Work Force Diversity : How to Overcome the Obstacles to Diversity

So what can employers do to make their way toward diversity? Here are some tips from the experts.

* Education. Employers must make certain their employees clearly understand what kinds of conduct will not be tolerated.

* Exposure. Ann M. Morrison, a Del Mar, Calif.-based consultant and author of several books on diversity in the workplace, suggests structuring work teams or task forces so they are ethnically, racially and sexually diverse. This helps employees break down stereotypes and assumptions.

* Accountability. Efforts to diversify often go unrewarded, Morrison says. Managers who recruit and develop women, minorities and other less traditional workers should be recognized for their achievements, and employees who work well with people of varying backgrounds should be rewarded in their job performance evaluations.

* Assess the trouble. Don’t assume you understand the problem. At one company, Morrison says, managers saw women leaving and assumed it was due to work-family conflicts. They installed a new family benefits package, but it didn’t help. They learned later that women left because they saw no future for themselves due to lack of promotion and development.

* Recruit from new venues. When seeking candidates for promotion, managers should re-examine their assumptions, Morrison says. For instance, there is no reason someone from the manufacturing line couldn’t be developed into a great human resources manager if the person has the right personality traits.

* See each employee as an individual. Avoid attributing traits to workers based on a group to which they belong, Morrison says.

* Intervention by top management. Commitment to diversity must be demonstrated clearly at the highest levels of the company.