Most people believe in the golden rule: treat others as you want to be treated. The implicit assumption is that how you want to be treated is how others want to be treated. But when you look at this proverb through a diversity perspective, you begin to ask the question: what does respect look like; does it look the same for everyone? Does it mean saying hello in the morning, or leaving someone alone, or making eye contact when you speak?
It depends on the individual. We may share similar values, such as respect or need for recognition, but how we show those values through behavior may be different for different cultures. How do we know what different cultures need? Perhaps instead of using the golden rule, we could use the platinum rule which states: "treat others as they want to be treated." Moving our frame of reference from an ethnocentric view ("our way is the best way") to a culturally relative perspective ("let's take the best of a variety of ways") will help us to manage more effectively in a diverse work environment.
Our Role
We have a key role in transforming the organizational culture so that it more closely reflects the values of our diverse workforce. Some of the skills needed are:
* an understanding and acceptance of managing diversity concepts
recognition that diversity is threaded through every aspect of management
* self-awareness, in terms of understanding your own culture, identity, biases, prejudices, and stereotypes
* willingness to challenge and change institutional practices that present barriers to different groups
* It's natural to want a cookbook approach to diversity issues so that one knows exactly what to do. Unfortunately, given the many dimensions of diversity, there is no easy reci ...