Age Diversity: Generational Gap: GEN Y

In the previous posts, I discussed the Matures, continuing the sequence; we met the Baby Boomers, Generation X or GEN X, and now I introduce Generation Y or GEN Y.

 

This is about Generation Y, otherwise called GEN Y, Millennials, Generation Next. They are 25 to 34 years old, and are 70 to 80 millions in the United States.

Gen Y, are shaped by their early experiences which created filters through which they see the world, and directly impact how they navigate their worlds. Events like the 9/11 attacks, The Columbine high school attack, Oklahoma City bombing, Iraq and Afghanistan wars wrought their world. They see themselves as extension of technology; Reality TV is also a way of life for them.

They were brought up in small families, one in four of Gen Y parents are college-educated. More than 50 percent of Gen Y in the United States are immigrants, or children of immigrants. They shaped the face of politics in the 2008 US elections through the use of social media. They are recognized as playing a major role in electing the nation’s first black president.

They are witnessing corporate greed, exposure of Ponzi schemes, and industry bailouts, and worldwide economic crisis.

The Y’ers have been defined by some as narcistic, self absorbed, and not reliable. Their heroes are not political figures or movie stars but regular people in their circles as teachers, family member or the firemen and police men like the ones that responded to the 9/11 attacks and risked their lives. .
• They are the fastest growing demographic at the workplace

• Famous examples of Gen Y: Zuckerberg, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, and Michael Phelps.

• Musical Era: Back street boys, N Sync, Black Eyed Pea, Rihanna and Lady Gaga.

• Workplace: Work for deadlines not necessarily schedules, they value blending that is why they prefer working in open spaces and hate the closed door offices. They like to shop for both employers and vendors they remain connected 24/7, not your typical nine to five employees. They are multi-taskers, tech savvy, but they need immediate constant feedback, as well as mentors. They are socially responsible; believe in good causes and the environment; prefer to work for companies with the same values. They are critical of the ethics and morality of business.

• Family: Gen Y is comfortable living with their parents, maintaining close ties with their families. Friends are global and can be online. Gen Y has been the busiest generation of children, parents and teachers micromanaged their lives, leaving them with little free time. It is very common to hear them say my mother or father is my best friend.

• Leadership: They are redefining the rules; they value autonomy, and are restless. They are individuals with group orientations. They don’t look for leadership positions.

• Culture Ethos: They see education as important, but also expensive. They are participative in nature, embracing diversity. They have liberal attitudes toward issues such as gay marriage and interracial dating. They believe in volunteerism and service to communities. They are more involved in politics; and youth-driven activist organizations build grassroots movements for various social and political causes.

• Loyalty: They value personal freedom and autonomy, they are loyal to people either they work with or play with.

• Communications: Casual, instant, personal and direct; eager to please. They rather communicate with text messages and IMs. They will not listen to voice mails. They are connected online all day through their laptops, and cell phones.

• Recognition and motivation: They have high expectations and clear goals. They prefer individual public recognition, as they like attention and exposure. They like to be valued for their opinions; they will work hard to have opportunities to broaden their skills. They connect their actions to their personal and career goals. They get motivated by setting them up to work with other bright creative people, and by allowing them enough time and flexibility to live the life they want.

• Technology: They’re the first generation to grow up surrounded by digital media. 2/3 of them used computers before the age of five. They are connected 24/7. They are seen as the driving force behind the recent revolution in American political campaigning. They created new sites, and used existing ones as YouTube, and Facebook, to rally voters and raising money.

• As a customer: Gen Y wants to use the same tools as their peers but with a unique twist. They will consider a company’s products if the company is known for their humane attitude. They like technology-based products and look for more advanced tools to help them. They don’t trust companies’ marketing materials and check with online peers before making purchasing decisions.

