By Sarah Calfee, San Diego SHRM Vice President of Programs

Juneteenth

Juneteenth. June 19, 1865. Not a day of changed legislature. Not a day of riot. Not a day of religious ceremony. Then why does it matter? Because that was the day that the last confederate state received news that slavery was finally deemed illegal. The Emancipation Proclamation, outlawing slavery in all Confederate states , was signed by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862. But it took nearly two years for Texas to receive the news.

Celebration of Juneteenth started way back then. And, while the celebrations are large in some areas, many people had never heard of it until this past year. In 2020, it came again as usual. Only that time it was in the middle of incredible civil unrest due to the horrifying murder of George Floyd and subsequent related events.

One year later, Juneteenth has been declared a federal holiday. No, this is not simply another
day that federal employees get a paid day off. It is a day of acknowledgment of part of our
American history – part of our journey to correct wrongs, part of our journey to make the
United States a place of freedom and opportunity for everyone. Recognizing the significance of
this day is one of the many steps that Americans need to take in order to keep moving this
process forward.

Below is some detail about the ultimate abolishment of slavery in the United States.
September 22, 1862 Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln

• It was a presidential proclamation and executive order.
• Effective January 1, 1863.
• Changed the legal status under federal law of more than 3.5 million enslaved African
• Americans in the United States from slave to permanently free.
• Applied only to the Confederate states that the Union was at war with for the Civil War.
• Union states had already abolished slavery.
• Six border states that were not fighting against the Union yet still had slavery (Maryland,
• Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia, Delaware, and Kentucky) were excluded from the
• Proclamation.
  • All but Delaware and Kentucky initiated their own abolishment of slavery before
  • the end of the Civil War.
  • Delaware and Kentucky eventually had slavery abolished under the 13th
  • Amendment.
• Confederate states: President – Jefferson Davis
  • Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia
• Union States: President – Abraham Lincoln
  • Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, California, Nevada, Oregon

It was not until after the end of the civil war and 2.5 years after the Emancipation Proclamation
for the news of both to reach Texas, in the city of Galvaston. Texas was the last confederate
state forced to comply with the Emancipation Proclamation.

The 13th amendment was subsequently passed by two-thirds vote in Congress on January 31,
1865, ratified on December 6, 1865. This amendment prohibited slavery in all states of the
Union, including any potential future states and any other territories falling under US
jurisdiction.

The Emancipation Proclamation and 13th Amendment did not end the oppression of African
Americans and other people of color in the United States. More amendments have been
needed, more laws. As we acknowledge our historical successes in creating change, we help
pave the way for continued growth in awareness and compassion that will lead to more
change.

By Sarah Calfee, San Diego SHRM Diversity Chair

2020 December Holidays

This holiday season, many of us are reflecting on years past, wistfully ruminating on what we could have had this year if not for COVID. Added to that are our socially contentious times, with a tendency toward anger and frustration with those on “the other side”. None of it feels very holiday-y.

Perhaps it will help us to shift our mindset to something more positive, to think about one of the benefits of this era. With all the challenges, our society might be forced to move past the concept of being politically correct, or “PC”, toward being genuinely inclusive. Being PC often translates to ignoring differences – a “we’re all the same”, color blind, melting pot mentality. Inclusivity requires acknowledging differences and providing everyone with the opportunity to be their authentic selves. Imagine that future! Each of us feels comfortable to just be whom we are without apology or explanation.

In the holiday spirit and to ease us further down this path, here is some information on a few less well-known holiday celebrations that communities celebrate across our grand country. This list is not intended to be all-inclusive. Rather, it is merely a sample of what our neighbors experience.

