Dear Reader:
Thank you for being a supporter and reader of Diversity Briefings. We have good news that will help you keep up with what's happening in the area of DIVERSITY. This newletter has merged into a daily online newspaper that will bring you more short briefs of diversity news everyday. Please take time now to visit Diversity News Online and be sure to subscribe to keep the diversity and multicultural news streaming to you every morning.
Thank you for being a Briefings supporter. I hope this change will be a boost to you. Remember -- now you have two online publications: Diversity Briefings (this blog) and Diversity News Online (daily, short "briefs" of diversity news).
Sincerely,
Susan Klopfer, publisher
Visit Diversity News Online here -- http://diversitynewsonline/
Showing posts with label MVD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MVD. Show all posts
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Diversity Briefings Newsletter: 11/10/2010
Welcome to Diversity Briefings: 11/10/2010
Today’s New Diversity Topics:
--President appeals for Muslim-Christian tolerance
--Difference Between Men and Women Business Owners?
--December Date Set for 2010 Civil Rights Leader Daisy Bates Summit
--Justice Department Reaches Settlement with University of South Carolina
--Demand For Equal Justice: White Farmers Still Ahead, Says Color of Change Advocate
--The Worse Mistake Supervisors Can Make
--President Obama honors Indonesia as an example of diversity, democracy
--“Defense of Marriage” Lawsuits in US,
--Another Bullied 14-year-old commits suicide,
--New York, Chicago Accused of Title IX Sports Discrimination
--Still More on Managing Diversity: People From Diverse Communities and Mental Health Services
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Volume 1, Issue 15. Published Each Monday - Friday
Welcome back to Diversity Briefings. 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 offer inside today's issue!
You can subscribe to Diversity Briefings here
Enter your email address:
Delivered by FeedBurner
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Barack Obama in Indonesia appeals for Muslim-Christian tolerance
The President today, speaking at the University of Indonesia in Jakart, talked of the tolerance Indonesians had shown him (the foreign child brought up in their midst), and the tolerance needed today to eradicate the mistrust that had built up over the years between Muslims and Christians. This was the second major speech of his presidency reaching out to the Muslim world. The first was in Cairo last year. More from The Guardian --
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/10/barack-obama-indonesia-religious-tolerance
/////
What's the Difference Between Men and Women Business Owners?
Popular Bag Lady Linda Hollander has been watching The Apprentice as Donald Trump divides the teams into men and women to see their different motivations and leadership styles. She reports the gap between men and women seems to be closing and shares some style differences between the two. Both genders mention the same motivations according a recent study by the Kauffman Foundation for Entrepreneurship. For example, both “had an equally strong passion to build wealth.” Hollander’s comments are interesting – Read more--
http://wealthybaglady.typepad.com/blog/
/////
December Date Set for 2010 Daisy Bates Summit
The NAACP 2010 Daisy Bates Summit will be held Thursday, December 2—Saturday December 4, 2010. The late civil rights advocate Daisy Bates was president of the Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP and advisor in 1957 to the Little Rock Nine, the students who braved hostile opponents of integration to Central High School. Despite mob threats and intimidation, cross burnings on her property, and other acts of attempted violence, Mrs. Bates persisted because of her strong beliefs.
