There are more and varied types of individuals in the workplace today than ever before. Along with various social and cultural challenges this diversity brings, the psychology of understanding people from various backgrounds and experiences can spell the difference between an advancing company and one stuck doing things the way they have always been done.

Instituting an effective workplace diversity plan need not be an overwhelming challenge if its directives are taken seriously by all involved. Those in charge of such implementation need only impress the earnestness of the overall organization, its management and leadership in contributing to the successful integration of all types of individuals into its workforce.

The following five easy to implement steps should provide a quality working outline for any human resources personnel or a department head who must consider making their workplace acceptable by a variety of people with different backgrounds, work experiences, etc.

5 Tips For Effective Workplace Diversity Implementation

• Top Down Attitude: Stuff tends to flow down hill. Whether that stuff is physical mass, like water flowing down a mountain stream, or the attitudes of the top brass in an organization, the thoughts and actions of those in charge are highly likely to be reflected by managers and workers down the chain of command. For this reason, it is important that all are on board when it comes to embracing the need for diversity and how the organization plans to implement changes.
• Understanding the Challenges: When considering diversity, having a real feel for the challenges which are associated is an important factor. There are many encompassing issues to take into account, like gender, race, ethnic group, personality type, age, educational background, tenure in the organization, function within the organization and others as well. Having a clear picture of the challenges one is likely to face in their organization is important to the successful implementation of a diversity plan.
• Managing the Diversity Plan: As the plan to diversify the workplace evolves, it becomes important to monitor the progress and implement changes to courses of action observed to not be working effectively. Integral to this step is broadcasting the culture of acceptance across the entire organization. When management shows interest and dedication by managing the plan, the workforce tends to be more accepting and interested in the success of the diversity plan and the organizations overall ability to operate profitably.
• Assess the Progress: This step must be a conscious effort on the part of the organization. Effective assessment includes collecting data, such as employee attitudes, effects of diversity on productivity, cost associated with the actual plan implementation, etc. Once the information is available making sound choices around the information at hand can keep a plan on track and moving towards its stated goals.
• Promote Diversity: Often the subject of much controversy within industries and individual businesses is the concept of promoting individuals of diverse backgrounds up the chain of command. If the acceptance of the diversity program is embraced by the directors and executives of the company, then merit based, internal promotions should be easy to instill in company operations. When others, both internal to the business as well as those looking in from the outside, see the company’s dedication to advancing those who deserve the opportunity, regardless of their race, sex, or creed, the precepts of an acceptable and successful workplace diversity program is considered to be in place and working well.

About The Guest Author: Andy West is a freelance writer who is working on his industrial psychology degree at The Chicago School while writing about his other interests like global awareness, nutrition & fitness and technology.