© 2004, CARE USA. All rights reserved. MODULE ONE MANAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVENESS IN A MULTICULTURAL WORKFORCE.

© 2004, CARE USA. All rights reserved.

MODULE ONE

MANAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVENESS IN

A MULTICULTURAL WORKFORCE


CARE’s DEFINITION FOR DIVERSITY

“Collectively, CARE's partners and staff embody the richness of diversity found in the socioeconomic and cultural environments in which we work. Embracing diversity at CARE means valuing, respecting and fully benefiting from each individual's unique qualities and abilities in order to fulfill and strengthen our vision and mission.

Among other characteristics, diversity includes gender, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, as well as diverse perspectives that uphold CARE's core values.

We strive to create and maintain a work environment that promotes diversity in everything we do.”


CARE’S BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY

•In order to enhance and advance our relief and development work, we need a variety of perspectives to inform relevant and responsible choices about how programs are designed, and about how projects are managed and implemented;

•To increase capacity within the communities in which CARE works we need to build collaborative relationships and partnerships amongst people with a multiplicity of similarities and differences;

•CARE’s mission calls for affirming the dignity and worth of all people. That includes, but is not limited to, combating discrimination in all its forms;

•CARE’s successful future is dependent upon our ability to learn and innovate. Our differences in knowledge, approach and perspective are the source and spring of innovation and learning;

•CARE promotes diversity because we believe it is the right thing to do and it upholds CARE’s core values of “RICE”.


CARE’s Framework for Action

Trust Learning

Accountability

Representation


TIME-LINE OF CARE’S JOURNEY

1995

First

Diversi

ty Ini

tiativ

e

1998Gender Equity Initiative

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

Re-ded

icatio

n to

Divers

ity

CARE International VisionGap

Ana

lysis

and

Train

ing

Curri

culu

m

Reinforced linkages to

RBA work

Prog

ram

min

g

Prin

cipl

es E

ndor

sed

Conf. 2004 –commitment

to empowerment


GOALS FOR MODULE I

Advance CARE’s Core Mission and Values by: Exploring how our differences and similarities impact our organizational life;Learning new skills to function effectively in a diverse and complex workplace;Practicing personal and collective responsibility for furthering our organizational learning


AIKIDO MODEL

Know where you are

Meet the other

See what you can do together


Three Skill Baskets that Correspond to the Aikido Model

Awareness [Know where you are]

Dialogue [Meet the other]

Action [See what you can do together]


Skill Sheet 1: Acknowledge Existing Wisdom

Pay attention to your successful experiences with diversity

Talk about your successes with others

Let your current expertise provide a base of confidence and excitement for future success


Skill Sheet 2: Surface What is Hidden

Pay attention to the assumptions, feelings, beliefs, values and experiences that are driving your behavior

Make conscious choices about sharing these aspects of yourself with others

Encourage and invite others to share the same with you


Skill Sheet 3: Appreciate the Multiplicity of Identities and Meaning

Pay attention to the different ways you identify yourself, and the meaning that you give to those aspects of who you are

Share this information with others, and invite the same from them

Approach this information in yourself and others with wonder and awe; see and touch and feel the incredible beauty of our infinite variation


ICEBERG

Behavior andAppearance

Assumptions, Beliefs, Biases, Hopes & Dreams, Feelings, History (personal and collective), Wounds, Cultural WorldView


Skill Sheet 4: Practice Grounded Flexibility

Feel and honor how the many pieces of who you are fit together in the unique whole human being that you are.

Know what home feels like, so that when you go away from home, you can find your way back

Take the ease and relaxation of home into any situation, so you can bend and flow with, adapt to and welcome whoever or whatever you meet


Working Style Characteristics

Analytical Does job correctly Likes facts and figures Focuses on steps and objectives Seeks logical explanations

Driver Gets the job done Likes results Focuses on results Seeks most efficient way

Amiable Works cooperatively Likes people and fairness Focuses on process Seeks informality

Expressive Works enthusiastically Has vision Focuses on hunches Seeks stimulation


Skill Sheet 5: Expand Beyond your Comfort Zone

Know what your comfort zone feels like and how its boundaries change in different settings

Practice stepping to the edge of the zone, then taking one - or more - steps beyond

Notice how your comfort zone changes over time - what previously seemed impossible is now quite natural to you.


Skill Sheet 6: Suspend Judgment

Notice when you are labeling, categorizing, making negative judgments about or otherwise putting others in some box.

No need to judge yourself harshly for making judgments; it is a natural process.

If letting judgments go is difficult, try putting them to the side. Tell yourself you can always come back to them later, but for now, you are wanting to really meet the other and need to move these thoughts out of the way.


Skill Sheet 7: Engage with Curiosity

Be like a child, full of wonder and curiosity. Be genuinely interested in wanting to know more about the other

Bring that curiosity into the dialogue. Seek to learn more, to discover something wonderful and new in your interaction with the other.

Ask questions that are meant to learn how others make sense to themselves. Whether you agree with them is unimportant; how deeply you can understand them is the true task


Skill Sheet 8: Go Treasure Hunting

Think of the other as a storehouse of untapped treasure, and of yourself as the treasure seeker

Delve into this storehouse with delight and enthusiasm.

Finding the treasure, you have received a great gift. Admire it. Be grateful.


Dominant and Subordinated Group Membership Dynamics

1. Define reality, “truth”

2. Sets rules, standards

3. Seen as normal

6. Follows rules

7. Expected to fit in

8. Seen as less than

Dominant +

Subordinated -


Skill Sheet 9: Create New Territory Finding common ground. Discovering the places where

people agree, or have shared interests, and build on them.

Integrating or synthesizing differing views.

Using metaphor and symbols as a way of accessing new ways of understanding the situation, and generating creative possibilities

Staying in inquiry mode to allow for synergy. The question contains the answer. Let the magic of the dialogue spark its own unique unexpected blend


Skill Sheet 10: Reflect on Learning Together Stay in a spirit of inquiry and experimentation. Keep

raising questions (especially unanswerable ones);

Insure periodic sessions for reflection. At whatever level of the organization set aside special time for people to think together about their diversity work;

Use deeper dialogue to surface new wisdom and mirror back to you the system’s intelligence;

Capture the learning, and share it widely. Allow each new dimension of learning to become the ground for the next level.


Skill Sheet 11: Make Individual & Collective Commitments

Ask yourself, “What can I do now to move this initiative one step further?” Now ask, “What am I willing to do?” “Is what I am willing to do indeed feasible?” and finally, “What am I willing to publicly commit to doing, and be held accountable for?”

Go through the same process at the group level

Work actively to help each other fulfill your commitments. Ask for support, and give it generously.


Skill Sheet 12: Follow Through

Develop trust by being trustworthy; expect the same from others

Make agreements about accountability. How will you hold each other to your commitments?

Speak up about accountability. Applaud and appreciate follow through when it does happen.

© 2004, CARE USA. All rights reserved. MODULE ONE MANAGING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVENESS IN A MULTICULTURAL WORKFORCE.

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