The challenges and opportunities as well as solutions to the Generational gap links are attached.
Diversity starts at home,

Sahar Andrade, MB.BCh
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC. - Home of the D.I.A.L.O.G.™ Programs
Diversity& Inclusion in Active Leadership Organizational Growth™
(Exchanging Ideas through Conversation)™

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

 Let’s connect on:        

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Diversity Equals Positive Work Environment

First appeared on Technorati: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/diversity-equals-positive-work-environment/#ixzz1TndkVPib

A 2006 survey by Gallup Management Journal found that 56 percent of the US workforce are “not-engaged,’ or sleepwalking through their workday, costing their organization money by putting in time without any passion or personal involvement. Fifteen percent of the United States workforce is “actively disengaged,” where employees are unhappy and manifest their unhappiness not only by undermining the efforts of the engaged employees, but also by creating a hostile work environment that is toxic for all employees possibly leaing to workplace violence. In April 2009, the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics published a press release reporting that the usual weekly earnings of wage and salary workers for the first quarter of 2009 were: “Median weekly earnings of the nation’s 100.2 million full-time wage and salary workers were $738 in the first quarter of 2009.” A yearly median salary will be $38,376.00 ($738X52 weeks), the actively disengaged employee will cost their employer 41 percent of their annual salary i.e. $15,922.00. Multiplying that by 15 percent of the workforce, and it demonstrates employer’s loss of millions, if not billions of dollars. Gallup estimates the lost productivity of actively disengaged employees costs the US economy $370 BILLION annually. In February 2010, the number of employees voluntarily quitting surpassed the number being fired or discharged, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The issue becomes how long an organization can afford to survive before dealing with the problem of actively disengaged and disgruntled employees. The solution is available for a fraction of the cost of the loss incurred by these organizations. The solution is fostering a positive work environment through diversity and inclusion, training, action plan, execution and follow-up. Creating an organizational culture where all employees feel valued and a vital part of the organization.

Positive work environment is created when the employees feel that they are part of a team working collectively with the senior management towards common goals, be part of decision making and collaborate towards the success of the organization.

Culture will eat strategy for lunch anytime of the day, so it becomes evident why a culture of respect and acknowledgment goes a long way.

The foundation of positive work environment lies on the commitment of every single person at the organization to engage with each other, manage diversity and inclusion, transparency, develop cross-cultural leadership skills, and being accountable for their individual actions, progress and goal achievements.

The most successful workplaces are those in which everyone works well together to create a positive work environment by living the mission, vision and core values of the organization, in alignment with its culture of respecting the diverse talents, valuing and embracing the differences.

In a positive work environment teamwork is appreciated and builds on each others’ strengths and abilities; a strong belief that every single employee is unique and bring their own unique abilities and capabilities to the table and have the right to be treated with dignity and respect; Diversity & Inclusion are weaved through the threads of the organization’s culture where exclusive clubs and ISMs do not exist

Diversity starts at home.

 

Sahar Andrade, MB.BCh
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC. - Home of the D.I.A.L.O.G.™ Programs
Diversity& Inclusion in Active Leadership Organizational Growth™
(Exchanging Ideas through Conversation)™

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on:       
Contact me:  saharconsulting

Diversity And Isms

Today, I found a card on top of our mailbox, it read “Love your race”, and the back read”Stop affirmative action” with a link to a website that spewed hatred, with messages as: “We must have new societies throughout the White world which are based on Aryan values and are compatible with the Aryan nature. We do not need to homogenize the White world. What we must have, however, is a thorough rooting out of Semitic and other non-Aryan values and customs everywhere.”

I stopped for a second in disbelief, not because of the intolerance, and hate messages but because it was so blatant, and destructive.

When cultural differences present themselves in any community it can go either way depending on the surrounding factors. They can become an advantage; conflicts can arise or even worst the symptoms of “Isms” start showing when people don’t coexist peacefully.

Racism is perhaps the most problematic of these “Isms”. Simply put, racism is hatred without bounds. It affects all types of organizations and societies.

Racism is when people dislike others simply because of their race, color, religion, gender or even sexual orientation. Those infected by this hatred cannot work well in a diverse environment as they are overcome by their “ISM.”

Sexism, classism, ableism, homophobia, xenophobia and ageism are also other “Isms.” Although homophobia and xenophobia are not necessarily “Isms,” they are based on hatred.

Many of the “Isms” are the result of a lack of understanding of the various cultures in society. Many individuals confuse culture with race, and lack of communication or knowledge regarding that particular culture creates additional turmoil due to this lack of understanding.

Culture is not only about race or ethnicity but is about common characters such as age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, physical ability, education, marital and parental status that allow people within a group to have a common identity.