December 8 - Rohatsu a.k.a. Bodhi Day

Buddhism

Common Greeting: “Happy/Blessed Bodhi Day”

Celebrates Buddha’s decision and vow to sit under the Bodhi tree until he reached spiritual enlightenment.

http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/12/bodhi-day-2012.html

December 21 – Winter Solstice

Paganism

Common Greeting: “Happy Yule/Solstice”

While the solstice is typically on December 21, Yule celebrations related to the solstice can begin earlier and last past that date. The winter solstice is celebrated in many different cultures. And even for Pagans, many variations exist as the description of this holiday. Generally speaking, however, it is a celebration of the rebirth of light as we transition from the longest night/shortest day into longer daylight.

https://wiccaliving.com/wiccan-calendar-yule-winter-solstice/

December 21-25 - Pancha Ganapati

Hinduism

Common Greeting: “Happy Pancha Ganapati”

A 5-day festival in honor of Lord Ganesha.

https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1296

December 21 & 26 – Vaddey Sahibzaadey & Chhotey Sahibzaadey

Sikh

Common Greeting: n/a

Celebrates the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh’s 4 sons. Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth Sikh Guru.

https://www.multi-faithcalendar.org/events/shaheedi-vaddey-sahibzaadey/

https://www.multi-faithcalendar.org/events/shaheedi-chhotey-sahibzaadey/

December 26 – Zarathosht-no-Diso

Zoroastrian

Common Greeting: n/a

Day of mourning for the death anniversary of Zarathushtra, the founder of one of the world’s oldest mono-theistic and prophetic religions.

http://festivals.iloveindia.com/zarthost-no-deeso/zartosht-no-diso-history.html

December 26 – January 1 – Kwanzaa

African American

Common Greeting: “Habari gani”

7-day secular celebration of African and African-American culture based on African harvest festivals.

https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/kwanzaa.shtml

By Sarah Calfee, San Diego SHRM Diversity Chair

Value Of Diversity Training

The words “diversity training” and “sensitivity training” sometimes trigger eye-rolling, groans, and even anger. Many employees of larger corporations have been required to attend some sort of related training in their careers. As with any training, some people walk away with a personal change and others feel it was a waste of their time and the company’s money.

To determine if a particular training was effective and added value, we must first define what the training is supposed to do. Diversity and sensitivity training is not about getting people to admit they are bigoted. It is not to get people to admit they have purposely taken advantage of being part of a particular group. It is not about getting everyone to stop expressing their opinions or talking about anything “sensitive”.

Rather, it should be about fostering a culture where groups of people are not marginalized. It should be about creating awareness of what circumstances, often unbeknownst to people involved, can lead to marginalization. It should be about developing an environment where everyone can feel valued, free to let their personality shine, and comfortable participating. As Devin C. Hughes (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion speaker and consultant) says “We need to feel like we matter. Once we have that, then we can be open.” Mr. Hughes is the expert diversity, equity, and inclusion speaker and consultant of Diversity Advantage, LLC.

Hughes urges that “we need to stop talking about diversity training as an add on.” He explains that focusing on culture and environment with some focus on employee mental wellbeing will drive inclusion and a sense of belonging.

Concurrently, we should look at the processes and practices of an organization to identify those that inherently lead to disparate impact on groups of people, particularly those that are unintentional or unseen. “This exercise can help people become open to considering those [processes and practices] that do not serve the organization’s core mission, vision, and values”, says Mr. Hughes. He further explains about training, “Information is not transformation. We need to give tools that are actionable.”

Sara Taylor, DEI expert of DeepSee Consulting agrees. “Just as we can have the best and most advanced piece of technology and yet not utilize it to its full potential because we have not been taught, we can also work in a diverse work environment and not fully utilize that diversity of perspective, identity, and approach because we haven’t been taught. Diversity and Inclusion training is meant to develop those skills necessary for all of us to be our most effective selves and for our organizations to be their most effective and productive in the midst of that diversity.”

Taylor additionally explains that research by J.J. DiStefano and M.L. Mazvneski has shown that non-diverse teams were mediocre performers compared to diverse teams. The diverse teams were both the highest and lowest performers. “what set the highest performing teams apart was the ability to utilize the resource of the diversity on their teams. Their ability to be their most effective selves in the midst of their diverse work environment – specifically their ability of cultural competence.”

She further points out that statistics show our country is becoming more diverse, with the Caucasian population gradually becoming a lower percentage of the overall population. Thus, as we naturally become more diverse, we only have two choices: “have organizations that are diverse and the lowest performing and organizations that are diverse and highest performing.” Training to use diversity to our advantage is key.

