TD Magazine Article

1. PHOTO: THINKSTOCK76 TD | June 2016
learning blueprint
HUMANCAPITAL
I
n many organizations in the United States, there are more protected class
employees—employees who are protected by the U.S. Equal Opportunity
Commission against discrimination by federal law—than nonprotected em-
ployees. These diverse employees bring knowledge, skills, and abilities to the
positions they fill and provide profitability and productivity to the organization.
They also bring excitement to the organization because they may have fulfilled
personal goals of working there. Their excitement can be contagious and exhili-
rating until protected employees encounter a workplace environment where the
subculture is filled with limited opportunities for advancement simply because
they are in a protected class.
Without direct interaction with leaders, protected class employees are forced
to rely on the opinion of others regarding their performance or lack thereof. Un-
scrupulous leaders often use this as an opportunity to diminish the credentials
of diverse group members.
What it is
Protected employees are covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, executive or-
ders, and other federal laws that cover age, disability, national origin, race/color,
religion, sex, sexual orientation, harassment, retaliation, sexual harassment, ge-
netic information, pregnancy discrimination, and veteran status.
But not all covered employees are treated the same. Those whose protected
class status are readily visible (for example, racism, genderism, ageism, disabil-
ity) often are subjected to homosocial reproduction where they end up watching
leaders only protect and tend to employees who they consider to be like them-
selves and seek to reproduce a version of themselves. Protected class group
employees may become structurally, socially, spatially, and occupationally seg-
regated into powerless positions with few opportunities for advancement. They
face homophily—the tendency of individuals to associate and bond with similar
others—which means that they have limited access to individuals who are dis-
similar to themselves. Those who are dissimilar often are the leaders who can
affect their ability to progress within their chosen careers.
Diversity intelligence (I refer to it as DQ) provides an opportunity for leaders
to reflect on their actions and behaviors toward all employees and to effectively
implement new strategies. DQ values the differences in employees without at-
tempting to make everyone alike. It is needed so that organizational leaders can
better interact with the changing demographics in America and the global econ-
omy by embracing differences as strengths rather than weaknesses.
Using Diversity Intelligence
for an Inclusive Organization
Diversity intelligence provides
an opportunity for leaders to
reflect on their actions toward
all employees.
BY CLARETHA HUGHES
CHECKLIST
Steps to Implement
Diversity Intelligence
• Recognize that your orga-
nization may have more
protected class employees than
unprotected.
• Learn the laws, executive or-
ders, and policies that protect
employees.
• Examine your mindset regard-
ing discrimination against
protected class employees.
• Treat all employees fairly, hon-
estly, and with integrity.
Copyright ATD 2016

2. June 2016 | TD 77
How it works
To fully motivate diverse individuals,
leaders first must be able to recog-
nize differences between themselves
and others without it being an ob-
stacle to performance. DQ requires
the leader to objectively determine
for himself if he is protecting all of
his employees based on the require-
ments of the laws.
Is his behavior toward protected class
group members passive-aggressive
and discriminatory? Is his reaction to
the protected class issues encoun-
tered by his employees appropriate
or inappropriate? Has the leader de-
termined the benefits of appropriate
responses and the consequences of
inappropriate responses? Does the
leader know that there is a clear link
between productivity and profitabil-
ity if all employees are treated fairly?
Is the leader honest, fair, and acting
with integrity when interacting with
all employees?
Guidelines
The degrees held by protected class
employees from stellar institutions,
their work ethic, their dedication to
the organization, and all other evalu-
ation criteria that have been met or
exceeded are of no value. They suffer
from stereotype.
Racism and bias permeate their
work existence. It is a macro problem
when your employees face hostility
because of their origin, sex, religion,
or other characteristic. All of these
issues are found within American
workplaces despite laws, policies, and
training programs designed to pre-
vent them and despite the prevalence
of leaders who are considered to be
intellectually, emotionally, and cul-
turally intelligent. It is evident by the
continuous Equal Employment Op-
portunity complaints, Department of
Labor settlements, and discrimination
lawsuits that something is missing and
is not working for many leaders and
organizations.
In far too many organizations,
there are still toxic, hostile work en-
vironments that lead to high attrition;
unrealized productivity; feelings of
frustration, fear, disappointment, and
resentment; and other adverse re-
sponses from leaders and employees.
Leaders’ deficiency and ill appli-
cation of DQ impedes organizations’
efforts to use and develop talent.
Without effective DQ, leaders are pro-
ducing adverse relationships between
and among employees and reducing
the effectiveness and productivity of
all employees.
DQ can help leaders make lasting
changes in their actions and behav-
iors and those of their followers so
that they can better accomplish or-
ganizational goals to achieve the
ultimate goal of financial success for
their organizations. The following list
of strategies are recommended.
• Leaders need to use DQ to frame
their understanding of diversity
in the context of protected class
groups in the workplace and stop
trying to fit everything and every-
body into diversity initiatives.
• Leaders need to use DQ to effec-
tively lead protected employees.
If you do not know who they are
or interact with them, you cannot
lead them.
• Leaders need DQ to eliminate as-
sumptions and stereotypes about
protected class employees. Lead-
ers must obtain and exemplify
their knowledge of protected
class employees at all times on
the job.
• Leaders must analyze the passive-
aggressive behaviors that they
may intentionally or unintention-
ally exhibit toward protected class
employees.
Results
Without a clear understanding of di-
versity in the context of the American
workplace based on federal laws and
executive orders, leaders are not fully
equipped to realize organizational
goals through all employees. Diversity
intelligence needs to be integrated
into organization leadership and ca-
reer development plans alongside
intellectual intelligence, emotional in-
telligence, and cultural intelligence.
Many protected workers remain
under-utilized or marginalized in the
workplace. Leaders’ unfamiliarity with
these workers leads to their inabil-
ity to harness protected employees’
talents for the good of their organi-
zations. Implementing DQ can effect
necessary change.
Claretha Hughes is an associate professor
at the University of Arkansas. She has more
than 25 years of diverse management, supervi-
sory, and administrative experience in organiza-
tional and workforce development; chbanks@
uark.edu.
RESOURCES
Hughes, C. ed. 2015. Impact of
Diversity on Organization and
Career Development. Hershey,
PA: IGI Global.
Hughes, C. 2015. “Valuing Diversity
Through a Career Development
Paradigm Shift.” Academy of Busi-
ness Research Journal, 2:40-67.
Hughes, C. In press. Diversity
Intelligence: Integrating Diversity
Intelligence Alongside Emotional,
Cultural, and Intellectual Intelli-
gence for Leadership and Career
Development. London: Palgrave
MacMillan Publications.
Copyright ATD 2016

3. 0316143.31610
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