For her work guiding the Nine through one of the most tumultuous civil rights crises of the 1950s, she was selected as 1957 Woman of the Year in Education by the Associated Press, and was the only woman invited to speak at the Lincoln Memorial ceremony in Martin Luther King’s March on Washington in 1963. But her importance as a historical figure has been overlooked by scholars of the civil rights movement. December’s Summit will convene grassroots organizers from across the country to focus on moving the NAACP’s education agenda forward with a combination of traditional and innovative education organizing techniques conducted in concert with local allies. Continued --
http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/daisy-bates-summit-2010/
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Justice Department Reaches Settlement with University of South Carolina to Ensure Students Are Free from Harassment
University of South Carolina has agreed to improve its policies and practices for receiving, investigating and resolving complaints of discrimination and harassment. The settlement agreement will ensure that students, faculty and administrators understand and are trained on their responsibilities under the university’s policies, including when and how to report incidents of harassment or discrimination, and will require the university to respond to such complaints in a timely and effective manner. In order to ensure ongoing compliance with its revised policies, the university also will train select administrators, faculty and students to lead future trainings on campus. The settlement provides that the university will adopt revised anti-discrimination and harassment policies before the start of the 2011-12 school year and will initiate training during the spring 2012 semester. Read on --
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/November/10-crt-1276.html
/////
Demand For Equal Justice: Farmers Still Can’t Get Their Settlement; White Farmers Still Ahead, Says Color of Change Advocate
From James Rucker, ColorOfChange.org: For more than a generation, managers at the United States Department of Agriculture systematically turned down Black farmers' applications for loans and other critical forms of aid. These loans are the lifeblood of farming, and without them many Black-owned farms were foreclosed on — and resold to White farmers. This insidious discrimination enabled some White farmers to prosper and grow at the expense of generations of Black families who sought to make a living off the land. At the same time, it devastated the Black farming community. While 14% of all farmers were Black at the turn of the last century,3 by 2002 only 1.4% were Black.
Black farmers eventually filed a class action lawsuit against the federal government, winning a landmark legal settlement in 1999. At the time, the USDA paid only a portion of the farmers with legitimate claims, so a second settlement was announced — but Congress never approved funding to pay the remaining farmers. This story and Rucker’s demand for equal justice continues --
http://www.colorofchange.org/pigford/?akid=1691.242831.GEK8QT&id=2413-900765&rd=1&t=3
/////
Handling Employee Complaints: The Worse Mistake Supervisors Can Make
Here’s a tip from the HR Cafe on the WORST mistake a supervisor can make: When employees make complaints, listen. Take good notes. Ask questions and get all the facts. But don’t judge. It's a bad idea in general to make assumptions about what employees did or didn't do. But if an employee comes to you with a complaint, those assumptions become even more dangerous. Read on to learn more about the worst mistake supervisors can make in dealing with employee complaints.
http://rapidlearninginstitute.com/hrcafe/employee-complaints-worst-mistake-supervisor-can-make/?utm_source=The+HR+Cafe+Blog&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=02e19878a2-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_HRCAFE
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President Obama honors Indonesia as an example of diversity, democracy
President Obama honored Indonesia, as an example of how this country embraced diversity and democracy. The president said that innocent individuals all over the world were still under attack by militants but underlined that the United States was not at battle with the Islam. According to analysts, it is the president’s greatest effort to connect with Islamic world since he talked to Cairo in 2009.
http://whatisthetrend.net/president-obama-honors-indonesia-as-an-example-of-diversity-democracy-20104618.html
/////
Europe’s Largest Gay News Service Follows “Defense of Marriage” Lawsuits in US
Pink News reports: “Two lawsuits have been filed against the US Defence of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of gay marriage.They were filed in Connecticut and New York by gay rights groups, who argue that the 1996 law, known as DOMA, violates the US constitution.Connecticut’s lawsuit was filed by the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders on behalf of gay couples in Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire.” Follow this report –
http://gay.pinknews.co.uk/2010/11/10/two-lawsuits-filed-against-us-defence-of-marriage-act/
/////
Still Another Bullied 14-Year-Old Commits Suicide
From the New Civil Rights Movement Blog: Fourteen-year old Pennsylvania high school freshman Brandon Bitner wrote a suicide note, left home around 2:00 AM Friday morning, walked thirteen miles, then, threw himself into highway traffic, killing himself. A friend says, “It was because of bullying. It was not about race, or gender, but they bullied him for his sexual preferences and the way he dressed. Which they wrongly accused him of.” Here is more --
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/bullied-14-year-old-called-gay-girly-fag-commits-suicide/news/2010/11/08/14890
/////
New York, Chicago Accused of Title IX Sports Discrimination in High School
Bloomberg reports: New York, Chicago and 10 other U.S. school districts failed to provide high school girls with opportunities to play sports in violation of federal law, the National Women’s Law Center said. The school systems, which also include Houston, violated Title IX by denying girls the same access to sports as boys, the organization said in a statement today. The group filed administrative complaints that are based on the schools’ data and show “pervasive and growing inequalities,” said Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the center.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-10/new-york-chicago-among-school-districts-accused-of-title-ix-sports-breach.html
/////
Receive a free inspirational quote every day from me.
http://www.quoteactions.com/a/profile/841
Lots of my friends are enjoying this free gift. I hope you will, too. Susan
/////
Still More on Managing Diversity:
People From Diverse Communities May Be Fearful To Seek Mental Health Services
Maria recently confided to her doctor that she was having a hard time at work because of her depression. He immediately referred Maria to a psychologist and she was able to start getting some benefit from therapy, combined with medicine from her physician.
