Diversity Briefings Newsletter; November 23, 2010

Welcome to Diversity Briefings: 11/23/2010

Volume 1, Issue 21. Published Each Monday - Friday

Welcome back to Diversity Briefings. Please note, there will be no published issues from Nov. 24 - Nov. 30. Next issue will be published Dec. 1. Have a wonderful holiday. Susan

I hope you are enjoying each issue of this newsletter. Please feel free to resend this Diversity newsletter on to friends and colleagues. If you would like to subscribe to receive daily updates, the form for Diversity Briefings is below. Also, if you have some extra time, take a look at the new diversity glossary, upper left on this blog site. Take Care and Good Reading!
Susan Klopfer, editor and publisher

P.S. FREE GIFT inside today's issue! Remember, You can subscribe to Diversity Briefings here
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Wake up to your power
Rupert Nacoste, guest columnist for Technician Online: “I started working on diversity issues in the U.S. Navy in 1974. Back then diversity was all about black-white relations. But diversity in black and white is dead. Neo-diversity is what we live with today; a time and circumstance when for all of us, contact with people who do not look like us happens every day, and is unavoidable. Many people are having trouble adjusting to our neo-diversity America. Not so much because of prejudice and bigotry, but because of uncertainty and anxiety about how to interact.”
http://www.technicianonline.com/viewpoint/wake-up-to-your-power-1.2414892
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Diversity Student Council looks into starting "Power of Words" campaign
Kylie Corbett, reporting for The Lariat: Saddleback College's Diversity Student Council is currently looking into ideas for future events and campaigns. The promotion of awareness of social equality issues surrounding LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people has greatly influenced DSC's interest in starting a Power of Words campaign. DSC will soon be purchasing a banner and flag due to the increasing numbers of suicides as the result of peer bullying. The banner and flag will encompass the idea of equality. This campaign will emphasize the use of better words and the importance of accepting one another.
http://www.lariatnews.com/life/diversity-student-council-looks-into-starting-power-of-words-campaign-1.2414460
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Sandra Ciseneros Lectures at UCSB
Co-sponsor Mario Garcia, professor of Chicano Studies here at UCSB, discussed why he specifically wanted Cisneros to lecture on campus.“She is without question the finest Latina writer in the country and I wanted to expose my students to her. I am using her book House on Mango Street in my class so I wanted to put a face to the book.”
http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2010/11/sandra-ciseneros-lectures-at-ucsb
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Lynchburg schools under review for civil rights compliance; U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights is conducting the review.
Karen Kiley reporting for WDBJ7: The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) usually investigates complaints of civil rights violations in schools. It gets about 6,900 of those a year, nationwide, and investigates about one-third of those complaints. But now, D.O.E. officials say the OCR is trying to be proactive and is doing "random" compliance checks of school systems. Nearly two dozen of these types of investigations are currently underway, nationwide.
http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj-lynchburg-schools-under-review-112210,0,5037255.story
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Travelers Share Tales of Airport Security-Induced Humiliation
Sandra Quinlan reporting for Justice News Flash: West Palm Beach, FL—Two travelers claimed they were humiliated while undergoing enhanced pat-downs by Transportation Safety Administration agents on two separate occasions in the last few months. The incidents, both of which involved cancer survivors, occurred at airports in Michigan and North Carolina.
http://www.justicenewsflash.com/2010/11/23/travelers-airport-security-induced-humiliation_201011236239.html

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FREE GIFT http://www.quoteactions.com/a/profile/841

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Companies Must Manage the ‘ISMs’ When Working With Diversity
Susan Klopfer writes
-- “We have some great new and positive ideas for restructuring our sales workforce, ultimately helping our entire company to get through this recession. But there is so much resistance to diversity that I can’t implement all of our plans and I am coming to you for some help. How do I encourage our sales division to make these changes?”

--Sales Vice President, Rema, describes her dilemma to members of her company’s special change management team during their weekly meeting at WXYZ Company.

--“Diversity is always a tough area of change,” says Pete, a team member who initiated its organization five years earlier. Pete had taken diversity management classes in college, becoming a devout follower of diversity gurus R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr. and William Sonnenschein. He persuaded his company’s CEO to organize this group that advises other managers as they implement change throughout the organization. “We call this time of most resistance during any change project as being in the Delta,” he explains to Rema.

