Involvement of a Strategic Leader in Diversity Management

 The involvement of a Strategic leader in managing diversity can no longer be ignored. We all know that an organization's competitiveness and its ability to be successful will depend on how the strategic leader manages workforce diversity. Putting in plain words, strategic leaders are assigned the task of assessing and evaluating their workforce diversity and this must be built into the structure of the organization. With a lot many years gone by, I have learned an important thing, which is there are substantial benefits to diversity because everyone has the ability to bring some unique skills to the table. A strategic leader's ability to handle these unique skills is critical to the overall success of the organization.

 

Diversity Management

Diversity management is a process that allows a strategic leader to plan and direct the activities of diverse groups; harnessing their unique skills to a point in which it adds a measurable difference to the overall success of the organization. Diversity management facilitates a different kind of communication in an attempt forge a new and broader understanding of organizational problems. There is no doubt that when diverse groups come together, it sets the stage for transferring knowledge which creates a learning environment. However, diversity management centres on more than just the result of transferring knowledge through leaning. It also includes diversity of the mind.

Cognitive Diversity

Cognitive diversity involves diversity of the mind and strategic leaders must promote this in their organizations, particularly in groups. This is about creating knowledge through the diverse interaction of groups. I believe the power of cognitive diversity supports organizational goals of creating new ideas and opportunities, not only to stir innovation, but also to promote a variety of ideas to facilitate change. What is so unique about this concept in that when a group or team for that matter, generates their own ideas for change, they are more likely to support them. To support this effort, a strategic leader must create diverse groups which can be done by combining people with different attributes, temperaments, backgrounds and skills to instigate the creative thinking needed to anticipate new opportunities and threats to the organization. This also helps to generate those possibilities and solutions as there is something to be said when it comes to the term "two heads are better than one."

Generational Diversity

As we move through the 21st Century, diversity management will continue to shape the workforce of the future and strategic leaders will have to develop a business case for managing it because there will be problems. Generational diversity presents a growing problem for many organizations. The problem is that there are four generations operating in the workplace and it takes a lot to manage this type of diversity. In other words, if a strategic leader expects the organization to remain competitive in the future, then they will have to manage this type of diversity as well. The four generations operating in the workplace include the traditionalist, baby boomer, generation x and the millennial. Although each worker is an individual, each of these generations represent a different culture, motivated by his or her own unique set of priorities and skills. As a strategic leader, you can help manage generational diversity by being politically savvy. However, you cannot do it alone. You will need help from other leaders, particularly your executive team, managers and supervisors. The lack of or failure to understand generational diversity will have a negative effect on the mission of the organization.

Cultural Diversity

Another key to diversity management is a requirement for strategic leaders to not only value differences but also draw the connection of cultural diversity and its impact on the organization. We must recognize how various aspects of our culture affect the workplace. This is very important for a strategic leader who has to create, manage, or change the culture of their organization. A culture of an organization may be strong or weak and if you must change the culture to better align it with a new strategy; you are going to need help from your strategic leadership team and life and Business coach, as well as the organization as a whole. It is the organizational culture that determines key interpersonal factors such as risk tolerance and dedication to quality and innovation and these cultural practices must be managed effectively. As an example, we might say that a sense of safety in the culture about the ability to question assumptions could have a direct impact on a product being produced. The bottom line is that we want strategic leaders to draw the connection of cultural diversity to diversity management as a means to enhance the posture of the organization to be more effective and efficient.

Summary:

I can't say enough about how important it is for a strategic leader to get involved in diversity management. It brings individuals' talents and experience together which allows the organization to generate a host of ideas in order to help it maintain the competitive advantage for the present as well as for the future. The importance of diverse group interaction is significant to facilitate knowledge transfer and learning. We must value differences and understand the connection of culture to diversity management and by doing so leads an organization to be successful.

 

Original Source -

https://in.linkedin.com/company/anthuriumnoida?trk=public_profile_topcard_current_company

 

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