Because Maria knows her problem didn't arise overnight, she recognizes it will not go away in a week or two. Even with medicine and therapy, her treatment will probably take at least a month before any significant results occur, her therapist says.
While Maria wants to talk to her boss about this matter, particularly since she is having some trouble adjusting to her medications, she is afraid of her boss's reaction.
"Lots of people really don't understand mental illness very well, so you had better keep this to yourself," Maria's mother advises.
By Susan Klopfer -- Read On ...
http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Susan-Klopfer-7986/diversity-127391.php_____ _____ _____ _____
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 here
Enter your email address:
Delivered by FeedBurner
## End ##
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Diversity Briefings, Oct. 27, 2010
Welcome to Diversity Briefings: 10/27/2010
Volume 1, Issue 6
Group Klopfer Diversity Consulting
Susan Klopfer, editor and publisher
Welcome to the sixth issue of this new online newsletter. I hope you are enjoying the stories and links. 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: Fairness and equality in the classroom, Sikhs misunderstood -- becoming victims, Cooking for the Dalai Lama, Talent has no boundaries, New harassment guidelines
----- ----- ----- -----
Fairness in the Classroom
ONE of the key ways to ensure that the principles of fairness and equality of treatment are enshrined within our society is to address these issues within our education system, says JILL DONABIE of Muckle LLP.
To continue, click here
http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-news/archive/2010/10/27/fairness-in-the-classroom-51140-27552005/
/////
Investigating Anti-Sikh Discrimination in a Post 9/11 World
"Hindu.”, “Go back to your county.”, “Terrorist.” These are remarks heard around the Yuba City, California area by ordinary, hard-working, American citizens who happen to come from East India and happen to be Sikhs. Because Sikhs are misunderstood, they have become a second set of victims of 9/11, says Denise Leifker, a Sutter County Probation Officer
Click here to continue reading:
http://www.sikhspectrum.com/112006/denise.htm
/////
Cooking for the Dalai Lama
Acclaimed Chef Art Smith was invited by His Holiness The Dalai Lama to cook this past weekend in Toronto for his VIP guests at a luncheon hosted by The Canadian Tibetan Center.
Click here, to continue
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/candid-candace/2010/10/chef-art-smith-cooks-for-the-dali-lama.html
/////
Employment for disabled people opens up doors
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, themed "Talent has no boundaries: Workforce diversity includes people with disabilities." "Cashing your first paycheck can be exhilarating. Being a contributing member of the workforce gives us a sense of pride, independence and security, as well as consumer power to purchase goods and services," write Suellen Jackson-Boner. "For people with disabilities, obtaining employment brings them closer to being full, valued participants in our Indiana communities."
To continue, click here
http://www.tristate-media.com/warrick/opinion/editorials/article_504d2834-e1d9-11df-a34f-001cc4c03286.html
/////
Harassment violation of federal civil rights?
Certain types of harassment rooted in sexual orientation or religious differences may be a federal civil rights violation, even though members of those groups are not specifically protected in federal law, according to new guidance released today by the U.S. Department of Education's office of civil rights.
To continue, click here
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/26/dept-of-ed-antigay-bullyi_n_774081.html
Still More Notes
Muslim civil rights group asks for IRS investigation
In a letter this week, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a prominent Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, urged the IRS to look into the Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation. The civil rights group alleges that IPTF's founder, Steven Emerson, listed by CAIR as one of the nation's leading Islamophobes, misused the company's tax-exempt status to conduct illegal transactions.
