Diversity and Inclusion Archives - Page 8 of 8

Let’s Talk Hiring Diversity and Holiday Job Search Tips (PODCAST)

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This episode pieces together two North Carolinaoans (I made that word up) in Damien Birkell (@damienbirkell), author of The Job Search Checklist (Episode #12) and Fields Jackson (@fleejack), publisher of Racing Toward Diversity.

Damien offers some great holiday job search advice and says that job seekers should spend 10% at the computer and 90% networking at holiday parties. He also offers a refreshing perspective on business cards and using them effectively while networking. I should warn some of you who are introverts (like me) that Damien advises that we should go to as many parties we are invited you.

I wanted to re-edit my interview with Fields so that it can be found on iTunes and Stitcher and the other podcast directories. It is an important subject where people are interested in learning to find the dialogue and advice. The original SoundCloud audio is no longer available from the article re-publishing it here was a great way of the conversation taking on an evergreen life.

Fields Jackson is the diversity and inclusion advocate who is zealous about having the dialogue with large companies about workplace and hiring practices. He is also an adjunct professor at Chicago State University in the business school. Fields was recognized in 2012 as a Small Business Influencer by smallbiztrends.com. Here are some of our talking points:

Fields says that companies in general have yet to have a candid conversation about diversity and explains why
Fields also offers game changing advice to job seekers who are looking for companies who really promote diversity and inclusive workplaces
He advises that job seekers research diligently and work hard to ask the right questions

Please, enjoy our show and please join us for the holiday show next week. We are giving out gifts in the form of advice for your job search next year. We will publish episodes on Dec. 24 and Dec. 31 (Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays) so please note that change in your feed.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

The Values of Workplace Diversity and Inclusion

Editor’s note: Ivy Liu (@MandatoryPoster) is the guest writer today. Her website is easybusinessposters.com

One of the most heartening employment trends in recent years has been many employers’ movement growing towards giving lip service toward the complementary goals of diversity and inclusion in the workplace — whether led there by values of social justice or by the practical need to find qualified workers. After all, an increasingly competitive global market no longer leaves US employers with the luxury of excluding significant parts of the talent pool from their search.

As employers become more attuned to the need to select their workforces based on talent, even if it means looking in areas that may previously been overlooked. It is more important for employers to communicate the value of diversity and inclusion throughout their organizations. That means clearly conveying the message – not just in boilerplate statements in the annual report, but also as part of the day-to-day communications with managers, supervisors and human relations staff on how implementing these values brings practical benefits to the entire organization.

I want to suggest one way to show this. In any workplace, you will find bulletin boards displaying an array of government-required notices and posters. It may be some while since you’ve looked at them, but if you examine them carefully, you’d find they did more than merely serve notice of various state and federal labor law posters that employers must comply. In fact, in many of them, you’ll find the nation’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Admittedly, these notices of legal requirements don’t have the same classical or poetic resonance as phrases like “e pluribus unum” (Latin for “from out of many, one”) or the Declaration of Independence’s far ahead of its time and still-striking proclamation that we are all “created equal,” but the posters on their own prosaic way express the same values.

If you look beyond the bureaucratic-sounding boilerplate, perhaps you’ll see expressions that our nation is committed to fighting the injustice of unfair treatment on the basis of race, gender, nationality, religion, age, disability and other diversity and inclusion factors. You will find commitments to safety, health, equal pay and other factors that help create a decent workplace.

You may even find a surprise, as I recently did. As news accounts were breathlessly reporting and analyzing a recent Supreme Court’s decision allowing police to take DNA samples from those they arrest, I happened to notice an EEOC poster’s description of a 2009 law likely known to a few people, the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act. It bars employers from requiring workers to provide genetic data, treating them unequally based on such data, or disclosing such data to others.

