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What Exactly Does Diversity Include?
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Diversity is not only black and white, male and female, homosexual and heterosexual, Jew and Christian, young and old, etc., but the diversity of every individual, slow learner and fast learner, introvert and extrovert, controlling type and people type, scholar and sportsperson, liberal and conservative, etc. Although it includes gender and racial differences, it goes beyond that to touch on the fabric of our everyday lives.
This is what leaders need to focus on … helping people to realise that it takes a wide variety of people to become the best and that they need to have the ability to be able to rely on everyone in their team, no matter how different another person may be. An organisation needs controllers, thinkers, dreamers, doers, strategisers, analysers, organisers, and team builders to reach the goals that make an organisation the best.
Organisations need an extremely diverse group of people on each team. Most organisations picture diversity in very limited terms. The essence of diversity should NOT be to picture diversity as race, religion, sex, or age; but to picture it as the uniqueness that is built into every individual. Only by accepting the uniqueness of others, will people want to help the team to succeed.
How we tend to categorise people:
- Worker characteristics
- Personal characteristics
- Traditions
- Differences characteristics
- Seniority
- Position level
- Experience
- Union or non-union
- Salaried or exempt
- Education
- Training
- Sexual orientation
- Physical status
- Ethnic background
- Religious background
- Socio-economic status
- Culture
- Marital status
- Gender
- Age
It is these characteristics and experiences that make a worker unique. Diversity occurs when we see all these unique characteristics and realise that workers are more valuable because of their differences.
Click here to view a video on equality, diversity and inclusion.