Ebracing Diversity in the National Weather Service – You (Blank ) Like Me

1. Ebracing Diversity in the National Weather Service – You (Blank ) Like Me Diversity Leadership Workshop Slidell, LA Presented by Patricia Brown NWS WFO New Orleans/Baton Rouge, LA April 13, 2010

2. Ebracing Diversity in the Workplace • Wanna Hug? • What is Diversity? • How Does Diversity Happen in the Workplace? • What about Similarity? • You ______ Like Me! • Teambuilding • NOAA Business Plan for Diversity and Trends • Benefits of Embrace • What Diversity does NWS have? What Similarity? • Let’s Spell Similarity and Diversity! • Who lives in Smurf Village?

3. Let’s “Embrace” (verb) • To take in or include as a part, item, or element of a more inclusive whole <charity embraces all acts that contribute to human welfare> • To be equal to or equivalent <his assets embraced $10> • To clasp in the arms; hug • To cherish, love • To take up especially readily or gladly <embrace a cause> • To avail oneself of, welcome <embraced the opportunity to study further> ZANE’ STUFF!!

4. What is Diversity? • Noticeable heterogeneity; "a diversity of possibilities” • The condition or result of being changeable • Many and divergent • Different; unlike; dissimilar; distinct; separate • The "unrelatedness" of a set • The quality of being diverse or different; variety

5. Why is Diversity an Issue? What Happened to the Melting Pot Theory From 9th Grade Civics? The Melting Pot never really worked because diversity in America is too broad to assimilate. • Skin color can’t be assimilated. • Gender can’t be assimilated. • Disabilities can’t be assimilated. • Religions can’t always be assimilated. • Personalities are influenced by environment, biology, and training. EMBRACE THE DIFFERENCES!

6. What is Diversity? Groups of People – All of Us • In the political arena, the term diversity (or diverse) is used to describe political entities (neighborhoods, cities, nations, student bodies, et cetera). • Cultural diversity is the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. • Cultural diversity has the characteristic of being deeply rooted in and reflective of ethnically diverse, inner-city, suburban, or rural populations. • “Multiples” - groups of people with least common factors and greatest common factors. (My Theory)

7. Workforce 2010 -2020 Demographics • 62% of the workforce will be aged 35 or older. • Workers who are 40 years of age or older represent 48 percent of the total U.S. workforce now. • In 2008, women comprised 46.5 percent of the total U.S. labor force. • Women are projected to account for 47 percent of the labor force in 2016. • 32% of the workforce will be minorities. • African-Americans are the largest racial minority (13%). • Hispanics are the largest self-designated minority, regardless of race (15.4%). “Hispanic” does not include Brazilian Americans.

8. Workforce 2010 -2020 Demographics • Germanic people are the largest ancestral ethnic group (43%) of whites in the United States, followed by the Irish (30.5%) . • 76% of Americans identify themselves as Christians. • 2.1% of Americans identified themselves as Jewish in 2006. • Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States. Before 2020, Muslims are expected to be the second largest religious community. • Awareness of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees has continued to increase. • 1 in 6 United States citizens are covered by Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). • The ADA includes mentally disabled employees, as well.

9. Diversity Dimensions • Outer Circle – Organizational • Dimensions • Second Circle – External Dimensions • Inner Circle – Internal Dimensions • Center – Personality of the Worker

10. What Diversity Does the NWS Have? • Work Groups • Educational Training • Nationalities • Religions • NWS Regional Culture • Language • Family Structure • Age • Geographic Regional Culture • Union Affiliation • Job Titles /Classifications • Expertise • Military Influences • Bureau Structure • Personality Types • Time scales for Work and Products • Work Content • Management Status • Ethnicity and/or Race • Genders and Sexualities

11. What Are the Levels of Diversity? Diversity operates at four levels in organizations: • Personal • Individual prejudices; stereotypes; filters; behaviors • Interpersonal • Interactions with others; cross-cultural communications; cross-gender communications • Group • Teams; cultured groups; inclusion/exclusion; who is in, who is out • Organization • Systems; policies; culture; values and the impact on individuals and groups

12. What Filters Come to the Workplace? We often assume that everyone sees the world the same way we do, and thinks, and acts as we do. People view the world based upon their own: • Values • Beliefs • Experiences • Perceptions • Judgments • Pre-judgments or prejudices. Based on selective beliefs and perceptions, judgments can result in filters which: • Distort people • Distort behaviors • Distort events • Block Productivity • Hinder Progress

13. What Happens with Filters in the Workplace? We lock in and lock out things that are unfamiliar and different based upon our conditioning. We only see those things that we want to see. There are nine physical factors that come into play when we meet people. We process the first meeting based upon: 1. Color 4. Appearance 7. Movement 2. Gender 5. Facial Expressions 8. Personal space 3. Age 6. Eye Contact 9. Touch Taken from “The Four Minute Sell” by Dr. Janet Elsea.

14. Ladder of Inference – Not Influence • The process of “leaping” to conclusions with no intermediate thought process is like rapidly climbing a ladder. • Moving quickly up the ladder of inference creates stereotypes and prejudices and further clouds our filters. • Self-generated beliefs remain untested because we fell that: • Our beliefs are the truth. • The truth is obvious. • Our beliefs are based on real data. • The data we selected is real and totally factual.

15. What are Undiscussables? • A significant barrier to organizational effectiveness , team learning, and team building is the presence of topics that people feel are important, but do not discuss because they think: • They may offend someone; • There is an unspoken taboo; and/or • They fear reprisals. • In Diversity Management, the goal is to remove barriers to team building, including undiscussables. • Are there any undiscussables lurking in your office?

