–submitted by Kevin Hoffman; photo by Pete Christianson
Karen Lincoln Michel challenged us to think in a different way about workplace perceptions, the importance of fostering diversity in our workplaces (particularly if we are leaders), and to be sensitive to the welcome our workplace culture extends to those with different ethnicity, gender, or cultural background.
Leaders with hiring responsibility need to be aware of affinity bias – the tendency to hire those who look like us or have the same background. Our perceptions can powerfully influence our decision-making process, often without us realizing it! By selecting people with similar characteristics we miss out on key insights and perspectives that someone outside of our experience and background can bring. She challenged leaders to have the courage to step out of their comfort zones to realize the benefits that increased diversity can bring.
True workplace diversity demonstrates benefits in terms of being able to attract top talent, improved customer relations, improved employee satisfaction, better decision-making, and retaining talented employees. The business environment is a diverse place and hiring and retaining staff to effectively address that environment only makes good business sense. On a tangible basis, Ms. Lincoln cited a McKinsey study that indicated that firms with greater diversity showed a greater likelihood to financially outperform their peers.
Finally, culture matters. Workplace and community culture is important to the success of diversity efforts. Is the culture welcoming? Do persons of color feel isolated? Programs and policies are not enough – leaders have to truly engage and drive the initiative and commit to recruiting and supporting diverse candidates.
Ideas for true engagement in workplace diversity programs include having an officer or position in charge of fostering diversity, mission statements that include diversity as part of the organization’s core values, creation of an inclusive and positive atmosphere, widely seeking out candidates, and providing mentoring relationships to support individual success.
If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch the video here.
Entrepreneurship is one of the most important drivers of economic and job growth in our state and across the globe. It is also a topic that is of growing interest to today’s college students. On February 15, Dan Olszewski, the Director of the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship at UW-Madison School of Business, spoke with us about how UW-Madison is one of the leaders in teaching and inspiring students interested in entrepreneurship as a potential career.
Madison’s Mayor Paul Soglin, serving his 20th year as mayor, made his 26th appearance at our club. Here to discuss what Madison might be like in 2050, he gave a few facts about Madison in 1950: a population of 96,000; about 95% white; occupied an area of approximately 33 sq. miles. Today we have a substantially more diverse population and occupy about 80 sq. miles. By 2050 Madison will probably be a city occupying about 103 sq. miles. In 1950, the major employer was Oscar Mayer. Today the largest employers are UW Health, Epic, the UW Hospital, and American Family Insurance. Madison is one of 5 U.S. cities considered a bicycling community which is rare among metropolitan areas not in the south, but that is growing. It is also the 3rd coldest — after the Twin Cities and Anchorage, Alaska. Epic has created an atmosphere hospitable to tech companies and entrepreneurial businesses. As household numbers decline, we need more units; 1,000 new units per year barely keeps us even.
Rotary Club of Madison, Wisconsin 