13. Dell settles employment gender discrimination suit Dell has agreed to settle a gender-discrimination class action suit by former employees for $9.1 million, though apparently only $5.6 million will go for payments to class members and to cover litigation costs. The rest goes to raise female employee base pay to the level of male employees. How little enlightenment costs. [ Source : AP ] Jul 28, 2009 Cost of Legal Case
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17. The first three stages are considered “ethno-centric” where for example Australian-Anglo culture is seen as the only culture or to varying extents the “better” culture. The last three stages are considered “ethno-relative” whereby Australian Anglo culture is seen as equal among many other cultures. Multicultural Maturity
the characteristics that differentiate us from each other; e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, education, personality, faith, socio-economic background, rank, length of service, employment status
Identity diversity refers to characteristics that we have no control over. Cognitive diversity is about abilities and skills that we acquire through formal and informal training… Cognitive diversity is influenced by identity diversity;
This is the discrimination and fairness paradigm – equal opportunity, fairness, recruitment and compliance with the various laws- Organisations operating within this paradigm will do a number of things such as institute training for their staff, and make efforts in recruiting diverse employees and while their workforce gets diverse the work of the organisation does not. The problem with this paradigm is that it colour blind, race blind, gender blind. It assumes that we are all the same or we aspire to be the same. While it seeks to employ diverse people, it does not want the diversity of its workforce to impact or change the culture of the organisation. Extreme examples of that is the army, navy, fire service where you see efforts of seeking people from diverse backgrounds and identity affiliations to join but once in they are meant to fit in. They are welcome as long as they become one of us. Usually leaders within such organisations will even pride themselves on the fact that they consider everyone the same, they don’t see people as women, men, black or white … they are all the same. In this paradigm differences are not explored or tapped but repressed and culture is assimilated
Reflecting Our Community Community Cohesion, Trust and Confidence Legal obligation; equal opportunity employer, fear of being sued, compliance driven Business case Diverse perspectives Creativity Reflecting Our Community The Moral Obligation Community Cohesion, Trust and Confidence Economic Reality Legislative Imperative Creativity Access to many perspectives Improved productivity Complementary skills Links to broader community networks Corporate knowledge Public image of equity and inclusion
Examples from Darebin: MCS, bilingual home care workers, diverse age groups, gender diversity,
Emergency managers increasingly are faced with challenges related to environment, population density, increased immigration and people’s movement, changing workforce demographics, globalisation, counter terrorism, Communication, interagency collaboration at the local, national and international levels… There’s a lot of empirical data to show that diverse cities are more productive, diverse boards of directors make better decisions, the most innovative companies are diverse.
Three diagnostic tools can be used to explain where Darebin is in relation to its diversity development
Denial . Being comfortable with the familiar. Not anxious to complicate life with “cultural differences”. Not noticing much cultural difference around you. Maintaining separation from others who are different. Defense . A strong commitment to one’s own thoughts and feelings about culture and cultural difference. Some distrust of cultural behavior or ideas that differ from one’s own. Aware of other cultures around you, but with a relatively incomplete understanding of them and probably fairly strong negative feelings or stereotypes about some of them. Reversal is the opposite of Defense. The person feels that some other culture is better and tends to exhibit distrust of their own culture. Minimization . People from other cultures are pretty much like you, under the surface. Awareness that other cultures exist all around you, with some knowledge about differences in customs and celebrations. Not putting down other cultures. Treating other people as you would like to be treated. Acceptance . Aware of your own culture(s). See your own culture as just one of many ways of experiencing the world. Understanding that people from other cultures are as complex as yourself. Their ideas, feelings, and behavior may seem unusual, but you realize that their experience is just as rich as your own. Being curious about other cultures. Seeking opportunities to learn more about them. Adaptation . Recognizing the value of having more than one cultural perspective available to you. Able to “take the perspective” of another culture to understand or evaluate situations in either your own or another culture. Able to intentionally change your culturally based behavior to act in culturally appropriate ways outside your own culture. Integration. To varying extents, have integrated more than one cultural perspective, mindset, and behavior into one’s identity and worldview. Able to move easily among cultures.
Promoting the case for diversity Engendering the need to embarce diversity and en Training, professional development, experiential learning Recruitment Rewards, recognition
Targetted marketing Pre-employment training Recruiting for diversity policies