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Introduction
Using diversity as an asset in the workplace necessitates recognising the skills, knowledge and
potential of the diverse workforce and applying those in a way which improves organisational
performance.
This section examines ways to identify the abilities and capability of the workers and indicates
how diversity skills and knowledge might be used to benefit the enterprise.

Identifying the abilities of a diverse workforce

The best way to identify the skills, knowledge and potential available to an organisation through
its diverse workforce is to undertake a combination of approaches such as:
 Reviewing the CVs and job applications of staff – to gain a context for each employee in
terms of their background, experience and qualifications
 Reviewing internal performance management records of
individual employees – to match identified workplace capacity
with each worker
 Reviewing internal training records – to identify the staff who
have successfully completed on-the-job training and other
similar PD activities
 Talking to individual workers – and asking them about their
skills and knowledge, and about their aspirations and where
they see themselves being able to make a contribution to the
business. History has shown people tend to be very honest in
their appraisal of their own strengths and weaknesses, tending
to under-estimate their capacity/ability rather than to over-state
it
 Speaking with supervisors – about their workers to gain their perspective into the abilities
each workers brings with them
 Speaking with co-workers – to ask them about the skills and knowledge of their colleagues
 Conducting trade tests – to evaluate the current ability of workers in designated practical
skills
 Observing the performance of all workers – as they perform their roles and responsibilities
using a checklist to record demonstrated skills.
Applying the abilities of a diverse workforce
Perspective
The abilities of a diverse workforce can be used to enhance:
 Management of the business – in terms of planning and day-to-day operation of the
organisation
 The work of colleagues – as they benefit from the experience, expertise and different
perspective provided by diversity
 The experience of customers – as they engage with service staff who are more attuned to
their needs, wants and preferences.
Exactly how these abilities will be used will depend on:
 The blend of skills knowledge and experience which exist within the business – and is held
by different workers
 The nature of the business the organisation is in – and the cross-section of customers it
services
 The structure of the organisation – and the job roles and employment positions available
within the company
 The plans for the business – in terms of the direction/s it wants to take and the goals and
objectives it wants to fulfil.

Examples of how to make the most of what is available

The following are ways to use diversity in the workplace to enhance organisational performance:
 Using staff with certain demographic characteristics to provide insight in to the needs,
wants and preferences of people who share similar characteristics – in order that this
knowledge might be used to:
 Produce workplace print-based materials for customers in a language they know/can
understand to support and enhance their experience – with reference to items such as:
– Promotional brochures
– Receipts and tickets
– Tour notes and briefing sheets
– Safety information
– Itineraries
– Instructions and directions for tours,
trips and interpretive activities
– Menus
 Optimise the online presence of the business
 Employing staff with diverse backgrounds in key operational roles in the enterprise to
facilitate implementation of diversity among the workforce – by engaging them for:
 Training other employees in relevant issues such as:
– Cultural awareness
– Resolution of cross-cultural
misunderstandings
– Cultural respect
– Basic language training in other languages
 Strategic recruitment and selection (‘affirmative
action’) of employees to fill identified diversity
gaps in the workforce – so the staff mix of the
organisation:
– Better reflects the markets served by the organisation
– Demonstrates alignment with the public statements of the business
 Sales and Marketing – with reference to using the diversity of staff available to the
organisation to better match the profiles of individual target markets, for example the
business may elect to:
– Use younger staff to communicate with younger customers
– Use older employees to sell to more elderly customers
– Use people from certain countries to sell to people who speak the same language
– Use males in certain cases to provide information, and use females in certain other
cases
 Supporting the business in terms of management of the organisation – in terms of issues
such as:
 Assisting with/providing advice in relation to planning strategies, campaigns and
activities to enable the organisation to:
– Achieve the goals and objectives of its stated Business and Strategic Plans
– Develop and/or revise plans to take advantage of emerging opportunities in the
marketplace and mitigate the negative impact/s of identified threats
 Developing new and/or improved deals, packages, tours, trips and customer
experiences based on their individual diversity characteristics – with reference to product
market factors (with reference to ‘productive diversity’ next section)
 Advising on marketing, advertising and promotional strategies and materials – to attract
nominated target markets
 Monitoring progress and customer feedback from their unique diversity perspective.
Arguably, an enterprise where management does not implement diversity in its workforce is
being negligent and failing to demonstrate ‘due diligence’ towards the business.
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Introduction
To fully use diversity in the workplace to its optimum potential there is commonly a need to
promote the benefits of productive diversity.
This section introduces and defines ‘productive diversity’ presenting the many benefits of
practical implementation of workplace diversity and explaining how the benefits may be
promoted.

