Human Resource Professionals of Minnesota Diversity Corner

Maintained by Sean Fetterman, HRP-MN Vice President of Diversity.

Diversity News
Diversity Events

Diversity Articles

If you know of other diversity related news that you would like to share with HRP-MN members, please send it to Sean Fetterman at sfetterman@tpt.org .

Articles Include:

1. Can Bias Be Defeated? What Research Reveals -- Part III , Sondra Thiederman, Ph.D.
2. Coming Out of Hiding, Stephanie Cunningham
3. HRP Again Sponsor of the Annual Multicultural Forum
4. Meet the Executive Director of the MultiCultural Development Center (MCDC), A. Ghafar Lakanwal, Ph.D.
5. Distorted Vision: Knowing Your Own Culture in Order to Know Others, Sondra Thiederman, Ph.D.
6. Jazz: America’s Original Diversity Success Story, Jeff Perry
7. Reflection on Diversity: By a Woman of Green Color, Ana Alvarez-Holmberg
8. What Is Diversity?, Lila Kelly
9. Demographic Shifts in the Workforce, June Y. Moua
10. Productivity: A Fundamental Business Case for Diversity, C. Philip Bamberger
11. Challenges in Recruiting and Hiring Diverse Employees, Lila Kelly
12. Degree Versus No Degree...That is the question!, Sean Fetterman, SPHR, CDR

Can Bias Be Defeated? What Research Reveals - Part III
By Sondra Thiederman, Ph.D.

The answer to the question, "Can Bias Be Defeated?" is, fortunately for us, a resounding "Yes!"  The purpose of this three-part series has been to survey the research that brings us this good news. 

Last month, for example, we discussed a study conducted by Professor William Cunningham of the University of Toronto. Cunningham revisited the work of earlier researchers who had identified a "wariness" spike in the brain when white people were asked to view black faces.  This spike in brain activity amounts to a primitive "jumping to conclusions" about the nature of people different from ourselves - in short, it is what might be termed an "instinctive bias."

I am happy to report that Cunningham discovered that this instinctive bias is far from inevitable. He demonstrated that  the rational brain - if given enough time - has the power to override even our most primitive "biased" instincts.

This Month's Study:

Professor Susan Fiske of Princeton University brings us a similarly optimistic outlook. She, too, took a new approach to the old "wariness spike" experiments. That approach produced results that, if paired with Cunningham's findings, has very practical implications for our ability to minimize bias.

By the way, you will notice that all the studies discussed in this series focus on bias between white and black subjects. It would be fascinating to do the same work around other kinds of biases - gender bias, people with disabilities, ethnic bias, etc.  Although, of course, we can't know for certain until such research is completed, but my guess is that the results would be much the same.

Professor Fiske's approach was to have white volunteers look at black faces in a year book. Fiske and her team, having examined previous studies, expected to see a spike of activity in the amygdale of the brain - that portion that is responsible for wariness --  but, much to their surprise, found it wasn't there. Fiske concluded that the brain failed to send out a message of fear because of the nature of the instructions her team gave each volunteer and, in turn, the state of mind they created in the observer.

The key element in these instructions was that each volunteer was asked, not merely to look at the face and react to it, but to guess about several traits that the individual depicted might possess. For example, they were asked to guess whether or not the person was fond of a particular vegetable. A silly question? Of course, but that silly question - that involvement of the brain in looking at this person as an individual, not just as a member of a group - had an almost magical impact on the observer's response.

The volunteers in Fiske's study had no threat response because there was, in their minds, no group by which to be threatened. They were faced, not by a monolithic and threatening "black" population, but by an individual human being with individual tastes (in vegetables no less!) and preferences.

 Professor Fiske's Conclusion:

Great News: We have control over how we look at people and, therefore, what we see.  It is possible to change our thinking so that we see people as individuals not just as members of a larger and possibly threatening group. In short, our biases - our "inflexible beliefs" - weaken when faced with the task of evaluating someone individually. That effort inhibited what Professor Fiske calls "category-based emotional responses." 

Workplace Application:

What does this mean for the workplace and for the strategies we might employ to minimize the biases that compromise teams, reduce productivity, and result in costly litigation?  If we were having this discussion in a workshop, it would be fascinating to kick around ideas about what structures or activities could be put in place to encourage team members to evaluate and relate to people as individuals.  Here are just a couple of ideas to get you started:

1. Set up affinity/networking groups consisting of people of diverse backgrounds. The group might have in common something like job function, personal hobbies, single parenting responsibilities or any other shared concern or interest.

Make as part of the group's charter that it must function together to fulfill a common goal. This might be a business goal for the organization, a charitable goal, or a shared personal goal. The very act of striving for a common end will force members to uncover each other's unique skills, preferences, and values, and, in turn, to look at each other as individuals rather then as members of a group that is different from themselves.

2. Facilitate workshop activities that emphasize individuality.

Of course, when it comes to making diversity work, we must honor and acknowledge the preferences and viewpoints of diverse "groups" of people.  At the same time, we must balance that emphasis on group values with a focus on individual qualities and needs. What does my colleague care about? What might we have in common? What unique interests does she have? By encouraging this looking at each other as individuals, we put in motion Professor Fiske's finding that individual observation just might short-circuit automatic, and almost invariably, negative bias.

These are just a couple of ideas that can go far to shifting how we think and derailing that primitive response that screams, "They are different from me, they are all alike, they are threatening in some way!"  My challenge to you this month is to explore other ideas for bringing about this important shift of thinking and, thereby, enhancing respect, productivity, and teamwork in your organization.

The material in this article is adapted from Sondra's book: "Making Diversity Work: Seven Steps for Defeating Bias in the Workplace." It can be purchased at: http://www.thiederman.com/products_detail.php?id=10       

Copyright 2005 Cross-Cultural Communications. All Rights Reserved. Sondra Thiederman is a speaker and author on diversity, bias-reduction, and cross-cultural issues. She is the author of Making Diversity Work: Seven Steps for Defeating Bias in the Workplace ( Chicago: Dearborn Press, 2003) which is available at her web site or at www.Amazon.com. She can be contacted at: Sondra Thiederman, Cross-Cultural Communications, 4585 48th Street, San Diego, CA 92115. Phones: 619-583-4478 / 800-858-4478, Fax: 619-583-0304, www.Thiederman.com, STPhD@Thiederman.com. Reprinted with permission.

