Organisations generally have a history of diversity within its construction and format, thus reflecting the diverse need and aspirations of stakeholders, the management structure and staff teams at all levels. Many of the organisations have recognised and some are recognising now that in order to be productive and effective, there is a need to be responsive and dynamic to meet the challenges of rapid regional and global changes.

Diversity is today’s buzzword for political, practical, topical and legislative reasons. It is increasingly being recognised that organisations that value diversity, encourage respect for individuals and promote equality of opportunities will be better placed than others to reap dividends, thus creating a greater business competitive edge.

From an organisational perspective, by not looking at diversity and its rewards, the organisation reputation can be tarnished as it fails to deny itself to the widest pool of talent. Further it can also be deprived of benefits such as increased motivation, low staff turnover and access to a wider market from staff and client perspective. With a diverse workforce and effective equalities strategies and implementations, the benefits could be recouped with a further bonus of enabling organisation to develop its ethos, expanding on its unique character and areas of specialist expertise.

The flip side to not promoting diversity could inevitably be perceived as a form of discrimination. In the current climate, with the changes in legislation, more monitoring by the Government and more job vacancies than applications, it would be unacceptable for individuals who are denied jobs, access to training or promotions due to discrimination and prejudice. It would also be considered inappropriate for individuals to suffer or to be exposed to victimisation and harassment.

Too many organisations have learned that failing to promote diversity is expensive when a discrimination case has been brought against them, with the accompanying negative PR and low staff morale. With diveristy not promoted seriously or with commitment, some people may not be benefiting from the organisation’s activities.  An organisation may appear to be open and unprejudiced but the way it operates could be detrimental to a particular group of people.

Diversity is about

• Differences of background, values and beliefs that are recognised and valued
• Ensuring that it is the concern of all employees, not just a management or human resource responsibility
• Allowing flexibility for creativity and enhancing talent as opposed to suppressing
• Employees being valuing by being consulted and listened to
• Creating an environment of synergy and interdependence.

In comparison, Equality of Opportunity is the state of being equal especially in status, rights and opportunities applied through policies, procedures and strategies. This would be through

• Being aware of and removing discriminatory practices
• Introducing realistic measurable and timed outcomes such as organising training, monitoring of practices.

Blue Tulip Training have supported a number of organisations in implementing equality and diversity into practice. The process has been conducted through:

• Consultancy work, e.g., Diversity audits Blue Tulip Training provide consultancy input to organisations who wish to develop their strategic long-term view on the concept of diversity. This includes facilitating in Senior Management meetings, writing reports, updating policies and ensuring that the organisational ethos does include diversity issues into all aspects.
• Training programmes:
  • Managing Diversity
  • Equality and Diversity
  • Equality Impact Assessments
  • Equality Monitoring
  • Bite size sessions (lasting up to two hours)
• Individual and Team coaching – a series of two hour coaching input held over six sessions.