Productive diversity
‘Productive diversity’ can be seen as:
 An accepted and acknowledged economic
strategy which intentionally leverages diversity
within a business (or country) to benefit the
business (or country)
 Focussing on domestic business and
international business/trade
 An initiative/concept that values and respect the diverse nature of all people in society and
aligns with and supports the principles of equity and social and economic justice
 Encouraging utilisation of the diverse skills to benefit of the worker, their colleagues, the
business and its customers.

Benefits of workplace diversity

The benefits for businesses embracing workplace
diversity are:
 Demonstrated evidence of Equity principles the
organisation may espouse – in its public
statements, such as its:
 Mission Statement
 Vision Statement
 Core Values
 Staff Code of Conduct
 More innovation – a diverse workforce underpins increasing workplace innovation and
creativity which is vital to:
 Assist organisations adapt/respond to change
 Help identify and exploit opportunities which occur in the marketplace
 Identify and take appropriate action to address threats in the marketplace
 Generate different perspectives on problem solving
 Better customer service – as staff will better reflect the customers they serve and hence be
better able to:
 Understand their needs
 Communicate more effectively with them.
 More efficient and effective operation of the business – on the basis that:
 The best person is employed to do the work which needs to be done
 There is reduced absenteeism
 The business has a multi-lingual workforce
 The staff available to serve the clientele better reflects the diversity of the customer base
 Businesses are increasingly operating with a global market and a diverse workforce
optimises:
 The likelihood of engagement with them
 The potential of attracting them to the business
 Access to the organisation by potential customers
 Improved cross-cultural communication
 Potential for increased trade with other countries/cultures
 Higher staff retention rates – as employees:
 Feel valued and appreciated in their working role
 Experience reduced levels of discrimination
 Are included in a genuine manner in the operation of the business
 Have their uniqueness recognised
 Operate in a more interesting work environment
 More varied, valuable and viable staff – based on their blend of diverse range of
backgrounds and experiences in terms of:
 Skills
 Attitudes
 Knowledge
 Ability of the organisation to recruit staff from a larger
pool of potential employees
 Better problem-solving – based on:
 A wider range of experiences and perspectives which can
be brought to bear on issues
 Different mind-sets toward the challenges/opportunities posed and presented by
problems
 A more harmonious and supportive working environment
 Lower staff-related expenditures – due to:
 Higher retention rates
 Less time/money spent addressing diversity issues/problems
 Less need to spend money on recruitment and staff training
 Reduced chance of legal cases and costs caused by breaches of diversity/equality
legislation
 Enhanced reputation/image of the business – based on:
 Its practical actions in relation to diversity
 An internal culture of tolerance and respect
 Commitment to human rights and social and economic justice
 Genuine implementation of equity and fairness principles
 The removal of prejudice
 Demonstrating the organisation does what it espouses
 Having improved relationships with the community.
Promoting the benefits
Useful and effective ways to promote the benefits of productive diversity are:
 Making a formal presentation to management – so they are
aware of the potential available
 Advising new employees of the organisation’s commitment to
diversity – and part of standard Induction and Orientation
 Verbally informing staff about the benefits diversity brings – as
staff may be reluctant to embrace the concept and/or unaware
of the many benefits it can bring
 Placing posters around the workplace – to extol the virtues of workplace diversity to other
staff, customers and the organisation
 Celebrating successful/profitable outcomes which were generated as result of the diversity
initiative by the business – so everyone can ‘see it works’
 Encouraging staff to participate – by explaining what they can do to engage with the concept
 Making ‘diversity’ a standing topic’ at staff meetings – to keep it ‘front and centre’ in the
minds of staff.
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Introduction
Implementing diversity in its broadest sense optimises the use of it as an asset.
This section considers several implementation techniques which align with current thinking on
managing diversity.

