Rethinking Diversity By Alfredo Castro Maintain a competitive edge by designing development programs that value diversity and multiculturalism. listen to this feature at www.astd.org/tdpodcasts 36 T+D February 2013 Photo by Getty Images
The worldwide phenomenon of economic globalization not only has provided different logistics and consumption habits, but also has generated a new workplace environment much more diverse than ever. The explosion of technology tools, the offer of virtual environments, and a new media portfolio were important factors that characterized the shift to the 21st century. The sense of connecting with whomever, wherever, and whenever dramatically has changed our idea of a global world and, of course, it has made global thinking a fundamental requirement for future leaders. With the use of new technology it is feasible to expand the concept of exporting offices and work around the world. These organizational structures are counting on new models of reporting, management, and teamwork. Many leaders are supervising employees in different geographic locations who they rarely meet in person. Computer programmers, for example, work on complex systems in India while communicating and interacting daily with designers in France or Korea to help develop products that are manufactured in Vietnam and sold in Brazil. This is totally new challenge for leaders. This scenario has created a new demand for what we used to call multiculturalism. Diversity and multiculturalism include many more characteristics than only race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, and disability. Today, diversity and multiculturalism should be redefined to also include less conventional traits such as cultural background, sexual orientation, class, marital status, and generation. We are facing an important debate on the importance of diversity in the workplace. This theme must begin with the very definition of diversity. In the past, I ve defined diversity as all characteristics and experiences that describe each of us as individuals. If we use that definition, the modern concept of diversity also will include the diverse elements and behaviors generated by all people in an organization. That includes communication style, work style, organizational role or level, economic status, and geographic origin (all of which are affected by globalization, technology, and different generations in the workplace). Business impact of diversity Based on the research of numerous global organizations (including ASTD; MOT, a consulting company based in Europe and Latin America; ABTD, the Brazilian Training and Development Association; and Cegos, the major European training and development consultancy), it can be said that a company that embraces and values diversity as an integral part of its goals can have a positive impact on individual productivity, organizational effectiveness, and sustained competitiveness. All this research concludes that those organizations that invest a high amount of resources in leadership development programs with a worldwide perspective and that value and recognize the significance of diversity, tend to have better business February 2013 T+D 37
results. In addition, the more that an organization recognizes that the workplace environment has dramatically changed, is more diverse, and is affected by social media factors, age, and different social issues and preferences, the more that organization will achieve results on a global scale. In the future, it will be imperative to go beyond creating a more diverse workplace based simply on numerical representations of certain groups. To maximize the usage of their human capital, companies not only will have to understand that diversity is an essential ingredient to a successful operation, but also must adopt a systematic approach to apply diversity concepts such as valuing differences between employees (taking into consideration new styles of behavior and social preferences) to core business practices that value multiculturalism. Two factors that are seen as making global thinking a key variable for the future are the dramatic projected increases in global trade and integrated global technology. Globalization is a trend that will have a major impact on tomorrow s leaders. In the past, even major companies could focus solely on their own country or, at most, their own region of the world. Those days will soon be over. For example, a single local financial crisis that began in Spain can affect and spread to Southeast Asia, and begin to dramatically influence the rest of the world. The trend toward globally connected markets is likely to become even stronger in the future. It is clear that not only will leaders need to understand the economic implications of globalization; they also will have to understand the legal, political, and social implications. All these factors will increase with four generations in the workplace and the need for understanding and valuing diversity. I have traveled around different continents to deliver global leadership training, which has helped me to 38 T+D February 2013 consolidate my vision about the new demands for leaders. Future leaders might need to spend time in multiple countries to better understand how multicountry trade could help their organizations achieve a competitive advantage. In an environment where competitive pressures are rapidly increasing, producers will have to learn how to manage global production, marketing, sales teams, and diverse people. In addition, they have to learn how to manage global workers in a broader meaning. Create a respectful, open, and inclusive environment where workers of all ages and cultural backgrounds can share who they are without fear of being judged, fixed, or changed. Leadership s new challenges Why is it important to redefine the meaning of diversity for leaders? Leaders must remain open to new ideas and provide constant feedback, and work with managers and staff to shape the company s strategic vision. They must avoid projecting their own expectations about work and remain open to different perspectives based on generational attitudes. I recommend using storytelling to increase the level of understanding of this new diversity. Stories are effective in learning programs because listeners become engaged and, therefore, remember what s been said. While the story listeners are engaged, they are able to imagine new perspectives, as well as observe, listen, and participate with minimal guidance. Listening to a storyteller can create lasting personal connections, promote innovative problem solving, and foster a shared understanding about future situations when this new workplace will demand new competencies (including those related to understanding