--“We know you’ve worked hard to get everyone behind the sales restructuring project, and it was especially critical that you considered the diversity component in these changes,” another group member, Marilyn, joins in.

--“But I am not surprised that you are encountering serious resistance from line managers, employees, and even senior managers. Resistance typically rises from many sources.”

Continued --

http://diversitythoughts.blogspot.com/p/companies-must-manage-isms-when-working.html
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Find still more Diversity News each day at Diversity News Online http://diversitynewsonline. Feel Free to pass this Diversity Briefings Newsletter on to your co-workers and others. Thank you for visiting the Diversity Briefings website. Please note that the information located on our site is general and not intended to provide specific legal advice. You should consult with an attorney and not rely on any information contained herein regarding your specific situation.

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Keywords: cultural diversity, manage and value diversity, diversity training, diversity education, workplace violence, workplace, employment, diversity, disability, inclusion, ethnic, racial, gender, multiculturalism, immigration, lgbt, racism, discrimination, new civil rights movement, civil rights, feminist, latinos, Native Americans, hostile workplace, harassment

Diversity Briefings; October 26, 2010

Welcome to Diversity Briefings: 10/26/2010
Volume 1, Issue 5
Group Klopfer Diversity Consulting
Susan Klopfer, editor and publisher

Welcome to the fifth issue of this new online Briefing. I hope you are enjoying the stories. If you would like to subscribe to receive daily updates, the form is at the bottom of today's issue. Good reading!

Susan Klopfer

Today’s Topics: generational diversity; rule for FMLA; intellectual diversity; an attitude towards intolerance; diversity and collaboration; opting out; older staff; good leaders

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Benefits of Bridging the Generational Gap

People are living and working longer, and the workplace is developing a “generational diversity.” So how do you get people who watched television in black and white to relate to people who watch television on their cell phones? And vice versa?

To continue, click here

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=532009

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"Insights for Employers: Don’t retaliate against employees because they have taken FMLA leave. Not ever. Never."

Want to know why? Click here to get the answer:

http://www.fmlainsights.com/retaliation/scared-of-liability-for-fmla-retaliation-beware-of-bingo-workers/

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(diversity = liberal?)

Conservative and libertarian professors are becoming increasingly rare at colleges and universities, and this lack of intellectual diversity may be hampering the development of innovative solutions to the nation's problems.

To continue, click here

http://www.blogger.com/goog_986136544

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A 39-year-old Irish retired athlete, now a trainer, attributes his childhood in Scotland as a big factor in his attitude towards intolerance. "Being part of an immigrant family, in Glasgow, I was surrounded by intolerance all the time and it opened my eyes at an early age. I was brought up as anti-racist and anti-fascist, and have always wanted to get social justice for minority groups."

To continue, click here

http://www.blogger.com/goog_986136547

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The combination of diversity and collaboration can lead to a tremendous competitive advantage in business, a group of Orlando, Fla. college students and faculty were told Friday by Guillermo Novo, UCF alumnus and vice president of Dow Coating Materials.

To continue, click here

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-10-25/community/orl-ucf-dow-vp-speaks-at-ucf_1_diversity-cultures-ucf-s-college

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"Call it a glass ceiling, glass wall or a glass floor - there is still a barrier blocking senior women leaders in organizations. High-powered executive and professional women are increasingly opting out of, being bypassed, or otherwise disappearing from the highly professional workforce. While this exists, true diversity in organizations will not happen, at least in the U.S. and Canada."

To continue, click here

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201010/why-has-the-glass-ceiling-become-impenetrable

Still More Notes

Could a diversity of ages improve workplace motivation?

Interested in creating a workplace bristling with motivation and productivity? You may wish to hire a workforce with a wide age range, says Rachel Krys, campaign director for the Employers Forum on Age. Older staff can bring just as much fresh thinking to the table as younger people, asserts Kyrs as she reacts to a recent study by the Age and Employment Network which discovered that long-term unemployment rates for the over-50s are still high, despite a fall in the jobless total over the past quarter.

To learn more, continue here --

http://www.youatwork.com/128/section.aspx/581/Could-a-diversity-of-ages-improve-workplace-motivation

Diversity Management Tip of the Day

Effective Diversity Management Starts From Within; Self Awareness is Key

What makes an effective leader? Many diversity experts say that self-awareness is at the heart of strong leadership, and that good leaders stay ahead by working on improving themselves.