To learn more, continue here --
http://www.taxlawhome.com/Tax-News/800159481/Muslim-civil-rights-group-asks-for-IRS-investigation--
Diversity Management Tip of the Day
In a Global Market, Your Customers Expect Diversity; Are You Meeting Their Needs?
My husband and I were having a quick breakfast in an unfamiliar restaurant, waiting for the doors to open at a nearby museum. As I sipped my coffee, I began to realize why I wasn't comfortable. It wasn't just because we were having Sunday breakfast away from home.
Very quickly, I had realized every person serving us, from the greeter to wait staff, was young and white. I peeked into the kitchen and confirmed what I was guessing − the invisible people working behind the scenes, performing the lower paying jobs, were Latino, African American and of varying ages. Will this restaurant get my return business? Probably not.
Continue this article by Susan Klopfer --
http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Susan-Klopfer-7986/diversity-110545.php
///// ///// ///// /////
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:
Volume 1, Issue 6
Group Klopfer Diversity Consulting
Susan Klopfer, editor and publisher
Welcome to the sixth issue of this new online newsletter. I hope you are enjoying the stories and links. 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: Fairness and equality in the classroom, Sikhs misunderstood -- becoming victims, Cooking for the Dalai Lama, Talent has no boundaries, New harassment guidelines
----- ----- ----- -----
Fairness in the Classroom
ONE of the key ways to ensure that the principles of fairness and equality of treatment are enshrined within our society is to address these issues within our education system, says JILL DONABIE of Muckle LLP.
To continue, click here
http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-news/archive/2010/10/27/fairness-in-the-classroom-51140-27552005/
/////
Investigating Anti-Sikh Discrimination in a Post 9/11 World
"Hindu.”, “Go back to your county.”, “Terrorist.” These are remarks heard around the Yuba City, California area by ordinary, hard-working, American citizens who happen to come from East India and happen to be Sikhs. Because Sikhs are misunderstood, they have become a second set of victims of 9/11, says Denise Leifker, a Sutter County Probation Officer
Click here to continue reading:
http://www.sikhspectrum.com/112006/denise.htm
/////
Cooking for the Dalai Lama
Acclaimed Chef Art Smith was invited by His Holiness The Dalai Lama to cook this past weekend in Toronto for his VIP guests at a luncheon hosted by The Canadian Tibetan Center.
Click here, to continue
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/candid-candace/2010/10/chef-art-smith-cooks-for-the-dali-lama.html
/////
Employment for disabled people opens up doors
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, themed "Talent has no boundaries: Workforce diversity includes people with disabilities." "Cashing your first paycheck can be exhilarating. Being a contributing member of the workforce gives us a sense of pride, independence and security, as well as consumer power to purchase goods and services," write Suellen Jackson-Boner. "For people with disabilities, obtaining employment brings them closer to being full, valued participants in our Indiana communities."
To continue, click here
http://www.tristate-media.com/warrick/opinion/editorials/article_504d2834-e1d9-11df-a34f-001cc4c03286.html
/////
Harassment violation of federal civil rights?
Certain types of harassment rooted in sexual orientation or religious differences may be a federal civil rights violation, even though members of those groups are not specifically protected in federal law, according to new guidance released today by the U.S. Department of Education's office of civil rights.
To continue, click here
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/26/dept-of-ed-antigay-bullyi_n_774081.html
Still More Notes
Muslim civil rights group asks for IRS investigation
In a letter this week, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a prominent Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, urged the IRS to look into the Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation. The civil rights group alleges that IPTF's founder, Steven Emerson, listed by CAIR as one of the nation's leading Islamophobes, misused the company's tax-exempt status to conduct illegal transactions.
To learn more, continue here --
http://www.taxlawhome.com/Tax-News/800159481/Muslim-civil-rights-group-asks-for-IRS-investigation--
Diversity Management Tip of the Day
In a Global Market, Your Customers Expect Diversity; Are You Meeting Their Needs?
My husband and I were having a quick breakfast in an unfamiliar restaurant, waiting for the doors to open at a nearby museum. As I sipped my coffee, I began to realize why I wasn't comfortable. It wasn't just because we were having Sunday breakfast away from home.
