resources director for the Southern California Region of Kaiser Permanente)

Every ten years this great country of ours conducts the collecting of the U.S. Census. While still in progress at the beginning of this decade, we need only to look at the results of the 1990 census to begin to understand why diversity programs became so important in the nineties. This last census yielded important data, “Almost one in every four Americans in 1990 was of Asian, African-American, or Hispanic descent” (Healthcare Executive, Chicago Jul/Aug 1997, Julie Nilson). Expectations for the current census are that this will increase to one in three.

Diversity programs had their beginnings in the late sixties and early seventies, with one of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society Programs, Affirmative Action. While there is some debate as to the longevity of Affirmative Action Programs one thing is clear, workplace diversity is here to stay. Affirmative action and diversity are fundamentally different approaches to differences in the workplace. “While diversity efforts try to foster a sense of fairness, affirmative action tries to force compliance.” (David Benton, workforce policy adviser to the U.S. Coast Guard,Commandant in Washington, D.C.)

Workplace diversity is not just about a person’s race. It encompasses a wide variety of differences; including language, age, sexual orientation, martial status, education, and disabilities. With organizations now competing in a global marketplace, communicating with understanding and respect is a crucial element of their business, right up there with community involvement.

This paper will discuss the methods used by managers and groups in the work environment to ensure effective communication with a diverse labor force. We will discuss the barriers they are faced with and compare methods used by companies who have successfully and unsuccessfully implemented diversity programs.

Communications With Managers

When introducing a new concept, such as Diversity in the organization, there is always resistance, inertia, and limited focus of change among the different groups and functions. These are normal and can only be addressed through communication in various forms. A few of these forms are education, meetings, and one-on-one coaching sessions. What psychologists have found is that employees go through similar emotional phases as those who are grieving whenever there is an organizational change. These phases are denial, bargaining, anger, and acceptance. Effective communication makes the first three phases shorter.

A good communications model is the Johari Window (Joe Ludz , Harry ). When first introducing Diversity Programs, executives had to look at what they knew about their organizations and managers, they had to look at what they might not be admitting to themselves but might be relaying unconsciously by tone or gesture to the managers, what their outward appearance was and has been in the past, and most importantly they needed to look at the unknown area where they knew that there were things that they did not know about diversity and managing the implementation process.

What Exec. Knows About Diversity in Organization Johari’s Window What Exec. Doesn’t Know About Diversity in Organization

FEEDBACK

DISCLOSURE Info that Mgr. knows about Diversity Arena Free and open interchange of information. This is the ideal window for establishing a significant rapport with a group. Blind SpotHow the executives/companies relate their thoughts about diversity through body language and tone without being aware of it.

Info that Mgr. does not Know about Diversity Fa.adeThe manager’s true feelings about diversity in the workplace that they do not share with others. UnknownThis area is about thoughts, feelings, and resistance that neither executive mgmt nor the rest of the managers are aware.

The goal of the Johari Window is to map out a concept of Feedback and Disclosure as a way to make the Arena larger, thus opening up free and open communication. Through classes, meetings, and open forums with people of other races, religions, and sex where they could express themselves and receive honest feedback, managers have been able to adopt new ideas, procedures, and programs.

Another type of training that has proved beneficial to managers has been leadership training. This type of training is different from management in that it teaches the person to think in terms of inspiration, support, and implementation instead of processes and procedures.

Even with the best tools and coaches, implementing diversity programs in organizations was not an easy task. If you look at the most common Communications Models, the opportunities for misunderstanding are amazing. With only two people the opportunity for misunderstanding is only two. When you have three people it goes up to twelve, and when you have four people it leaps to fifty-six! (Williams, 2000)

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