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Turning Diversity into Unity: Embracing Ethnic Diversity in the Workplace

Turning Diversity into Unity: Embracing Ethnic Diversity in the Workplace In a world that grows smaller every day through the effects of global trade and immigration, embracing ethnic diversity is not merely good human rights practice — it’s good for business.

HERE’S A COMPONENT of competitive advantage you may not be considering — ethnic diversity. Learn to embrace your employees’ diverse backgrounds as a corporate strength and you’ll develop a competitive edge that no force can erode.

Given the global reach of North American supply chains it’s only natural that our office environments reflect the multicultural nature of our global community. Through the effects of global trade and immigration, the world is getting smaller and smaller. Change comes at an ever increasing rate bringing different languages, cultures and customs constantly into play during the average work day. Consequently there is a growing demand to understand and appreciate people for where they come from and to respect their beliefs and their social customs in order for companies to operate at optimum levels.

The challenge lies in turning variety and diversity into unity.What comes to mind is Malcolm Forbes’ comment about diversity being the art of thinking independently together. In practice diversity becomes the art of overcoming many potential barriers to equal opportunity and participation. Major obstacles include language,different levels of comprehension, different negotiating tactics and different attitudes that are a result of culture and upbringing.

Our industry has very specific demands for qualified personnel that know how to ship goods globally.When the demands can’t be met by homegrown talent we look beyond our borders to recruit the right people. More and more, the necessary skills are provided by people from other parts of the world.

Thankfully Canada has an immigration policy that is open to offshore countries.

In a time when some countries are adopting laws to restrict immigration (sometimes through controversial means such as DNA testing), it is important to recognize that the richer, stronger corporations are those that communicate best with the citizens of the world. Face it. Embracing ethnic diversity is good for business.

Embracing diversity is a four step process that involves recognizing, accepting, respecting and celebrating our differences. Best practices in this area are less about written corporate policy and more about common sense and good manners. It can start with observing religious holidays that aren’t our own and progress to learning new languages and customs.

For instance, one practice that our company has instituted is setting aside one day a year to give employees an opportunity to share their customs and traditions with their co-workers.We call it Heritage Day.We recently celebrated our sixth annual Heritage Day, with employees dressing according to ethnic tradition, posting their home country flag on their desk and bringing food of their native country to one awesome potluck lunch. For one day our office was filled with the colour and gaiety of a collective cultural pride.

Increasingly we are working outside our own environment, where converging languages, etiquette and traditions affect the speed at which we can do business. Having been dependent on the skills of an interpreter to guide a delicate business negotiation, I can tell you how important language skills are in today’s global economy. English may be the universal language of business, but sometimes a deal gets left on the table due to differing interpretations.

Every company and organization struggles in many ways to embrace diversity. To me, however, the tactics for turning diversity into unity are straightforward. Begin with recognition and respect for your co-workers. Above all be patient and prepare to manage for more complexity.

In a smaller and smaller world we never know what country (or countries) will be the new frontier in the global economy. Right now it’s China and India. On the horizon is Eastern Europe.And some day Africa may make China look expensive. As long as business drives the need for poor countries to succeed, then embracing the diversity inherent in those countries will be a mandatory aspect of business management. A company is its people. And they aren’t all from the same place.

Edmonton City Councillor Ron Hayter said it best,“We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names,and all are different colours.But they all have to learn to live in the same box.”Any company lacking in a rainbow of skills,perspectives and ethnic diversity of its employees will find itself seriously disadvantaged.