- Figures from the most recent census show that minorities account for almost a third of the U.S. workforce, 10% of workers are age 55 or over, and almost half the workforce are women.
- In the future, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that minorities will approach 50% of the American workforce, and the number of workers age 55 and older will jump to almost 20%.
- Growing diversity among your employees has a big impact on how your organization functions. Increasingly, supervisors will be required to work effectively with men and women of different races, religions, ages, lifestyle preferences, and social, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.
Need more diversity training resources? Check out the courses for employees and supervisors in TrainingToday’s Diversity Library. Get More Information.
Training Exercise: Can These Comments Cause Legal Trouble?
Divide your trainees into groups to answer, or, if your group is already small, have trainees answer individually. Then compare answers with those given in the next section.
- “Alice is pregnant. She shouldn’t be flying, so I’m taking her off all the out-of-town cases.”
- “Let’s all play golf Saturday, well, except for Al. He tends to put a damper on things. (Al is of a different ethnic background than the other members of the team.)”
- “Jillie has young kids at home. She won’t be interested in that promotional opportunity—too much traveling.”
- “So they’re getting on me for EEO? I’ve got the solution—I’m selecting minorities from now on. I just won’t hire any nonminorities, even if they’re the most qualified.”
- “Women aren’t rough enough for this job. It takes a real lumberjack type to last 8 hours at this job.”
- “I’m not hiring her—she’s pregnant. She’ll be gone on leave the day after she starts.”
- “I didn’t hire him—he does have qualifications, but with that limp, I don’t think he can do the job.”
- “Personally, I’d like to hire a lot of minorities, but my customers just wouldn’t be comfortable with that. It’s just a business decision, not discrimination.”
Training Today’s Diversity library is an interactive training program with individual modules for supervisors and employees. Find out more.
Answers for Training Exercise: Comments that can Cause Legal Trouble
- This comment could cause legal trouble. You must treat pregnant employees the same as all other employees.
- This comment could cause legal trouble. Exclusion from quasi-corporate activities is discrimination.
- This comment could cause legal trouble. A patronizing approach such as this is illegal.
- This comment could cause legal trouble. It is called reverse discrimination.
- This comment could cause legal trouble. Such attitudes are illegal stereotyping.
- This comment could cause legal trouble. You cannot refuse to hire on the basis of pregnancy.
- This comment could cause legal trouble. Such an approach is clearly illegal discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- This comment could cause legal trouble. Customer preference is not an acceptable excuse for discrimination.
In tomorrow’s Advisor, we’ll go through a true-false diversity exercise—plus, a new online diversity training resource.