Embracing Diversity in the Workplace

MANY CULTURES, ONE TEAM
Embracing Diversity in the Workplace

Diversity is essential for your small business because it increases productivity, promotes creativity, and develops a tight-knit culture within the workplace. As an advocate for workplace diversity, you are signaling to your employees and customers that you are open to a work environment that celebrates different perspectives and personalities that help to create a positive, open, and welcoming company based on mutual respect and understanding.

In my small business, our operations book, called the “Book of Kaizen,” dedicates an entire page to the slogan, “Many Cultures, One Team.” I am convinced that my business is richer because we’ve succeeded in combining the talents of many different people: persons of color, a diverse mix of cultural backgrounds, ex-military personnel, people with disabilities, millennials to retired seniors, gays, and lesbians. Applying and supporting this belief system and staying committed to hiring this culturally-rich group of employees has made my business what it is today – a business that is embraced and supported by the surrounding community.

Here are three tips that I have found are useful in promoting diversity in small businesses:

1. Stop and Suspend Judgement

Business owners sometimes hate to admit it, but most have built-in biases and stereotypes that are triggered when they venture into unfamiliar territory. They immediately shut down and pass judgement on people who are different. It is time to remove those filters and start entering into relationships with an open mind.

2. Listen and Learn

When you initially meet, take the time to earnestly converse with potential employees by asking pertinent questions. By this, I mean peeling back the onion into deeper layers versus just staying with the top layers of shallow conversation. Ask them about their life, cultural beliefs, and what’s important to them. You will be surprised how much you learn about their different perspectives.

3. Invite Employee Contributions

I believe that everyone has the capability of making positive contributions to our society. As a business owner, one of your responsibilities is to help everyone uncover the unique gifts that your employees didn’t realize they had. Help them to raise their self-esteem and watch how their personal lives blossom!

The people who ultimately grow through this process are you and the employees in your business. Diversity in the workplace can translate into diversity in your customer base. Our society is a melting pot of people with different backgrounds, so why not make all people feel comfortable doing business for you and with you?

Next Steps…
Now that I have provided some of my thoughts about diversity, what are the kinds of things that you can do? Take a few moments and write down some steps that you can take to move towards cultural diversity in both your life and business:

1.___________________________________________________________________
2.___________________________________________________________________
3.___________________________________________________________________
4.___________________________________________________________________
5.___________________________________________________________________

How to Approach Fearful Situations with Confidence

Have you ever heard of oracle cards? For years I’ve used them to help make decisions or unblock fears that are getting in my way. Oracle cards come in all shapes and sizes but they’re usually a small deck of cards with various inspirational words or phrases on them. I recently decided it was time to create my own set starting with a paper tiger.

Why start with a tiger? As I explain in the video above, my dear business mentor once explained to me that our fears are like tigers but we must realize that they are only made of papers and paper tigers are easily defeated with the right frame of mind.
Eventually I’d like to offer a full deck of inspirational oracle cards with my original artwork on each card. For now, I invite you to CLICK HERE for a free download about overcoming your fears and facing every situation with confidence. I hope you find it helpful and I wish you a wonderful day!

Reflecting on 2016

Happy New Year!

If you are like me, you’ve probably spent some time reflecting on the past year. I’m sure that among the good and the disappointments you’ve experienced there are some events that you remember fondly with a smile. I encourage you to reflect on your past year and focus on the most uplifting events. Today I want to share a video of an event that always brings tears of joy and a smile to my face. Read more

This is a Popular Article!

Do You Have a Mentor- (1)

I received so many positive comments about this article (published in the North American Post a few weeks ago) that I want to share it with you. Do You Have a Mentor?, part II. If you don’t have a good Mentor like Joe, I suggest you get busy and start looking for one. I can guarantee that you will get a new outlook on life! Read more

Plan For an Inspiring Year + A Free Download

Creating Magical Moments

If you’re like me, you have probably made some promises to yourself about how to make this year a productive one. We’d all like a  year filled with a sense of accomplishment and personal fulfillment. Unfortunately, what usually happens is that we are bombarded by a myriad of distractions and fail to meet our goals. Weeks fade into months and months accumulate into a year… before we know it, we have forgotten all about our pledges. At least, that’s what always happens to me! Read more

Make Something Sweet for Valentines

Valentines Day gives me a reason to create small and colorful cards and craft items to sell in my salon and to give to people I love. I looked high and low in my craft room to find scraps of colorful papers and ribbons which were left from my previous projects. It was so much fun to get lost in cutting and pasting these papers. I was so happy with the end result that I decided to share them with you. Read more