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Working With A Diverse Workforce
by Ed Yager
One of our favorite restaurants, well worth the trip, is Mi Ranchito in
American Fork. As a large family group we dined there recently and each,
individually, commented on the quality, the extremely fast service, the
attitude, and on and on. As a waitress passed our table she accidentally
dropped a basket of chips. In only a few seconds another had the chips
swept up. Drinks were refilled without our even noticing, empty plates
were removed as quickly as we finished by 2 or 3 different people. The
food was served in less than 5 minutes, and the place was jammed with
people. Employees were running to serve their customers and everyone worked
together no matter what their job was. Even as we arrived we said to the
hostess "12 please" and before we were all in the door three
employees were already pulling tables together without any one asking.
How do they do it? What is the trick?
How do they do it?
Hey - wait a minute. These are all ethnic employees.
So many people tell me they can't get them to work hard. Let's think about
this for a minute.
One of the great challenges leaders in today's business
world face is the successful integration of a diverse work force. The
value in diversity is well documented even though many leaders continue
to suffer from a variety of bias and prejudices that makes diversifying
difficult. But this article is not about diversity. It is about working
with a diverse workforce.
Over the years I have had the good fortune of working
with work forces of virtually every race, ethnicity and of either gender,
union and non-union, professional and labor.
Fortunately, I have found that most of the principles
of good leadership are universal and global in nature. The objective of
every leader is to create energy in the workforce, and to get the entire
workforce to pull in the same direction, in the same way, and for the
same purpose. Along the way there must be consistency, standards of quality
and service, safety, and a host of policies and procedures that must be
followed. Like a game of basketball the team must be willing to work together,
to build their personal talent, and to find new ways of winning while
at the same time following the rules, accepting a referee's calls and
demonstrating sports and relating to the fans.
There must be freedom to perform and to choose ones
own method of accomplishing a task, the authority to do what is necessary
to complete a task or to satisfy a customer, trust in the leader and in
each other, praise for a job well done, recognition, consideration, inclusion,
understanding, and acceptance among others.
But there is more to leading a diverse workforce. There
are inevitable conflicts between cultures. There are biases and prejudices
within the workforce that play out in often dysfunctional ways, and difficulties
in communication. The supervisor's expectations are often out of sync
with the minority workers(s). Minority supervisors too often have expectations
of others of their own race that are far greater than those of the majority
race. On the other hand too many supervisors have lower expectations of
minority workers and more than any other factor expectations create self
fulfilling prophecies. People act as they are expected to act.
If we are to be successful
at the integration of minority workers there must be more concentration
on socializing the workforce and helping them to understand each other,
to communicate with each other, and to assist each other. Do not try to
mix personalities artificially in some sort of teaming that does not add
value for example. Let various ethnics or races have some room/space of
their own, but emphasize inclusion and cooperation when working. Try to
employ a number of people of the same race so those who are more or less
confident, or better or less able to communicate have a support mechanism.
Learn to understand the cultural differences of those you employ. See
the world and work from their point of view. Remember that to be fair
does not mean to treat everyone the same. An object of leadership is to
see that the individual's goals and the organization's goals are parallel.
Those of different races or ethnicity do not always have the same goals,
the same needs, or the same problems. You need to be flexible in order
to ensure that each worker's needs are being met - thus creating loyalty
and commitment to the business and to the customer.
Be wary of acting out the psychological need many supervisors
have to come across as decisive, secure, and sure. You can't be when it
comes to dealing with others. Others will have a hard time understanding
what you expect because they do not know what they can expect from you.
They don't know you well, and they do not feel they can talk with you
about their concerns or questions. If you expect others to trust you and
to accept your authority they must see you listening and understanding.
Back to the top -- I called Hugo Arias, the owner of
Mi Ranchito, and I asked him what his trick was. He laughed at the question.
"There is no trick." This El Salvadorian who has been in business
for over 15 years tells me, "When a new employee comes to work I
tell them I'm the owner, but I don't want people to see me as the owner.
I work with everybody. We all work together. Sometimes when a waitress
starts they may think they will not get along - that has been their past
experience, but after one or two weeks we start working together."
Does it work? He says, "I have 5 guys in the kitchen
who have been here since we opened. Most of the other employees have been
with me for many years."
I asked the obvious. Is it because you are paying them
more or because they can earn more with you? "It's not the pay",
he says. "It's the way we treat people. If you don't treat people
good, they don't care if you pay them more. If there is a problem they
just quit." He went on to explain, "I have worked for alot of
bad managers. When they come in they just say 'do this '- 'do that '-
they try to act scary. I don't do that. I train them, I work right along
with them. I don't have any problem with anyone."
For those of us who try to act sophisticated about
leadership, to describe it in a dozen different ways, Hugo makes it all
sound easy. It really is, isn't it? When you get down to basics there
is no ethnicity or race, or gender that matters. It's all about relationships.
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