Too often, people hear the word diversity and think gender, race, and different lifestyles. While these may be the most challenging areas for us to talk about, diversity is much more. Diversity is also age, physical appearance, cultural background, pay levels, positions, various approaches to accomplishing work and to problem solving, education and where it was acquired, and different abilities. All of these differences are taken into account when Roy Brown & Associates develops a curriculum for your organization.

Roy Brown & Associates believes diversity learning is not a destination: "It's a journey." It is the beginning of a lifetime of learning to work with and respect the contributions of others in the work place. It gets us started toward understanding our own values, beliefs, norms and perceptions and how they can enhance or hinder our ability to produce our best work. Diversity learning affects the bottom line. Roy Brown & Associates works in partnership with employees and managers to help an organization meet its goals by harnessing the power of its diverse workforce.

Case Study in Workforce Diversity Training
A large center located in a vast government agency, this Roy Brown & Associates client has an increasingly culturally diverse customer base. As well, some of the employees of the center recognized a need to discuss their own differences including leadership and working styles. Roy Brown & Associates coached managers through an internal research and analysis process to determine the organizations training needs. Working together, they created a diversity learning experience program and customer service training for all employees.

Case Study Two in Workforce Diversity Training
A Washington, DC metropolitan area based research firm is growing quickly with an impressive listing of federal government clients. As its number of government contracts continues to grow, so does the need to expand its number of employees. The firm wanted to be sure it was recruiting and retaining a talented and diverse workforce. Roy Brown & Associates was engaged to conduct an analysis and make recommendations to the firm. After extensive research and planning sessions with senior management, it was clear that there were existing issues regarding diversity and respect in the work place, so the work had to begin there.

Roy Brown & Associates created a curriculum for diversity training for existing employees and an on—boarding curriculum for new hires. Development of an internal diversity council — whose role is to keep management aware of employee concerns regarding a respectful workplace and to make recommendations about how to resolve them — was a crucial step. The council, comprised of employees from all levels of the organization, is convened monthly and is facilitated by a Roy Brown & Associates consultant.

Case Study Three in Workforce Diversity Training
A large multinational oil company was faced with the challenge of getting its most senior level management team to work collaboratively. This team was responsible for all the company’s oil production in a country outside the United States. The team was divided into two groups and each group was accusing the other of being racist.

We divided the large group into two smaller groups based on racial makeup and assigned a consultant that fit the profile of each group to work each smaller group. The purpose was to find out what perceptions and assumptions the groups were making about each other that was preventing them from being able to work effectively as a team.

The process we used was to ask each team to respond to a series of questions and to chart their answers on easels. The questions were all in the context of their day to day work experience.

The questions were:

• As a member of your group what are your advantages and what are your disadvantages?
• What are some of the challenges you face in trying to work with the other group?
• What do you think are the other group’s advantages?
• What do you wish the other group would not say about your group?

When this part of the process was completed we allowed each group to view the information without comment and dismissed for the day. The next morning we facilitated an open discussion. The groups were surprised that some perceptions and assumptions appeared on both lists and this allowed the groups to develop operational team norms and behaviors that allowed the team to move forward and become a successful management team. Operating successfully certainly did not happen instantaneously. The team began each meeting with a mission statement that helped guide their work and helped them to see the connection between their ability to manage together and the company bottom line. And every member of the management team participated in week-long “valuing differences” sessions.