Tag: Workplace diversity

Team strength through diversity

By Thomas Davis, CRNA, MAE

Follow @procrnatom on twitter

“Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.”

~ Malcolm Forbes

 

Diversity

The combination of digital technology and the availability of dependable travel has linked people in distant areas of the globe and opened the door to blending cultures through unusual partnerships.  With the click of a mouse, executives in the United States can have a video conference with just about anyone, anywhere in the world.  People who were previously separated by geographical boundaries can now interact freely with one another thus creating the opportunity for diversity of thought within their organization.

 

In addition to connectedness created by technology, immigrants fleeing terrorism or seeking opportunities for employment are flooding across borders both in Europe and America, changing the ethnic makeup of the population, and contributing to diversity in host countries.  Clearly, demographics are changing in many areas of the world and organizations on the cutting edge of their industry welcome and capitalize on opportunities that accompany diversity.  Cultural diversity in the workplace is promoted when employers actively seek to hire employees from every religious and ethnic background and then capitalize on the variety of experiences that they bring to the workplace.  Building a diverse team strengthens the organization and here is why.

 

A member of the Q6 customer service team in Perth, Australia, R. Heryati documents the following advantages that arise from a diverse workgroup:

  • Increased productivity
  • Improved creativity
  • Increased profits
  • Improved employee engagement
  • Reduced employee turnover
  • Improved company reputation

 

Writing for Entrapraneur.com, author Kim Abreu adds to the list of advantages to having diversity on a team by noting that diversity correlates with improving innovation and recruiting.  From blogs to books, authors evaluating the relationship between diversity and productivity affirm the importance of having a diverse team when seeking creative answers to workplace challenges.

 

Two types of diversity are commonly found in the modern healthcare workplace; cultural and interprofessional.  

Cultural diversity refers to a person’s family heritage. Do people at your workplace have different skin color, facial features and hair color? Do they speak a second language?  What religious holidays do they celebrate?  The greater the variation between individual workers, the more diverse the workplace.

Interprofessional diversity arises from the mix of professions that must work collaboratively to render evidenced-based care to the patient.  Doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff are only a few of the professions that combine their efforts in a busy hospital environment.  Each sub-group has a different purpose, has received different specialty training and brings a different perspective to the table when discussing issues and developing plans.  In an ideal situation, every sub-group will have equal say and be given equal respect when interprofessional teams are formed to address issues or create policies.  The term abrasive collaboration is used to describe diverse professional groups working collaboratively to find a mutual solution while, at the same time, ensuring that their individual professional needs are met.

4 ways to promote diversity in your workplace

Educate yourself.  Connect one on one with people on your team and learn about their family’s country of origin and family traditions that carry over to today.  If members of your team have different religious beliefs, learn about their traditions.  Adjust your work schedule to enable team members to attend important religious or cultural activities.

Solicit different perspectives.   In personal conversations and at team meetings openly encourage each person to voice their point of view.  Seeking a variety of opinions is especially effective with reference to interprofessional groups.  To be effective, the hierarchical “doctor knows best” attitude must be replaced by a commitment to collaboration where each person has an equal say.

Develop diversity activities.   Include dates on the team calendar that recognize the culture or religion of your team members.  Encourage people to share their traditions with the group and schedule ethnic food days to celebrate the various cultures represented on your team.  When team members celebrate one another’s heritage, they respect for the contributions that each person makes to the team and become more receptive to their ideas.

Be the leader.  You are the leader and set the tone for the workplace.  If you are dismissive of diverse thoughts, your team will follow your example.  Conversely, if you welcome and openly solicit diversity, your team will follow your lead.  Openly welcome both cultural and interprofessional diversity in your workplace.

The best ideas arise from many ideas combining ideas from people with different cultural and professional background strengthens the team.   First, assemble the right group and then be inclusive of their ideas when making decisions.  Doing so will position you and your team for success.

“When we listen and celebrate what is both common and different, we become a wiser, more inclusive, and better organization.” ~Pat Wadors, Head of HR at LinkedIn

“If you hire only those people you understand, the company will never get people better than you are. Always remember that you often find outstanding people among those you don’t particularly like.”

~Soichiro Honda, founder of Honda

 

Tom is a noted author, speaker and mentor.  Contact tom@procrna.com for information about the 4-part values-based leadership webinar series.

