Diversity skills give employees, and managers increased productivity and a competitive edge. The diversity concept is mainly used when referring to people’s culture. Bucher et al. (2000) argue that culture is an individual’s way of life, including what they learn, share, and transmit to other generations. Though culture last for a long time, it is never static. Beliefs, rules, material things, and values that individuals create are part of their culture (Bucher et al., 2000). Organizations that teach and value diversity have higher job satisfaction, are highly creative, have lower turnover, and always attract the best workforce ever and can retain it. Diversity skills are crucial because they make the entire crew become flexible and accommodative to diverse needs and lifestyles while accepting viewpoints from different people and their expertise. Therefore, being diversity conscious in this globalization period can be considered one of the essential skills that individuals who aspire to be successful in their careers or businesses and become good leaders should embrace and possess. Diversity consciousness involves an individual’s success and their ability to respect, understand and value diversity. This paper will outline my weaknesses and strengths regarding diversity consciousness and the plans I have to execute so that I can improve in my diversity consciousness weakest areas and become a better leader in the future, respecting and upholding diversity.
To begin with, I have three areas that I believe are my most important areas when it comes to diversity in the workplace. They include teamwork, good communication, and conflict management. I worked for seven years in the hospitality sector as a waitress in a five-star hotel, and working in that industry strengthened those three areas of diversity in me more than I ever imagined. My listening and communication skills were boosted such that even my manager and colleagues noticed it and could send me to the clients they knew were very stubborn because they understood how I could handle people by listening to them and talking to them carefully in a compassionate manner. Understanding that every speech you make has consequences became the first thing to learn from this culture that I spent almost a decade in since talking badly to customers resulted in immediate effects where they could even walk out of the restaurant after making orders that were not returnable. I, therefore, understood that working in highly diverse environments, like in restaurants where people from mixed backgrounds troop in, requires good communication skills that entail giving an open ear to listen carefully (Indeed Editorial Team, 2022). Because each culture has its way of communicating, I constantly interact with individuals from different cultural backgrounds, co-workers and customers; understanding each other and authentically communicating was a significant thing for me while listening to every order or question they ask to give meaningful feedback. The communication process that happens between diverse cultural group’s individuals is more difficult compared to those from the same cultural background, and more time and investments are spent; they bring huge emotional rewards that help individuals to develop their communication and listening skills better and coexist with diverse cultural groups’ people in harmony.
Additionally, I am an individual who truly embraces teamwork. I used to work shifts in the hotel where we could have night shifts that were not well organized by the management by only scheduling a certain number of people who would be working. We would then work as a team and ensure that everything goes as planned without any arguments. Through this, I could build good relationships while taking my responsibilities carefully, respecting different viewpoints from my colleagues along with their individual preferences and customs. I also learned how to manage conflicts between clients and us because they regularly conflicted during the night.
I, however, discovered that I also had a lot of flaws despite having all those diverse consciousness and strong skills. I hate being corrected or receiving feedback that does not favour, congratulate or say good comments about me. I have realized this is a big problem in the current diverse environment that is very conscious because people will always comment on what you do wrong more than right. Therefore, I believe that accepting my mistakes and the areas I never performed well is a good way of ensuring that I perform better in future and avoid confrontations whenever a person corrects me or gives a negative comment. It is always essential for me to understand that the in this globalization era, many new things are coming, and others are already in the market and doing them well but need someone to give room for corrections. I will try my best to ensure I react positively to individuals giving corrections with good intentions of seeing me become the excellent leader I intend to be.
Many organizations have embraced diversity and inclusion in their workplaces, and hiring individuals who are not diversity conscious is impossible, which means that every person intending to work at any position in the current market should find ways of becoming diversity-conscious (Martin, 2014). Developing skills that are diversity conscious includes appreciating one’s weaknesses and strengths because this is what will help them succeed in organizations that are culturally diverse worldwide.
References
Bucher, R., & Bucher, P. (2000). Diversity Consciousness Opening Our Minds to People, Cultures, and Opportunities Fourth Edition With contributions from Patricia L. Bucher. https://pdfuni.com/sample/PoliticsSociology/PS401-500/PS477/sample%EF%BC%8DDiversity%20Consciousness%204th%204E%20Richard%20Bucher.pdf
Indeed Editorial Team. (2022). 5 Diversity Skills To Develop (And Why They’re Important). Indeed Career Guide. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/diversity-skills#:~:text=What%20are%20diversity%20skills%3F,expertise%20of%20all%20different%20people.
Martin, G. C. (2014). The Effects Of Cultural Diversity In The Workplace. Journal of Diversity Management (JDM), 9(2), 89–92. https://doi.org/10.19030/jdm.v9i2.8974
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