Lets explore diversity

A world full of diversity

Everywhere we look we find a world full of different things; we see different kind of trees, flowers, birds… and even people. And as Colombian coming from many different roots you are exposed to people descending from Indians, Europeans, Africans… and the best a mixed of those cultures.

But that’s finally our environment and sometimes we tend not to care about diversity and we don’t appreciate it either. We even fall into our owns stereotypes of what we consider good or more appropriate and end discriminating the people around us, because we don’t like the color of their skin, or because they have different opinions and ways to see life.

But finally, that’s the environment we live in and we’re used to it, so at the end of the day we don’t think about diversity.

So maybe we are more conscious of the diversity of the world, when we meet someone from a different country visiting Colombia and we talk about their lives, we see them somehow different and we learn new things. Or if you go abroad there you are more likely to find a whole different world, different trees, different food, different weather, and different kind of people. And slowly comes the word diversity to your head.

But diversity doesn’t mean going too far, and having exactly such a change in your everyday life, because actually in your daily activities you encounter diversity and that’s the kind of diversity you should take advantage of.

In the exposition of Alejandro Escobar and Tatiana Franco, we start seeing that not even twins share the same gens and that people living in the same environment aren’t expose to the exact same situations, which makes all of us different.

And to see diversity it is not necessary just to talk about people and cultures, we just can look through our window and see all the diversity nature holds, animals, vegetables, fungi, monera…even things that may seem identical for us, like a type of flower of two penguins are definitely unique.

But here we will consider specifically how diversity affects our behavior and what do we consider when we explore diversity in organizations.

So in that order we should start defining the role diversity play in business as is a tactic that promotes work with that diversity in order to be more efficient and better serving a broad customer base. And in order to be more efficient in that sense, companies also use diversity training, which is the process of educating their employees and the people related to the company to work well in an environment that is diverse.

In terms of diversity in the workplace, school… we consider usually six main aspects that are: the age, abilities or qualities, ethnicity, sexual orientation, race and gender. But besides those there are many others such as: thinking style, job level, education, communication style, religious beliefs, family structure, values, health and socio-economic condition.

We also have to consider how those aspects play a role in “who we are”, “what we’ve learned”, “how we lead” and “how we interact”.

Concerning diversity there are two theories that companies can apply and those are:

1. The access and legitimacy paradigm: When you implement diversity there is a gain of market share, but you got to apply that diversity in two ways.
2. Discrimination and fairness paradigm: You got to consider and treat everyone equally. The problem is that you may dismiss the advantages that diversity brings.

There are different experiences and studies that show that diversity well managed and without discrimination can bring great results for the organizations.

It allows the organizations enjoy everyone’s talent and what they have to offer like a wide group of ideas and generates a better work environment.

But in order to gain that you it is important to avoid prejudices, stereotypes, discrimination, and racism and on the other hand thrive inclusion and encourage diversity.

Question: How can diversity relate to corporate identity??

When we talk about an effective implementation of diversity within an organization, we mean the acceptance of that diversity by all the members of that organization and in that way diversity should fix in the organizations culture and be a key element of the corporate identity.

The idea is like that to optimize the interaction between different people through an environment where those differences can come together in order to reach a common goal.

Anyway, as Mr. Rink and Ms. Ellemers of the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology of Leiden University have analyzed there is a need to establish careful a group identity bases on diversity and then the organizational identity.

In their study they found out that people don’t always have the need to find common aspects in themselves to feel part of a group, if they see themselves as a member of that group, they can consider their positions as unique and more effective under that group and like that develop a group identity that can distinguish them from other groups, and more specifically as Mr. Rink and Ms. Ellemers said this group identity “can also be fostered by the conviction that group members are reliant on each other in order to achieve a common goal (which is often the case in teams and organizations…)”.

Other interesting aspect found in their study, is how in small groups the identity is build considering the individual aspects and actions and how they fix and benefit the group.

Common norms also influence in order to feel strongly identified with the group, due to the influence they have in the interaction and perception of each other and the way it affects decisions and problem solving situations. But it is important to highlight that those rules should boost diversity and have no restriction of individual characteristics.

