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Diversity: a key aspect of any organization, MEP can help

Submitted By Dorinda Byers
MEP Growth Advisor

Workforce is the biggest challenge faced by manufacturers today.  Around 71% of manufacturers cited attracting and retaining a quality workforce as their top challenge in the most recent NAM Quarterly Outlook Survey.  We have expanded our workforce service offerings to add a new training helping manufacturers bridge the generation and diversity gaps, “Bridge the Generational and Diversity Gaps in the Workplace with DISC”.  

Diversity is an important aspect of any organization and differences matter in the workplace.  Knowing your style, recognizing others’ styles, and “flexing” your style to interact more effectively with those who have styles different from yours can help.
Whether you’re managing a multigenerational or multicultural workforce, diversity is a source of enrichment and opportunity that can bring a wealth of benefits. Assembling talent from diverse backgrounds helps develop a team with broad knowledge, varied viewpoints, and innovative ideas.

But, diversity can also create challenging situations. Team members may feel inhibited or self-conscious when working with people from different cultures or generations. Understanding individual diversity is an important aspect of succeeding in any position and it helps your team become a cohesive and productive unit. The result of team members that value individual differences is an accepting, dynamic, and effective work environment.

Everything DISC Workplace provides team members with the tools to understand their own personality styles as well as those of others.  This understanding enables employees of all generations and cultural backgrounds to have safe and comfortable conversations using a common language to bridge gaps. 

It also enables team members to develop the skills to gain greater understanding and respect from others by recognizing their styles and meeting them where they are. This course highlights how to successfully recognize the personality styles of others and how to flex and adapt your style to be more effective in interacting with others thereby creating common leadership and interpersonal language within your company.

Contact Dorinda Byers, MEP Growth Advisor, to learn more about how we can help your company with training.  We also have other trainings available including leadership, lean, safety, quality, Six Sigma, and many others.  Email her today for more information: byers.18@osu.edu.