Q1What are some of the reasons that representative bureaucracy is argued to be a necessary approach to the public sector? What are some of the challenges?
Q2Discuss the importance of diversity for public services. Additionally, discuss the challenges associated with diversity policies in the public service.
125 words for each
WINTER 2011 www.insightintodiversity.com36 improve results?” We believe there is. It is called diversity management. We define diversity management as a strategy and a capability. Many suc- cessful organizations may be practic- ing the capability without establishing the strategy. In other words, they are getting the benefit of diversity man- agement by accident rather than as a deliberate discipline. How does this happen? Every organization has great managers hidden in its ranks; unrecog- nized and often dis- missed by key play- ers. Great managers seem to intuitively understand the pow- er of deliberate di- versity and the pow- er of effective people management. Most organizations that have an active diversity plan do so based on a belief that diversity (alone) will improve business performance. It is a belief that seems logical and can be easily accepted. It is an assumption, and it is wrong. Why Diversity Management A fair amount of research has been done to assess the value of D&I efforts on organizational performance. Most of this research was done by diversity advocates for the purpose of validating the efficacy of D&I as a policy or even as a strategy. The results have been dis- appointing at best. One simple conclu- sion can be drawn from this research – diversity (alone) has no positive im- pact on organizational performance. In fact, as the evidence shows, diversity (alone) may create more tension and discord which robs us of performance. Yet, leaders continue to believe that diversity improves performance even though they have no evidence to sup- port that belief. I believe the research conducted by di- versity practitioners (inside the field) falls short because it does not ask the right questions, nor does it focus on the right “performance drivers.” But hold on. Before you decide to dis- miss diversity as a performance driver, be aware that there is an overwhelming, compelling business case for diversity when it is well managed (what we call diversity management). A Paradigm Shift Fortunately, work “outside the field” has produced some surprising and encouraging results. The “outside the field” work clearly demonstrates that diversity is the main ingredient for in- novation, decision making, ideation, problem solving, prediction, and high performance; but not just any diver- sity, and only when that diversity is properly managed. The researchers for these works did not set out to prove the efficacy of diversity management. he (Obama) White House is close to issuing an executive order that proposes a Government- wide Council on Diversity and Inclusion. While the focus of the order remains on traditional diversity issues like compliance, representation, and equal employment, it does suggest an expanded view that “diverse per- spectives help us overcome our great- est challenges.” It also suggests that the Federal Government has an obligation to lead by example in this field. This proposal creates an opportunity for every federal agency to upgrade their diversity and inclusion efforts and support the mission of their agen- cy by adding diversity management to the agency’s capability. I hope to demonstrate how you can add diver- sity management to your toolkit and use it as a strategy and as a capability to make better decisions, produce high performance teams, create more inno- vation, solve more complex problems, and deliver your mission with fewer resources. From Policy to Practice Most federal agencies have an active di- versity initiative focused on the social and legal aspects of diversity and inclu- sion (D&I) work. That work includes EEO/AA, recruitment and retention of non-traditional employees, workplace inclusion efforts, and community in- volvement. Many of them have ex- celled at these efforts. But the question remains, “Where is the value? Is there a way to use diversity so that we actually Diversity Management in the Public Sector By James O. Rodgers CMC, MBA T “Is there a way to use diversity so that we actually improve results? We believe there is. It is called diversity management.” WINTER 2011 www.insightintodiversity.com 37 in a win-win spirit that all the parties feel good about. Relentless Execution – Results don’t come from excitement about the plan. They come from cooperative and re- lentless execution. Once each person feels that their perspective has been heard and they have bought in to the solution, you can expect that each will enthusiastically work to achieve the outcome that they all agreed to. A Deliberate Strategy We will not get the best from our peo- ple by hoping. We have to have a delib- erately developed and well-executed strategy to ensure we are creating the right environment for every employee to maximize his or her performance. A diversity management strategy can help focus our attention on attaining that outcome. Diversity management requires more than having a broad mix of people. It requires more than treating each per- son as a valued member of the team. Diversity management is the deliber- ate strategy to use that diversity to full advantage in achieving strong business results and competitive differentiation. Like all other elements of organiza- tional strategy, diversity management matters only to the extent that it solves a critical problem. It should be devel- oped with a disciplined process, not a guess. It begins by defining the prob- lem to be solved. Applying diversity management to specific business prob- lems is the only way to realize the tan- gible value that comes with diversity when it is well managed. Challenge If you still don’t believe the efficacy of diversity management can be proven, ask yourself, “what if I’m wrong?” Make the decision not to be “left behind.” This article is excerpted from the Diver- sity Management Handbook for Public Sector scheduled for release in February 2011. The author, James O. Rodgers CMC, MBA is a leading strategist in the field of diversity management. Mr. Rodgers is also a member of the INSIGHT Into Diver- sity Editorial Board. Instead, they stumbled on this insight while testing for the solutions to their own problems in their own disciplines. Diversity management can be the breakthrough you need to achieve management excellence and grow your capacity to deliver on your mission. Leadership and Management I hope to give you some new ideas about how you can be even more ef- fective in managing all the resources of your agency – especially your hu- man capital. The role of managers and leaders is increasingly important to the success of any enterprise. Now is the time to move toward complete Management Excellence – including excellence in leading and managing people and teams. The addition of diversity management to your toolkit will require more per- sonal time and attention from opera- tions than in the past. It is not some- thing that can be relegated to the diversity office and a few senior lead- ers. At the risk of being cliché, diver- sity management is everyone’s business. But active involve- ment does not mean more work for you. In fact, after a few months of practicing these new skills, you may find that you work less at managing your people because they are more engaged and able to do more on their own. Why should you expect these ben- efits? Not because I say so, but be- cause these expectations are based on documented research, experience, and proven successes. I recommend that you test this new capability with a demonstration project of your own. Just like you would test a new piece of scientific gear to determine its im- pact on your success patterns, diver- sity management as a capability can be tested with a simple Assessment – Visioning – Learning – Measurement process (more on this later). The Practice of Diversity Management Diversity management is remarkably different from diversity (alone). What does it mean to manage diversity? It simply means managing people (all people) well. It begins with clear inten- tion – an intention to get the best from all your people all the time. Managing people effectively means integrating the talent and perspectives of all your employees while allowing each one to be his/her best self. Diversity adds a level of complexity to people management. That is because among the perspectives you have to manage is your own (the manager). It is important to develop leadership skills that make diversity management a clear expectation of all employees. But leadership must be supplemented with superior people management skills. Here is a simple set of skills need- ed to realize the efficacy of diversity management: Capable Selection (select the right di- versity) – Every leader/manager must learn to actively search for and engage the right diversity of people for each team and project. Deliberate Team For- mation (transparent team dynamics) – Di- verse teams are in- herently inefficient (at first). Managers and leaders must be deliberate in identifying relevant diversity and alerting team members to expect and respect disagreements, conflict, and vastly different perspec- tives. Masterful Facilitation – The art of driv- ing people with diverse perspectives to a point of consensus (necessary to move ahead with a common direction) is the primary skill of an effective di- versity manager. The key is to allow the messiness to persist, hear all points of view, moderate reactions, and identify points of agreement. Consensus Validation – The value of di- verse perspectives becomes clear once we have consensus on an approach that everyone can agree to and support. That approach will seldom be the first choice of any of the team members. It will most likely be the “third alterna- tive” or a cooperative solution reached “Diversity management can be the breakthrough you need to achieve management excellence and grow your capacity to deliver on your mission.” Copyright of INSIGHT into Diversity is the property of Potomac Publishing, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However