Very quickly, I had realized every person serving us, from the greeter to wait staff, was young and white. I peeked into the kitchen and confirmed what I was guessing − the invisible people working behind the scenes, performing the lower paying jobs, were Latino, African American and of varying ages. Will this restaurant get my return business? Probably not.
Continue this article by Susan Klopfer --
http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Susan-Klopfer-7986/diversity-110545.php
///// ///// ///// /////
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:
Thursday, October 21, 2010
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)
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/
/////
“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/
/////
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
/////
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
/////
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
/////
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
///// ///// ///// /////
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:
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)
----- ----- ----- -----
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/
/////
“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/
/////
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
/////
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
/////
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
/////
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
///// ///// ///// /////
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:
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Managing Diversity Means Listening to All Employees; Use Them Or Lose Them!
The XYZ Company is not living up to its promises. The thought comes to junior executive Greg J. as he walks back to his office following the second hostile encounter with his boss in two days. "And today is only Wednesday," he tells himself and shakes his head. When he took this job after graduating from business school six months ago, Greg believed he was going to work for a progressive company, one that knew how to manage diversity − not a traditional company "stuck back in the 50s.”
Greg and fellow students quickly adopted the ideas of R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr., one of America’s leading spokespersons on managing diversity and president of The American Institute for Managing Diversity, which Thomas founded in 1983 at Morehouse College.
Greg liked Thomas’s description of an awakening taking place regarding management in this country’s marketplace as the population moves to increased diversity. Managing diversity is an idea whose time has come as organizations and businesses are increasingly recognizing that a diverse work force is not more trouble for managers, but represents their greatest potential strength − when properly managed, he learned from Thomas.
“This awakening must have happened while I was over in Iraq,” Greg mused one day while going over class notes: “The manager who best understands it takes a diverse work force at all levels of the company, including senior management, best serves the organization,” his professor had lectured.
Greg and his classmates learned how the U.S. labor force “now and for the foreseeable future” will be largely composed of women, minorities, and immigrants. This group will constitute about 85 percent of the new entrants in the work force, according to a landmark study by the Hudson Institute.
They read in their professor's course syllabus that “Companies now realize they must attract, retain, and promote this full spectrum of people just to keep the business running. So great is their need that advice on the management of diversity has suddenly become a growth industry,” (borrowing a quote from Dr. Thomas’s classic book, “Beyond Race and Gender.”)
His business school even took heed to Thomas’s message, and its students represented a dramatic change, moving from mostly traditional young white males to the mid-sixties woman sitting next to Greg (who appeared even younger than the Laotian man sitting at the front of the classroom and still perfecting his English). Greg was a returning, disabled veteran, retraining from the field of education. This multicultural classroom with new ideas coming from so many unique perspectives had inspired and challenged the entire group of students, as well as the professor.
But now, back at XYZ, Greg fully realized how this company’s attempt to force today’s reality into yesterday’s management patterns was seriously jeopardizing the viability of the entire enterprise.
Just this morning, Greg attempted to share ideas about a problem he observed with marketing a new product. “Maybe we should consider finding a new marketing firm, one that understood the Latino culture, since this product were be a perfect fit for Hispanic Americans newly immigrated to the United States,” he suggested. Greg knew quite a lot about this market, after graduating from Spanish language classes through the Army while a Reserve soldier, and studying cultural diversity, multiculturalism and the growing Latino population in the U.S. From this experience, he knew the XYZ product would be a shoe-in for working-class Latinos.
But Greg’s senior XYZ executive boss, even before Greg could finish his last sentence, quickly interjected he didn’t have time to hear such ideas, and that Greg was “stepping out of bounds” with this suggestion. Greg was hired as an accountant, afterall, and marketing was “not his problem,” he reminded the new hire.
Managing diversity, as a way of thinking, is new and very different from traditional business perspective. While the traditional focus has been on individual and interpersonal aspects alone, what is new is seeing diversity as an issue for the entire organization, even involving the very way organizations are structured.
The way organizations are managed and the way managers do their jobs is critical to diversity management. It is grounded “in a very special definition of ‘managing’; creating an environment that allows the people being managed to reach their full potential. At best, it means getting from employees not only everything you have a right to expect, but everything they have to offer,” Thomas writes.
