2.Walk talk. If senior management advocates a diverse workforce, make diversity evident at all organizational levels. If you don't, some employees will quickly conclude that there is no future for them in your company. Don’t be afraid to use words like black, white, gay or lesbian. Show respect for diversity issues and promote clear and positive responses to them. How can you demonstrate your company’s commitment to diversity?

3.Broaden your efforts. Does diversity at your company refer only to race and gender? If so, expand your definition and your diversity efforts. As baby boomers age and more minorities enter workplace, shift in demographics means that managing a multi-generational and multi-cultural workforce will become a business norm. Also, there is a wealth of specialized equipment available to enable people with disabilities to contribute successfully to their work environments. If your organizational environment does not support diversity broadly you risk losing talent to your competitors. How can your recruitment efforts reach out to all qualified candidates?

4.Remove artificial barriers to success. The style of interview - behavioral or functional- may be a disadvantage to some job candidates. Older employees, for example, are less familiar with behavioral interviews and may not perform as well unless your recruiters directly ask for kind of experiences they are looking for. Employees from countries outside US and non-Caucasian populations may downplay their achievements or focus on describing, "who they know" rather than "what they know." Train your recruiters to understand cultural components of interviews. How can your human resources processes give equal opportunity to all people?

5.Retain diversity at all levels. The definition of diversity goes beyond race and gender to encompass lifestyle issues. Programs that address work and family issues - alternative work schedules and child and elder care resources and referrals - make good business sense. How can you keep valuable employees?

6.Provide practical training. Using relevant examples to teach small groups of people how to resolve conflicts and value diverse opinions helps companies far more than large, abstract diversity lectures. Training needs to emphasize importance of diverse ideas as well. Workers care more about whether or not their boss seems to value their ideas rather than if they are part of a group of all white males or an ethnically diverse workforce. In addition, train leaders to move beyond their own cultural frame of reference to recognize and take full advantage of productivity potential inherent in a diverse population. How can you provide diversity training at your company?

7.Mentor with others at your company who you do not know well. Involve your managers in a mentoring program to coach and provide feedback to employees who are different from them. Some of your most influential mentors can be people with whom you have little in common. Find someone who doesn’t look just like you. Find someone from a different background, a different race or a different gender. Find someone who thinks differently than you do. How can you find a mentor who is different from you?

8.Measure your results. Conduct regular organizational assessments on issues like pay, benefits, work environment, management and promotional opportunities to assess your progress over long term. Keep doing what is working and stop doing what is not working. How do you measure impact of diversity initiatives at your organization?

In book, Beyond Race and Gender, R. Roosevelt Thomas defines managing diversity as "a comprehensive managerial process for developing an environment that works for all employees." Successful strategic diversity programs also lead to increased profits and lowered expenses.

The long-term success of any business calls for a diverse body of talent that can bring fresh ideas, perspectives and views and a corporate mindset that values those views. It's also no secret that lack of diversity can affect your ability to communicate effectively with diverse clients. Link your diversity strategies to specific goals like morale, retention, performance and bottom line. Build your business with everything you’ve got, with complex multi-dimensional talents and personalities of your workforce, and make diversity work for you.

Copyright © 2003. All rights reserved.

Here are a few suggestions to help you establish and enforce boundaries of employer/employee relationship.

Define relationship. Keep your seat, Dr. Phil, this won't take long. The employer/employee relationship should be well-defined from outset and parameters understood by all parties. Some call it "defining pecking order" or "establishing food chain." Whatever colorful term you use it all boils down to this: You can be their boss or you can be their buddy. You can not be both.

Don't hire friends or relatives. This rule is certainly bendable if you are owner of business and you hire your children to work for you. Chances are your offspring already accept you as ultimate authority figure and managing them in a business environment is second nature. However, even this situation could have a negative impact on your business as non-related employees often expect boss' son, daughter, or best buddy to work less, make more money, and be treated better than everyone else. Whether that's true or not, nepotism and cronyism can create an underlying tension among ranks.

Establish and adhere to company policies. It's a good idea to have published policies concerning every aspect of your business, including employee behavior and performance expectations. By it's very nature employer/employee relationship is prone to favoritism. Managers can't help but favor those employees who work harder, longer, and faster, but when it comes to adhering to company policies, there should be no preferential treatment of favored employees. Every employee should receive a copy of your published company policies and sign a form stating that they have read, understand, and agree with same.

The Bottom Line: treat everyone same. It does not matter if employee is a vice president or a janitor; everyone in your company should be treated same when it comes to adhering to published company policies and performance expectations.

While it is true that a vice president may be of more value to company than a janitor, it is also true that a vice president who is running amok can do far more damage to your company than a janitor who lets a toilet back up every once in awhile (there's an analogy there that I will let you figure out on your own).

It's not personal, it's just business. This is what movie bad guys say to one another right before shooting starts. "Hey, Paulie, it's not personal. It's just business." BLAM! BLAM! This is dating equivalent of saying, "It's not you, it's me." These kinds of statements are not going to make anyone feel better when they are getting dumped or fired. Just ask any former employee or old girlfriend you've used this line on.

If you have to fire an employee - even a friend - do it by book in a professional manner.

It won't be easy, but you have to remove emotion and do what's best for your business.

Here's to your success.

Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net