The Role Of Persuasion In Social Movements: A Case Study
Business is not just about computers and monthly reports. It is a lot about people- people working together under one roof. Our workplaces are considered our second homes as we spend the maximum hours of our day there. In order to ensure harmony between people belonging to different walks of life, the management undertakes certain initiatives.
Out of all these initiatives, the role of persuasion is a significant one. As Ola Joseph quoted,
“Diversity is not about how we differ, it is about embracing each other’s uniqueness…”
When it comes to promoting inclusion and diversity in a business setting, persuasion plays a critical role. So, let’s get started with this comprehensive guide that has a lot to share with its readers.
How Does Diversity Benefit Different Workplaces?
Who doesn’t like to work for an organization that promotes diversity and inclusion? As a matter of fact, both have a lot of advantages for workplaces. Before getting into any technicality, let’s understand the two important advantages of diversity: tangible and intangible benefits.
Tangible Benefit #1: Heightened Creativity and Innovation
Let’s see it this way: if a workplace is a car, diversity and inclusion are its engines. Without them, the car might cover a few distances but will not survive in the long term. Managers generally prefer persuasion when so many aspects of diversity come into question.
With great harmony practices come a heightened sense of innovation and creativity in the workplace. People coming from different social backgrounds share varied opinions and handle jobs in their own unique way, thus promoting innovative ideas.
Tangible Benefit #2: Improved Problem-Solving & Decision-Making
Imagine being tucked inside four walls where you are solely responsible for all kinds of decision-making. What resources will come behind, which ideas should be implemented, and what should teams do? With diversity and inclusion practices, you receive the ability to enhance problem-solving.
Variation in thought processes fuels trust within employees, thereby resulting in higher motivation. They learn decision-making skills on a smaller level, which eventually teaches them how to take things on a bigger level.
Tangible Benefit #3: Great Economic Gains
What are organizations if not built on a financial foundation? Every small process aims to gain some economic benefits to the business. The role of persuasion is an integral part of inclusive growth and a robust economy.
Moreover, a diversified income does not discriminate between people. Whether it is consumers or shareholders, all are motivated to work together to achieve the desired financial goal. Equal opportunities for jobs and education lead to better economic stability for organizations.
Intangible Benefit #1: Enhances Employee Morale
When all types of employees are given the same value, they get a motivation for engagement and productivity. Top organizations in the world promoting inclusion at its height, like Kaiser Permanente and Sodexo, share how it actively increases employee engagement, and they are likely to attend word.
The chief development officer of Vistelar, Lisa Terry, “genuinely” believes that in order to treat everyone equally and better, the authoritative person has to fit in. When talking about her initial days of struggle, Terry quoted,
“I knew that I was going to have to work twice as hard in a male-centric field.”
To ensure no employee feels that way, business owners should maintain harmony by promoting inclusion.
Intangible Benefit #2: Paves The Way For Employer Branding
The world is cruel enough; let’s build a workspace that is diversified enough. Most candidates applying for an organization look up their official website to see what employees are there. Recruiting a diverse pool of talent paves the way for the employer’s enhanced reputation, as people want to join a business that’s equal for all.
9 out of 10 industries are of the opinion that persuasion in the form of diversity has increased their popularity among potential audiences. Hiring becomes easier as there are no or fewer filters, and work eventually becomes a fun place.
What Are The Challenges Faced While Practicing Persuasion and Diversity?
Practicing change is never easy, especially for organizations that have set themselves up for a particular routine. The same is the case with diversity, persuasion, and inclusion. One of the biggest challenges is bias in working environments and overcoming it. Let’s understand it in a better way:
Managers have a biased decision-making process
Any organization mostly takes two kinds of decisions: one is programmed, and the other one is non-programmed. Programmed decisions are routine ones, something that takes place almost every day. Meanwhile, non-programmed decisions are not so frequent.
