Your Last day On The Job....

What is it about companies that feel that the "best" way to help an employee is to show them the door?  They spend money on having trainings on DISC profile, Myers Briggs,, Candidate Profile Testing, Career Guidance all for sake of what?  What is the point of having a diversity and inclusion team?  Is this simply an activity of something to do?  What is tragic is when you really don't take the time to try and understand, before being understood.  How is one suppose to know that they are doing something wrong when they aren't told.  Exam: An employee was walked off the property shortly after arriving to work.  She enjoyed the work, really like the boss but was told that someone (her immediate supervisor) felt intimidated by the employee's tone and didn't like how she talked to people.  Really?   The employee never had been talked to about this issue.  What was the real deal? You have a good worker but because someone is direct when responding to you, is this how you deal with a situation like this?  Yes the boss was caucasian and the employee of another ethnic group..  

When do bosses stop and look at what value the employee brings to the table instead of always painting them as "difficult to work with" "being afraid" "don't understand that group of people" etc.  It's no secret that companies are going after diverse ethnicities in order to boost business.  However, if you don't take the time to really understand people that are not like you... homogenous, then you are always going to miss the boat.  I am continually amazed when some of my clients tell me stories of how their white colleagues or bosses try and use slang language with them.  Calling them "girlfriend" or "Sista girl"  "hey dude or fella"is never appropriate.  What you may hear one ethnic group say doesn't give you the right to use it, no matter what the situation.  The big issue here is knowing how to talk to different individuals and establishing ground rules with them all.  How is someone suppose to know if you feel threatened if you both are talking but one person hits the desk with their hands and you say, "i was expressing myself."

What happened to companies that REALLY value diversity, people that think outside of the box?  Instead what you see are more companies where one CEO leaves a company and bring along his/her entire entourage.  They end up doing the same things at the new company that they did at the old one.  Sometimes this works (for a short time) but how about getting some "new" blood in there that thinks differently.  What's the harm in starting with a fresh pair of eyes?  They say they don't  want micromanaging but that's exactly what happens.  They say they want people to "own" their business, their piece of the dirt but instead they are steadily kicking the door in on them.  What's worse is the hype they believe about certain ethnic groups.  Not all Asians are financial wizard, not all people from India are computer geeks, not all blonds are dumb and not all black people are angry and lazy.  How about judging each person on who they are individually.  Get to know them and not clump them all in one group.  You also need to vet your mid-level, senior level and C-level management teams.  How many times has someone made a comment based on a personal interaction that THEY had and influenced others.  Shame on those that decided to believe the story without vetting the person or gathering more information before making a decision that affected that person's life.  How would you feel it that happened to you or one of your love ones?  Too much power is given to one person that people favor for whatever reason.  Stop listening to what your managers are telling you and get off your duff and find out what's happening in your company.  When you pull back that onion layer you will be surprised to see what's hiding behind it and truth and transparency isn't it.