For example, some Native Americans are raised in a tribal group that does not permit compliments in front of peers in public. Therefore, a Native American individual may exhibit displeasure at a public compliment, not because they are unappreciative, but because it is against their beliefs. However, if the person complimenting him does not understand that, they may take offense to it.

When English is a second language or poorly spoken, language can create misunderstandings leading to issues of loyalty. This lack of understanding often leads to xenophobia, a fear of anything that is foreign or unknown.

In a multicultural diverse society, zero tolerance for racism and prejudice should be adopted, celebrate the uniqueness of each culture, learn from it and use it as strength for our community or organization to build a stronger culturally diverse nation. Diversity and multiculturalism are NOT affirmative action created to right a wrong, and was not created to adversely impact anyone.

Granted, there have been cases where some organizations mistakenly applied Affirmative action alienating deserving employees to be employed or promoted because they were not minorities. Does it justify intolerance? Does it justify racism and prejudice? 
Diversity and multiculturalism should neither be a demand for special rights for minorities, a threat to protecting one’s own cultural identity and safety, nor a majority ruling.

First, we all need to confront our own bias and prejudice first. Who gets to decide what is normal? Who gets to decide who is right and who is wrong and most of all who are we to judge? We are all human beings sharing more or less the same values and desires, it is not a Kumbaya song, but is reality. We all have in common the love of our families, yearn for freedom, want to love and be loved, want to be safe, want to trust and be trusted, be equal in our rights and responsibilities, and most of all we all look for happiness.

Diversity is about dignity, respect and most of all being human. We spend too much time looking for our differences when we have so much in common to celebrate. We keep looking at the five percent differences while ignoring our ninety five percent commonalities. Join me in looking for our similarities rather than our differences to embrace our different cultures in harmony.
Diversity starts at home.

 

Sahar Andrade, MB.BCh
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC. - Home of the D.I.A.L.O.G.™ Programs
Diversity& Inclusion in Active Leadership Organizational Growth™
(Exchanging Ideas through Conversation)™
http://www.saharconsulting.com 
(818)861 9434 

 

Let’s connect on:       
Contact me:  saharconsulting

Diversity Challenges- Stereotyping

First appeared on Technorati:  http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/diversity-challenges-stereotyping/

We discussed the Diversity Challenges in the last post. An important item in the diversity challenges is stereotyping, so let us start by defining it.

Stereotypes lead to assumptions and conclusions based on a person’s race, gender or sexual preferences. Making these assumptions and conclusions then leads us to discrimination. Stereotypes can be about race, religion, gender, age, disabilities, income, geographical locations.

Stereotyping, has its root in prejudice, is an unjustified negative attitude based on a person’s group or class identity acquired either through past personal experiences or through preconceived wrong beliefs. It includes having an attitude, opinion, perception, or belief about a person or group.

Stereotype is a mental picture developed as a result of a myth. People don’t often realize manifestations of their own bias and prejudice towards others.

A clear example is shown in the case of a Republican official, from Orange County, Ca, a couple of months ago; forwarding an email to some friends depicting an image of a family of chimpanzees, with the superimposed face of President Barack Obama over the baby chimp’s face. The caption read, “Now you know why no birth certificate; thinking it was just a joke. She apologized by saying that she has never been a racist; she just thought it was funny

While we are not judging the behavior, the morale of the story is that we can have our own bias and not even be aware of it, which is the real challenge when it comes to diversity, inclusion, and acceptance.

Important also to note that there a fine difference between generalization and stereotyping. Generalization is a starting point indicating common trends and patterns, for beliefs and behaviors that are shared by a certain group, to make it a bit easier to study its culture, and that there are individual differences even within the same group of people

While generalizing is a positive, stereotyping that might seem similar, functions differently, and can negatively influence interpersonal interactions. Stereotyping is an ending point and can be defined as the process by which people acquire and recall information about others based on their race, sex, religion, etc.

To understand the difference: If I assume that all Middle Eastern are Muslims is stereotyping as a good percentage is Christian, Jewish, Druze or Baha’i. But if I ask myself if a Middle Eastern is Muslim I am making a generalization

One of the publicized stereotypes in the workplace is the “gender” stereotypes, indicated in class action lawsuits as the Wal-Mart and the recent KPMG case.