Coming Out of Hiding
By Stephanie Cunningham

I was almost 30 when I began to work at the Minnesota State Council on Disability. 

One of my first assignments was to organize a protest against a well-known comedian who was coming to town for a concert.  Many of us with disabilities felt his annual telethon was a major affront.  He used pity to raise money. He reinforced stereotypes that people with disabilities want to be cured of their afflictions. He was even quoted as saying that an individual with a disability was half a person. 

While organizing this protest I felt proud to be part of a political effort that was affecting the disability community.  I remember feeling insulted by the telethon for years.  Here was my chance to fight back.

One of my new Council colleagues was Margot, a woman who had been in the same state hospital for crippled children that I had.  Though we weren't close then, I remembered her as a leader among the children. 

In contrast, I hid in my hospital bed with the drapes drawn.  I isolated myself -- not wanting to have anything to do with the other children unless the hospital staff said I had to. They were handicapped, crippled, different.  I believed my family’s mantra: "You're just like your [nondisabled] brother and sister; there's nothing wrong with you."  In my world, I strove to be as un-handicapped as possible. 

I didn't belong with them -- I was normal; I just had a problem with my legs and feet. 

The day before the protest, Margot asked what time I planned on getting to the rally.  I stared at her for the longest time. I could feel the shame wash over me: I had no intention of going. 

Before this moment, I hadn’t given it a second thought. But now, I couldn't imagine being seen with all those disabled people in one place.  It was my childhood hospital nightmare all over again.

I'm not one of them -- I'm normal.  I just have a problem with my legs and feet.

"Oh, I-I want to go, but I have plans. I can't cancel."  Margot thought I was joking.  Then she looked me straight in the eye and said, "No-o, you are going - it’s your job. Besides, it’s your moral obligation to fight something you've hated since you were a child."

All my life I had desperately tried to "pass" as non-disabled.  But passing wasn't as easy anymore.  I felt torn inside, not knowing who I was or where I belonged. On one hand, I felt like a fraud with my non-disabled friends and colleagues. On the other, I felt free to be disabled with the people I met through my State Council work.

• At the same time I was organizing the protest, I was presenting a state-wide disability awareness and accessibility program.  Through this work, I came face-to-face with my own conflicted sense of self.  Sometimes I was still passing. Other times I used personal stories about growing up with a disability as a way to emphasize key training points or elicit involvement from participants.  I wanted to have it both ways.

I now realize I was playing out the old adage:  "We teach what we need to learn.”

Protest day arrived.

• I parked in the ramp across from the concert hall where the protesters were scheduled to meet.  Getting out of my car, I could hear the chanting of the demonstrators below.  The older, non-disabled audience members peered down over the parking ramp walls.  I heard, "What are those crippled people doing down there?"  Still trying to pass and ignoring the terror gripping me, I walked with the curious audience as if I was one of them.

I finally reached the vocal, visibly angry and proud disabled group. After ten minutes of pretending I was happy to be there, I noticed television cameras from news stations pan my way.  Without even thinking, I grabbed a protest sign and hid behind it.  Seconds later, I peered out to see if the cameras were gone.  In the clear, I headed home.

That night my sister called. She and a friend of mine had seen me on the news.  She was laughing as she said, "We could see you trying to hide!"  I was mortified.

Something had to change.  I was not willing to continue this torturous dual life.  I was exhausted.  Up to this point, I had readily defended other people with disabilities without ever fully accepting my own membership into the community. 

* * * * * *

I am not proud of this story, and yet it is an important story. We all (disabled and nondisabled) grew up in the same American culture with the same messages about disability:  the pity, the need to be normal, the assumption “the disabled” need help and are a burden to others. We're an ever-growing community of people being viewed as "less than." We are discriminated against because we walk, talk, appear or hear differently than others. 

This was a life-changing event in coming to terms with my disability.  Working toward self-acceptance included:

• the process of maturing and working with a psychotherapist with a disability;
• becoming politically educated about disability issues; and
• building intimate relationships with other disabled individuals while becoming involved in the disability community.

This process did not happen over night.  I didn't do it alone.  It has been a long, slow, rewarding and often painful journey.  Thankfully, over time I have come to accept my disability as an important and valuable component of who I am.  It is part of who I am, but is not all of who I am. 

Some of the consequences of my trying to pass included:

• the inability to stand up for what I needed or wanted in certain situations (i.e. never requesting accommodations to do my job more effectively or not asking for assistance so I wouldn't appear needy);
• projecting my rage onto innocent bystanders when they would notice my disability which meant to me, I had failed at passing;
• physically hurting myself in the cause of appearing nondisabled.

Lessons I've learned include:

• Disability is not something that needs to be overcome; it needs be integrated into one's life.
• I and all disabled individuals have the right to equal opportunities: to work, learn, live, travel and socialize the same as nondisabled individuals.
• Laws like the ADA have helped to create an equal playing field for all and increase society’s awareness about disability.

I know I am not the only one who has struggled with issues of identity.  There are many who are still hiding from their true selves; whether it is their real race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age or disability. 

I no longer try to pass.  In fact, I am offended when someone accuses me of it.  I’ve stopped hiding.

My hope is that you will find value and worth in your differences. What gifts are you hiding that could benefit the world?

Reprinted with permission from Stephanie Cunningham - motivational speaker, trainer, writer and visual artist is co-founder of the Lighthouse Group, a consulting firm specializing in disability awareness, keynote speeches and the Americans with Disabilities Act. She is recognized for her compelling storytelling, engaging lightness, and her exceptional ability to create safe spaces for candid discussions of controversial subjects. This piece is an edited excerpt of her book-length memoir in progress. Reprinted with permission. Copyright ©2005, 2003. Stephanie can be reached at steph.lighthouse@usa.net or 612-338-8142 (voicemail).

HRP-MN Again Sponsor of the Annual Multicultural Forum

The University of St. Thomas College of Business and the Twin Cities chapter of the National Black MBA Association announce the 17 th Annual Multicultural Forum. The Forum is supported by over 35 area firms and organizations throughout the Midwest, and will be held on February 16 th at the St. Paul RiverCentre, located at 175 West Kellogg Boulevard.

