There are many factors and practices that contribute to a welcoming and productive work environment. In our consultation to many work places, we have found different perceptions and experiences about the same place based on individuals’ roles, tenure, and personal dimensions of human diversity. For example:
- Women in support roles have often reported not “being valued” by co-workers, and often communicated to disrespectfully.
- White male supervisors “agree” that administrators and supervisors model the commitment to workforce diversity while African American men “highly disagree”.
- LGBT employees “disagree” that microaggressions are addressed immediately.
- The majority of employees disagree that there is regular and open communication.
- Acceptance of human diversity often receives variable responses. Individuals from underrepresented workplace groups tend to respond with “highly disagree” and “disagree,” while individuals from majority groups have opposite responses.
Same Place, Different Perspectives
How would you rate the following statements as these relate to your current work setting?
Use a scale of 1-4: 1 = highly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, 4 = highly agree
- People are treated fairly, based on what they do rather than who they are or whose favorite they may be.
- The work environment is comfortable and welcoming to me as an individual.
- The organization’s stated commitment to workforce diversity and inclusion is modeled by administrators and supervisors.
- Overall, I feel valued by my peers.
- Overall, I feel valued by my supervisor.
- There is open acceptance of all dimensions of human diversity (e.g. ethnicity, race, gender, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomics, etc.) among people who work here.
- Microaggressions are addressed immediately by supervisors.
- An atmosphere of teamwork and collaboration exists among members of my unit.
- There is regular and open communication among peers, administrators, and support staff.
- Respect is an organizational value.
Workplace Diversity Initiatives for Inclusion
Today’s workplace settings, be they tech, service, higher education, and nonprofit organizations, just to name a few, are attending to diversity and inclusion. Often referred to as D&I, these initiatives identify opportunities to make employees feel welcomed, supported, and successful. Organizations now hire chief diversity officers (CDO) to lead the initiative and take pride in how they improve performance when it comes to the hiring and promotion of individuals from underrepresented groups or the establishment of Employee Resource Groups (ERC). All seems to go in a visibly positive direction to achieve inclusion.
Climate Studies
In Successful Diversity Management Initiatives (1996), Dr. Arredondo outlined the Blueprint for organizational diversity planning. Internal data gathering through climate studies was cited as one key step. The ten statements above are just a sampling of items that can 1) inform management about how the workplace “feels” in general, and 2) how different individuals from diverse identities experience the workplace in terms of openness, acceptance, and encouragement.
Please share your thoughts. How have climate studies benefitted your workplace?
Arredondo, P. (1996). Successful Diversity Management Initiatives: A blueprint for planning and implementation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Arredondo, P. & Woy, J. R. (1996). Climate Surveys. Boston, MA: Empowerment Workshops, Inc.
Muy pertinente para mantener la armonía y respeto.