Recommended Resource – University of Houston’s Diversity Management Certificate Course
Diversity Management Certificate Course
Craig B. Clayton, Sr. PhD
Director and Diversity Strategist
Bauer College of Business
University of Houston
Website Address: www.bauer.uh.edu/degrees-programs/certificates/diversity-management.asp
About the Reference
The Diversity Management Certificate Course provides participants with the tools they need to identify and communicate the business value of a diverse and inclusive work environment. Topical areas covered by the Diversity Management Certificate Course include:
- Strategic Planning: presents methods for developing the business case for diversity and inclusion relating the impacts of having/not having an inclusive environment to the ‘bottom line.’ Includes training for communicating the business case to executives and board members
- Human Resources: examines organizational behaviors and biases and how these impact the selection, promotion, and rating processes. Ties these behaviors and the resulting outcomes to the ability of an organization to attract, retain, and motivate diverse talent
- Training: describes the various diversity and inclusion training types, such as awareness and skills training, and the benefits and challenges of each
- Marketing and Sales: illustrates the impact of diversity and inclusion on an organization’s ability to market and sell its products and services to an increasingly diverse marketplace. Highlights methods by which affinity groups have and can help significantly improve an organization’s public image and open up markets; all of which increase sales and enhance the ‘bottom line’
- Procurement: discusses diversity and inclusion of suppliers/vendors and the impact on the organization’s culture and its ability to market products and services to other organizations
- Production (operations and maintenance): explores the impacts of engaging versus disenfranchising members of the workforce on production. Translates this impact, along with the impacts of undesired attrition, into ‘bottom line’ results
Benefits of Using this Reference
Significant, irreversible forces are flattening our world; bringing all people closer together in ways previously unimaginable. Today’s business environment offers unparalleled opportunities to richly combine the talents of the increasingly diverse workforce for the benefit of increasingly diverse clients if leaders can motivate and inspire each member of our team to contribute the fullest measure of his/her knowledge, skill, and experience to the achievement of mission goals. This level of engagement, however, only exists in accountable, diverse, and inclusive organizations.
While many individuals believe diversity and inclusion is the right thing to do, the Diversity Management Certificate Course helps these leaders express both their convictions and the business value of a diverse and inclusive work environment. By communicating the business value, these leaders earn the support of previously undecided executives and managers who now recognize the untapped value potential diversity and inclusion offers. Having garnered the critical mass of support, the organization can move toward increased accountability, diversity, and inclusion to the benefit of all.
By definition, strategy driven organizations are accountable, acting consequentially to promote the timely accomplishment of the organization’s mission, which subsequently enhances value creation. StrategyDriven Contributors believe accountable organizations will naturally be diverse and inclusive or becoming more so. The tools and techniques taught in the Diversity Management Certificate Course quantitatively illustrate this value relationship making this course a StrategyDriven recommended resource.
Diversity and Inclusion – What Does Your Environment Communicate?
We have often asserted that organizations, like people, act in a manner consistent with its shared values. Subsequently, those ideals in which an organization’s members truly believe manifest themselves in every aspect of the organization’s physical and social environments. These environments are categorically represented as an organization’s:
- physical environment
- social environment
- decision environment
- positional environment
- developmental environment
- recognition and rewards environment
[wcm_restrict plans=”25541, 25542, 25653″]Because an organization’s environments reflect the commonly held beliefs of its executives, managers, and employees, examining those environments reveals a great deal about the extent to which accountability, diversity, and inclusion is valued. Through this examination, the organization should seek to gain an understanding of whether individual characteristics, rather than performance, unduly influences the way in which members of the organization are treated. While not intended to be all-inclusive, the following lists provide a starting point for the gathering of environmental data from which conclusions regarding the organizations accountability, diversity, and inclusion can be drawn.