The lesson I draw from the bulletin board posters is fairly basic: the values of diversity and inclusion in the workplace are not only issues of compliance with government mandates (although smart employers surely understand they need to pay attention to them on those grounds), but also ways to build better, more efficient and humane workplaces. Properly understood and carried out, these values will build mutual respect and understanding among co-workers, and make our nation a better, strong place.

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About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Inclusion: Jobseekers Can Stand Out By Change Of Name

This is Black History Month on the calendar, yet I like to think of this as “Diversity and Inclusion Month.” Because it is the “…content of character…” that is most relevant today, and not by name or label, or change of ethnic name, but by character.

Diversity and inclusion is a fight that is as real as the “Thrilla in Manila.” In the “land of the free…” more than a few Americans are still slave to indifference to ethnic names. There are employers that respond indifferently to non-traditional names, and still slight candidates as a result.

I have addressed this before,

I have a diverse set of clients in the past three years who came to me because their strategies were not working. Out of the changes we made to their resume and interview style, we used two simple strategies to apply for jobs and on his or her resume:

Modify the name on the resume (ex. from “Latoya” to “Lynn”, “Miguel” to “Michael”)

Remove the address and zip (area can determine culture or color)

Remove social, political, or service organizations that traditionally are one race

Any cultural identifiable associations with sports (once remove a client’s college tournament “Sweet 16” appearance)

Race Matters in Hiring, No Matter How Nice The Cheshire Cat Grins, posted December 5.

Discrimination is still an issue, if not for color, gender, religion, body weight, affiliation, or stereotype, you have been a victim of profiling of some kind. If diversity isn’t enough, the real challenge is with inclusion.

In an article from Time magazine in 1960, Miriam Makeba, a world-renowned African singer was asked to give her real and full name.

Zenzile Makeba Qgwashu Nguvama Yiketheli Nxgowa Bantana Balomzi Xa Ufun Ubajabulisa Ubaphekcli Mbiza Yotshwala Sithi Xa Saku Qgiba Ukutja Sithathe Izitsha Sizi Kkabe Singama Lawu Singama Qgwashu Singama Nqamla Nqgithi.

http://ideas.time.com/letters/whats-in-a-name/?iid=op-category-notable#ixzz1kiDIyeJe

Originally printed February 29, 1960, Time Magazine

That is 189 characters, and thirty names.

Can you imagine announcing her at the beginning of a concert performance? If you were an employer, would you disqualify this person based on her name?

Now back to changing ethnic names. After five years, people reject Barack Obama’s citizenship based on name despite his the proof of his authentic Birth Certificate. It’s a shame. After four years, there are people who are convinced that his birth certificate is a lie because of his name.

Here are some take-a-ways that I hope everyone remembers:

1. Your name does not brand you

Regardless of your name accomplishments, contributions, and solutions brand you. If changing your name will help, then change it.

2. Take pride in your name, and take greater pride in what you offer

The more you understand the value of what you fix, the better you can position your career to employers. It’s not a quadratic formula, it’s addition and subtraction. It is just getting complicated by the order of operation.

3. Don’t be afraid to modify, adjust, and re-position how you appear to employers

Although not everyone has to change, but if you want to change your name or brand, is to take control of your online presence. I have several suggestions:

I have a friend who successfully change her ethnic first name and use her second name, also used in her online profiles and family. I suggest Google Plus as a way for job seekers to get their name out in the Googlesphere to be found by recruiters and potential employers. Google Plus content on profiles index are expedited, and can crush your competition if prominent enough.
Network with your new name and brand as if it has always been. Remain consistent in all communication, and let others know how to find you, and what you offer. Even when you re-label skills, it should be clear that the function is the same but the name is different.
There’s nothing with changing your Twitter, Facebook, and Linked In accounts too. Tell your family and friends ahead of time why you are changing your name. It will make sense to them if you tell them the story.

Do you have a story of ethnic challenges? Please share of how you have overcome, or still dealing with race and diversity. What obstacles did you leap over to get hired?

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