Leveraging Boomers

By Thomas Davis, CRNA, MAE, Lt. Col (ret)

Follow @procrnatom on twitter

According to the Pew Research Center, Gen X and Millennials combined make up around 34 percent of the workforce.  Many Gen X workers, born 1965-1984, have already earned leadership positions and the super-stars in the advanced guard of millennials, born 1981-1987 aren’t far behind.  At the other end of the workforce age spectrum are the baby boomers, born 1946-1964.   Even though the elder boomers are retiring in droves however, many boomers now in their 50’s and 60’s continue to play a key role in the workplace of today.   As younger workers take charge, it is common for entry level millennial leaders to supervise baby boomers.  To a neophyte, it may be daunting to supervise workers who are the same age as their parents; However, the maturity that boomers add to your team creates an opportunity for you to leverage their experience.  Enhance your position and by capitalizing on the many positive things that elder workers bring to your team.

  • Dependability Children of the late 40’s and early 50’s were raised by parents who worked their entire career for one employer and retired after forty-plus years at the same job.  Their parents were survivors of the Great Depression who taught their children to value work ethic.  Boomers hate to let you down and will do everything within their power to accommodate work schedules and complete projects.

    Leverage their commitment by developing work schedules compatible with their advanced age and including them when maturity will enhance the outcome of a special project.

  • Loyalty Older workers who are still in the workforce have a loyalty to the employer and if you are their supervisor, they are loyal to you.   They may have seniority on your team, however, those working for you do not want your job.  They do want to be part of a highly productive team and that means they will support your every effort in achieving the mission, vision and values of the organization.

   Leverage their loyalty by putting them in charge of projects where a steady hand is needed to guide a group of younger workers through new challenges.  Smaller projects can be completely turned over to boomers with a high likelihood that they will be completed correctly.  You will be amazed at the effort they invest into bringing the project to completion.

  • Experience  Baby boomers often have 20-40 years of history working in their career fields.  Writing in Forbes.com, author Craig Malloy notes, “Boomers need to feel their experience in the workforce counts for something in the organization. These employees are, in part, motivated by mentoring team members, who may just be starting off on their career paths.”

   Leverage the wealth of knowledge that the boomers possess by soliciting their opinions.  Develop learning partnerships between elder and younger workers.

  • Interpersonal skills Boomers were born into homes wired for land-line telephones and television sets that received only 3 channels.  They communicated by talking to one another as opposed to email and texting.  Those born before 1964 have flourished due to their ability to effectively communicate face to face with others.

   Leverage their verbal skills by allowing them to mentor you when developing strategies to present your position to the team or to those in your chain of command. In addition, boomers went to school at a time when learning correct grammar and punctuation was required for graduation.  They are amazing editors for the written material that you intend to send up the chain of command.

  • Networking People who have been in the workforce for 30-50 years have a vast network of professional and personal acquaintances.  It is likely that they know someone who has experience in just about anything that you want to accomplish.

   Leverage the connections of your most experienced workers by asking them for references and connecting you with sources.

  • Stability  Boomers have been there and done that.  It is difficult to ruffle their feathers and their depth of experience can bring a sense of calm to the chaotic modern workplace.  Over the years, these hardy workers have survived crisis after crisis and have learned that when the dust settles, a viable answer usually emerges.

   Leverage their real-life experience by allowing them to tutor you when you perceive an impending crisis.

  • Adaptability Older workers may be perceived as being set in their ways, however, this older generation has lived a life of adaptability.  They were born before computers or space travel and our current world is a totally different planet than the one on which they were born.  Yet, as their workplace has evolved from paper to digital, they are still on the job.

   Leverage their adaptability by including them in technology updates; After all, clearly, they aren’t too old to learn.

  • Rebels Boomers were born in homes listening to 40’s big band, grew up with rock and roll and now enjoy modern music.   They were also born in a segregated America and were the driving force for social justice and civil liberty.  Boomers were rebels who saw the status quo as something that could be improved and jumped right in to make the changes.  Maturity has not altered the rebel spirit that makes them want to shake up the status quo and build a better world.

   Leverage their rebel spirit by establishing a team goal to build a preferred workplace and include boomers as leaders in the movement.

Generation X and Millennials who are being promoted to leadership positions do not need to be intimidated by the age or experience of older workers on the team.  Take advantage of the diversity of thought and experience that older workers bring to the team and ensure your own success by learning from them.   Once you realize that older workers want you to be successful and are more interested in visiting their grandchildren than stealing your job, you are free to open lines of communication and build on the wealth of experience that they possess.

Thomas Davis is a noted leader, educator, speaker and clinical anesthetist. 

Build a preferred workplace.  Join Tom and a group of healthcare leaders for the values-based leadership webinar.  Click here for information.