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Diversity - Isn't that the same as equality?

22/5/2015

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Equality in the workplace takes on the same meaning as it does in your everyday life. It is defined as treating everyone the same, and treating them fairly.
Diversity on the other hand is about treating everyone as an individual and treating them fairly.
Most employers will be well aware of the legal requirement under the equality act (https://www.gov.uk/equality-act-2010-guidance).

However, for many diversity is still a grey area and can even be seen to be a bit frightening!

To employ a diverse workforce is to employ people that are all working to the same vision and mission that Directors and Managers have communicated and yet this workforce is made up of individual people who come from all different backgrounds, have all had different life experiences and very different interests. 

How can this work? With a couple of key elements:

  1. When recruiting staff they need to be a "fit" for the organisation as opposed to a fit for the job. What is meant by this? Basically it is the similarity of an individual's beliefs and values with the culture, norms, and values of an organisation. What about the job itself? Many other aspects of the role can be matched through training. And if a candidate comes along with the right fit and the right ability then it is a win-win situation.
  2. The commitment to being open to take on candidates that do not fit into traditional recruitment patterns has to come from the top. There needs to be Director and Senior Management buy-in to make this work.
What are the benefits from a diverse workforce?

Can you imagine seeing an employee doing well - gaining in confidence and skills. It is even more rewarding when it is an employee who hasn't worked for a long time, an employee  who says I've been looking for a job for over a year, an employee who you offer flexible working to so they can remain working for you....

Other organisational benefits have been sited as:

Customer care and marketplace competitiveness
Improved Corporate image, brand, ethics and values (Mark & Spencer are a great example)
Recruitment and retention of talent especially the use of word of mouth recruitment, thus lowering costs.)
Increasing creativity and innovation
Being an employer of choice through effective people management and development
Complying with legislation
Corporate social responsibility.

Last night I was fortunate enough to hear Gary Mullholland speak about "The Business Case for Diversity". He has spent several years studying diversity in a wide range of organisations. 

In 2008, with some colleagues, he produced a paper on The Business Case for Diversity. 
Full details can be found at http://www.academia.edu/171770/Managing_Diversity_and_the_Business_Case.

When Gary asked "Do you work for a diverse organisation" it was surprising to see that although there were many public sector organisations and larger companies represented, none of them raised their hand to indicate a yes. The lone hand came from someone who works in a SME and was backed up with great examples of how diversity really is employed in that organisation.

Are SME's leading the way in diversity? Should we be taking more notes as to how SME's manage their HR function? After all 

  • SMEs make up 99.9% of the total number of businesses in the UK.
  • SMEs provide 59.1% of all private sector jobs.
What do you think - post below, I'd love to know.




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Energy - can be neither created nor destroyed. So why do I have none?

11/5/2015

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The law of thermodynamics states that energy is a property of objects which can be transferred to other objects or converted into different forms, but cannot be created nor destroyed. 

So does this mean that if you invest all or much of your energy in others that your own energy levels will be depleted? Yes!

And can someone else zap your energy levels by their behaviour? For example if they are being negative? Do your attempts to counteract this negativity drain your own levels of energy leaving you feeling exhausted? Yes!

And what about when something happens that you are not prepared for, whether it is in your personal life, family, a relationship or at work. Do your attempts to sort this out leave you feeling like you are running on zero?

And does this lead you to under-perform in your business?

Sound familiar?

Well, the good news is that you can do something about it! And here's how!

The most important things is to acknowledge that it is happening.

There are several ways to deal with this and get you out of this situation as quickly as possible.

Coaching is about moving forward, not dwelling on the past, although reflecting on what has happened as a means to move forward can be extremely helpful.

Once you acknowledge that this is happening to you what can you do?

The easiest way is to make time for you.

What does that mean?

Well, it means doing something nice, just for you. Not for your family, not for your boss or your business, not for your neighbour - just for you.

It doesn't have to be expensive and it doesn't have to take much or any time. You might wear a special dress that makes you feel amazing. You might buy a bar of chocolate that you normally forbid yourself to eat. Whatever it is, do it for you.

If you don't believe me then try it and then see how you feel.

When life throws an unexpected challenge, acknowledge it and remember to take extra care of you.


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