Achieving Success Through a Diverse and Inclusive Workforce
We’ve all heard the statistics—America’s demographic landscape is shifting from one that’s made up of predominantly white citizens, to one that’s made up primarily of people who were once minorities.
There are cities and states throughout the country where minorities are in reality the majority, and it’s up to corporate and business leaders to not only recognize this shift, but make changes in their talent management strategies that adequately address the changing face of the American workforce.
Diversity and Inclusion Go Hand-in-Hand with Growth
The terms diversity and inclusion were once thought of as something that could be addressed by HR, perhaps just as a sentence or two in the employee handbook.
That outdated way of thinking will no longer cut it.
Diversity and inclusion not only have to be a key component of talent management strategies, but these are also concepts intrinsically tied to remaining successful and competitive in today’s evolving marketplace.
The Challenge
In order to remain or become competitive, employers are faced with the challenge of attracting, hiring and retaining a diverse workforce.
There’s also a specific challenge when it comes to not only a racially diverse workforce, but the inclusion of females and people of all backgrounds, and learning how to manage them in a way that provides opportunities for and encourages success and a thriving career.
Employers are learning the importance of having a diverse workforce, but also how to manage opportunities for progression within an organization.
Similarly, employers in today’s global economy are looking for ways to attract and leverage non-American talent in a meaningful way.
Key Considerations
When approaching the challenges of creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce, some of the primary factors to be considered include:
These are all some of the important questions employers and company leaders are asking themselves in terms of their talent management strategy, and there’s a growing focus on the role diversity and inclusion should have within any organization’s short and long-term strategy for success.
February 22, 2016 Sherman Morrison
As I’ve mentioned throughout this series about bias in the workplace, you’ll never eliminate it altogether, but you can certainly minimize its often negative impacts that derail your best talent management efforts and decision-making. Howard Ross, whose ideas and writings I’ve relied on heavily for this series, lays out very practical steps to take throughout […]
… read moreFebruary 8, 2016 Sherman Morrison
If you are human, you are biased. It’s the most basic point author and diversity expert Howard Ross has been making for years, most notably in his most recent book, Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives. How these biases affect the talent management process and what you can do about […]
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It’s fairly common knowledge at this point that businesses and organizations like to think of themselves as committed to diversity, and yet far too many diversity efforts fail. I’ve written in the past about how one of the reasons this happens is by leaving inclusion out of the equation (see Why Diversity and Inclusion Efforts […]
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… read moreDecember 28, 2015 Ashley Sutphin
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