The Forum will focus on “The Pursuit of Cultural Competence” and include keynote presentations from Brad Anderson, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Best Buy, and George Fraser, author of the bestseller Success Runs In Our Race: The Complete Guide to Effective Networking in the African Community. Over 30 different workshop sessions will be offered with names including “Evolution of Diversity,” “Spirituality at Work,” and “Legal Size Me.” Participants will gain new understanding of the important relationship between culture, communication style and comprehension in today’s workplace. Vendor exhibits and a career fair will be held.

“ Since the affirmative action policies in the 1960s, workplace climates have progressed from a state of cultural adoption to cultural appreciation to now, cultural competence, where knowledge about different kinds of people and customs are integrated into specific organizational practices,” said Forum organizer Steve Humerickhouse. “The Multicultural Forum will provide the perfect environment for individuals and organizations to focus their cultural lenses in ways that will provide more sensitive and positive dealings with employees, partners and customers."

Professional Development Institutes are being added for the first time this year for business professionals wanting in-depth looks at cultural competence, diversity result measurements, and retention issues. The Professional Development Institutes will be held at the University of St. Thomas Minneapolis campus on February 15 th from 8-12am.

The Multicultural Forum began in 1989 as a two-hour videoconference called the Black Managers' Forum.  Over the years, it has grown steadily and is now a full one and one-half day diversity conference featuring nationally significant speakers and workshop presenters and more than 900 attendees. It is the Twin Cities leading event for advancing diversity in the workplace.

Cost of the attending the Forum is $125 ($100 FOR HRP-MN MEMBERS)and includes breakfast, lunch and afternoon refreshments. (Members need to register through Lila Kelly, VP of Diversity, HRP-MN, by sending registration form with check or credit card information to: Lila Kelly Associates, P.O. Box 130028, Roseville, MN 55113. Call Lila at 651-983-4489 with questions.) Attendees can also choose to attend just the Professional Development Institutes for $195 or a combination package of both for $255. To request a registration form or information on becoming an event sponsor, call 651/962-4018. More information at: www.stthomas.edu/cob/multiculturalforum/.

Meet the Executive Director of the MultiCultural Development Center (MCDC)
A. Ghafar Lakanwal, Ph.D.

Dr. Ghafar Lakanwal is a native of Afghanistan, a Muslim and an American citizen. He was born and raised in Afghanistan. Dr. Lakanwal studied Agricultural Science at the Kabul University of Afghanistan. After finishing his doctorate at the Institute of Rural Sociology and Applied Psychology at the University of Hohenheim in Germany, he worked for the German International Development Agency until 1978. In August of that year, Dr. Lakanwal returned to his country to be part of the social and economic changes that were introduced by the new government. In December of 1979, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan.

Dr. Lakanwal still wanted to be part of the process of change. In March of 1982, he was appointed to the position of Minister of Agriculture. In 1986, because of his opposition to the government, he was placed under house arrest for two years, until February 1988. The political changes in the former Soviet Union led by Mikhail Gorbachev also brought changes in his life. He was released from house arrest in February 1988. From March of 1988 to November, Dr. Lakanwal was Deputy Foreign Minister and head of the Afghan Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. In December 1988, while on an official visit to New York, he asked the United States government for political asylum. In February 1996, he became a citizen of the United States of America.

In October 1991, Ghafar Lakanwal founded the Minnesota Cultural Diversity Center, currently the MultiCultural Development Center (MCDC), a non-profit organization that promotes multicultural understanding and inclusiveness in the workplace as well as in the community. He developed and has nurtured the "Sharing Diversity"TM concept for MCDC since its founding. Dr. Lakanwal is a practitioner, event coordinator and a speaker in the area of cultural diversity. He has traveled to over 30 countries and speaks English, German, Russian, Persian and his native language, Pashtoo. Dr. Lakanwal serves as a Board Member of the Council of Asian-Pacific Minnesotans. In 1997, Dr. Lakanwal was presented with the Exemplary Practices Award from the American Society for Public Administration. In 2001, he was the recipient of the Omar Bonderud Award given by the Human Rights Commission of the City of Bloomington. In 2002 Mayor Kelly appointed him to lead a taskforce on cultural relations in St. Paul. Together with his wife Laila, he owns an Afghani restaurant in Bloomington.

"Reprinted with permission from the MultiCultural Development Center (MCDC).  For more information, call 952-881-6090 or visit www.mcdc.org. MCDC events are listed in the Diversity Corner on the HRPMN Web site.

Distorted Vision: Knowing Your Own Culture in Order to Know Others
By Sondra Thiederman, Ph.D.

It may seem odd to say that knowing your own culture is an important step in understanding other cultures. Of course we need to learn about the values, beliefs, and priorities of other groups, but it is equally important to look within and identify what we value, what we need, and how we look at the world.

The reason that being aware of our own culture is so important is that only in that way can we keep from projecting our own values onto others. By "projecting" I mean that universal tendency to think that other people are doing what they are doing for the same reasons we would. One reason this happens is that we are so unaware of the values that drive us that we are unable to distinguish them from the values held by other cultures.

It is as if each of us is a fish in a fish bowl. The fish swims around inside the bowl and is surrounded by water and glass. The fish is unaware of the water and the glass and, most important, does not realize that those two substances distort the accuracy with which he sees the outside world. Our culture is like that water and glass. We see the world through a distorted screen created by our deeply and often subconsciously-held values and beliefs.

Mainstream American culture, for example, values direct eye contact. For this reason, we who were born and raised in this culture assume that people who do not look us in the eye are dishonest, weak, and evasive. By contrast, most Asian cultures teach that people who avoid eye contact are not dishonest, weak, and evasive, but are, instead, respectful and considerate. What this means is that a person born in America is apt to interpret the lowered eyes of an Asian-born applicant as a sure sign of dishonesty when the truth is that he is merely showing respect for the interviewer - a fatal error in an economy in which competition for top talent is fierce.

The first step in solving this problem is obvious: Learn as much about other cultures as you can. The second is the one that is so often forgotten: Learn how your own culture feels about various issues be it body language, communication style, or any other cultural feature. This may seem easy, but it is not because our own culture is such a part of us that it is like the air we breathe - or the water that surrounds the fish - we are unaware that it even exists. Some of us go so far as to think of our own culture as human nature and, to make matters worse, as a human nature to which all human beings should and even must conform.