Gender issues often have a strong impact on a workplace because these types of issues elicit different communication styles and perceptions. These issues can also lead to sexual harassment and other types of discrimination and those that are very subtle. However, these issues are not limited to gender issues, but also include sexual issues, cultural issues and lifestyle issues.

Gender issues are excellent for exploring how stereotypes develop and discrimination occurs. For instance, women often feel undervalued in the workplace, while men often think that they cannot do the same jobs as them. This is a classic stereotype.

Age is another issue, including whether an employee is too old or too young for their position. For instance, Gen Y are presently in leadership positions at the workplace, some may wonder whether they have enough experience for their position as well as life in general.

Sexual orientation issues also arise causing stereotypes and discrimination. As more gay men and lesbian women make their presence known in the workplace and openly talk about their sexuality and partners, many people simply do not understand it. These people are often the center of disrespectful jokes and commentary. Organizations are also openly hiring these individuals into managerial positions. These types of situations often cause tension and even violence between these individuals.

Individuals with disabilities might also be stereotyped and discriminated against. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ensures workplace corrections so that disabled people can work easily in their positions, they often feel as though they are left out of the office culture.

Stereotyping and discriminating against certain people and classes that are mostly protected by law, not only affects the bottom line revenues of the workplace, but decreases morale, where employees are disengaged, increase absenteeism, diminishes the capability of recruiting and retaining talents. All these factors will not only decrease productivity, but also subjects the organization to major lawsuits that costs million of dollars in settlements and punitive damages, with a risk to tarnish its reputation forever and can be detrimental to small and middle size businesses.

Diversity starts at home.

Sahar Andrade, MB.BCh
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC. - Home of the D.I.A.L.O.G.™ Programs
Diversity& Inclusion in Active Leadership Organizational Growth™
(Exchanging Ideas through Conversation)™

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on:       
Contact me:  saharconsulting

Diversity Challenges

First appeared on Technorati: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/diversity-challenges/#ixzz1PYLCI4vt

Work place discrimination charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) hit an unprecedented high of 99,922 during the fiscal year of 2010.

EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) that has a the task of ending employment discrimination in the United States by allowing individuals to sue private employers for discrimination, and serves as an adjudicatory for any claims of discrimination brought against federal agencies.

That means that we still have a big problem with discrimination and application of diversity and inclusion – finding the barriers to diversity and inclusion can guide the way to finding solutions to at least decrease the amount of these claims, and can help building bridges in the workplaces for better harmony and inclusion.

Diversity goes way beyond race, color and religion. Diversity is the many differences between individuals including race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical abilities, socio-economic, jobs, education, geographical locations, personalities, and even diversity of thoughts. Diversity is what makes each and everyone of us unique

Diversity means challenge and to overcome the “isms” such as racism, ageism, sexism, and homophobia. These issues cause many rifts in a successful society and workplace and often prevent goals of the organization and the teams within from accomplishing their goals and achieving their missions.

Most importantly, leaders must be aware of these challenges in order to rise above them and lead successful teams, while also reaping the many benefits that diversity provides.

There are several challenges to diversity that exist including:

• Fairness: Diversity creates questions about fairness because discrimination and equality in the workplace is always a factor. Because of this, mechanisms must be put in place to assure that questions of fairness do not arise and to ensure that everyone in the organization is treated equally.
• Management Complexity: It often seems easier to manage a group of people who all have the same or similar mindset, but these people do not always get along. However, in a homogenous group, there tends to be less conflict and management does not have to adjust their style. They do not need to approach or listen to people differently and they do not need to find new approaches to tasks, as they are always completed successfully using one method, if it is not broken why fix it?.
• Differences versus Similarities: It is simpler to think that working with people that have similar backgrounds is easier. We don’t have to worry about different styles or understanding new perspectives. We also don’t have to adjust to different attitudes. 
• Loyalty and Identity: As members of a homogenous group, we believe we know who we are. We don’t feel the need to constantly redefine ourselves and we don’t need to wonder if we can trust those new people with new values, if they will back us up or if they will be loyal to the organization.