As with any education and training, activities can be performed that fail to reach the objectives. People can walk out of ineffective diversity training feeling discriminated against and marginalized – the very things the training should be trying to eliminate. In these trying times, it might feel better at times to simply walk away from fixing something broken. But, instead, we must lean into the challenge to boost what is working and recreate what is not. The challenge for diversity and inclusion trainers now is to listen to and internalize the critical feedback. Our work is far from over. So let’s keep pushing forward where we are effective and pivot and modify where we need to.

#dibe #dei #diversityandinclusion #diversity #inclusion #diversitytraining #sdshrm #shrm 

by: SHRM 

It’s time for equality for all, across every area of society. That’s why SHRM has introduced  Together Forward @Work , a call to action to bring racial equity to the workplace —the place we know best and have served the longest. And a place where we, our members, and our business community can bring our unique professional talents to stand together against all forms of social injustice.

EQUITY IS A JOURNEY
The issues may be obvious, but the solutions are complex. So we’re in this for the long haul. This will be a sustained, multi-faceted platform:

1. Original Research. See the current state of American workers’ viewpoints on racial inequity in the workplace. It’s the first of much more data to come.

2. Blue Ribbon Commission on Racial Equity. A coalition of top business executives and academics from both within and outside HR to drive actions and solutions.

3. Ongoing Learning, Conversations, and Collaboration. If we can work and learn together, we can address this issue together. Get conversation starters below around racial equity and inclusion in your workplace. The resources here are open to all, not just our members, and more will be added frequently to help you take action.

TAKE THE PLEDGE

How will you create racial equity in your workplace? Will you make changes to hiring and recruitment practices? Increase employee education around unconscious bias and respectful dialogue? Celebrate diversity through cultural events?  Or maybe you’ll commit to community partnerships for marginalized groups in your neighborhood.

By a show of hands, take the pledge:

By Sarah Calfee, San Diego SHRM Diversity Chair

Cultural Insights and SHRM Resources

Did you know?

… that August is replete with interesting religious events, Women’s Equality Day, and several other interesting historical facts? Check out the links below to learn more about some of them and to find resources to help you foster an inclusive workplace environment.

1^st:  Lughnasadh (Gaelic) – a harvest festival

3^rd: Raksha Bandhan (Hinduism) – celebrates the love of a brother for his sister

9^th: International Day of the World’s Indigenous People – United Nations designated day to focus on spreading the message on the protection and promotion of the rights of the indigenous peoples.

11^th: Krishna Janmashtami (Hinduism) – celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna

15^th: Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic) – celebration of the day the Virgin Mary rose to heaven

20^th: Hijra (Islam) – begins the new year 1442 based on the Islamic lunar calendar

22^nd: Ganesh Chaturthi (Hinduism) – celebrated in honor of the birthday of the elephant-headed God

25^th: Marlee Matlin – is the only deaf performer to win the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1987 for her role in Children of a Lesser God, and only the second disabled actor to win any Academy Award.

26^th: Women’s Equality Day – commemorates the 1920 certification of the 19^th Amendment to the US Constitution, which granted women the right to vote

28^th – 29^th: Ashura (Islam) – marks the tenth day of the Islamic calendar month of Muharram, a date identified with numerous significant religious events, including the day Noah left the Ark

If you want information on how to impact your organization’s culture to be more inclusive, check out SHRM’s resources, including:

Diversity and Inclusion resource page

Together Forward @ Work

Guide to Developing a Strategic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan

How HR Should Respond to Social and Political Expression at Work

Racism related SHRM resources:

SHRM Research Finds Need for More Awareness, Understanding of Racial Inequality

Employees Look to Employers to Rise Up Against Racism

Companies Try a New Approach to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Honest Conversations

By Sarah Calfee, San Diego SHRM Diversity Chair

At an unprecedented time of unrest due to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet another harsh indicator of racial inequality was thrust upon us by the horrific murder of George Floyd. It is impossible to ignore the pain being felt by members of our society. And it is impossible to ignore the need for change.

