16 Ways to Get Employees Excited About Workplace Diversity

Is it possible to make the implementation of a professional diversity initiative exciting? You bet! Read on for some simple ways that you can get people involved and engaged in your workplace diversity initiatives.

Utilize leaders as teachers. Make leaders the primary teachers about diversity through their own behavior (walk-the-talk). If you're going to be teaching classes on diversity or integrating it into your culture, make your leadership the 'go to' people on diversity. I once saw a global organization transformed by such an initiative. The leadership was trained on diversity by an executive sponsor. Each leader was given a country of their choice where the company had worldwide headquarters. They were given all the proper tools to market it - the sponsor had put together a fun and exciting diversity packet with interactive exercises, there was a country education kit, language tapes and a corresponding mentor in that office for the leader to rely upon. Soon the group became spokespeople for diversity - so much so that HR was requesting their time to attend job fairs and other important recruiting events because they were so passionate about attracting diverse candidates.

Multi-cultural business cards. Each culture has their own way of introducing who they are and how they do business. In her article International Business: Business Card Etiquette, Lauren Nemec sites that "It may seem straightforward - all you need on your business card is your name, job title and contact information, right? Depending on where you are doing business, more information may be necessary." Offering your employees the ability to obtain a multi-cultural business card shows that you have respect for how business is conducted in their country.

Diversity News/Reporting. Designate a central location (i.e., an intranet site) where you can post news related to diversity and a host in essence a database of diversity. You might highlight diversity councils, mentoring groups, activities and have a place for people to publicize the languages they speak.