Chapter six discusses workers' characteristics that influence their location, use, maintenance, modification, and time value. Organization leaders should be able to recognize and leverage each employee's strengths using diversity intelligence® (DQ). Once leaders are diversity intelligent, they will then be capable of understanding the organizations' workforce inter-personnel diversity which looks at the differences of each individual employee. They will also be able to use workforce inter-personnel diversity as a talent management strategy tool.
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The power and structure inside organizations influences the organization’s diversity and diversity efforts (Burkhardt & Brass, 1990; Brass & Burkhardt, 1993; Pfeffer, 1994). The valuation an organization places on diversity is connected to the organization’s development of the career development plans for its employees (Pitts, 2006). Organization policies that encourage diversity and career development make the organization desirable for all workers, especially women and minorities, to remain in the organization (Pitts, 2006).
Avery (2011) suggested that “prioritizing diversity throughout organizational human-resource management practices” (p. 251) unlocks diversity’s potential inside the organization. He also noted that
Through their human-resource management policies and procedures, organizations have a considerable impact on the diversity climates they facilitate and the employees they attract and retain. If they wish to encourage employee diversity activism, it is imperative that they take steps to ensure that the climates, supervisors, and coworkers employees routinely encounter convey that diversity is valued and supported. (p. 252)
These suggestions could extend to all leaders within organizations as it relates to providing career development, training and development, and other developmental opportunities for employees. Organizations should provide a supportive climate, supervisors, and coworkers for diverse employees to feel comfortable interacting with mentors (Bingham et al., 2005; Thomas, 2008). As employees compete for jobs, they are competing against low wage, high skilled workers throughout the world (Friedman & Mandelbaum, 2011) and should not feel restricted by lack of development from their organization simply because they are different.