So, if knowing one's own culture is not automatic, how can we achieve this knowledge? The answer lies in exposure and observation. First, be around other cultures. It is impossible to do step two if you do not have the opportunity to interact with those who are different from yourself. Second, when around people from different cultures, watch for three things: moments of tension, moments of misunderstanding, and moments of anger.

When one of these happens, don't panic, observe. Observe yourself and this means observing your culture. What did you just do before the tension, misunderstanding or anger arose? That act is a piece of your culture and it probably was a factor in the dynamic of the moment. I am not saying, by the way, that what you did was necessarily wrong, but just that it grew out of your culturally-conditioned values and behaviors. Also, ask yourself: "What assumption was I making about the situation before the negativity started?" Those assumptions, just like your behavior, had to grow out of your culture; looking at them will help awaken the cultural self-awareness that is so important in making cross-cultural relationships work. Yes, knowledge of other cultures is important, but looking within has as much to teach us about what works cross-culturally as all the anthropology in all the libraries of the world.

Sondra Thiederman is a speaker and author on diversity, bias-reduction, and cross-cultural issues. She is the author of Making Diversity Work: Seven Steps for Defeating Bias in the Workplace (Chicago: Dearborn Press, 2003) which is available at her web site or at www.Amazon.com. She can be contacted at: Sondra Thiederman, Cross-Cultural Communications, 4585 48th Street, San Diego, CA 92115. Phones: 619-583-4478 / 800-858-4478, Fax: 619-583-0304, www.Thiederman.com / STPhD@Thiederman.com. Reprinted with permission.

Jazz: America’s Original Diversity Success Story
by Jeff Perry

Long before the Civil Rights Act, long before Brown vs. The Board of Education, and long before President Truman’s integration of the armed forces, black and white jazz musicians where breaking social taboos in order to share and learn from each other. In the 1920s white musicians in Chicago would head down to the south side after their gigs for after hours jam sessions with black musicians. In the 1930s Benny Goodman, perhaps the most popular band leader of the time, added black musicians to his all-white big band – a revolutionary step for diversity in the workplace. In the 1950’s Stan Getz collaborated with Brazilian musicians to create a new musical style - Bossa Nova. Then as now, Jazz possesses a culture that thrives, indeed benefits, from diversity. Jazz, it would seem, is America’s original diversity success story.

For almost 100 years, jazz has led white to black, black to white, Western to Eastern, American to European, Northern to Southern, visceral to cerebral. In Jazz, working with, and learning from, people of other cultures are a core value. What led these musicians to embrace diversity decades before it became the concept that we know today? How has that embrace led to jazz’s evolution, strength, and constant change and innovation? And, what can the rest of us learn from the Jazz example?

How A New Music Was Born

di·verse

2: composed of distinct or unlike elements or qualities

Completely new forms of music are rare throughout history. So how did this new form, this uniquely American form, of music come into being? We can look to America’s “melting pot” tradition for the answer. The creation of jazz was due to a melting pot of sorts. Put simply, jazz was allowed by the coming together of European and African musical tradition. European music featured advanced harmonic and melodic elements while African music was very advanced rhythmically and had other unique properties that European tradition didn’t. By combining elements of these two unlike traditions a new music was born.

Perhaps through this fusion jazz acquired one of its significant traits – acculturation. That is, adopting and absorbing characteristics from the music of other cultures. Because of this trait, rather that remain stagnant, jazz has been extremely innovative and has created many distinct sub styles since the original Dixieland music that came out of New Orleans in the early 1900s. In its growth it has looked to all kinds of European music, as well as Cuban and Brazilian music, marching music, blues, Broadway, gospel, country, Indian, Jewish Klezmer, and Arabic music. In a brilliant display of acculturation, jazz in the late 1960s and 70s even borrowed from the offspring it gave birth to – Rock and Roll- and created jazz-rock fusion.

This trait - this culture - of borrowing from virtually any other kind of music, has led individual jazz musicians to not only accept diversity, not only embrace it, but to proactively seek it out. Just like those white musicians in Chicago sought out their south side counter parts, just as black jazz musicians in 1940s and 50s looked to Stravinsky, Dvorak, and Debussy, today this trend continues. For example, the last record Miles Davis made before he died (in the early 1990s) mixed jazz with hip-hop music. That was a man always looking for new sources of inspiration!

Why Seek Diversity?

The motivation for jazz musicians to seek out diversity is simple – because it makes them better. It enhances their ability to express themselves, differentiate themselves, and find a unique voice. This last point - achieving a recognizable, unique voice - is perhaps the vanguard of jazz accomplishment. And it is no easy task. The primary way for a player to develop a distinct sound is to blend as many influences as possible and find a personal combination that no one else has. Clearly it is in musician’s self-interest to seek out diversity.

To understand the need to diversify, the demands on jazz musicians must be understood. Jazz musicians are not only expected to try to find their own unique style – to sound unlike everyone else - they are supposed to continually find new depths, avoid repetition, and frequently reinvent themselves. The nature of jazz improvisation is not to play a scripted part, not even to play a predictable part, but to break new ground – to surprise the audience and the even the player. Given that there are only twelve notes in the Western scale, this may sound like an insurmountable task.

From my experience it is extremely difficult to find these new required depths. To succeed musicians have to combine emotion, knowledge, technique, experience, spirit, and risk taking. They have to have a “well” within. To draw from this well, there has to be a lot of water to tap. The more variety of techniques you have available (which come from diverse influences), the more you can vary your expression and continue to get different.

How to proactively seek Diversity

As established, jazz musicians are part of a culture that proactively seeks diversity. They seek influence from other cultures by listening to records, learning songs, reading about musicians from other cultures, and by seeking to hear, meet, and learn from a broad range of fellow musicians.

Minneapolis-based Saxophonist Doug Little gives us two great examples of proactively seeking diversity. He recently spent time in Cuba and has been studying Cuban music and looking to find new ideas from it. So what is he finding?