diversity). We all know that stories often have multiple layers of meanings and they stimulate listeners to identify the underlying knowledge in the story. If human knowledge is based on stories and the human brain consists of cognitive machinery necessary to understand them we will need to create new stories about multiculturalism. Leaders think in narrative structures and most often remember facts in story form because stories mirror human thoughts. They lead by telling stories, making all employees learn from these and engaging and creating a new understanding of their function at work. A leader s primary responsibility is to ensure that everyone in the organization understands that working together is not negotiable. Create a respectful, open, and inclusive environment where workers of all ages and cultural backgrounds can share who they are without fear of being judged, fixed, or changed. As for new technology, its role is not only to create new communication bridges, but also to help leaders break down barriers to global business that seemed insurmountable in the past. Leaders who are stuck in local thinking will be hard-pressed to shift paradigms to think and act in a global marketplace and to use a new paradigm for multiculturalism. Leaders who can make this shift will have a huge competitive advantage. This is reflected in the term multiculturalism. Culture, as we used to define it in the past, does not bring enough information about a nation, state, or company because we have added other factors that have transformed our world. New generations in the workplace create new cultural demands, new technology
Figure 1 Delivering Multicultural Programs to Leaders We deliver multicultural programs to develop our leaders 36 17 9 38 36% 17% 9% 38% What do you mean? We are facing some issues. We do it. We plan to do it. Figure 2 Social Media s Influence on Leadership Style What impact does social media have on the leadership style in your organization? 18 16 42 21 3 18% 16% 42% Very low Low High Very high What is this? 21% 3% Figure 3 Use of Coaching Principles as Leadership Style Our leaders are prepared to use coaching principles as their leadership style. 8 7 2 38 23 22 8% We have good results with it. 7% 2% 38% 23% 22% Yes. What Not yet. Not possible in our culture. Maybe it is possible is this? in our culture. Source: Impact of Social Media on Leadership Coaching Culture in the Workplace, MOT Training and Development, 2012 February 2013 T+D 39
Are we ready to support all of these new demands? Are leaders being prepared for dealing with this diversity of visions and aims? creates new pathways to interaction, and new life cycles create new possibilities in terms of careers and ways of living. In spite of still having societies and organizations that are not following these movements, we will see that 10 to 15 years from now there will be this new reality, affecting the models of leadership. A leader must be developed to explore the benefits of a learning environment that includes all employees and concentrates on attaining the necessary skills to eliminate barriers to learning opportunities. In Impact of Social Media on Leadership Coaching Culture in the Workplace, a study by MOT Training and Development, data were collected from 300 multinational companies regarding the use of modern techniques and social media to improve an organization s leadership style and global leadership. Research reveals that the number of companies that are designing leadership programs according to global thinking is only 9 percent (see Figure 1). Although almost 40 percent of organizations plan to deliver multicultural programs to develop their leaders, about one-third of them (36 percent) do not even know what is meant by multicultural program which indicates that there s a long way to go. Figure 2 illustrates the perceived impact organizations identify with the use of social media and its influence in an organization s leadership style. For the majority of the companies, the impact is high (42 percent) or very high (21 percent). This proves that even if the companies still are not focusing on new demands and issues to develop their leaders, they can surely recognize the powerful impact of social media on the population. The theme referred to as the so-called coaching leadership style also is a big change in the culture of all global organizations. Coaching principles used as a leadership model is an excellent way to address the needs of employees of this new workplace. However, only about 15 percent of the organizations use coaching as a leadership method; of those, 8 percent say they are seeing good results from it (see Figure 3). On the other hand, 23 percent of the organizations declare that their culture is not conducive to coaching as a leadership method pinpointing another area where there is plenty of room for improvement. New leadership mindset To successfully prepare for the new millennium, tomorrow s organizations will have to change the mindset of many leaders. For leaders who are near retirement, this may not be an issue. But for middleaged leaders who lack the needed new skills, this may be a challenge. Leaders will have to learn why the new skills are important. They will have to understand what they need to learn and be shown how they can best learn it. In addition, the organization s reward and reinforcement system will need to be changed to reflect the new desired competencies. A coaching model applied to leaders in this multicultural context will help to value diversity and multiculturalism. Are we ready to support all of these new demands? Are leaders being prepared for dealing with this diversity of visions and aims? New solutions in learning and performance will help to address these issues. We just began our understanding about multiculturalism, diversity, and cross-generational leadership. With the variety of multigenerational employees in today s workplace, companies no longer can abide by traditional rules of leadership and management. Organizations can achieve real strategic advantage by embracing the diversity among generations to create a flexible work environment that values all people and keeps them productive regardless of age, or how diverse they are from others. This will start by rethinking the meaning of diversity in this new workplace. Alfredo Castro is president of MOT Training and Development; alfredocastro@mot-td.com. INTERESTED IN ORDERING E-PRINTS? Would a digital version of this article be a great fit for your next course, presentation, or event? Are you interested in e-prints of several T+D articles on a specific topic? Visit www.astd.org/td, and click on About T+D, for more information. 40 T+D February 2013
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