Although these all read as challenges, the fact is that these can also be benefits to diversity. When you find new approaches, you define innovation. Although it may be difficult to deal with, change is good.

Organizations that are flexible and willing to think clearly and outside of the box are able to use their diversity skills to make diversity work in their organization.

Diversity is mutual acceptance and value placed on differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and other human attributes. Workplace diversity means new opportunities for both employees and employers and that translates into more revenues.

 

Diversity Starts at home

Picture credit to thefreemanonline.org

Sahar Andrade, MB.BCh
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC. - Home of the D.I.A.L.O.G.™ Programs
Diversity& Inclusion in Active Leadership Organizational Growth™
(Exchanging Ideas through Conversation)™
http://www.saharconsulting.com 
(818)861 9434 

Let’s connect on:       
Contact me:  saharconsulting

Break Down Barriers to Cross-Cultural Communication

First appeared on Technorati:  http://technorati.com/business/gurus/article/break-down-barriers-to-cross-cultural/#ixzz1LLnW0mVi

In the first part of the post: The business case of cross-cultural communication, the meaning of culture and the different aspects of diversity have been clarified.

Communication is a crucial element in relationships either personal or business. Effective communication is one of the foundations of leadership, diverse team building and cooperation. Effective communication can be the difference between a successful organization and a failing organization. It is directly tight to the bottom line revenues, to employee morale, retention, loyalty, and increased productivity which is directly related to increased profits.

Ineffective or lack of communication results in high turnover, inability to recruit or retain diverse talents, absenteeism, low morale and most importantly low productivity that leads to low revenues.

The real causes of ineffective or weak communication are excuses. In other words, the only things holding people back from great communication are themselves or their perceptions.

Any interruption or noise during the communication process causes a disconnect, or results in miscommunication. The communication process consists of 8 main items:

1. The message: What is being communicated
2. The source or the sender: Starts the decision to send a message, and define its purpose.
3. Encoding: The message is generated through the source’s past experiences, perceptions, thoughts and feelings.
4. The channel: The means, pathways or devices by which the messages are communicated. Channels can be verbal or non-verbal.
5. The receiver: The person (persons) who attend to the source’s message
6. Decoding: Interpreting the message by the receiver based on their past experiences, perceptions, thoughts and feelings.
7. Feedback: Receiver responds to sender showing understanding or not. Feedback can also be total silence.
8. Noise: Any interference with the transmission of the message that will inhibit the proper understanding of the message and can act as a barrier.

Knowing the common barriers to effective communication, makes it easier to either avoid them or even better find a solution to these barriers. The most common barriers are:

1. Physical: Can be an actual physical structure or distance: Walls, desks, cubicles, doors, or being located in different buildings or rooms. Physical barriers are also anything that causes distractions or breaks concentration as background noises in case of continuous phone ringing and loud music, or the room temperature either too low or too high
2. Perceptual: No two people view the world the same way; we all have our own assumptions and perceptions tinted by our own past experiences, values and beliefs which can get in the way of productive dialogue
3. Psychological: Being emotionally disconnected: Emotions or personal feelings that cause misunderstandings that hinder effective communication. A person’s emotion at the time the message is communicated can impact how it is sent or received. Fear, mistrust, happiness, sadness, anxiety, or anger are all strong emotions that can directly influence communication
4. Gender: As it is said that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Men and women think, speak and decide differently. Men approach the subjects from facts, wanting bottom line. Women have nurturing natures, love details as they need to build relationships and they hint in their communication where men are just direct to the point
5. Generational: We have four generations interacting together at the workplace. Every generation has its own style of communication. To bridge the generational gap, we need to know the different times, and conditions surrounding each generation that influenced their lives a great deal.
6. Language: Miscommunication occurs when people from different areas or companies are communicating and assign different meanings to words or are unfamiliar with the different terminology. Using slang as: slam dunk, throw me under the bus, stop on a dime, kick the bucket especially while communicating with people to whom English is a second language; using jargon (medical terms, IT people); dialects; or semantics all hinder effective communication.
7. Cultural, racial and religious: We are all products of our environment. Our culture, race or religion are the lens through which we view the world and code or decode the messages we receive.

The communication continues in the next post

Diversity starts at home.

