Diversity at work

Excerpt from lecture by Karin Greenberg at Handelshögskolan, Stockholm, April 23, 2003.

The bigger the company becomes the harder it gets to stay in touch with market demands. Large organisations seem to have a life of their own and often dominate the lives for the employees. It is hard to keep up to date with the fast-moving developments in society. Global changes can have unforeseeable consequences regarding the demands upon and confidence in the company´s operations.

How do they survive? The marketing department in each organisation and marketing research carried out by the sales organisation help a lot but are not enough! You also need the inside staff to keep up and you need to build all internal and external relations on confidence. Confidence is one of the most selling aspect of today when issues of values get more and more crucial. Working with diversity is an important concept for adaptation to these demands!

Connecting to the company´s business

An important issue when working with diversity is to keep an eye on the company´s strategy, selling arguments, product development etc. Always connect your work with diversity to the company´s business! For example you can motivate working with diverse ethnic groups by showing statistics on how many they are and what age groups they belong to, thereby showing that they indeed comprise a significant new customer base. Skandia works with long term savings and security for old age. We make sure to point out the challenge of global aging which supports and reinforces the strategy for the management.

Work inclusively!

People working with diversity have a strong sense for human rights. That involvement must be strong since working in the business field makes it hard to evaluate this work with diversity in the company´s balance sheet and to show how it generates profit. When the company has a serious downfall you may have a difficult time motivating your work with diversity for the management. Business people sometimes tend to concentrate on the short time balance sheet, whereas financing your activity could help secure the long-term development. This is an important reason why you have to avoid creating a field where this work is completely separated from the business itself. You need to motivate as many people as possible in your organization for the work with diversity!