DIVERSITY HAPPENS IN AND OUT OF A COMPANY

And, because diversity is always taking place outside of company walls, this fact addresses another variable that cannot be overlooked. The general public, a company’s market, is forever changing and re-changing in its diversity. As an example, one such change grabbed attention of most customer service companies in 2000 when census results showed that African Americans were no longer largest minority. Hispanics had officially moved into this position and now companies had to plan how to appeal their services to and attract this new group that would dominate in a new way, verse previous minority majority that marketing strategies had been crafted around in past.

With diversity in workplace, it is easy to make these kinds of transitions. With a diverse number of employees and executives at ready, a company can be covered on many more fronts than opposed to a less diverse company.

USED MORE THAN YOU THINK

Diversity works. And, it’s not a new idea. Diversity is a concept that has been used often, even for plans as large as creation of countries. This strategy was formed by founding fathers of United States and gave meaning to nickname of “melting pot” that U.S. became known for.

If it can work for tangibility of an entire country, its results on something as small as a company can be profound.

Copyright 2004

Myron Curry is President and CEO of BusinessTrainingMedia.com a leading provider of workforce and business development training programs designed exclusively for corporate deployment. Myron has over 20 years of successful management experience with leading fortune 500 companies and has written numerous articles about workforce management issues. You can contact Myron at: myron@business-marketing.com or visit his company's website http://www.businesstrainingmedia.com

Each person can spend up to one hour within any 24-hour period in this time-free environment. Just swipe your credit card (19.99 per hour including broadband access), boot up your laptop and connect.

PROBLEMS

One problem: time-stretching effect is only produced, for some inexplicable reason, by constant and repeated playing of a particular piece of music, namely Elton John’s ‘"Candle in Wind". In addition, this works only when accompanied by display of a monochrome photograph featuring local council leaders of whichever town device is then located.

The Professor forlornly admitted that this could be a major barrier to P-box’s wider commercial adoption and that even a selection of John’s greatest hits did not achieve same effect, ‘Not even "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" gets us anywhere near’ he confirmed, wearily. In addition, no other type of picture makes eyes glaze over in quite same way.

TESTS

I found that P-box does indeed seem to work, though my efforts to delete all those unwanted messages were hampered somewhat by music which I cannot now stop humming.

Other minor operational issues during R&D have now largely been resolved. The Professor confirmed that a problem had occurred one day when door to P-box got stuck, trapping a colleague inside for over three hours.

The Professor gravely indicated colleague in question, who now insists on wearing oversized glasses and stack-heeled shoes in a "flamboyant" manner, while reciting local council bylaws in an unwavering monotone.

In response to my question about whether people would just use device to have a quick snooze, beer, or to fulfil other, less savoury instincts and lose no time by so doing, Professor confirmed that only message-deletion creates desired effect.

RULES

Some rules: customers must go to toilet before entering and must never consume drinks or food due to reverse-digestion effects when exiting capsule.

‘Very few people have mistaken P-box for a public toilet during trials, though we do accept there is some similarity in design. Hence door can be opened at any time following some initial accidents.

Time spent on tedious, live conference calls cannot be avoided by entering device: only messages recorded before time of entry can be handled.’

I also asked what happens to messages sent and received during hour-long stay in capsule. Apparently these are not updated until after departure from P-box. There seems to be no easy way, therefore, to stop constant drip-drip of messages into one’s Inbox, other than getting people to stop sending them in first place.

LADIES

Other details: ladies attempting to use capsule as a way of delaying onset of those tell-tale wrinkles will be disappointed, as time continues to pass outside P-box during one-hour session and any lessening of wrinkles in P-box is compensated by increased ageing after exit. Apparently this can be uncomfortable and disconcerting for onlookers and domestic pets.

GENTS

Gentlemen who would like to peruse sports magazines or "exotic" literature should be aware that an automatic detector flags carrying of such publications.

Marketing has started with slogan, "Pop a capsule a day. Keep those emails at bay!" Other suggestions are welcome.

Devices are intended for airports, train stations and other public places. Certainly it is a real advantage to be able to keep things under control in time before one’s train is due, even if that is in next few minutes, rather than offend other passengers on train by overuse of elbows and run risk of someone spying over one’s shoulder at vitally important messages.

Corporate use is discouraged, however, as it is feared that people would retreat in to P-boxes rather than attend key management meetings or seminars on ISO Quality Procedures and Processes.

AT A STATION NEAR YOU (NOT ANYTIME) SOON

Until P-box device becomes generally available (or feasible), you can visit site below to save at least an hour a day on your messages: http://www.zapit.org

Daily Zapit "News" by Alex MacCaskill © Migration Solutions (Kelsall) Ltd July 2004. All rights reserved.

Global education and training program development, sale and delivery for HP and others.

Creator of management tools to cut email and web abuse at work:

http://www.zapit.org