Initiatives to apply diversity policies within an organization are best begun after carefully researching its in-house diversity, ensuring that policies meet not only social demands but also remedy internal discrepancies. This is important in order to establish where the organization stands in relation to the national and regional diversity levels and where it has room to improve.

The Diversity Map, created by Lucy Linhares of International Cultural Assistance in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and is an effective tool to create an organization’s diversity profile, helping managers to establish priorities for developing diversity policies.

Methodology

The Diversity Map was piloted at a Brazilian NGO located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was produced from information provided anonymously and voluntarily by 255 employees based on questions formulated by the NGO’s board of directors concerning gender, color, age, education, place of birth, marital status, incidents of social discrimination, positions, and wages.

This data was then organized and compared with national data produced by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE), to determine, for example, if the wages earned and positions held by the black women employed by the NGO were comparable to the profile of the black women in the same region with the same level of education.  

Upon acquiring this data, it became possible for management to identify the gaps that existed internally and the areas that needed to be altered in order to fulfill both the NGO’s mission and its commitment to the society to which it belongs. 

Diversity as a Competitive Advantage

The value of diversity as a competitive advantage exists in generating a work atmosphere where there is room for new initiatives. Aspects of an individual’s identity - color, gender, age, social class, special needs and cultural background - will interact in the organization to generate creativity and increase productivity. The reason for this is simple: the opportunity for innovative solutions is greater in teams with more diversity in academic backgrounds, experiences and outlooks. Similarly, it’s easier for diverse teams to identify the needs of a multicultural and segmented market. 

If you are interested in finding out more about The Diversity Map, please contact us.