Find the Individual Strengths in Your Diverse Workforce

The workplace diversity discussion is evolving beyond the usual race, gender, age labels. As we strive to sensitively talk about, understand and appreciate individual differences (such as family background, temperament and education), inclusion is the goal. And the organizations hosting these conversations are attracting top talent and getting the best from each person.

In Episode 3 of our Career Strategies for Working Women podcast: Leading a Diverse, Multigenerational Team, I spoke with Anne Bonney, an expert in diversity and inclusion and trainer for SkillPath, to better understand how leaders can get the best from their own diverse teams.

 

Markey: Diversity isn’t really a new topic, but it seems to be gaining relevance. Would you agree?  

Bonney:  Yes, There’s a completely different group of people in the workforce right now. And it’s causing conflict and challenges … and making it necessary to have a conversation about it.

 

Markey: And yet it’s a conversation people are a little bit afraid to have, don’t you think?

Bonney: It is uncomfortable. Because today people get so offended or worried about offending. I like to remind people that we should first, assume positive intent. Most of us are good people. But, if we avoid the conversation—never talk about it—we never figure out how to not offend each other.

 

Markey: I love that. Making positive intent the foundation allows us to talk more openly. With that in mind, what are some of the challenges you see happening in the multigenerational workforce today?

Bonney: A lack of understanding of the generations and the labeling pits groups against each other—into tidy little boxes—Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials. As soon as we start addressing it as a Millennial problem or a Boomer problem, we alienate that whole group. And unfortunately, none of us even fit happily into those boxes to begin with. We come to the job with different skill sets, different expectations and different values. The conversation we need to have is about those perfectly acceptable differences. When I understand the differences, I can be empathetic and figure out how we can work together.

 

Markey: How much relevance do you think there is to the labeling of generations?

Bonney: My difficulty with these generalizations is it makes it easy to overlook people as individuals. It enables me to write off whole groups—to not give a Baby Boomer a chance to learn the technology because I assume she’s not tech savvy when she may be brilliant and the best choice.

 

Markey: What do you think the younger generations are looking for from their employers today?

Bonney: Generally, there’s a different leadership expectation. Think about the way Millennials and Gen Z were brought up. A focus on their self-esteem development meant they were included in conversations and their wins were celebrated. They’re a generation of people who are used to a certain level of involvement in decisions and in getting encouragement and praise for what they’ve done. Their bosses, however, may have been raised differently. I remember mom saying, “Rub some dirt on it and get up. You’re fine.” It’s just a shift in the leadership expectation and a move to a more inclusive flat organizational plan rather than the typical pyramid. But frankly, we all work better under those conditions of inclusion.

 

Markey: How about older generations—what do you think they’re looking for?

Bonney: The older generation spent a lot of time earning their place. They paid their dues. And now, the rules have changed. Suddenly we’ve got 25-year-old CEOs of start-ups and colleagues who’ve been with organizations for less than five years getting the same opportunities. Generally, older workers simply want to be respected for the experience and knowledge they feel they’ve earned.

 

Markey: Do you think there’s anything specific women leaders should be aware of when they’re working with different generations?

Bonney: Everything men should be aware of. The challenge when we talk about diversity, difference and inclusion, is that we keep separating women. We’re the same. Everybody wants respect, to feel valued and to feel they have some control over their lives. Those are the three basic emotional needs that all people have—boys, girls, races, generations. So we need to stop thinking, “as a woman, how do I need to do this differently?” It shouldn’t be different.

 

Markey: So we should be looking at the individual?

Bonney: Yes, that’s the whole diversity discussion now. In the old days, diversity was ethnicity and gender—things you could see. Now, we’re still having those important conversations. But we’re also talking about opinions and ideas—our diverse backgrounds, education, temperament, emotional maturity, family background and sure, ethnicity—the things that make you Michele and me Anne. But I don’t want to be in a labeled box. Nobody does.

 

Markey: I’ve noticed there’s a fear of addressing some of our differences because we don’t want to be categorized as having unconscious bias. We want to be inclusive, and yet, singling people out runs counter to that.

Bonney: “Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.” That’s a Verna Myers quote I like. We’ve got to ask ourselves if we’re really including people. Are we asking their opinions? Are we making sure we enrich our teams by getting everybody’s perspective? Not just saying, “It’s okay that you’re at the table. Just stay quiet over there, okay?”

 

Markey: How can we encourage everyone to feel involved?

Bonney: Inclusion is hard. It’s not efficient. It’s not comfortable. It takes time and patience, which in our busy world, is something we don’t always take time to do. We need to make the time. If we can improve the leadership of an organization, we can create an environment of safe failure—where it’s okay to speak our minds, share our perspectives, even if it’s completely different. When these tough conversations become natural and we feel like we still have each other’s best interests at heart, organizations win.

 

Markey: How can we get this started, make it an ongoing conversation and part of an organization’s culture?

Bonney: It’s got to start at the top with your leadership reflecting it. And if you’ve got the budget, bring a trainer in to guide the conversation with your team or there’s a great Verna Myers TED Talk Walking Towards Your Biases. Then talk about it as a team, again assuming positive intent from the very beginning. “Let’s talk about this. It’s going to be a little uncomfortable, but if we can get through this conversation, we’re going to be stronger, more supportive of each other, and a better team.” As people start feeling good about their teams, you’ll have a group of diverse people working together, respecting each other, upholding each other’s values. You’ll have a more inclusive workforce.

You can have the smartest people all in the same room, but if they’re not accepting each other, you miss the magic.  When the lines of differences between us start blurring (and are ultimately erased), we start seeing each other as humans. Then we truly start seeing each other’s strengths and helping each other grow. 

 

Listen to the complete podcast: “Leading a Diverse, Multigenerational Team”.