Principles of managing diversity

The following activities will enable management to demonstrate implementation of the principles
of diversity management:
 Treating people (staff and customers) as they
should and need to be treated – it is a reality of
diversity that treating everyone fairly will mean
treating some people differently. This can be a
major obstacle for management to understand and
for other workers to embrace
 Expecting people to be different – and accepting,
acknowledging, valuing and respecting their
differences
 Realising the way a person looks is not a predictor of how they will behave – as a worker or
as a customer
 Recruiting employees from all dimensions of diversity – so the workforce truly represents:
 A genuine cross-section of the community and is not skewed towards traditional
employment models
 Employees with characteristics deemed as being under-represented by the existing
structure of the workforce
 Including ‘diversity’ as a topic for managers who are being internally trained – so that:
 There is formal recognition of diversity at senior level
 Suitable attention is paid to diversity at managerial level
 Managers become more competent diversity leadership
 Supporting staff to become the best they can be regardless of their background, origins or
characteristics – through:
 Unbiased and equitable staff training
 Ongoing personal development
 Promoting and integrating representatives from all under-represented groups into key
positions throughout the business – in-keeping with the principles of ‘affirmative action’
 Taking whatever action is necessary to help ensure employees achieve and maintain a
suitable ‘work-life balance’ – as deemed relevant/appropriate to every individual in the
workforce in order to:
 Optimise their health and well-being
 Allow them to discharge their out-of-work obligations and non-work pursuits
 Benchmarking diversity for their organisation – in relation to:
 Their previous endeavours in this regard
 Diversity as it exists within individual countries/societies
 Strategically managing the employees within the organisation from each identified diversity
dimension – in order that:
 There is no imbalance of diversity
 Required ratios of diversity are maintained
 Complying with any legal obligations imposed by legislation in this regard – in relation to
laws which address (for example) EEO, social justice, human rights, anti-bullying and anti-
harassment topics
 Setting targets for diversity – in terms of:
 Quantifying numbers/percentages of identified
people to be employed, trained, retained and
promoted
 Money spent and/or hours invested on promoting
and implementing diversity across the
organisation
 Using the concept of ‘Diversity Champions’ – whereby individuals who excel at
demonstrating ‘Best Practice’ in diversity are used to further promote the initiative and
encourage others to engage with the concept
 Ensuring ongoing commitment to diversity – through actions such as:
 Requiring regular monitoring
 Requiring reporting at nominated times
 Revising all Diversity protocols on a regular basis/every 12 months
 Making sure diversity is subject to standard CI protocols
 Promoting and ensuring inclusive practices – in all aspects of the operation of the business
as this applies to staff, customers and other stakeholders
 Actively managing the relationships which may occur as a result of a diverse workforce – so:
 Problems are reduced/eliminated
 Issues are identified quickly and promptly addressed
 Culturally appropriate responses are provided where required
  Of importance to the organisation
 Important to the customers of the business
 Taking prompt action to resolve diversity issues – as these might affect colleagues or
customers
 Canvassing options for innovation in relation to managing diversity within the organisation –
in order to:
 Meet the identified needs of staff
 Remain relevant to all dimensions of the diverse workforce
 Avoiding narrow, stereotyped views of workers and people in general – and helping
employees to broaden their perspective on others and their potential and capabilities
 Being flexible and open to using different approaches – to staff rostering and management.