However, both of them have an equal contribution to any business. Sadly, a lot of managers and people in authority fail to understand equality while assigning tasks and are inclined toward favoritism. This favoritism can be a by-product of race, color, sex, age, etc. Biased decision-making is one of the biggest challenges the positive realm of diversity has ever seen.
Importance of unconscious bias training
Every organization should indulge in unconscious bias training, which primarily focuses on making employees understand what unconscious bias is. This awareness helps them to understand the impacts of bias in workplaces and how to curb them.
Effective bias training is more than just sharing awareness; it also teaches employees how to deal with bias, and attendees learn how to manage it, consequently resulting in a change of behavior. It is not a one-time awareness session; organizations must indulge in practicing unconscious bias every now and then.
Internal Resistance being a barrier…
I can count on so many instances that have shown how some employees are totally resistant toward diversity initiatives. Sometimes, it is because they don’t think themselves capable of practicing it, and other times, they are simply not interested. The workforce of an organization is its main strength. If they do not promote diversity, nobody else could ever do it.
Hence, internal Resistance is definitely a barrier. Employees must be taught to work in different settings and communicate with different kinds of people. They must have a sense of collaboration, whether or not they are tolerant towards a certain race, sex, or gender. Once internal Resistance is curbed, diversity will gain the flexibility to prove its competency in workplaces.
What Is The Role of Persuasion in Promoting Diversity?
Persuasion, in business, is simply the art of persuading people to buy your stories of how you are better than your competitors. These stories often come in various illustrations and forms. Some examples are memorable and stick in the audience’s mind for a very long time. But is that all? Let’s check out what role persuasion plays when it comes to promoting diversity:
Borja Castelar, an active keynote speaker and futurist, points out:
“Your presentations must always have a story. In my CEPARS persuasion method, I have talked about stories that have a main character usually go through a plethora of challenges and gets accomplished at the end. These stories connects with your audience. And the greater you connect, the greater you persuade…”
Secondly, persuasion includes both logic and emotion and in order to get a competitive edge, you have to appeal to both of these aspects. Inserting emotions by using tone, body language, and positive language increases passion and enthusiasm among employees.
In this regard, Nefris Ventura, the CEO and co-founder of More Humans, said:
“Undoubtedly, relational and transactional resources, at the level of attitude, behavior, and thought, portray the advantages of systemic change. At times, we want to separate actions where there is invalid human learning…”
Getting Started With Workplace Diversity
It is difficult to change the entire corporate culture, but it is possible to adopt some effective business tools. With a few streamlined practices and tools, leaders will be able to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion in their workplace. Here’s how to get started:
A Diversified Process Of Hiring and Recruitment
Diversity starts with the hiring process, and you need to strengthen your basics first. Start with the language, avoid gender pronouns, and instead use “they” or “you.” Next, you might also enable different locations to check the posting and allow them to apply for the position. Finally, leveraging diverse employees in each hiring stage helps you settle the hiring decisions.
Corporate Diversity
Recruiting a diverse team is exactly what we kept talking about. Building an inclusive workforce generally comes with utilizing tools efficiently. For starters, you might want to create diverse workgroups and teams where employees from all backgrounds are present. Next, celebrate differences and diversity while keeping diverse customs and holidays in mind.
Invest Towards The Cause
Both inclusion and diversity are ongoing processes. Without proper investment, there’s no way organizations can build an inclusive future for themselves. Seek feedback from employees; this might include everything from individual listening sessions to exit interviews. Equip ongoing training and make sure everyone gets an equal opportunity to be trained.
Parting Thoughts
Diversity and inclusion don’t come easy, and neither does persuasion. An organization must be healthy enough to have informed communication going on within it. Cultural gaps, race discrimination, or gender differences shouldn’t come in between their growth. But who’s responsibility is that?
We, the common people, are responsible for promoting a diversified culture. It all begins with us. We might not be great thinkers or world leaders, but the least we can do is inhibit positive thinking within us. The role of persuasion in diversity has shown great benefits, and global workplaces are proof!
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