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Personal Application/Accountability Paper
Managing Diversity in Organizations
The Pepperdine Graziadio Business School
OTMT 483 / Managing Diversity in Organizations
April 5, 2021
Diversity, Ethics, and Inclusion is an essential piece of good business practices within any industry. It is a core concept that should be at the root of all employees’ and companies’ strategies and is essential to providing the best services possible. The concepts from this class can carry over into both my professional and personal life.
As a Senior Vice President and Team Lead within Business Banking at City National Bank, I have found that my work environment has been cognizant of Diversity from the get-go. I have been with City National Bank for eight and a half years, and although Diversity has been at the forefront of the company all along, I continue to see improvements. It is encouraging to see the bank’s Executive Committee change from all white, older men when I first began working at City National Bank in 2012 to include two black members and more women. White males now make up less than half of the Executive Committe, contributing to my employer’s dedication to Diversity and Inclusion (D&I).
City National Bank is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), with headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Royal Bank of Canada, 2021). Part of RBC’s dedication to Diversity is as follows: “Diversity and Inclusion are more than just a value; it’s our strength. It’s one of the ways we bring RBC’s purpose of helping clients thrive and communities prosper to life. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, and we’re motivated by what’s still to come” (Royal Bank of Canada, 2021).
RBC’s commitment to D&I has been recognized through the 2021 Catalyst Award, which acknowledges efforts put forth by the company to create innovative solutions and workplaces for women (Royal Bank of Canada, 2021). Along with this, City National Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Kelly Coffey, has won the Diversity, Inclusion + Equity “CEO of the Year” award from the Los Angeles Business Journal, as I had mentioned in one of my forum posts. We are one of the few banks with a female CEO, and I am incredibly proud that I work for such a progressive company, especially within the realm of banking which historically tends to be dominated by white males.
I now have two subordinates reporting to me. One is a Hispanic male, and the other a White female. I not only enjoy working with them, but both employees can bring fresh perspectives and different takes on creative problem solving and idea generation that I might not have thought of myself. Having a diverse team is essential because many opportunities and ideas can go untouched if everyone is exceptionally similar. Teams can fall victim to groupthink, which is defined as “a phenomenon that occurs when a group of individuals reaches a consensus without critical reasoning or evaluation of the consequences or alternatives, based on a common desire not to upset the balance of a group” (Kenton, 2020). I try to consciously make decisions about my team to avoid issues of groupthink. Taking this class has solidified this commitment even more so by reinforcing the importance of D&I.
Something that stuck with me from this course was when one of the guest speakers, Shalonda Martin, compared D&I to being invited to a party. Diversity is being invited to a party mixed with many other individuals, Inclusion is being invited to dance. According to this analogy, being invited to a party is not enough if you will be ignored throughout, which translates to having a diversity program is not enough if the diverse team cannot work in an inclusive environment. Both parts are key components to creating a successfully diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace but must be used together. I must remember this analogy throughout my future career. Ensuring that my team is diverse amongst gender, age, race, sexuality, and other attributes extends the “invitation” to the party. Ensuring that everyone feels heard during meetings, conference calls, and organizational events is “asking them to dance.” Differing opinions can lead to more creative problem solving, and Inclusion among employees can boost morale, productivity, and intrinsic value within their work.
Using the Inclusive Workplace Model from our textbook, Managing Diversity Toward a Globally Inclusive Workplace, I can create an organizational environment for employees to expand into other levels. The textbook states that an “inclusive workplace is active in the community, and collaborates across cultural and national boundaries with a focus on global mutual interests” (Mor Barak, 2017, p. 239). According to this model, an inclusive workplace has many contributing factors that create this environment. A strong value base, activity in the community, and generating goodwill from customers and investors will lead to a more productive and loyal workforce (Mor Barak, 2017, p. 242). Some ways to ensure this are advocating management leadership, education and training, performance and accountability, a work-life balance, and career development planning (Mor Barak, 2017, p. 242). City National Bank supports communities through boards and committees that serve many volunteer programs and create “community-involvement partnerships” (City National Bank, n.d.). This helps encourage individual employee development and serve our external communities and networks (City National Bank, n.d.). As an SVP and Team Lead, I should ensure that my employees and subordinates have access to the tools they need to feel included and thriving within our company. Quarterly check-ins and could be an excellent way to start that dialogue among employees. Encouraging employees to be active members on our committees and boards is another way to implement the Inclusive Workplace Model at the first level. City National Bank is committed to Diversity among employees that reflect the Diversity of the communities they serve, and employees have access to Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity programs (City National Bank, n.d.).
Another important concept from class that I will keep in mind in future practices is high-context versus low-context cultures that we covered in our group paper. Our textbook explains the differences between the two. High-context cultures “exchange information using a communication style in which the context and meaning of the information is derived from a literal interpretation of the transmitted message itself” (Mor Barak, 2017, p. 317). Whereas low-context cultures exchange information mainly “conveyed within the transmitted message itself,” the actual words are essential rather than context (Mor Barak, 2017, p. 317). Because RBC is an international company, both executives and employees come from all over the world. It is important to understand an employee’s background and context to gain insight into their communication style and behaviors. Our employees and teams’ success can depend on the way we communicate, and an understanding of each team member’s context will help me in my position as a leader.
With all of the knowledge that we have received in this class, I look forward to implementing concepts and ideas into my career. Working for a company that is always striving for diverse representation within the workplace is encouraging and helps keep Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity at the forefront of employees’ minds. Being aware of groupthink and what factors cause it will help me avoid this downfall when selecting my team and employees. Keeping the dance/party analogy in mind, I will make sure that all voices are heard and respected during meetings, conference calls, and other workplace gatherings to promote Inclusion, diverse ideas, and solutions amongst my team. Focusing on incorporating the Inclusive Workplace Model into my work environment will benefit my employees, clients, and communities in which we serve. Being an active member on City National Bank community committees and boards will help expand the Inclusive Workplace Model outward into other levels. I will encourage other employees and subordinates to do the same. Also, ensuring that my team has access to career planning and the Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity programs and helping them get connected will promote Inclusion and action among employees. Understanding high-context and low-context cultures and how they shape employee customs and behavior will allow me to better understand and meet employees on common ground.
Overall, this class has been an excellent experience and addition to my Pepperdine coursework. I am genuinely passionate about the subject and look forward to implementing my knowledge to better my workplace and community.
City National Bank. (n.d.). Multiculturalism. City National Bank. Retrieved April 03, 2021, from https://www.cnb.com/about-us/company-overview/multiculturalism.html
Kenton, W. (2020, September 16). Groupthink. Invvestopedia. Retrieved April 03, 2021, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/groupthink.asp
Mor Barak, M. E. (2017). Managing Diversity: Toward a Globally Inclusive Workplace (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Royal Bank of Canada. (2021, January 26). Diversity & Inclusion. Royal Bank of Canada. Retrieved April 03, 2021, from https://www.rbc.com/diversity-inclusion/
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