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Introduction
It is vital to overcome language, literacy and numeracy barriers which may impede the total use
of diversity as an asset.
This section explains why LLN needs to be an important consideration in relation to workplace
diversity, defines LLN, suggests how these barriers can be identified and presents options for
effectively managing them.

Rationale for consideration

It is important to address LLN issues in relation to workplace diversity for a variety of reasons
such as:
 Inability to speak or read the language of the organisation
can prevent individuals from:
 Making initial applications for job vacancies – and so
discriminate against those who do not speak the
language of the company
 Understanding and following instructions:
– From supervisors
– Written on forms, tickets and general documentation
 Effectively responding to customer enquiries and
providing comprehensive and relevant information
 Making and processing sales
 Accessing and using internal records, information and/or
databases
 Creating itineraries, tickets and general travel documentation
  Total engagement with the enterprise and with other employees
 Poor literacy levels function to exclude a certain cohort of people from the workplace – who
may have otherwise have outstanding other skills, knowledge and experience which could
be of enormous benefit to the business
 Adequate levels of numeracy and arithmetic skills are a standard pre-requisite for all staff
engaged in jobs where cash handling, sales activities, ticketing, the preparation of
quotations and general financial transactions are required.

Language
Language can be seen as:
 The way people communicate, including the modes and skills involved in:
 Speaking and listening
 Reading and writing
 Using words, phrases and sentences
 Grammatical structures
 The use of idioms, slang or jargon
 Forms of communication other than the verbal or spoken word, including:
 Non-verbal language
 The tactile language of Braille for the blind community
 The visual language of AUSLAN for the deaf community
 A mix of languages that make up a discrete language, such as local variations of a national
tongue.

Literacy
Literacy can be seen as:
 Reading skills to understand written information – such as:
 Signs and work instructions
 Policies and procedures
 Legislation
 Specifications
 Checklists and reports
 Writing skills – to complete or produce written texts, such as:
  Emails and SMS
 Checklists
 Work record sheets
 Safety or risk assessments
 Reports
Oral communication skills – to interact with others in ways such as:

 Greeting customers
 Providing instructions
 Clarifying information
 Working with team members
 Using the telephone
 Requesting information
 Contributing at meetings
 Negotiating
 Skills to use digital technology – for:
 Sending emails
 Storing and retrieving information from databases
 Developing documents
 Delivering information.

Numeracy
Numeracy can be seen as skills to carry out mathematical activities for work, in order to:
 Perform calculations – add, subtract, multiply and divide as well as undertake percentage
calculations
 Locate information in tables
 Use numbers/statistics
 Read various scales and maps
 Measure distances
 Plan time
 Read and interpret tables, price lists and statistics
 Problem solve
 Record and interpret data – such as tickets, itineraries, quotations, forms and checklists.

Identifying the barriers

Language, literacy and numeracy barriers within the workforce with the potential to adversely
impact the involvement of all staff and their engagement with work and development activities
can best be determined using a mixture of approaches such as:
 Conducting a workplace diversity audit – an organisation may conduct numerous types of
HR audits and the diversity audit focuses on how open the business is to the practical
implementation of genuine (as distinct from ‘espoused’) workplace diversity. One of the
standard topics for consideration as part of a diversity audit will be the extent to which LLN is
an issue in preventing or enabling the implementation of diversity
 Talking to individual staff in a supportive environment (that is, in an environment where they
understand their employment is not at risk if they disclose need for help in this regard) – to
determine the barriers they are experiencing in terms of:
 Their current workplace role
 Their future workplace needs as prescribed
through the potential for
promotion/advancement
 Analysing workplace documentation – with a
view to identifying:
 Spelling and grammatical errors
 Incorrect use of language and/or the use of
poor language (words and phrases)
 Calculation errors
 Omissions
 Identifying behaviours potentially indicating staff have language, literacy and/or numeracy
issues – such as:
 High levels, abnormal or increasing levels of absenteeism
 Individual taking action or making excuses/providing reasons to avoid tasks
 Employees displaying frustration with their work and/or demonstrating aggression
towards those who question them about their LLN performance
 Staff who consistently make mistakes – especially the same type/s of mistakes
 Failure of workers to complete allocated work set for them by management by the
required time
 Employees who regularly ask their colleagues to complete their assigned work
 Instances where an abnormal amount of time is taken to complete relatively simple and
repetitive LLN-based tasks
 Continuing evidence employees are taking LLN-based work home with them to complete
it
 Checking with customers to determine their levels of satisfaction with LLN abilities of
employees – by:
 Reviewing their feedback with a focus on references to LLN issues they may have
highlighted
  Talking to them with a specific focus on communication issues
 Using a trained LLN specialist – to:
 Review workplace staff
 Analyse their standards/competency
 Determine individual needs
 Reviewing the performance management records of individual staff – in order to:
 Determine difficulties staff are encountering
 Identify requests workers have made for assistance in this regard
 Observing staff as they perform their everyday workplace roles – to:
 Assess competency with LLN pre-requisites required for the tasks they are allocated
 Determine the flow-on impacts of their action to other staff and to customers.