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

My profiles:
Contact me: saharconsulting

Cross-Cultural Communication

Last weekend, I gave a presentation about cross-cultural communication. To my surprise, I found out that a vast majority of the population has a misguided perception that cultures are only about people’s skin colors, different ethnicities or religions, which is very surprising considering the emphasis that is being placed on diversity and the importance therein.

Also, many people didn’t quite grasp the difference between both communication and effective communication; and the concept that there is a difference between hearing and active listening.

Taking all of the above into consideration, I then decided to write this post about the actual definition of effective cross-cultural communication and why it is important to focus on it.

I always like to build a business case around any subject I tackle. When I researched the business case for communication these were the results:

1- The demographics in the United States are rapidly changing: It was perceived that the minorities in the United States will become majorities by 2050; but according to new data, we will see the shift earlier in 2042- 2043.
a- The Hispanic population will increase from 15 to 30 percent within the next 30 years
b- Asians will increase from five to eight percent
c- African Americans will increase only by one percent from 14 to 15 percent.
d- There is at least one million legal immigrants moving to the United States yearly
2- The increased number of female executives where inter-gender communications becomes vital
3- There are four generations communicating at work, where some even consider the presence of 5 generations (dividing generation Y to pre & post 9/11)
4- The buying power of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and trans-gender community is increasing

We spend 70 percent of our daily time communicating with each other. Sustaining productivity and increasing revenues can come down to the point if communication is conducted effectively or not.

Let us go back for a moment to the cross-cultural term: it means communication across different cultures. The world around us especially in the United States is very diverse as demonstrated in the business case.

Diversity includes but is not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation; it also includes other factors like socio-economics, education, titles, job descriptions, geographical locations, and marital status, to the point where the diversity of thought, is also included.

And why do we care about diversity in communication? Because each category of diversity has its own culture and each culture has its own communication style, which should also be taken in consideration for product marketing campaigns to different segments of the market.

Then, we need to consider the individuals’cultures, social cultures and the organizational cultures. So, are we fighting a losing battle? In actuality it is much simpler than it sounds, although some flexibility and sensitivity to the different diversity factors and cultures is needed.

The subject might seem a no-brainer, but I have been surprised by how many people never thought about cross-cultural communication in this way. And most importantly:

Diversity starts at home.

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on:       
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Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

First appeared on Technorati: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/merry-christmas-or-happy-holidays/

Today is Christmas day. It is my best time of the year, I wait for it like a little child, and I listen to the Christmas carols all month long.

But this is not what my post is about today. I grew up overseas in many countries where Christianity wasn’t the dominant religion of these countries, and I still saw the Christmas trees with the lights, I dreamed about Santa Claus and the gifts he will bring me on Christmas day; so I had to be a good girl, and I learned to wish people “Merry Christmas”.

Many children around the world believe in Santa Claus whom is called many names: Papa Noel (French), Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Papai Noel (Portuguese), Gwazdor(Polish), Ded Moroz (Russian) or Baba Nwel (Arabic) etc…

In the last few years I have been noticing that more and more people wishing each other “Happy Holidays” and not “Merry Christmas” as we are used to. The reason is that some people commented that they get offended as they don’t celebrate Christmas. So to be politically correct, we started hearing “Happy Holidays” more and more.

Around the same time of the year, depending on the sun or the moon, we may celebrate few festivities like Chanukah, Christmas, Eid El Edha, and Kwanzaa. The date of the Jewish festivities Chanukah, and for the Muslim Eid El Edha change from one year to the other as they are based on the lunar cycle; thus the dates fluctuate with respect to other calendar systems.

Does that mean that any of the festivities should over shadow the other? Absolutely, NOT!

We all live in a nation that is composed of multiple religions, races and ethnicities. We should all accept, and if not accept at least respect, understand, and celebrate each other festivities.

What is wrong in wishing anyone “Merry Christmas” how would that offend anyone just because it is Christmas. I wish my Jewish friends Happy Chanukah, La’ Shana Tova, and to my Muslim friends Happy Eid or Happy Ramadan. In this great nation we celebrate Diwali, the Chinese New Year, The Nairuz Persian New Year, etc… Do we always tell everyone at any festivity Happy Holidays? The answer is No, so why change for Christmas?