Physical Environment
- physical location/segregation of employees
- quality of environmental surroundings by demographic for a given organizational position/level
- designated parking or other perks without a purpose or significant benefit other than to segregate employees
- availability/unavailability of tools with respect to the need, preference, or performance enhancement of a particular demographic of employee
- policies, procedures, and the consistency of their implementation
Social Environment
- organizational language
- demographic based personnel valuation
- organizational hero demographics
- existence and types of affinity groups
- level of cross-demographic involvement in affinity groups
Decision Environment
- positions and demographics included in the decision-making process
- degree of sharing/delegating decision-making authority by demographic and position
- organization’s receptiveness and responsiveness to suggestions, recommendations, and input of members, particularly subordinates, by demographic and position
Positional Environment
- demographic representation among executives, managers, professionals, administrative staff, and laborers
- hiring demographic representation among executives, managers, professionals, administrative staff, and laborers
- voluntary separation demographic representation among executives, managers, professionals, administrative staff, and laborers
- termination demographic representation among executives, managers, professionals, administrative staff, and laborers
- promotion demographic representation among executives, managers, professionals, administrative staff, and laborers
- demographic diversity of the slate of people considered for various positions, including new hires and promotions
Developmental Environment
- executive and manager succession plan demographic representation
- demographic representation among:
- critical corporate initiative executive sponsors, project managers, and team members
- important business unit (i.e. divisional, departmental) project team leads and members
- demographic of mentees and mentors
- training availability and to whom (demographically) it is provided
Recognition and Reward Environment
- demographic equality of positional compensation
- demographic distribution of recognition and awards
- demographic distribution of performance evaluation grades and rankings by position
Remember that the organization’s values are more precisely represented by how its members act and less so by what its leaders say or write. While what is said and written is important, these expressions are meaningless unless acted upon. For this reason, examining each environmental aspect should be more than a simple count. Assessors should also identify the quality level at which each aspect is performed relative to each organization demographic to gain a true understanding of the organization’s environment.
Inclusiveness Vantage Point
When evaluating an organization’s inclusiveness, it is often helpful for assessors to consider the environment from the perspective of those who represent the organization’s majorities and then again from the position of the minorities. Because organizational culture is the collection of commonly held beliefs that are largely determined by the organization’s leadership, culture tends to represent the values of the majority demographic of people who hold power within the organization and may not necessarily represent those in the organization’s minority demographic or the majority demographic if these individuals don’t hold a corresponding portion of the leadership positions. Assuming the vantage point of each demographic group subsequently yields far greater insight into the organization’s openness to the thoughts, opinions, and insights as well as its willingness to recognize and reward those within the organization’s various demographics.
Questions for Consideration
The following questions are offered as a starting point from which to consider the treatment of each demographic of employee within the organization. To answer these questions, it is helpful to consider the numeric data collected about each organizational environment combined with the direct input, gathered through surveys and interviews, of those representing each demographic.
- How am I and others like me treated compared to those of other demographic backgrounds?
- Am I and others like me recognized and rewarded for performance in a manner consistent with those having similar performance of differing backgrounds?
- Do I and others like me have the same opportunities within the organization as others of differing backgrounds having comparable performance?
- Am I and others like me mentored, coached, and otherwise developed in recognition of our current performance and future potential consistent with that of others of differing backgrounds?
- Am I and others like me required to perform at a higher standard, to prove ourselves and our worth, than other members of the organization from differing demographic backgrounds?
- Does the organization seek to attract others like me in proportion to their availability in the global, national, regional, or local talent pools?
- Does the organization seek to attract the best performers or is it settling for the best of those available or the best of a particular demographic?
- Does the organization narrowly define its talent needs in such a way that it appears to unreasonably exclude the hiring of others like me?
Putting it all Together
Culture, represented by the collection of values and beliefs commonly shared by members of an organization, is always highly complex. Therefore, it is imprudent to draw conclusions regarding the organization’s values based on a single observation or the findings from one or a few environmental categories. When evaluating the degree to which an organization embraces diversity and inclusion, one should seek conclusions supported by observable facts and direct employee input from the majority, if not all, of the environmental categories.
Excellence in diversity and inclusion is not about meeting the legal organizational performance minimums set forth by Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity laws; it is about the creation of a work environment that motivates employees to give the full measure of their knowledge, skills, and experience to the advancement of the organization’s goals. Therefore, leaders and assessors must critically evaluate their organization’s culture and environment against high standards of inclusiveness in order to identify the improvement opportunities that will meaningfully contribute to their organization’s growth. Justifying existing behaviors and practices on the basis of being legally compliant will only serve to alienate employees; reducing their productivity, increasing their attrition, and degrading the organization’s value generation capability.