Managing the barriers

Basic requirements
Strategies for effectively addressing identified language, literacy and numeracy barriers should
feature:
 A range of approaches – as opposed to a single initiative
 Use of options which best suit the individual needs of the learner – to deliver only the
training/knowledge required
 Methodology matching individual learning styles and preferences – rather than a ‘one
method fits all’ approach
 Clear direction about the objectives of the learning
 Accommodation of individual and cultural differences – such as:
 A disability of any kind
 Cultural differences which have impacted or continue to
affect personal orientations to training/learning
 Experiences which have caused personal trauma
 Language barriers for those who are speakers of the host
country language
 Religious beliefs
 A supportive environment – emphasising:
 Encouragement and a lack of stigma associated with asking
questions
 Acknowledgement of effort, not only success
 Celebration of achievement
 Lack of punitive measures for learning difficulties encountered
  A variety of ways for learners to achieve the results which are required
 Flexible scheduling of classes/training.

Examples of options and approaches

Approaches and options for managing identified LLN issues in relation to workplace diversity
have included the following which may be seen as representative of suitable practice:
 Using an external training provider to provide specialist
LLN support – to deliver on-the-job or off-the-job courses
 Employing within the business an LLN specialist or
teacher – with suitable qualifications coupled with
relevant industry knowledge to give proper context to
training
 Using support available through government agencies
with responsibility for immigration, employment and/or
industry development – specialist government funded
programs are sometimes available to support targeted staff development in this area
 Obtaining input from local community support and/or voluntary services – who sometimes
operate free programs for people of certain backgrounds
 Encouraging workers to generate personal word lists – as relevant to their workplace tasks
and responsibilities
 Providing dictionaries in the workplace (other than computer-based Thesaurus) – to
allow/encourage people to look up words and their spelling
 Using a translator – to translate forms, instructions, checklists and other workplace
documentation into required other languages
 Providing completed/model documents – for employees to use as models/templates for
documents they are required to complete
 Generating scripts – for staff to use as a model for:
 Dealing with customers, making sales and providing standard information
 Handing predictable situations which occur regularly
 Making sure those with LLN problems are given opportunities to verbally discuss
requirements of job tasks – as opposed to simply relying on email, signs or other documents
to communicate critical information and work instructions/directions
 Using visual communication to supplement the spoken and/or written word – including
explanatory charts and tables, audio, video and pictures
 Notifying staff at job interviews of the support available for anyone with LLN needs – and
reinforcing this with more detailed advice about the help provided by the employer as part of
the standard induction and orientation program
 Nominating a staff member to be the primary contact person for any employee with an LLN
issue – as distinct from nominating a management-level person
 Issuing awards – to staff who achieve designated competency in their LLN development.
 Buddying-up staff – with more competent workers so they receive ongoing and
individualised assistance from a colleague who can demonstrate the required competency
and has relevant experience in the job/role.