Each festivity or celebration has its own name, and its own wishes so why not use the proper one. Diversity is about inclusion and acceptance. Sensitivity goes both ways.

Being politically correct not to hurt some feelings; shouldn’t be at the expense of someone else’s feelings.

I do not celebrate Christmas religiously, but I do socially and I say Merry Christmas. What is next not to wish someone Happy Easter or Happy Pessach? And just wish everyone Happy Holidays in all occasions no matter what faith or belief?

We are not a melting pot where we all become one gooey ugly melt, where everything loses its shape and colors; we all have our own colors and flavors as in a fresh bowl of salad; that should be respected and celebrated

Happy Chanukah!
Merry Christmas!
Happy Kwanzaa!

Diversity starts at home,

 

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

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The Longoria Affair- Part 1

This post appeared first on Technorati: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/the-longoria-affair-part-1/

I watched a documentary on PBS the other day, called the “Longoria Affair” that blew my mind. And, no it is not about Eva Longoria or her recent separation from her husband.

It is about a brave Mexican-American soldier, Felix Longoria Jr., that fought for our country in World War II, and was killed while on a mission.

So far it is a common story that we hear about all the time, but this one is different. Longoria lived in the Mexican neighborhood of Three Rivers a Texan small city that was split into two by the rail tracks, one side with street names are in English, predominantly white; and the other side with street names are in Spanish, predominantly Mexican.

What they had in common was World War II as most families at that time, had at least a family member fighting in the war. Men from both sides of the tracks volunteered to fight.

What really surprised me is to know how this story initialized the grass roots of the Mexican Americans civil rights movements and was also the mute reason behind the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 issued by President Johnson.

Now back to the details, Felix Longoria was drafted in November of 1944, and was killed in the Philippines while on a mission, seven months after beginning the volunteer tour of duty. He was a decorated soldier. Pvt. Longoria’s remains were not returned to the US until 1949.

What happened after that is argued by the two sides on the opposing tracks. Longoria’s wife tried to have a wake at the only funeral home in Three Rivers. To her surprise, Mr. Kennedy the funeral home owner, refused to allow a wake for a Mexican-American soldier; allegedly telling her – as per her narration – that the “Whites won’t like it”. She couldn’t believe that the Americans that her husband died to defend them, considered him as a 2nd class citizen.

In Texas during the 1940s, as in other parts of the country, Mexican Americans were considered non-white. Segregation of Mexican American children in schools and employment discrimination against Mexican American workers was omnipresent in some parts of the South.

Generally Mexican American World War II servicemen were integrated into regular military units but some served in segregated Mexican American units such as Company C of the 141st Regiment, 36th Infantry Division.[5]

On top of that; Felix Longoria a fallen serviceman, was to be buried in the “Mexican” section of the cemetery which was separated by barbed wire as the only cemetery in Three Rivers was segregated.

The Longoria story was one of the reasons to start AGIF (American G.I. Forum) in 1948 by Dr, Hector Garcia; whom some accused of using the Longoria affair to his own personal gain in building a political career for himself. AGIF role was initially to address the concerns of Mexican-American veterans, who were kept apart from other veterans groups. AGIF was formed to help the Mexican veterans in World War II to have access to their medical services, if they were denied. But, it soon spread into advocating for the civil rights of all Mexican Americans in general as voting rights, school segregation, Jury duty, etc…

Dr. Garcia requested the intervention of President Johnson that was a Senator at the time, who secured Longoria’s burial in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Longoria was the first Mexican American serviceman in history, to be buried in the Arlington National Cemetery in history.

Dr. Garcia used his growing cloud from both the AGIF and the Longoria affair to demand the Veterans Administration to offer and pay the same benefits to Mexican Americans as it did to white veterans.

He also fought for to obtain rights for the Mexican Americans otherwise considered basic rights as the poll tax. In some states like Texas, the voters were charged a compulsory fee before casting their votes, which meant that most minorities at the time as Mexican Americans who were out of luck due to their low income

In the next post, we will discuss the effects of the Longoria affair on helping President Kennedy win the elections, how the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 was initialized, and how it created a lifelong bond and political partnership between Johnson and Garcia, as well as drawing attention to the American GI Forum.