As an organization focused on helping HR professionals create unbiased and fair cultures in their organizations, we at San Diego SHRM are united against racism and discrimination, along with violence of any kind. Our goal, as always, is to provide the resources, network, and community to help all of our members prevent situations and behaviors that would harm others in their workplace. We are committed to helping our local community respond, cope, and heal from the recent challenges.

Here is what we, as HR professionals, can do to be part of the change:

• Educate ourselves on the racial issues being addressed in our community, the country, and globally. Listen to and seek to understand all sides of the issues, particularly the ones we do not agree with.
• Educate our employees on related topics such as cultural competency and micro-aggressions.
• Ensure the anti-harassment/bullying training is up to date for all our employees.
• Engage with our network through calls and virtual happy hours to discuss thoughts and ideas with our peers.
• Join a committee with SDSHRM to help strengthen and broaden the support for our local HR leaders.
• Share ideas and requests with SDSHRM for how we can better serve you.
• Look into our own hearts, our own beliefs, and our own behaviors to see where we might need to make a change.

Creating change does not require major action like attending a protest from every person. But it does require desire and intention. Please join us in working together to develop a kinder and gentler world for future generations.

SHRM San Diego is excited to provide Diversity & Inclusion resources to our HRcommunity.   Below you will find articles, toolkits, and educational videos to help guide you in creating these important initiatives.

How Diversity Can Drive Your Organization Forward

presented by Rusty Lindquist & Michelle Reed.

To view the full presentation please click here. 

The actual webcast can be viewed by clicking here. 

SHRM San Diego is excited to provide Diversity & Inclusion resources to our HRcommunity.   Below you will find articles, toolkits, and educational videos to help guide you in creating these important initiatives.

Managing Unconscious Bias

Strategies to Manage Bias & Build More Diverse,
Inclusive Organizations

By: Paradigm

"At any given moment, our brains are receiving 11 million pieces of information.
We can only consciously process about 40 of those pieces.1 To process the
remaining 10,999,960 we rely on our subconscious, which helps us filter
information by taking mental shortcuts. Unconscious bias refers to the
information, attitudes, and stereotypes that inform our subconscious information processing
and dictate the process by which we take these mental shortcuts.
While unconscious information processing is a critical part of human functioning,
the shortcuts we take, and the bias that informs those shortcuts, often introduce
errors into our decision-making.2,3

Unconscious bias can lead to many types of undesirable outcomes; in organizations,
it can lead to differences in the way we attract, hire, develop, and retain people
from underrepresented groups.*,4,5,6 Even when these differences are subtle—and
sometimes especially so—they present significant barriers to cultivating a diverse,
inclusive organization. Awareness of unconscious bias and active engagement
in efforts to reduce bias should be a core component of any company’s diversity
and inclusion strategy. For the growing number of companies devoting resources
to diversity, this Paper is a guide on how to think about and address unconscious
bias at all levels of the organization."

Please click here to read the full article. 

SHRM San Diego is excited to provide Diversity & Inclusion resources to our HRcommunity.   Below you will find articles, toolkits, and educational videos to help guide you in creating these important initiatives.

Managing Diversity: 10 Steps To Multicultural Team Success 

By: Claude Koehl, Founder, Intercultural Services

"Without the necessary organizational framework, intercultural training, and support,
diverse teams will have difficulties becoming cohesive, innovative, and productive units.

In the mobile and global world of today, a demographically diverse workforce has become the norm for business large and small. A diverse and inclusive workforce can help drive the creation and execution of new products, services, and business processes (Forbes Insights, “Global Diversity and Inclusion: Fostering Innovation Through a Diverse Workforce,” 2011). Investing in workforce diversity contributes to enhanced economic and social performance, better adaptation to demographic and organizational changes, and compliance with the law (European Union, “Diversity within small and medium-sized enterprises best practices and approaches for moving ahead,” Publications Office of the European Union, 2015). In this article, I will use the term, “diverse workforce” interchangeably with “multicultural workforce” as we are ultimately referring to factors (ethnicity, religion, gender, etc.), which are all elements of culture. Commonly, diversity is evaluated at the organizational level where “numbers can distract from the fact that an increase in representation doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in diversity” (Blanche, A., Atlassian: “Focus on teams to boost diversity,” USA Today, 2016). For example, if the percentage of newly hired women has increased during the year, yet all newly hired women work in the same department, this increase only translates to growing department diversity, not company diversity.

