Making Diversity Work

In the movie Anchorman, a parody about a television news team set in the 1970s, the main character played by Will Ferrell explains to his colleagues, “Well, I could be wrong, but I believe diversity is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era.” Thankfully, society has come a long way since the ’70s. The modern workplace hosts a collection of employees from different backgrounds, races, nations, religions and sexual orientations. For a company to function, all these people have to work together. Organizational leaders must minimize the tensions between individuals and groups to keep operations running smoothly. Left uncorrected, bias can ruin an organization. Sondra Thiederman, an expert on diversity issues in the workplace, has prepared a manual for managers and employees who want to recognize and correct biased behavior. This book contains personal examples and easy step-by-step individual and group exercises for reducing bias. If you want more, Thiederman offers a reader’s guide to stimulate further discussion of this sensitive issue. getAbstract finds this book practical and unexpectedly entertaining, and highly recommends it to human resources professionals and managers.