“While the greatest challenges in jazz involve melody and harmony,” Little says, “Cuban and Latin music challenge you rhythmically. The rhythm provides the interest and excitement. As you might imagine, I’m focusing a lot more on rhythmic development now than I was before.”

However, Little didn’t need to travel outside our borders to find cross-cultural pollination. He recalls time he spent playing with African-American blues singer Big Walter Smith, “I learned that the blues has its own set of values that are different from jazz. Blues is all about the feel and the sound. Playing a lot of notes, like you might in jazz, is usually not appropriate. I remember Big Walter would say ‘don’t play so many notes, just play me the melody.’” Thus, Little’s musicianship, his approach, his sound, has been shaped by the influence of Big Walter and the blues.

For jazz musicians, European Classical music has always been a hugely important source for harmonic and melodic ideas as well as for instrumentation. Classical technique has also been influential as virtuosity is often associated with the great jazz improvisers. Some of the important early innovators of jazz were classically trained in Europe and brought their ideas back with them. Jazz musicians continued to look across the Atlantic as the new music developed and today classical music still provides a vast source for ideas.

Pianist Mary Louise Knutson studied classical music before becoming an accomplished jazz improviser. The European approach has affected her in two ways. “First, my Classical training influences how I hear music. I listen with a large scope - focusing on dynamics, articulation, orchestration, and interaction.”

“In addition, people often comment on my touch. Classical taught me to use a wide range of articulation that adds diversity to my playing. I use a range of attack, dynamics, and speed which are techniques, values, I learned from the European tradition.”

Diversity in Action

Jazz musicians approach learning with “open ears.” They study, emulate, and ultimately incorporate techniques and sensibilities from other cultures, mix that with their own strong individuality, strengths, and primary culture. Without this approach the music of jazz would have stagnated eighty years ago. Because of it, the music has been blessed with a thriving, passionate, evolving music. In jazz you can find influence from cultures all over the world, yet it remains, above all, uniquely American.

While the issue of diversity is now visible on the radar of human resources management, it is in its infancy in much of corporate America. In many professional and business magazines there is talk of what diversity means, what its implications are, how to implement diversity programs. Proving the business case for diversity is another hot topic.

Jazz has been successfully practicing diversity for nearly a hundred years. It is clear how it has impacted and benefited the development of the music, provided the music with innovative vigor, and benefited countless individual jazz musicians (not to mention the listeners!). Perhaps it’s time for the business world to ask – what is there in the jazz diversity model that we can learn from?

Copyright © 2004, Jeff Perry, Jazz Innovation Inc.

Jeff Perry is a Minneapolis-based jazz musician. He has studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA and has a Bachelors degree in Jazz Studies from the American Conservatory in Chicago, IL. He is also an Advertising Consultant for the StarTribune. Contact him at jperry@startribune.com.

Reflection on Diversity: By a Woman of Green Color
By Ana Alvarez-Holmberg
Article published in the HRP-MN Update February 2004

Diversity is so complex that being fair becomes a challenge. Asking questions and listening to others' experiences and perspectives can help human resource professionals gain a deeper understanding of diversity and address this challenge in the workplace. Sharing personal experiences and suggestions will be the focus of this article.

Thinking of diversity, the word "minority" comes to my mind. Some of us have had the opportunity to be a minority. In my case, my first experience was in my home country. While pursuing my undergrad in engineering, I was the only female in a male-dominated college. Adapting to that uniqueness took time. I faced my classmates ongoing teasing. They were amused by the idea of a petite woman going to school with them and openly expressed their opinions. The good side of that situation was that knowing their thoughts allowed me to do something to change their perceptions. Sharing with them what I was better at and collaborating with them so that we passed the exams became my strategy. Eventually, I was part of the group and I felt that my gender was no longer a variable to judge my ability to perform.

My early professional life taught me that being a woman may or may not be a challenge. The work environment made a big difference. Working in a factory was tougher than working in the systems department of any company. Collaboration was still a good strategy to build rapport and develop a professional presence. A line of questioning that looks for skills, strengths, and processes may begin with "What did you do in a situation where the group you worked with shared a perspective different than yours?" Probing questions may follow focusing on the environment, length of the experience, and key learning points.

Being a minority in one dimension such as gender is one thing. Being a minority in multiple dimensions is a totally different story. My first impression when I came to the U.S. was that the world was quite a bit different from what I knew until then. The concept of being a minority due to my race was new. It wasn't only that the Hispanic professional women population did not seem to have a tremendous presence. There is a tendency to talk about "women and women of color."

I didn't quite understand who women of color were until the day I received an enlightening phone call. It was a very busy day and I was in the middle of it when the telephone rang. A cheerful voice invited me to attend a mentoring program for women of color so I could be successful. My heart began racing! I bombarded the person with different questions.

What made her think that I was not successful? She corrected herself saying that if I attended the program for women of color I would be "more" successful.

What color did she think my skin was? She said she didn't know. However, I was considered a woman of color. I was on "the list".

How did I get on "the list?" "Well, you know… Your last name..."

I first had to acknowledge my feelings of anger and indignation. Then, I thought of someone's good intention of offering a mentoring program. The issue for me was in how it was being offered. Mentoring is an experience that could benefit anyone, not only the so-called "people of color." A good question to ask that I learned from this anecdote was, "What is your preference when you need feedback, coaching, and/or mentoring?"

Being raised in a country which was and is predominantly Catholic, religious values had higher priority than working values. Shifting to my workplace in the U.S., I faced a conflict between the benefits of having floating holidays and the work demands. On-call duties, pressure to deliver, or an urgent situation sometimes made working values take a higher priority. I once again felt a minority. A question that searches for cooperation and respects other's faith is, "How would you communicate and establish a contingency plan that keeps your religious values in the priority you want them to be?"

My minority status grew due to my gender, my race, and my religion. Learning about stereotypes and misconceptions is like having small doses of electroshocks. The benefit of wearing minority shoes is that it forces us to look at who we are, to reflect on our views of the world, and to decide how we will relate to others that are different than us. It is mostly in the workplace where we get the best learning experiences. I have been fortunate to play team lead roles with highly diverse professionals as team members.

One of my team members mentioned to me that before working with us, no one recognized him for work well done. We all had to learn how to listen to someone who spoke English as a second language. We learned how to say "What does it mean to you?" especially when it came to body language. We discovered that the same gesture meant the opposite to some of us. Crossing your arms meant a defensive behavior for some of us. For others, it was simply a comfortable position!