Greg, a white male from the traditional “dominant culture,” had much to offer XYZ, coming from his unique knowledge gained from world travel and multicultural studies. But after this final incident, Greg knew he would never fill his true potential by staying with a company that had no time for his ideas.
“Their loss, my gain...” he sighed and began packing his personal belongings.
-----------
By Susa Klopfer, M.B.A.
Diversity consultant, speaker and author
An excerpt from "Profit From Diversity: Getting Along With Others."
CreateSpace Publish Date: November 15, 2010 (National Education Week)
Greg and fellow students quickly adopted the ideas of R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr., one of America’s leading spokespersons on managing diversity and president of The American Institute for Managing Diversity, which Thomas founded in 1983 at Morehouse College.
Greg liked Thomas’s description of an awakening taking place regarding management in this country’s marketplace as the population moves to increased diversity. Managing diversity is an idea whose time has come as organizations and businesses are increasingly recognizing that a diverse work force is not more trouble for managers, but represents their greatest potential strength − when properly managed, he learned from Thomas.
“This awakening must have happened while I was over in Iraq,” Greg mused one day while going over class notes: “The manager who best understands it takes a diverse work force at all levels of the company, including senior management, best serves the organization,” his professor had lectured.
Greg and his classmates learned how the U.S. labor force “now and for the foreseeable future” will be largely composed of women, minorities, and immigrants. This group will constitute about 85 percent of the new entrants in the work force, according to a landmark study by the Hudson Institute.
They read in their professor's course syllabus that “Companies now realize they must attract, retain, and promote this full spectrum of people just to keep the business running. So great is their need that advice on the management of diversity has suddenly become a growth industry,” (borrowing a quote from Dr. Thomas’s classic book, “Beyond Race and Gender.”)
His business school even took heed to Thomas’s message, and its students represented a dramatic change, moving from mostly traditional young white males to the mid-sixties woman sitting next to Greg (who appeared even younger than the Laotian man sitting at the front of the classroom and still perfecting his English). Greg was a returning, disabled veteran, retraining from the field of education. This multicultural classroom with new ideas coming from so many unique perspectives had inspired and challenged the entire group of students, as well as the professor.
But now, back at XYZ, Greg fully realized how this company’s attempt to force today’s reality into yesterday’s management patterns was seriously jeopardizing the viability of the entire enterprise.
Just this morning, Greg attempted to share ideas about a problem he observed with marketing a new product. “Maybe we should consider finding a new marketing firm, one that understood the Latino culture, since this product were be a perfect fit for Hispanic Americans newly immigrated to the United States,” he suggested. Greg knew quite a lot about this market, after graduating from Spanish language classes through the Army while a Reserve soldier, and studying cultural diversity, multiculturalism and the growing Latino population in the U.S. From this experience, he knew the XYZ product would be a shoe-in for working-class Latinos.
But Greg’s senior XYZ executive boss, even before Greg could finish his last sentence, quickly interjected he didn’t have time to hear such ideas, and that Greg was “stepping out of bounds” with this suggestion. Greg was hired as an accountant, afterall, and marketing was “not his problem,” he reminded the new hire.
Managing diversity, as a way of thinking, is new and very different from traditional business perspective. While the traditional focus has been on individual and interpersonal aspects alone, what is new is seeing diversity as an issue for the entire organization, even involving the very way organizations are structured.
The way organizations are managed and the way managers do their jobs is critical to diversity management. It is grounded “in a very special definition of ‘managing’; creating an environment that allows the people being managed to reach their full potential. At best, it means getting from employees not only everything you have a right to expect, but everything they have to offer,” Thomas writes.
Greg, a white male from the traditional “dominant culture,” had much to offer XYZ, coming from his unique knowledge gained from world travel and multicultural studies. But after this final incident, Greg knew he would never fill his true potential by staying with a company that had no time for his ideas.
“Their loss, my gain...” he sighed and began packing his personal belongings.
-----------
By Susa Klopfer, M.B.A.
Diversity consultant, speaker and author
An excerpt from "Profit From Diversity: Getting Along With Others."
CreateSpace Publish Date: November 15, 2010 (National Education Week)
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