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Gaining a Seat at the Table
ATD Blog

Integrating Diversity: A Seat at the Table

Tuesday, December 27, 2016
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Integrating diversity into the workplace promotes increased productivity, higher quality, and greater enrichment to the customers we serve. Companies that embrace diversity can broaden their skill base and become more competitive and innovative. Countless studies have shown that organizations that ensure diversity in the workplace earn a higher return on investment in a variety of ways.

Cultivating a diversity-inclined culture occurs when organizations make sure that every voice is heard, ideas are given equal opportunities, and discrimination is not tolerated. This cultivation needs to happen on both an individual and company-wide level. Often diversity challenges the status quo, forcing many workers to examine their mindsets and beliefs. Personal reflection can be highly rewarding, but diversity also needs to be promoted and practiced from the top down to truly alter company norms. Executives who advocate for diverse talent in their respective industries—establishing a standard of treating everyone with respect and investing in everyone equally—cause measurable change.

Trainers play another integral part in the full integration of the workforce. As a trainer of color, I take extra precautions to adapt my teaching style to reach everyone. For example, I create activities that partner new hires with someone they would normally not get an opportunity to interact with, thus enhancing their learning experience. This kind of interaction also yields dividends beyond the classroom: It helps employees have more-substantive conversations and fosters true team spirit.

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Success in integrating diversity in organizations will provide a seat at the table for everyone. This sounds like a lofty goal, but it’s one that is possible to achieve. I challenge you to look at your organization and devise a plan that starts a dialogue about diversity, or continues the discussion: How can you go from good to great?

About the Author

Christian Ohonba is a training and motivational expert, with more than five years of training and development experience. She has worked in a variety of industries and trained a mixture of audiences, from entry level to executive level. Christian’s passion is to enable people to tap into their potential, so they can succeed in life. Christian works as an implementation consultant for a Dallas-based technology company within the healthcare industry. She is developing her own training consulting firm to use her talents to make the world a better place, one training session at a time. Contact her via LinkedIn.

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