William Lennox, the president of a consulting firm, Lennox and Associates of Chicago, is in town to address local executives on "Diversity in the Workplace." You interview him for a story in tomorrow's newspaper. Here are excerpts from the interview.
Diversity in the workplace is here to stay. Companies that devote the time and money to building and managing a diverse work force—members of minority groups, immigrants and women—find that diversity is good for business. It makes for a more tolerant and innovative working group, to say nothing of eliminating discrimination suits.
Employers used to think that the idea of a multicultural work force had no relevance to making money. Moreover, they felt that establishing a diverse employee group would antagonize their mostly white, male employees. This is no longer a major obstacle. Managing this new group has created some problems, and a new industry has grown up that meets the need to establish diversity and to smooth out any problems created by blending race and gender into the work force.
Studies indicate that by the year 2005 the work force will have 26 million new workers, 85 percent of whom will be made up of women, minority group members and immigrants. These new workers must be blended smoothly into the workplace without disruption and antagonisms arising.
The problems arise at the top as well as among employees. It takes some effort to break down stereotypes based on race, nationality and gender. We find most of these attitudes are based on personality characteristics.
A major problem in many firms is bias among middle managers. But, as we move into a global economy, we find that things are changing. Also, there is a growing belief that diverse employee groups outperform and their companies out-earn homogenous groups. The diverse groups generate new approaches, new ways to solve problems because of the many ways they look at a situation.
Lennox said his firm is part of a growing group of management consultants that make use of psychologists and business people to advise clients on how to make multiculturalism work.