I was glad to find out that some cultures prefer to discuss their contributions with the leader before proceeding out of respect. The assumption sometimes was that people ask for permission, making it seem like they lack confidence. Leaving aside our minority status, we all shared the pride and honor of being able to work and contribute.

If I call myself a woman of green color, it is because green is the color of hope. My hope is that as our differences are recognized and respected, we will initiate dialogues among diverse groups. Those dialogues will answer how to integrate diversity throughout the human resource systems. One size doesn't fit all. That is what diversity is all about.

© Copyright 2004. Ana Alvarez-Holmberg, MA PMP.
Ana is passionate about facilitating conversations in the workplace that leverage the uniqueness of each individual. Her motto is "Bringing people together, accomplishing goals, achieving full potential." She can be reached at ana@a-h.name.

What Is Diversity?
By Lila Kelly, Lila Kelly Associates
Article published in the HRP-MN Update January, 2004

When I mentioned the word "diversity" ten years ago, most people said, "What's that?" Now we hear that word a lot. In my class "Managing a Diverse Workforce," students come to the first class either not really understanding what it is or thinking they know quite a bit about diversity. Often they say that even after the first class they realized that diversity is much bigger than they originally thought.

A very basic, yet complex, question was brought up at our Diversity Special Interest Group (sponsored by HRP-MN and ASTD). It was, "I hear so much about diversity, but when I ask people what they mean by it, I get different answers. What exactly is diversity?" Below are responses by the participants in the group, some of whom have been working in the diversity field for many years.

Response: The answer is in the question. It is all the different answers from those perspectives. There is not just one answer to that question. It can be an inclusive answer, that diversity includes all of "these" things. But that's not only what diversity is. Also, within each one area of diversity, there is diversity. Whatever the person's definition is, it can only be used as a stepping off point.

Response: What is diversity? I would say what isn't diversity?

Response: Diversity got a bad rap, because many related it to affirmative action, and because there's a lot of fear surrounding it. So just the word conjures up negative feelings sometimes.

Response: Some say, "Diversity includes all differences, such as hair color, different preferences in food and clothing styles, etc. We're all diverse, so there's no big deal." However, this dilutes and trivializes diversity. Diversity stemmed from trying to find ways to deal with EO/AA legislation, and more importantly from the realization that society and the workplace are becoming more diverse. Laws such as Title VII of the Civil Right Act, the ADA, our state's Human Rights Act and more, which were put into place to correct discriminatory behaviors, can help in identifying the more major issues that need to be addressed regarding diversity.

According to Loden and Rosener in the book Workforce America, you can look at diversity as having two dimensions. Primary dimensions include age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities, race, and sexual orientation. Secondary dimensions include things like educational background, geographic location, income level, marital status, military experience, parental status, religious beliefs, and work experience. R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr. in the book Redefining Diversity offers this definition: "Diversity refers to any mixture of items characterized by differences and similarities." He then makes three points. 1. Diversity is not synonymous with differences, but encompasses differences and similarities. 2. Diversity refers to the collective (all-inclusive) mixture of differences and similarities along a given dimension. 3. The component elements in diversity mixtures can vary, and so a discussion of diversity must specify the dimensions in question.

How do you define diversity? I challenge each of you to continue to search for the answer to that question. Learning about diversity is a life-long journey. It is not something to strive to get comfortable with and then move on with your life. The goal may be to learn to accept being uncomfortable, to be ready to step outside of your comfort zone at a moment's notice. Listen, discuss, and learn about your biases. Try to see situations through the eyes of others. Become aware of the existing diversity in society and how our work places are changing. This will not only help you be proactive with diversity, but also to be a change agent in a changing world.

Copyright © 2004, Lila Kelly Associates. Lila Kelly is a consultant and trainer who helps organizations integrate diversity into their recruiting, interviewing and hiring process. She can be reached at lila@lilakelly.com or 983-4489.

Demographic Shifts in the Workforce
By June Y. Moua
Article published in the HRP-MN Update December 2003

Minnesota, like other states, has experienced significant increases in foreign-born residents and workers over the last decade. According to the 2000 Census, 11.8 percent of Minnesotans identified themselves as nonwhite or Hispanic compare to 6.3 percent in 1990. This influx of immigrants has created an opportunity for local employers to fill gaps in the labor market, especially in the service, manufacturing and construction industries.

Quick Facts:

• In the Census 2000, almost 172,000 Minnesotans described themselves as Black or African Americans alone, while another 31,000 said they were African American in combination with other race. Either number marks a sharp increase from 1990, when almost 95,000 Minnesotans identified themselves as Black or African American.
  
• Growth for Minnesota's American Indian and Alaska native populations varied greatly. In 1990, there were 49,909 American Indian, Eskimos and Aleuts, most of them American Indians. In 2000, about 55,000 Minnesotans identified themselves as American Indian or Alaska Native only, but an additional 27,000 described themselves as American Indian or Alaska Native in combination with another race.
  
• Minnesota's Hispanic/Latino population grew 166 percent during the 1990s, from 53,884 to 143,382.
  
• Total Asian population in Minnesota ranged from 132,032 to 166,217 in 2000, and grew between 81 percent and 116 percent from 1990 to 2000.
  
• The fastest growing groups in Minnesota were Hmong (148% to 170%), Asian Indian (105% to 142%), and Vietnamese (101% to 119%).

Investing in your diverse workforce.
The benefits to employers of investing time and resources in helping immigrant workers adapt to the workplace include increased productivity and performance, greater trust and loyalty among workers and improved safety. This can be translated into higher business profits in the long run.

Ensure diversity in your workplace.
Many workplaces are ensuring that they not only responsible to culturally diverse clients but are able to benefit from a diverse workforce. They have developed plans that include hiring, retaining and promoting qualified employees who reflect their clientele both culturally and linguistically; developing a human resources management plans that embraces needs, values and lifestyles of different cultures; and creating visible commitments to culturally diversity.

