Diversity Executive - November 2008 - (Page 52)

DIMENSIONS of DIFFERENCE In today’s business environment, putting our differences to work requires new skills to collaborate across cultures, distance and differences. Diversity executives must prepare to welcome the unexpected. By Debbe Kennedy I magine the following scenario: A senior female leader walks into the diversity leader’s ofﬁce to register a complaint about how much time and money is being spent to build teamwork and collaboration capability in the organization. The investments were a response to blows from a major consolidation and reorganization, but by decree of this new senior leader, all nonrevenue producing initiatives were being sought out and cut to sustain a lean and mean organizational strategy. The program was just getting started, but this leader did not recognize what the initiative would do to deliver results for her business strategy. “We don’t need an emphasis on people working together,” she said, mocking the idea with her tone. “We come to work, and teamwork works!” Her statement prompts a question that is increasingly relevant today: Does working together and collaborating effectively really happen just because we show up to work? The struggle to get along and communicate, to ﬁnd new ways to work together and collaborate are not new challenges, and team effectiveness often waxes and wanes with business cycles. But business has changed, and the organizational stakes are much higher. The realities of distributed, increasingly diverse workplaces, marketplaces and communities require that leaders at every level master these fundamental skills. As cutting-edge, global, market-driven strategies become the single-minded focus in many organizations, it is clear they — perhaps unintentionally — have pushed the notion of “people being our greatest assets” into the background. And in some cases it’s now a case of “out of sight, out of mind.” As organizations work to adapt to a changing world, the best have proven they are skilled at creating comprehensive worldwide business plans, blowing away the competition with innovative products or services and compiling the ﬁnancials that prove their worth. At the same time, even with the company values on display, behind the scenes, deep within day-to-day operations, there are myriad examples where peopleand diversity-related considerations have slipped off the mainstream radar around strategic business thinking and priorities. All organizations can beneﬁt from asking — are we falling into this trap in our search for the fastest way to achieve business success? A New Competitive Advantage There is a mounting body of evidence that organizations and diversity executives all around the world are discovering that putting our differences to work is the 52 Diversity Executive | www.diversity-executive.com | November/December 2008 http://www.diversity-executive.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Diversity Executive - November 2008

Diversity Executive - November 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Leadership Connections Guest Editorial Diversity Executive Online Middle Management Roadblock ‘Hidden Winds’ Hinder Progress The Domino Effect Supplier Partnerships Unlock Economic Opportunities Measuring Diversity Special Section: Who’s Who in Diversity and Inclusion Dimensions of Difference Overcoming Language Diff erences Business Intelligence: Combating Subtle Discrimination Case Study: Shifting Diversity Into Overdrive Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Strategies

Diversity Executive - November 2008

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