Thinking_About_Diverstiy_and_Inclusion

Thinking About Diversity and Inclusion SCO 315 Instructor Keita What is the difference between diversity and inclusion' Diversity is any dimension that can be used to differentiate groups and people from one another. It means respect for and appreciation of differences in ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, education, and religion. Inclusion is a state of being valued, respected and supported. It’s about focusing on the needs of every individual and ensuring the right conditions are in place for each person to achieve his or her full potential. Inclusion should be reflected in an organization’s culture, practices and relationships that are in place to support a diverse workforce. In simple terms, diversity is the mix; inclusion is getting the mix to work well together. http://www.rbc.com/diversity/what-is-diversity.html What is the importance of workplace diversity training' The importance in workplace diversity training is to educate all employees that no matter what age, religion, race, or gender a person is, a company can greatly benefit from all employees working together to move forward in a very competitive global environment. To achieve this task a company has to change the culture that is in place. People need to get away from how they used to think and feel and embrace change of acceptance. This change may allow a company to become more innovative in the way they think as they now share different viewpoints from many different ways of life. A person’s knowledge is a great asset for any company. By not allowing acceptance an individual because that person is not of the norm can only hamper a company’s longevity. Training removes barriers that once existed. People will understand that individuals from other backgrounds are not so different and they may share similar traits as those people What is your experience with workplace culture' Could there be, or could there have been, more inclusion' I am currently unemployed so I will speak of a company that I worked for in the past. I was with that company for 13 years and the workplace culture seemed to stay relatively the same for the vast majority of time. Don’t misunderstand me, the company made a big push to become more diverse but in many people’s eyes it was only a temporary change and things would go back to the way they used to be. After so many years of doing things one way it was hard to envision a change. We felt this way because most of the upper management didn’t change, and with us working far away from corporate office they would continue to manage the way they had always done, so with the mindset that there was only one way, their way. Towards the end of my employment there was a change of leadership at many different positions and many of management that had been in the same place for a long time were moved to different positions or let go. Company wide diversity training classes were required by all and positions that became available were now filled by a diverse set of candidates. The must have realized that in order to change a culture you must have people in charge that understand that a culture change was important to the success of their company. With what ethnic, cultural, or other groups do you identify' Describe what members of your social circle have in common. Raised as a child, my family believed in many cultural aspects of the Polish ethnicity. We had a strong view of tradition, family and religion. As children we knew no different and believed that everyone else had a similar family culture. The unfortunate part is that as ancestors past away, so did the culture. Much of what I grew up to follow was replaced with modern day way of thinking. The one that didn’t change was my views and following of religion. Polish people are devote Catholics and follow closely the teachings of the Catholic religion. We frown on religions that don’t follow similar beliefs and can’t comprehend people that don’t believe in God as we know. Many of the people in my social circle share the same religious belief. Some do not agree with everything that the Catholic religion believes in. They feel that some everyday issues need to take a more modern day approach. But one thing that does not change is that they all believe that there is a God.