Recognize cultural differences and nuances of an immigrant workforce.
Many immigrant workers have little or no problems assimilating into the American workplace. They speak English well and understand the business and social culture and climate. However, others find it more challenging. With the melting pot of workers steaming into the workforce, it is important for employers to understand the many cultural differences and nuances of immigrant workers so they can help them assimilate faster. Hiring immigrant workers has allowed some businesses to add an international touch to their workplaces, especially those that have ties to the global economy and/or serving a more diverse local customer base.

Get to know your community resources.
There are many community resources that provide support to working with new immigrants. These agencies can help with anything from translation of materials to finding out more about the changing demographics in Minnesota, and are ideal places for advertising employment opportunities, making community contacts and raising your profile. You can also show your support for cultural diversity of your neighborhood by learning about the different cultures living in your area and getting involved in community events.

Footnotes: US Census - MN 2000

June Moua, of DACON Engineering & Service Company, is an Account Manager, and a Consultant that helps companies find, retain, and train their diverse workforce.

Productivity: A Fundamental Business Case for Diversity
By C. Philip Bamberger, Executive Consultant, ProGroup, Inc.
Article published in the HRP-MN Update November 2003

Most of my work is with executives. You know them. They are the individuals who scrutinize and question all aspects of business to understand the business case. Once they get it, the right individuals become champions. In terms of diversity, my experience has been that executives feel that the topic is amorphous and hard to implement. The way to make diversity "business credible" is to place diversity in the proper context. Diversity must be a component we leverage to achieve a high performing organization, as opposed to an end, in and of itself. If the end goal is creating the most opportune business environment for our people, then the focus on how differences impact performance is not only credible, it becomes a primary focus.

By approaching the topic this way, we begin to de-mystify what the intent of proper diversity management really is and to close the gaps on the differences that are really matter, in terms of recruitment, retention, productivity, performance, product quality, customer service, internal access to systems, high profile assignments, etc. We get to the point where our efforts are to focus on the utilization and motivation of our diverse workforce, instead of the perception that we are just counting heads.

Productivity as a Diversity Business Case
Today, we live in a business world where sustainable advantage comes from the ability to execute faster, cheaper, and with more quality, while delivering a higher level of service to all customers. If we are determined to succeed in this type of business climate, then two questions need to be asked:

1. Are the skill sets we possess at this moment sufficient to fully compete now and in the future?

2. Can we afford to underutilize any employee?

The answers are obvious to each question, yet the solutions, which I believe are found in how we understand the impact of differences on productivity, are not found in the traditional approach to diversity. We clamor to figure out how to bring the right mix of people into our organizations, which is important--yet the more important aspect of this is to address how we create an environment where all of our employees feel compelled to give the extra incremental effort, creativity, enthusiasm, and focus that only they can give.

I believe that the end state of diversity should be to create a fluid culture where employees experience the workplace in a way that supports and enables them to do their best work despite their differences, not an environment where individuals are pigeonholed because of knee-jerk human assumptions such as race, color, sexual orientation, creed, or gender. By focusing the business case on internal productivity and the impact of differences on performance, coupled with the realization that our demographics and customers have changed, seems to be a compelling message for executives.

If the overarching context of our diversity initiative is about creating a high performing organization whose support systems and policies are beneficial to all, then we create a business reason that requires that the attention be on the impact that differences have on performance. In this model, it is essential to understand what differences, in our culture, make a difference. At this point, it becomes credible to realize and examine exactly what differences really matter in creating and sustaining a "can do" culture, as opposed to the PERCEPTION that we are "doing" diversity for just diversity's sake. Understanding that utilization of talent is the business case, we are free to look at what resources we have at our disposal and how we can deploy those resources in an optimum fashion to provide a fair return to all our stakeholders. With this as a driver, we are forced to ask another question, "How do we create a place where there are as few barriers to high performance as possible?"

Creating a High Performing Culture
The ultimate test will be to create a culture where everyone, regardless of any differences, has:

• An equitable experience;
• A workplace free of barriers to high performance;
• Developmental and career opportunities;
• Access to prominent assignments, teams, client engagements, etc.;
• Mentoring opportunities;
• Timely feedback and coaching;
• Access to resources.

Think about your organization and consider how many of your employees feel like they are thought of as people who can really be counted on to handle tough assignments, get challenging opportunities, and have real access to the resources they need to demonstrate their capabilities. Like most organizations, you may find that 20% or less of your people believe they are thought of this way. For those who are "different", for whatever reason, the percentage is even lower. This creates an organization where 20% of employees (or less, in the case of diverse individuals) are considered to "really have it"-what it takes to succeed. They are the ones who get the real benefit of organizational support systems, both formal and informal. Think of this mathematically: If we pay 100% of our payroll, yet 80% believe they are underutilized, simply ask yourself, "What are the monetary costs of these percentages?" What if it were possible to flip the organization from 20/80 to 80/20?

It becomes intuitive that employee performance, engagement, organizational buy-in are fundamental business issues that can be addressed through the creation of an inclusive work environment. With that said, the end state of what we are trying to create is not diversity for the sake of diversity, but rather understanding how diversity impacts how we create a vibrant, performing culture.

Copyright © Professional Development Group, Inc. DBA ProGroup â. E-News, March 2003 Edition. Reprinted with permission. For more information, contact www.progroupinc.com.

Challenges in Recruiting and Hiring Diverse Employees
By Lila Kelly
Article published in the HRP-MN Update, October 2003

To remain competitive in today's market, organizations are realizing that it is important to make an effort to attract, hire and retain qualified diverse employees. Unfortunately, companies sometimes lose qualified job candidates in the process. This can happen because of two reasons. One, the candidate's potential for the job is underestimated, perhaps due to cultural misunderstandings or prejudice, and therefore the candidate is screened out. Or two, the candidate decides the organization is not a good place to work, perhaps because of an interviewer's behavior, and the candidate screens the employer out.

An Asian-American marketing manager spoke of a challenge companies have in recruiting people of color, especially into professional level positions. She said, "When you look at more highly educated minorities, those people have a lot of choices - professional choices about where they want to go that makes them feel comfortable." As a consultant, I have worked with hiring managers in organizations where they have had to learn to sell the company to qualified job candidates. This was new for them, compared to just letting the candidates sell themselves to them, as they had always done in the past.