Till then, remember Diversity starts at home,

Cheers,

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

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Age Diversity: Bridging The Generational Gap: Solutions

In the previous posts, I discussed the Matures, continuing the sequence; we met the Baby Boomers, Generation X or GEN X, Generation Y or GEN Y, and challenges

This is the final post on Bridging the generational gap, knowing the challenges illuminates the way on what kind of solutions will help build a cooperative culture between the different generations and harvest on their strengths and skills rather than focusing on the negatives.

Advantages of a multi-generational workforce:

• Teams can gain an edge by utilizing their wealth of experience and talent of each generation. Older employees to learn to trust and leverage the younger ones’ skills.
• Understanding the key themes for each age group can build a base for understanding and can reduce stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination. Build active engagement
• Increased innovation and creativity by sharing experiences, ideas, skills and perspectives bringing new solutions and opportunities for a competitive edge
• Mentoring and reverse mentoring: To fill the gaps of experience in each generation, and avoid the old mistakes.
• The team can attract and retain talented people of all ages, being more flexible.
• The team can gain and keep greater market share because its members reflect a multi-generation market, and can meet needs of a diverse public.
• Decisions are stronger because they’re broad-based.

To build an inclusion culture:
• Know the demographics- externally and internally
• Demonstrate respect and recognition
• Open channels of communications and dialogue
• Participative problem solving and decision making
• Comprehensive leadership of all generations
• Build on strengths, understand and appreciate them
• Offer options
• Transfer knowledge from older generation to younger ones as they have a tendency to keep all their knowledge and experience in their heads

Solutions:
• Start with a generational audit to grasp your internal demographics
• Conduct Diversity and Leadership training workshops. The training will use sensitivity making younger employees aware and sensitive to older employees’ needs, strengths and potential contributions. Also give information to older employees to be more aware of their own actions that foster widening the gap; as well as offering solutions.
• Train managers and leaders on the ADEA Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 – prohibiting discrimination of workers of 40 years or older
• Bring out the best in each employee, adapt to the styles and preferences of a multi-generational workforce and look through a generational filter to consider actions with employees.
• Host a Generational Awareness Week. Post photos that represent the generations. Include icons and popular expressions. Play music that is popular to each generation
• Write four versions—one for each generation—of an Employee Value Proposition, in a way to match each generation’s values, wants and needs.
• Review the benefits package; match them to appeal to each single generation.
• Design three rewards specific to each single generation.
• Review the makeup of the Board of Directors. To make sure they match the company’s DNA
• Learn about other generations beside yours. Ask questions, learn history, characters, motivation, and work preferences. Respect others.
• Ask employees from the 4 different generations about their ideal manager characters. Then, create profiles of four ideal managers—one for each generation. What do all the profiles have in common? Where do they differ? And think how to apply these findings
• Consider implementing inter-generational mentoring and generational employee-resource groups.

Case Studies:
Companies are aligning jobs with the shared values of employees:
• American Express is providing more job flexibility, allowing people to work where and how they want;
• CitiGroup’s Alternative Solutions Work program; which provides opportunities for social contribution
• Ernst and Young‘s Corporate Responsibly Fellows Program which has instituted progressive work policies that value multiple bottom lines including sustainability.
• Time Warner and Cisco which has instituted inter-generational mentoring.
• Deloitte created a platform like Facebook D-Street to communicate with their GEN Y.
• Kaiser Permanente built an internal networking site called KP IdeaBook, an interactive site where employees can create detailed professional profiles, find and connect with colleagues via search and browsing capabilities, establish groups and provide status updates on work projects

Age is a diversity issue, the melting pot theory is not applicable anymore as melting everything down, gets everything mixed together into a mass of gray mud. The different groups lose their uniqueness. Everything becomes homogenous and loses the variety of perspectives. Potential goes untapped. So I rather look at diversity is a big bowl of salad with different color vegetable, each retaining its nutrition and flavor; that we can mix and match and choose our own dressing to match our tastes i.e. goals.

It is not singing “Kumbaya” but rather understanding and respecting our similarities and differences and putting them to work for us rather than against us.

Posts related to the discussion: Matures, Boomers, GEN X, Gen Y and the Challenges.

Diversity starts at home