16. What If You Were Building A Village? What Would You Need in the Village? • Skilled laborers. • Food. • Shelter. • Law and Order. • Plans for development. • Individual outlets for expression, i.e., Art, Religion, Music . EMBRACE THE DIFFERENCES!

17. What About Similarity? • Closeness of appearance to something else. • (Philosophy) The relation of sharing properties. • The “relatedness" of a set • 1: The quality or state of being similar :Resemblance • 2: A comparable aspect :correspondence

18. What If You Were Building A Village? What Keeps the Village Alive and Functional? People! It is often similarities between people that build bonds across demographic groups. • Complex Emotions • Aspirations and Dreams • Needs • Interests • Outlooks • Viewpoints To build a team embrace and celebrate the similarities!

19. Acknowledge Similarities for Team Building • By acknowledging similarities and likenesses, we find a starting point for understanding and appreciating diversity. • The study Human Capital Edge: 21 People Management Practices Your Company Must Implement (or Avoid) to Maximize Shareholder Value by Bruce N. Pfau and Ira T. Kay queried 7,500 workers at all job levels, across diverse industries, with 130 statements about their workplaces. • Diversity patterns were analyzed across demographics including whites versus minorities, men versus women, and people over and under 30 years of age.

20. Acknowledge Similarities for Team Building • There were more similarities among the workers than differences, especially in the categories that respondents considered most important. • People agreed about what inspires their commitment to a particular employer. • The following factors were most important: • They supported their company’s business plan. • They had a chance to use their skills on the job. • Their reward package was competitive.

21. Acknowledge Similarities for Team Building • People also agreed upon what organizations need to improve. • The employees wanted to know how their job affected internal and external customers. • The wanted to understand how their job contributed to the accomplishment of company business goals. • The following factors were most important: • Safe work environment; • Employee input; • Promoting the best performers; and • Helping the worst performers improve.

22. What If You Were Building A Village? What Keeps the Village Alive and Functional? People! Similarities build bonds across demographic groups. • Skilled laborers – WORKGROUPS • Food – REGIONAL CULTURE • Shelter – LOCATION/ENVIRONMENT • Law and Order – MANAGEMENT • Plans for development – MISSION • Individual expression – TALENTS AND EDUCATION EMBRACE THE SIMILARITIES!

23. Let’s Flip the Script!!

24. What Similarities Do We Have? • Work Groups • Educational Training • Nationalities • Religions • NWS Regional Culture • Language • Family Structure • Age • Geographic Regional Culture • Union Affiliation • Job Titles /Classifications • Expertise • Military Influences • Bureau Structure • Personality Types • Time scales for Work and Products • Work Content • Management Status • Ethnicity and/or Race • Genders and Sexualities

25. Groups of People – All of Us Meteorologists Hydrologists • Four years or more of college • Federal employees • Scientific studies • Some computer skills • Work at varying time of day • Willing to move for job (per Mobility Statement) • Work in southern United States • Like to eat • Four years or more of college • Federal employees • Scientific studies • Some computer skills • Work at varying time of day • Willing to move for job (per Mobility Statement) • Work in southern United States • Like to eat

26. Groups of People – All of Us Electronic Technicians Administrative Personnel • Maybe some college • Federal employees • Scientific studies • Computer skills • Work regular work times except for emergencies • Willing to move for job (per Mobility Statement) • Work in southern United States • Like to eat • Maybe some college • Federal employees • Varied training and studies • Some computer skills • Work regular work times except for emergencies • Willing to move for job (per Mobility Statement) • Work in southern United States • Like to eat

27. Why Embrace Diversity? NOAA Business Plan for Diversity Workplace 2020 and Megatrends 2000 • New Customer Bases • New Workforce Makeup • Global Marketplace • Emerging Technologies • Vision of Inclusive Culture • Move Toward Managing Diversity to Encourage All Employees to Reach Their Full Potential and to Retain Talent Pool • Mission Attainment • Older Employees • Increasingly Female • Non-White • Foreign-born • Disabled and Challenged • Gays, Lesbians, Bi-Sexuals • Transgenders • More Religion - More Diversity • Islam Fastest Growing Religion in U. S.A.

28. Embrace Benefits • Acceptance of differences in people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, and spiritual practice • Search for similarities in folk • Right- versus left-brainers • Expand markets and partners to diverse groups • Recruit in non-traditional places, schools, churches, etc. • Minimize cultural biases in hiring and marketing • Minimize class differences • Aids in preventing “isms” based on differences • Builds teamwork/coalitions • Produces a diverse workforce with a variety of experiences, perspectives, alma maters! • Increases productivity and creativity • Reduces grievances and suits • Reach non-traditional customers with products • Employees’ “handicaps” or preferences are not treated as character flaws. • All talents are utilized.

29. Spelling Similarity and Diversity Give similar facts about you and/or a coworker. Give personality traits that help build teams. • Smokers • I • M • U • L • A • R • I • T • Y • Diligent • I • V • E • R • S • T • Y

30. Who lives in Smurf Village? • Name a few Smurfs. • How many female Smurfs were there? • Is the village multi-cultural? Is the kingdom surrounding Smurf Village multi-cultural? • Are the Smurfs diverse? • How old is a typical Smurf? • How young is the youngest Smurf? • Do all Smurfs speak the same language? Same accents? • What’s a Smurfling? • Are there any disabled Smurfs? • Are any characters in the area mentally challenged?

31. Hire, Train, Mentor, Warn Someone Diverse!! Questions?Answers? Comments?Thank You!! Patricia Brown Jones WFO New Orleans/Baton Rouge, LA (985) 645-0565 ext. 228 Patricia.Brown@noaa.gov