Workforce Diversity
Recently, I watched a news program where the headline story was, "What are the most important skills for employees today?" This is a thought-provoking question that is most simply answered by considering the two skills that can make a seemingly good employee on paper be a bad employee in reality.
The first of the two skills is the ability to adapt to changing cultural diversity and to be able to get along with a wide variety of people. There was a time, not long ago, where work was a fairly homogeneous place. When you went to work, you generally saw only people within your same race, culture, class, sex and even religion. Accounting offices were often staffed with middle-class white guys. Sewing jobs were, generally, filled by lower class immigrant women. Being able to accept diversity in the workplace wasn't an overwhelming concern. …show more content…
To be able to see why this is an important skill, all one needs to do is take a little stroll down memory lane. Not too long ago, people were using typewriters and dictating to their secretaries, but everything in business has been changing rapidly.
The employees that will thrive in today's technological environment are those who can adapt to change and embrace it. The employee who quickly learns to utilize new accounting software is more valuable than the one who continues to use the pencil and ledger long after everyone has converted over. In addition, the employee who is afraid to use the copy machine is not nearly as valuable as the one who quickly picks up new technology and learns how to use it in inventive new ways.
In the end, I've found that to be a good employee today, you have to be the kind of person who is open and accepting of new people, technology, and ideas. Adapting to changes in the culture, being tolerant of others and accepting new technology are all mandatory skills
The first of the two skills is the ability to adapt to changing cultural diversity and to be able to get along with a wide variety of people. There was a time, not long ago, where work was a fairly homogeneous place. When you went to work, you generally saw only people within your same race, culture, class, sex and even religion. Accounting offices were often staffed with middle-class white guys. Sewing jobs were, generally, filled by lower class immigrant women. Being able to accept diversity in the workplace wasn't an overwhelming concern. …show more content…
To be able to see why this is an important skill, all one needs to do is take a little stroll down memory lane. Not too long ago, people were using typewriters and dictating to their secretaries, but everything in business has been changing rapidly.
The employees that will thrive in today's technological environment are those who can adapt to change and embrace it. The employee who quickly learns to utilize new accounting software is more valuable than the one who continues to use the pencil and ledger long after everyone has converted over. In addition, the employee who is afraid to use the copy machine is not nearly as valuable as the one who quickly picks up new technology and learns how to use it in inventive new ways.
In the end, I've found that to be a good employee today, you have to be the kind of person who is open and accepting of new people, technology, and ideas. Adapting to changes in the culture, being tolerant of others and accepting new technology are all mandatory skills