Final Thoughts…
An organization’s environment communicates to its members a sense of value for accountability, diversity, and inclusion. Regardless of whether an organization’s leadership team commissions a formal environmental assessment, individual members of an organization will draw their own conclusions regarding the organization’s traditions, beliefs, and values. Unlike many corporate leaders and assessors, these individuals will compare the organization’s environment to that of all other organizations of which they have knowledge or experience and will not limit their comparison to other similar organizations or industries. This broader comparative base is justified given the tightening job market and the increasingly transferable nature of job skills which provides today’s workers with unprecedented company and industry employment mobility.
Organizational diversity is often assessed against national, regional, or local demographics. Because at times individuals within the majority demographic of these broad populations will be members of an organization’s minority group, we believe it is important to begin by defining an organization’s diversity and inclusiveness based upon its own demographics rather than these broad-based averages. Having assessed its current state of diversity and inclusiveness, and organization should then compare its demographics with those of these larger populations in order to establish its future direction.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”25541, 25542, 25653″]
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Additional Information
As with all self assessments, there exists a wide array of tools that can be employed when examining each organizational environment. These tools range from the concrete direct observation to the less tangible surveys and interviews. Recommendations regarding the collection and synthesis of self assessment data can be found in Evaluation and Control Best Practice 1 – Data Synthesis and the Information Development Model.
Additionally, the most valuable self assessments use standards of excellence as their comparative basis and apply a highly critical eye to the organization’s conditions and performance. Information regarding the application of this high level of scrutiny can be found in:
- Strategic Analysis Best Practice 1 – Integrity without Excuses
- Strategic Analysis Best Practice 2 – advocates diabolic, The Devil’s Advocate
- Strategic Analysis Best Practice 3 – Identify the Hidden Drivers
- Strategic Analysis Best Practice 3 – Identify the Hidden Drivers (Continued)
- Strategic Analysis Best Practice 4 – Independent Assessors
- Self Assessment Best Practice 1 – Executive Sponsorship
- Self Assessment Best Practice 2 – Multidiscipline Teams
StrategyDriven Podcast Episode 6 – Vertically Cascading Organizational Performance Measures, part 1 of 3
StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.
Episode 6 – Vertically Cascading Organizational Performance Measures, part 1 of 3 elaborates on Organizational Performance Measure Best Practice 1 – Vertical Cascading. This discussion…
- defines vertically cascaded performance measures
- explores the reason vertically cascaded performance measures are critically important to the strategy driven organization
[powerpress]
About the Contributor
Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal, and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.
Decision-Making – Evaluating Decision Options, part 3 of 3
Alternative selection is the point in the decision-making process where art meets science and academic knowledge meets hands on experience. There is often no one perfect solution or one best solution. Rather, there will exist several alternatives within the acceptable value range from which the decision-maker will ultimately have to choose one option.[wcm_restrict plans=”49213, 25542, 25653″]
Step 3: Alternative Selection
As described earlier, there will always exist a total value threshold below which an organization will not pursue an available course of action. Having identified the total value of each option in step two, the decision-maker or decision-making team can now eliminate those options not meeting the defined minimum value threshold.
The Obvious Option Selection
Under fortunate circumstances, one option or portfolio of options will stand out as having significantly more value than the other available alternatives. This option is immediately recognized and selected by the assigned decision-maker. Care should be taken here to ensure the appropriateness of the value of assumptions made regarding this option so that a decision is not made reflective of what is desired versus what is most optimal.