To truly reap the benefits of a diverse workforce, we need to promote and evaluate diversity at the team level. Multicultural teams offer a number of advantages, including better adaptability and higher innovation potential, since knowledge of different product markets increases the potential for a broader service range and culturally more sensitive customer service (Brett, J. & Behfar, K., Kern, M. C., “Managing Multicultural Teams,” Harvard Business Review, 2006). But even in multicultural teams, innovation and creativity potential do not translate magically into better performance. Not least because “it is inevitable to have conflict when you bring people from different cultural backgrounds together. It’s about how you manage the conflict. A lot of times, managers try to put together a multicultural workplace without trying to integrate people better,” as Roy Y.J Chua succinctly states (Chua, R.Y.J., “Cultural disharmony undermines workplace creativity,” HBS Working Knowledge, Harvard Business School, 2013). Hence, for an organization to profit from the “diversity of thought” of its diverse workforce the following factors must come together:

• Commitment to the diversity development process by top management and all employees
• Diversity promoting and supporting companywide structures and processes
• Development and training of the workforce’s cross-cultural (leadership) competencies
and conflict management skills"

Please click here to read the full article.

SHRM San Diego is excited to provide Diversity & Inclusion resources to our HR community.   Below you will find articles, toolkits, and educational videos to help guide you in creating these important initiatives.

Toolkits

University of Oregon Division of Equity and Inclusion Resources

How to Develop a Diversity and Inclusion Initiative- SHRM International

Interrupting Bias in Hiring, Tools for Organizations

 Getting Talent Back to Work

SHRM San Diego is excited to provide Diversity & Inclusion resources to our HR community.   Below you will find articles, toolkits, and educational videos to help guide you in creating these important initiatives.

Articles

Waiter is that inclusion in my soup? A new recipe to improve business performance

By: Deloitte

"The pressure is on Doing more with less, fiscal pressure and constraint, uncertainty, volatility… still common themes for organisations across the globe in 2012/2013. It has shaken our confidence1 and clarity of response. Unexpectedly diversity and inclusion are emerging as beacons of hope. A little farfetched? Our groundbreaking research in three diverse workplaces (manufacturing, retail and healthcare) demonstrates the tangible uplift in business performance when employees think that their workplace is highly committed to, and supportive of, diversity and they feel highly included.

If you are still sceptical, then here is the ultimate punch line. When Deloitte modelled the relationship between diversity and inclusion and business performance, we identified an ‘uplift’ of 80% when both conditions were high. More specifically, employees who perceive their organisation is committed to, and supportive of, diversity and who feel included, are 80% more likely to believe they work in a high performing organisation, in comparison to a workplace perceived as having low commitment and support for diversity and employees not feeling included. Even when there is high diversity and low inclusion, or low diversity and high inclusion, the business outcomes are never as impressive as the high diversity and high inclusion combination."

Please click here to read the full article:Waiter is that inclusion in my soup? A new recipe to improve business performance

SHRM San Diego is excited to provide Diversity & Inclusion resources to our HR community.   Below you will find articles, toolkits, and educational videos to help guide you in creating these important initiatives.

Videos

Unconscious Bias: Stereotypical hiring practices. | Gail Tolstoi-Miller | TEDxLincolnSquare

SHRM San Diego is excited to provide Diversity & Inclusion resources to our HR community.   Below you will find articles, toolkits, and educational videos to help guide you in creating these important initiatives.

Videos

How to get serious about diversity and inclusion in the workplace | Janet Stovall

SHRM San Diego is excited to provide Diversity & Inclusion resources to our HR community.   Below you will find articles, toolkits, and educational videos to help guide you in creating these important initiatives.

Articles

By: Vivian Hunt, Dennis Layton, and Sara Prince

Please click here to read the full article : Why Diversity Matters

SHRM San Diego is excited to provide Diversity & Inclusion resources to our HR community.   Below you will find articles, toolkits, and educational videos to help guide you in creating these important initiatives.

Videos

Transform your culture: Diversity and inclusion in the modern workplace