Slowly the group learns to work together and realize that despite their differences they have similar points of view in the things that matter and can reach solutions that are satisfying for everyone.

They also identify two basic conditions in other to develop a diversity-based identity. One is that task-related differences are a core stone of common identity since all members contribute something special having clear what each person can bring to the group they develop a plan to achieve their objectives. And the second one is to start working with small groups, thanks to the high interaction and the reliance on each member to achieve the objectives. That helps the groups to stay together and learn to be more conscious on how the differences can make a better group.

However, when organizations are promoting an diversity identity through small groups they have to be careful on order not to lose the organizations identity. It may happen when the groups are engaged among the members but not to the organization itself.

There is absolutely possible to have different levels of identities and like that those groups got to understand that they are always part of the organization and that it remains essential to identify themselves not only within their groups but at every level of the organization and at it as a whole. Like that organizations should work out with their employees which are collective identities and which are the groups’ ones.

The organizations should work on those identities with a strategic plan that works based on diversity management.

Mr. Forbes expresses that quite well in his article “Diversity is Key to a World-Class Organization”. He mentions that the diversity has to be part of the general strategic plan of the company, being part of the mission and vision statements and being defined as an important business value. Like that the employees, the costumers and everyone related with the company would have clear how important it is for the organization and would help them define their roles toward it.
Other tips that Mr. Forbes suggests the companies to have a better implementation of diversity in all the levels are, companies got to be inclusive and respect the differences of attitudes, customs… everyone has. If they want to be diverse, they have to remove barriers that affect a real diversity internally and externally. Another important aspect is to enhance communication, motivate continuously the workers and find the right leaders.

And finally be aware, that diversity management is a long-term process, which requires improvements all along the way.

With these studies, we can conclude that identity definitely plays a role for organizations when they want diversity to be part of their organizational culture. But in order to have that identity they should have clear how they want to build it and be aware that diversity also means having different levels of identities that have to be coherent among them and recognize the organizations identity per se.

On the other hand, that identity and the way diversity operates in the company won’t be achieved without the commitment of the organization, strategies and a diversity management. Organizations must make clear they want diversity, how they want it and what to do to guarantee it. With that clear each person and each part of the organization will be able to take advantage of their differences, will improve, when challenges come will be able to react to them and will have results that last.

References:

1. Escobar, A. & Franco, T. 2009. Presentation "Exploring Diversity" part of the subject Organizations and Cultures at the University EAFIT

2. Gonzales-Perez, M. A. 2009. Presentation "Exploring Diversity" part of the subject Organizations and Cultures at the University EAFIT

3. Rink, F. & Ellemers, N. 2007. Diversity as a Basis for Shared Organizational Identity: The Norm Congruity Principle. British Journal of Management, 18: 17-27

4. Forbes, L. H. 2008. Diversity is Key to a World-Class Organization. Leadership and Management in Engineering, 8: 11-15

Videos:

1. Acknowledge Diversity

Note: This Video made by Tatiana Franco and Alejandro Escobar shows us how diverse our universe can be. You think about one animal, but sometimes you ignore how many breeds there are.

So just enjoy watching all the kinds of bears and lady bugs. And we aware of it the next time you go out and see the flowers, your friends... your world.

2. Get Diversified!

Note: This Video shows us "Diversity at Work" and how important it is for each person to make a difference in order to have a better work environment, that also takes advantages of the unique features of all its members.

Here you can see how assumptions can affect us when it comes to gender, age and ethnicity among others.

With all this on mind, try to make a change in your workplace and everywhere you go. And like the title says: Get diversified!!!

Diversity in EAFIT... Photos' Article

The Photos were taken in different spaces at the University in Medellín, and the ones from the kids at the language Center were taken at EAFIT Llanogrande.

The Photographers were Ismael Ossa and María Natalia Suárez Vallejo.

Special feature: Sadly the quality of the pictures is not the expected one, so here is a little video with them in order to offer a better quality.