Contemporary Leadership

Contemporary Leadership

How can leaders handle diversity? When handling diversity, it can be difficult due to the fact of all the differences in each individual. It doesn't necessarily have to be based on gender, race, and culture but with each individual's differences. When diversity affects the workplace negatively, it can affect the performance of the entire work unit. It can create distrust and conflict, lower satisfaction, and higher turn-over.

I feel one of the most effective forms to deal with diversity is communication. I think communication is key to inform information to the employees of your work group about certain policies and objectives with the corporate diversity plan. When doing this, I believe it is important to set an example in your own behavior of appreciation for diversity. As a leader, I also believe that you need to encourage the respect for individual differences. The workforce is growing every year with more diverse people and there needs to be an understanding of different values, beliefs, and traditions of people in your work group. It also may help to make any changes that will positively affect the various groups in your work group.

Continue to discuss and update issues that are related to the company's policies and implement those policies to your work group to increase them to their full potential consistently. It may help to obtain or create copies of the employee handbook and distribute them to employees and make sure they are up to date to current issues. Also create a form for them to sign that they read and understood the handbook. The main thing is to stress respect to all employees and that if guidelines are broken, then repercussions could be enforced and have a decision of what those could be. When dealing with diversity, it is key to speak out to protest against unfair treatment based on prejudice and let the employees know it will