This Week's Tip!

"Realizing that people 'see' through their own lenses is a top consideration when building strong teams." Victoria Downing, President Remodelers Advantage

Diversity Training Smoothes the Melting Pot

If your employees represent a variety of cultures and backgrounds, consider doing some diversity training at your office to help everyone literally understand where everyone else is coming from. Gaining a better understanding of each others' cultures and differences can help employees work more harmoniously. Diversity training can also boost morale and, in turn, make your employees more productive. It's a big boon for employee retention, too.

Geno Benvenuti, president of Evanston, Ill.-based Benvenuti and Stein, Inc. hired Catherine Popowits, president of Diversity Consulting and Training, Inc., to do diversity training for his employees after he sensed some racial- and gender-oriented tension among some of his employees.

The consultant developed a two-pronged approach for Benvenuti and Stein. She first interviewed each of the company's 43 employees to get their opinions on cultural issues and their respective roles in the company. Using the information they provided her, she then developed a series of role playing exercises that everyone - even Benvenuti participated in.

"It was eye-opening, to say the least," says the remodeler. "It brought up some additional underlying issues that we didn't even realize were there, issues that could have created difficulties had we not done something about them. Diversity training is essential anytime you have a mix of cultures in your workforce."

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