Integrated Talent Management
Diversity & Cultural Competence in the New Workplace
Today’s learning professionals are asked to play a pivotal in addressing the skills needed to create a workplace inclusive of all talents. Maintaining a diverse work environment is clearly a business imperative but how do we get there? Differences are leaving a strain in some workplaces and causing over 2 million people to leave their jobs each year because of their perceived unfairness in the workplace. Those exits are costing employers over $64 billion a year in hiring costs. Opinions and studies show continuous efforts since the early 60s and 70s have not led to overall statistical change and feelings of inclusiveness as aspired. With a new global diverse workplace and organizational survival depending on it, what is holding us back?
This interactive session will explore how our own levels of cultural self-awareness greatly impact our ability to understand and adapt to diverse situations and workplaces. Placement on the cultural proficiency continuum can be assessed by looking at one’s current level of cultural competence. Through these assessments we can begin to understand the barriers of oppression or privilege which will help us to begin the dialogue about our own unconscious biases – thus making us more effective as learning professionals when we facilitate such discussions. Through open dialog and utilizing the Principle of Intentionality we can begin to understand our biases and discover what we can do to shift the tolerance and diversity awareness paradigm.
Evidence points to critical self-reflection and dialog along with a growth oriented mindset to be key elements in cultivating more integrated and open perspectives crucial for a more inclusive frame of reference. We will introduce the power of vulnerability, curiosity, and the art of inquiry as avenues learning professionals may explore for their own professional development.
Speaker:
Sharon E. Harrington, MA, is an independent Organizational Communication Consultant with over 25 years of experience facilitating workplace learning and mediating issues surrounding workplace conflict leading to elevated claims of discrimination. She is a principal with Amediate, LLC and continues to sub-contract with JDG Associates as a discrimination complaint investigator, employment mediator and trainer/facilitator in the federal sector. Ms. Harrington holds an MA degree in Organizational Communication from Arizona State University and a BA degree in Public Relations/Journalism from Kent State University. She also holds a certificate in Federal Workplace Mediation from George Mason University and a FAD certificate from the EEOC Institute and is a CPLP (Certified Professional in Learning and Performance) candidate.
Maria L. Lawson-Davenport, Ed.D. is a project manager with the Center for Military and Veterans Education at Tidewater Community College with over 10 years of teaching experience with children, young adults, and adult student populations. She has worked with Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Virginia public schools, the VA Department of Correctional Education, Virginia Beach Adult Learning Center, and as a workforce development instructor with TCC. Ms. Lawson-Davenport holds a BA in English from Hampton University and a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from the College of William and Mary. She recently earned her Ed.D. in Adult Education, Teaching and Learning from Regent University School of Education where her research focused on cultural proficiency and multicultural self-efficacy.
Jonathan West, MEd
Passionate about learning and service
In today’s constantly changing work workplace the ability to step back, take perspective, and creative innovative solutions is a valuable skill. With over 20 years’ experience in leadership and learning roles, Jonathan West brings blue sky perspective, innovative thinking, collaborative skills to teams and projects to enhance organizational learning and performance. Adept with an array of learning methods and technologies, Jonathan has facilitated diverse instructor lead and virtual learning events.
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