When you hear the term “diverse workforce,” what do you think of? Chances are that words like regulation, compliance, and quotas spring to your mind. You may think of cost minimization to maximize profits. When I ask people what they feel when they think of diversity, they respond with answers like frustration and confusion – interestingly, leaders and workers experience these same types of feelings about the term diversity.

The real challenge with diversity is that Corporate America has a narrow, “pass/fail” view of diversity. They define diversity in a strict legal sense and aim to just meet the legal standards around it. They talk about managing it, rather than creating a culture of diversity and harnessing its power. They launch diversity programs to avoid problems rather than to reap its rewards.

Yet the truth is that diversity is the key to astounding creativity, leaps in technology, the vision to capture tomorrow’s dreams in today’s products and services, and the magnetism to attract and retain the strongest, most efficient, most innovative workforce imaginable.

So, let’s start with the basics (empty your mind of all the legalese). What is diversity? Look it up in the dictionary. Diversity is the condition of being different. Diversity encompasses far more than our physical forms. Organizations which are committed to a culture of diversity appreciate and ensure diversity of form as well as the diversity of thought, expression, experience, ability and style.

You may know of organizations which launched huge initiatives to recruit diverse workers, only to have these employees leave the organizations within months. Chances are these organizations did not redefine their cultures to embrace diversity of thought, expression, experience, ability, and style.

Let me give you a personal example. In the community where I was raised, we never touched a tennis racket or a golf club. Football, basketball, and baseball were the sports of choice. Imagine my surprise when I entered the workforce and realized that my ignorance of Nicklaus and Watson was getting in the way of my success. While others discussed the latest tournament, I remained quiet—I had nothing to contribute. (A relationship-building opportunity lost.) Soon, others were discussing moving the meeting to the golf course, and I wasn’t invited – I knew nothing of the game. It didn’t take long to recognize that big things happened out there on the green. I missed out on these things because of our diverse life experiences. I like to think the organization missed out as well because I wasn’t there to contribute to the decisions made on the green. (By the way, I wasn’t the only one left behind; many female colleagues hadn’t been exposed to golf either—and I know the organization missed out by not hearing their contributions.)

Of course, I started watching the tournaments, got a set of clubs and learned the game. Think for a moment, however, how those leader meetings would have been shaped in an organization that is committed to embracing diversity of thought, expression, experience, ability, and style. Imagine harnessing the power of differences rather than allowing differences to become a barrier that diverse individuals must overcome.

All human beings bring their own unique set of differences with them to the work place every day. The role of the leader is to identify ways to recognize, value, appreciate and harness these differences to maximize productivity and overall organizational effectiveness.

Frequently, the differences are obvious. Leaders just haven’t been trained to look for opportunities to embrace differences. In an early job, I was a manufacturing supervisor. One of my job responsibilities was to transform the failing lunch facility into a profit center. At first glance, everything looked fine. The facility was clean. The cottage cheese and peaches were fresh. The baked chicken was juicy and golden brown. The tuna salad sandwiches rivaled the high-priced deli down the road. Still, the lunchroom was so unprofitable, it was about to close. The lunchroom’s failure was a mystery, until I noticed the long line of workers waiting to microwave the burritos, tamales and rice they’d brought from home. You see, the employee population was 95% Hispanic. The lunchroom offerings didn’t take into account their diversity. We changed the lunchroom menu. Overnight, the lunchroom became so profitable, we were able to fund employee relations activities and parties.

You can enhance your organization’s diversity by following these guidelines:

·         Look for Opportunities to Harness the Power of Diversity: Conduct turbo sessions on a regular basis with employees at every level asking them to brainstorm opportunities to harness the power of diversity. You’ll be amazed by the opportunities they recognize: Times when harnessing diversity could enrich a client relationship, give new ideas to new product development, boost the performance of a fellow employee, or energize the employee population.

·         Commit Resources: Think about how you implement a safety initiative or a continuous improvement process. What resources do you commit to the effort? Why? You know that talking about safety or continuous improvement is not enough to make it live in the workplace. In the same way, diversity requires more than lip service.

·         Set Metrics: Redefine “what good looks like” with respect to diversity. Set your standard high, taking into account the true meaning of diversity, not just the governmental definition. Remember that when you let government regulations determine your standard, you aren’t setting the pace, you aren’t an industry leader, you aren’t seizing the opportunity.

·         Tie Diversity to Business Results: Organizations usually put their muscle behind initiatives that are quantifiable and will produce financial pay back as with safety, quality, and productivity initiatives. This is what is commonly known as “The Business Case.” There is a strong business case for diversity. Communicate it.

·         Measure and Report Results: Metrics are developed to measure progress, so follow through and measure. Recognize successes at every level of the organization.

·         Show You Are Serious: When an initiative matters, senior management sponsorship is visible throughout the process. The key words are commitment, accountability, and sponsorship. Without these essential ingredients, the process/program is destined to fail.

·         Create the Culture First, Recruit Second: I know this goes against common practice, but think about it. Would you send scientists to work in an ocean lab without ensuring the environment is healthy for them? Of course not. Without oxygen, the proper temperature and pressure settings, nutrition, etc., the scientists would falter as fast as you could send them. In the same way, recruiting diverse employees without ensuring a nurturing environment is a losing proposition. First, assess your current environment, launch a diversity redefinition initiative (redefining diversity to include diversity of thought, expression, experience, expression, style and form), recognize the powerful business results from harnessing the power of diversity….then recruit.

We know that people who are treated with respect, recognized for their accomplishments, receive proper support, are included in decision making, and are valued by their organization will renew their commitment to the organization; they are willing to expend extraordinary effort to improve their performance and productivity -- bringing better financial results for the organization. Employers who have developed positive cultures also experience lower absenteeism, reduced turnover, better retention, fewer legal issues, better recruitment of top talent and a reputation within the community as an employer of choice.

This is what effective management of diversity is all about. It’s about treating people with respect and creating an environment of inclusiveness and appreciation of differences allowing self motivation to take each individual’s performance to the next level of capability. That means effective management of Diversity is all about creating more effective and creative organizations; and that’s a business case.