Diversity = #4 of our 20 Common Core Values

Diversity = #4 of our 20 Common Core Values

Making Stew with the Spice of Life

You can learn a lot from people who view the world differently than you do. —Anthony J. D’Angelo

People are diverse in more measures than we can count; in some of these measures, we want diversity. – Mike Ashcraft

There never were in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity. —Michel de Montaigne

What we know:

·      We know a diverse workforce can more readily relate to and serve a diverse client base, and therefore help the organization to be more successful.

·      We know that developing and celebrating diversity in our organization leads to higher morale, increased productivity, enhanced creativity, and higher organizational loyalty.

·      We know white guys are diverse too… in many ways, but often in discussions about diversity, they are the one group left out. At CC, when we speak about diversity, we are not leaving ANYONE out.

What we value and believe:

·      We value having a variety of people on our team.

·      We value having a variety of ethnicities, skin tones, genders, ages, talents, personalities, intelligences, learning styles, and personality styles.

·      We believe in unity through diversity, so we want the people on our team to share our values and our goals, but that is the only category where we want complete unity.

·      We do not want a melting pot of people who dissolve into a homogeneous solution; rather, we want a variety stew—each ingredient retaining its identity, texture, color, and flavor—different chunks of people who are unique from each other and all of whom contribute to the unity of the stew!

·      We do not believe that you should treat all people the same! People are different—that is the point of diversity. Why would anyone spend so much time intentionally creating and developing a diverse team, only to succeed and then treat everyone the same? It would defeat the purpose.

·      We believe that we should talk about the differences people have, and not be afraid of it.

What we do to show it:

·      You will almost never hear us use the word tolerance. We don’t tolerate diversity; we value it, encourage it, embrace it, and celebrate it.

·      We are an equal opportunity employer because we celebrate diversity.

·      We hire and promote individuals based on our organizational culture, expectations, and values.

·      Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin, culture, disability or sexual preference is just not how we do things around here.

·      We ask people how they like to receive feedback.

·      We ask them about their beliefs, styles, and preferences.

·      We ask them how they handle conflict.

·      We spend time and energy to really get to know them, and discover how THEY want to be treated, and then treat them uniquely how they want to be treated.