A practical approach to diversity

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in how organisations of all sizes and sectors can practically address and embrace “diversity issues” both internally within their workforce and externally in relation to their customer base. There are many differing definitions of diversity, however it is generally accepted that organisations who manage diversity effectively go beyond recognising and accommodating the uniqueness of each member of its team by celebrating, valuing and actively encouraging the diversity of the workforce, thus fully enabling each individual to maximise their contribution to achieving organisational goals. “The diversity driver” is a practical diversity performance management tool that has been developed by The Back to Work Company, BQC Performance Management Ltd and the Fair Play Partnership, with support from Yorkshire Forward. The driver is based upon the business excellence model and provides a structured self‐assessment tool that enables organisations to identify their current strengths in addressing diversity in addition to prioritising areas where further improvements could be made. This article provides an outline of why diversity is being taken seriously, how the diversity driver can be utilised within organisations of all sizes and the benefits of adopting this very practical approach to diversity.

Citation

Farrer, J. (2004), "A practical approach to diversity", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 175-177. https://doi.org/10.1108/00197850410542437