In my research on diversity in the job interview process, several people talked about how the interviewers they meet reflect the whole organization. The same marketing manager put it this way, "Even though I am being interviewed, I am also interviewing that person as a representative of their company. If there is ever a sinking feeling about the way that person treats people, I will pull myself out of that interview process. In one interview I would answer a question, and the interviewer would correct my thinking. It became an argument as opposed to a conversation. This did not sound like a very team oriented, nurturing or developing environment, and not a place I would like to be.' " Perhaps the candidate misunderstood the interviewer's approach, or perhaps the interviewer lacked an understanding of different cultures and communication styles, which interfered with his ability to assess the candidate's true potential for the job. As society becomes more diverse, interviewers need to learn more about the cultural backgrounds of the people they interview.

In another situation, an African American woman who is an HR employment representative said that the supervisor who interviewed her and the people she met in the HR department were very nice. However, when introduced to the individual who administered the employment tests, it was another story. She stated, "It was like she was sure that I would not understand the test and wouldn't do well. She said, 'I'm going to give you a chance to read these, but when I come back, I will give you a little bit more time than we normally do.' When she came back she felt it was necessary for her to explain what I had just read. It was that kind of thing that really ticked me off and gave me a negative feeling about that organization. I went home with a bad taste in my mouth that day." Luckily this candidate was not lost. She started working there, discussed the experience with her supervisor, and the company took action to correct the problem. It is important that all employees who meet job candidates have a respectful and welcoming manner.

Job candidates consider how well they will fit in with an organization. When a Middle Eastern man in restaurant management arrived for an interview, he saw pictures in the receptionist area of Employees of the Month. Two pictured were African American and some were female. This made him feel better about the company. He said, "Psychologically it made me feel more comfortable going into the interview, not as nervous. I didn't think there would be prejudice in the interview." Seeing diversity in an organization is important to some candidates, but not to all. Whatever the case, to help candidates get a feel for the environment, include a tour and introductions to other employees. The more the candidate knows of the job and environment before hand, the better the match will be, and this can also affect the retention of that employee in the future.

As the merging of cultures continues into the 21st century, there is a need for organizations to think through and more strategically plan their recruiting and interviewing practices. These situations that I mentioned can cross all lines of diversity in job candidates, including ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, and size. The more comfortable the candidate is, the more they will open up, which will give the interviewers and hiring manager a better chance to learn about and make an informed decision about that candidate. As one person suggested, welcome the candidate into your organization like you would welcome a guest into your own home.

Copyright © 2003, Lila Kelly Associates. Lila Kelly is a consultant and trainer who helps organizations integrate diversity into their recruitment and interview process. She can be reached at lila@lilakelly.com or 651-983-4489.

Degree Versus No Degree….That is the question!
Weighing experience to formalized degree
By Sean Fetterman
Article published in the HRP-MN Update, January 2007

As recruiters, we are constantly striving to find ways to hire and retain talent for our organizations that are the best and brightest to lead our organizations today and into the future.  We pride ourselves on seeking out talent that come from the best colleges and universities across the country, but what about find the best with the most work experience? 

The context of this article is just some food-for-thought as another option to explore in recruiting the best for our organizations.  What if we took a step back and looked at broadening the scope of candidates by increasing the weight of years of direct professional work experience as a more critical qualifier than just simply requiring a 4-year degree?  Some positive outcomes to looking at this may be:

• Reducing the time to train the candidate to get him/her up-to-speed and therefore increase productivity.
• Years of experience from competitors that will help move your department/organization forward in thinking “outside the box” and finding other creative avenues to increase driving results and achieving goals.
• A knowledge base that you may not get out of a recent graduate.

II recently attended a seminar on recruiting and this subject came up for discussion.  With the onset of the Baby Boomer’s exploring retirement options, employers are going to be losing valuable years of experience and knowledge.  As a result, recruiters will be faced with a challenge to fill these positions with less of a candidate pool but will be expected to help maintain company productivity and bottom-line results.   

In brainstorming during an exercise with the participants at the seminar, one common theme that came out of it was that employers at this seminar are now starting to focus more on a candidate’s years of direct work experience rather than a formal degree. 

One participant had a great example that I would like to share with you.  She said that she was working on a requisition to fill a position in Finance and had a flood of resumes from candidates that recently graduated from a 4-year Accounting degree program.  Even though this may be valuable in the long-term, her immediate need was to hire a person with experience that could get up-to-speed in a short period of time.  The candidate she offered the position to did not have a 4-year degree, but did complete a 2-year degree and had plenty of Finance coursework and 7 years of mid-level Accountant experience. 

Here is what transpired to ultimately lead to the decision to offer this candidate the position:

• The recruiter met with the CFO and asked her, “What are the three most important things this person could bring to the position?”  The CFO stated that experience, customer focus, and longevity in his/her work past were critical in this position. 
• In understanding that the CFO wanted a candidate with a degree, the recruiter wanted to clarify how important this was to her.  The response that came back surprised her, which was, “Well….it would be good, but ultimately I want someone who has been in Finance and understands P&L’s and other reports as well as day-to-day operations of the department.  I thought that it was a requirement to ask for a degree?” 

As recruiters, we may be missing out on some extremely valuable talent in the forecasted labor shortage.  In recruiting, we always want to hire “the best”, right?  If the best possible candidate comes to us without a degree, but the experience and value to be successful in the position are there, isn’t that worth it?  One way of closing the gap may be requiring the candidate to earn his/her 4-year degree while employed with your organization within a specified time frame.  This way, you get the experience you desire and have the opportunity to assist someone in earning a 4-year degree! 

Your competitors may still be operating along the lines of “Degree first.  Experience Second.”  Consider changing your strategy when listing requirements for the position to be “Bachelor’s degree in related area desired.  A combination of post secondary education and direct work experience may be considered.”  You will be opening up the possibilities to increase diversity and perspectives in ideas and experiences for your organization.  This way, you will have the opportunity to look at candidates with both the 4-year degree and those with some post secondary education and years of direct professional work experience and find the best!

In adopting a more flexible strategy like this, who will be filling their positions with more qualified and experienced candidates, you or your competition? 

Again, this is just food-for-thought, but it may be a way to reduce the amount of stress we will find ourselves dealing with as we look to fill critical roles within our organizations as Baby Boomers start to explore retirement options.