No matter how hard a person tries, we all have biases; we discriminate without even recognizing what we are doing. An important key is committing oneself to the lifelong practice of self-understanding such issues while comprehending the diverse world around us.

Continue this article by Susan Klopfer --

http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Susan-Klopfer-7986/diversity-124929.php

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Feel Free to pass this Diversity Briefings Newsletter on to your co-workers and others. Thank you for visiting the Diversity Briefings website. Please note that the information located on our site is general and not intended to provide specific legal advice. You should consult with an attorney and not rely on any information contained herein regarding your specific situation.

You can subscribe to Diversity Briefings:

Enter your email address:


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Diversity Briefings: 10/21/2010

Volume 1, Issue 3
Group Klopfer Diversity Consulting
Susan Klopfer, editor and publisher

Today’s Topics: New research on personality and leadership, bullies as health threats, Mcdonalds loses sex discrimination lawsuit, white men hurt Canadian board rooms, USDA and Native American farmers settle, More Notes (Popular NPR Commentator Loses Job Over Muslim Remarks) and Tip of the Day (Spaghetti Wednesdays and Managing Diversity)

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New research reveals “dark side” behaviors — such as those associated with narcissism, being overly dramatic, being critical of others and being extremely focused on complying with rules — can have a positive effect on leadership development over time.

To continue, click here

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/the-pros-of-having-a-jerk-for-a-boss-0638/

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“It was a feeling that never left, that didn’t lift when I went home for the night or weekend. It was starting to color all of my experiences. And I had real suicidal thoughts for the first time since my junior year in college, 22 years earlier.”

Celebrate Freedom From Bullies in the Workplace Week…

To continue, click here

http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2010/10/workplace-bullies-as-health-threats-especially-in-health-care/

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McDonald’s will pay $50,000 to settle a sex discrimination suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC charged that McDonald’s USA, LLC unlawfully subjected an employee to sexual harassment at one of its New Jersey restaurants.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit filed September 29, 2009 in U.S. District Court for District of New Jersey, an assistant store manager made lewd comments to a teenaged crew member and touched, spanked and hugged him in a way that made him very uncomfortable. The crew member was only 16-17 years of age when these incidences took place.

To continue, click here

http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/10-20-10d.cfm

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The top board tables at large Canadian companies are dominated by white men and do not reflect the country's diversity, a factor that may cost firms their competitive edge, a study found.

To continue, click here

http://www.blogger.com/goog_1223771344

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The USDA has settled a decade-old case brought by Native American farmers alleging discrimination. As with the Pigford litigation, the Native American class action – commonly known as Keepseagle – claims USDA employees caused loans to not be processed and/or checks to arrive so late that it negatively impacted farming operations.

To continue, click here

http://www.blogger.com/goog_1223771349

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MORE NOTES

NPR commentator Juan Williams (“Eyes on the Prize”) has lost his job over a Muslim remark. Quite a surprise, since Williams is a long time civil rights advocate and should have known better. More on this story at http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-juan-williams-20101021,0,2593969.story?track=rss


DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT TIP OF THE DAY

Don’t Miss “Spaghetti Wednesday”! Managing Diversity Takes Companies to Their Cultural Roots…

If the idea of managing diversity has piqued your company's interest, here are several critical questions to consider: What basic assumptions drive your organization − what makes life tick at your place of business? What fundamental understandings do people quickly learn that help them fit in and work in acceptable ways, and how are these assumptions passed on to employees?

The assumptions that drive life in corporations are different from values and traditions, which are usually made clear in some way.


Once I applied to work as an intern for a company that celebrated "Spaghetti Wednesdays" in the corporate lunchroom. I was told about the tradition when interviewed for the job and I still believe to this day if a person would have revealed they didn't like spaghetti, they would not have been hired!

Continue –  http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Susan-Klopfer-7986/diversity-119115.php

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Feel Free to pass this Diversity Briefings Newsletter on to your co-workers and others. Thank you for visiting the Diversity Briefings website. Please note that the information located on our site is general and not intended to provide specific legal advice. You should consult with an attorney and not rely on any information contained herein regarding your specific situation.

You can subscribe to Diversity Briefings:

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner