The Atlanta based UPS has a long history of recognition as one of the best companies for minorities and commitment to a multicultural environment indicative of its global reach. Since 2000, Unity Day has been an annual event organized by UPS to celebrate the unique richness of its employees from around the world with international exhibits and cuisine featuring Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. ARC’s Global Atlanta Works program was among the resource exhibits at the 7th annual event where John J. Valeri, UPS's vice president of corporate international human resources, provided a perspective on diversity, including three practical areas of concentration: Project Management, Personal Development and People Development.
When we hear of or talk about diversity from a traditional U.S. mindset, there are specific characteristics that come to mind. We typically associate the focus with regulatory mandates on how to protect the rights of diverse people – be it race, age, gender or physical ability, etc.
Diversity is certainly all these things; however, we can add other characteristics to the list such as: personality, learning style, work processes and a host of primary and secondary influences that are also part of the spectrum. Outside the U.S., diversity refers to, for example, the way a German would approach something as opposed to the way they do things in France or Italy. This mindset applies even where language is very similar – like comparing the U.S. and the U.K. There can be tremendous cultural differences that impact behavior or how something might be perceived. In these cases, understanding diversity is to pause and give thought to the differences that may exist. In a nutshell, diversity simply means the inclusion of a broad array of ideas on a specific matter.
Once we have a common understanding of what diversity is, the action item is how we, at UPS, leverage diversity or inclusion of all of our collaborative strengths into daily tactical activities and strategic initiatives to increase organizational competitiveness.
Unity Day is an excellent opportunity to reflect on how each of us can enhance our appreciation of the collective contributions of UPSers everywhere and incorporate that value into the processes and deliverables we develop at the corporate level.
To view the extended version, go to www.globalatlantaworks.com.