Todays’ travel professionals feel constant pressure to innovate and position their products, services, and teams more creatively than ever before. In our highly diverse workplaces and client networks, diversity awareness is critical to your success, no matter what role you’re in.
Here are 5 things you need to know about workplace diversity:
1. What is Workplace Diversity?
To improve our diversity awareness, we must first understand workplace diversity. Diversity means understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing our individual differences. Diversity extends beyond race or ethnicity, religion, culture or newcomer status to include factors such as geography, language, politics, gender, beliefs, economic status, abilities, skills and interests.
2. The Diversity Iceberg
We tend (often without even knowing it) to regard diversity through the lens of the most obvious physical and superficial traits of those around us. For example, we categorize people by virtue of their age, gender, and race. This makes sense – after all, age, race and gender are traits you can see in the flesh. But these and other physical attributes, like skin color, are only a small part of the diversity picture.
The Diversity Iceberg is a marvelous tool to assist in improving our awareness. The key point is that the core of our identity is made up of the dimensions that exist below the surface. These buried qualities are critical to our individuality and provide the actual essence of diversity.
- The Impact of Workplace Diversity
The world is shrinking every day. Globalization means travel companies from virtually anywhere can sell to customers from virtually anywhere. Target demographics are changing, and travel professionals who ignore those changes will one day find themselves without anyone to sell to. To stay relevant, travel professionals must do more than simply cater their products and services to these increasingly diverse demographics. In fact, it’s unlikely they can even do that successfully without fostering workplace diversity as a foundation for success.
4. What is Diversity Intelligence?
Diversity Intelligence (DI) is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual. The concept of DI encompasses acceptance and respect. It is the exploration of our differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. DI is a skill that we can improve, teach to others and use to inspire.
5. How Can You Use Diversity Intelligence at Work?
We can use DI as a tool for establishing a respectful, welcoming workplace and client culture. If we all are open, accepting and embracing of each other, we inevitably become more tolerant, compassionate, and patient. Relationships develop more deeply and quickly. Conflicts and misunderstandings are less frequent. Teams gel faster. People feel valued. Innovation and engagement increase. Your clients will love working with you and refer others to you.
Conclusion
Diversity awareness provides travel professionals with strategic insight necessary to give us a competitive edge. That edge lies within understanding and engaging those you lead and serve – the key to success is creating the ideal workplace and client environment. That environment is one that values relationships, empathy, positive reinforcement, and individuality – a place where everyone’s ideas matter.
Paul Pelletier is a member of The Travel Institute’s Professional Education Program.
He is a former travel business operator, corporate attorney, former Chair of Diversity & Inclusion at the Attorney General of British Columbia, author and international professional speaker. He is an advocate, consultant and trainer in workplace respect, conflict management and diversity/inclusion. Visit Paul’s website.
Paul is a published author in the field of workplace bullying. Paul’s book, The Workplace Bullying Handbook is an inspirational call to action to end bullying at work.