The Competitive Option Selection
In other instances, several options or option portfolios will present decision-makers with similar value offerings; making alternative selection more difficult. Nice to have characteristics can often be used in these cases to help decide between the various acceptable alternatives. If the decision alternative is still not apparent, consider the following subjective qualities in order to facilitate the final option or portfolio selection:
- degree of alignment with the organization’s core values
- potential impact on the organization’s culture
- precedent sent for future decisions, including decisions made at lower levels within the organization
- unspoken messages that the decision will send to employees, customers, shareholders, and other key stakeholders
- how the decision would read on the front page of a large syndicated newspaper or headline on the evening news
The Lesser of Two Evils Selection
Decision-making is seldom easy. When one option offers superior benefits above the satisfaction threshold, including a margin for error, the choice is much easier. In some instances, however, the decision between options will be made not because any alternative has met the satisfaction threshold of the decision-maker but rather as the selection of the option offering the highest value potential while still not meeting the minimum satisfaction threshold or the Lesser of Two Evils. When a Lesser of Two Evils decision must be made, the decision-maker should follow the guidelines specified in The Obvious Option Selection and The Competitive Option Selection discussions above.
Final Thoughts…
It is important to understand the option evaluation and selection process in order to understand why decisions are made particularly in cases when the option selection reasoning is not obvious. Here, hidden drivers often comprise at least some undocumented or unspoken important option characteristics. A more detailed discussion regarding hidden drivers can be found in:
- Strategic Analysis Best Practice 3 – Identify the Hidden Drivers
- Strategic Analysis Best Practice 3 – Identify the Hidden Drivers (Continued)
Additionally, the risk assumed with not communicating a decision or the selection reasoning to the workforce is significant. People tend to fill information avoids with their own assumptions based on personal knowledge, experience, and beliefs. These assumptions may or may not be accurate and at times will result in undesired employee action. Therefore, decision-makers should make every effort to communicate both the decision and its basis to as broad a portion of the workforce as possible.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”49213, 25542, 25653″]
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Business Performance Assessment Program Warning Flag 1 – Inwardly Focused Performance Assessments
Often practiced, it can be highly misleading to base the organization’s performance standards relative only to internally identified best practice methods and characteristics. While at times the organization’s performance does represent the highest standard, it is more likely that individual activities are performed more effectively and efficiently by other organizations, particularly those seeking to improve performance in an effort to compete with perceived industry leaders. Top performers recognize this trap and augment their internal search for effective performance with an outward examination of other relevant businesses.[wcm_restrict plans=”47796, 25542, 25653″]
Organizations that are too inwardly focused tend to lose sight of the business environment and often find aggressive, innovative competitors capturing ever increasing portions of the market. While not all inclusive, the four lists below, Process-Based Warning Flags, Process Execution Warning Flags – Behaviors, Potential, Observable Results, and Potential Causes, are designed to help organization leaders to recognize whether their organization is too internally focused when establishing standards of performance. Only after a problem is recognized and its causes identified can the needed actions be taken to move the organization toward improved performance.
Process-Based Warning Flags
- business performance assessment processes do not require simultaneous examination of external benchmarks against which internal performance is compared
- business performance assessment processes do not require the participation of team members from outside the organization or business unit being evaluated
- business environment monitoring mechanisms do not include close examination of individual and process performance characteristics
- lack or infrequent execution of external benchmarking
Process Execution Warning Flags – Behaviors
- executives and managers do not promote the benchmarking and comparison of organizational processes and results to those of other businesses
- resistance to performance comparisons on the basis that ‘our organization is unique’
- frequent executive or managerial rebukes to recommended changes based on external benchmarks
- ‘shoot the messenger’ admonishment is given to business performance assessment team leads and members when identifying performance shortfalls relative to that of other organizations
- resistance to performance comparisons, particularly via a benchmarking, based on the perception that the activity’s cost (time and expense) would not be justified by its benefit
Potential, Observable Results
- business performance assessment reports lack comparisons to the performance of other organizations
- costs of like products and/or services are consistently higher than those of competing organizations
- declining or smaller profit margins as compared to similar businesses
- loss of market share
Potential Causes
- lack of or low organizational accountability
- fear of job loss if benchmarking reveals more inefficient methods for performing business operations
- general discomfort with challenging the status quo, resistance to change
- an organizational culture that resists change on the basis of ‘it was not invented here’ and/or ‘that is not the way we do things here’
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[/wcm_nonmember]Additional Information
The following StrategyDriven recommended best practice is designed to support introduction of external performance information to the business performance assessment process: