Moving Beyond Tokenism:Breaking The Great Ideological Lie of Diversity

The Great Ideological Lie of Diversity

?????????????????? has always been considered as a positive aspect of an organization. It combines the conservative tendency to preserve with the more liberal tendency to transform, leading to a healthy organization. However, the progressive doctrine of inclusivity, equity, and intersectionality has transformed the concept of diversity into something based on immutable characteristics of different groups like race, sex, gender, and sexual orientation. The danger of this agenda lies in the fact that it is designed to fight prejudice but, hypothetically, it can lead to validating the opposite claim of group-based differences, which can only lead to more problems.

Despite its good intentions, the ?????????????????? movement has not succeeded in achieving its intended goal. One such group that has been overlooked in this movement is Veterans. The idea of diversity hiring was to leverage the valuable experience and wisdom of Veterans, but there has been limited vision or clarity among the top hierarchy regarding how, what, why, and where their fresh ideas and thoughts should be aligned with the organization's strategy, goals, and objectives. Veteran hiring by corporations has been limited to serving as public events to highlight socially conscious initiatives or as the face of Corporate Social Responsibility. This tokenism gives them due credit for their service rather than valuing the unique skill set they bring to the table

“LABELING”:The Dangers of Group-Based Bias

While we are encouraged to embrace diversity, labeling can create a dangerous situation where people are reduced to nothing more than a member of a particular group, rather than being recognized as individuals with unique qualities and experiences.

This is where the concept of intersectionality comes into play. Intersectionality acknowledges that individuals can experience discrimination in multiple ways based on their intersecting identities. While the goal of intersectionality is to fight against bias and discrimination, it can also be dangerous when taken too far. When we're looked upon as a group, biases can creep in, and we start to stereotype and make assumptions based solely on someone's group identity. This is especially true in the workplace, where group-based bias can affect hiring and promotion decisions.

There are real dangers in allowing labeling and group-based bias to influence our decisions. The argument made by those who are truly prejudiced has always been that the differences between groups are so large that discrimination, isolation, segregation, and even open conflict are necessary for the safety of whatever group they are part of and are hypothetically protecting.

Diversity in Action

Planning of Diversity and Inclusion

Strategies were made, power point presentations were given, and we were all set to explore a new world, wiith the understanding that initiatives promoting diversity would be helpful in utilizing and introducing varied experiences and perspectives to the workplace, they were initiated. This inescapable change was anticipated to provide a new perspective on how organizations manage their personnel resources in order to maximize the advantages of having diverse perspectives.

Implement of policies for Diversity and Inclusion

The idea of diversity hiring was to get leaders on board from the armed forces and leverage their valuable experience and wisdom. However, with limited vision or clarity among the top hierarchy and a lack of understanding of how, what, why, and where fresh ideas and thoughts from a veteran hire should be aligned with the organization's strategy, goals, and objectives.Veteran hiring by corporations has been limited to serving as a public events to highlight socially conscious initiatives or as the face of Corporate Social Responsibility ,rather than using the value and skill set that they provide. It necessitates a greater comprehension of the distinctive experiences, assets, and viewpoints that veterans provide.

Veterans: Misunderstood?

As soon as veterans hang up their uniforms, they are often seen as novices in the corporate world, hired under the guise of diversity to showcase as the face of corporate social responsibility. The veteran label is a form of tokenism, giving them dues for their service rather than valuing the unique skill set they bring to the table.

The Same Soldier: Making of an Officer/JCO/Jawan

Soldiers go through a rigorous selection process to skill up for

1. Formulating techniques for effective Organisation Management,
2. Helping the team understand the need of the Mission
3. Imparting the understanding of operational planning in an empirical environment,
4. Ensuring that the HQ has clarity on arranging the resources to yield maximized value,
5. Understanding and practicing agility
6. Facilitating mission as requested or needed.
7. Removing impediments that stand in the way of team productivity and performance
8. Helping the team to create high-value products
9. Ensuring the team is working effectively, by conducting regular reviews
10. Creating transparency in processes and resolving conflicts
11. Helping the team to understand and follow the goals, scope of work and objective
12. Coaching the Team in organizational environments in which members are not yet fully adopted and understood.
13. Helping team and stakeholders understand and implement security measure
14. Acting as a change agent that increases the productivity of the team
15. Leading and guiding the organization in successful adoption, by streamlining processes and ensuring that every member on the team follows the Scrum framework
16. Taking part in planning and implementations within the organization, and
17. Working with other units to increase the effectiveness of the application of country mission in the organization.

And it's not simply academic knowledge that gives soldiers the confidence to accomplish this, but also training, rich experiences, and difficult times.

Every soldier underwent a meritocratic and rigorous selection process. The selection process assessed the soldier's skills, attitude, psychological and physical abilities, mental and intellectual capacity, and technical knowledge. The soldier is trained and prepared to handle real-world challenges in various fields, including:

Human conflict

Finance

Multi-million and billion procurement

Laying down qualitative and quantitative requirements

Supply chain management in the heat of war

Day-to-day finance

Forecasting future requirements for training, infrastructure, and hard-pressed timeline missions

Sprints for completion of strikes and peace-time exercises

Fitting Square Pegs in Round Holes

Proven military leaders often try to fit themselves into managerial roles, showcasing their relevance and pushing themselves to be seen by demonstrating their importance and making an effort to be noticed. In an effort to establish their value in the rat race, they try hard to fitin to get more noticeable and engage in the "Can you see me?"

'Can you see me?'

In the boardroom, where we first aimed to foster the development of Leaders, we have countered by pushing and shoving mil leaders to get into Manager fit and finish.

"As a result organisations produce counterintuitive results of diversity, which is a HYBRID MANAGE-O-LEADERS"

Where did we go Wrong?

Leadership and Vision for Diversity Hiring

“The difference between failure and success is doing a thing merely right and doing a thing exactly right”

―?Edward Simmons

There will always be open positions to fill, and there always be people standing in line, but the tale does not end there.

With financial worries, desperation, and inadequate information, veterans who are still figuring out their professional choices and navigating the murky world of corporate life may decide to accept a job offer in order to meet an immediate need but fate of the journey will be decided later.

It is important for both stakeholders to understand that ...

... there are as many possibilities for veterans to choose from as there are potential veteran candidates for corporations and business organizations.

1. It is crucial to fill the talent gap in organizations with the right candidates and create an ecosystem that benefits both the employer and employees. To achieve this, a strategic approach is needed, especially when it comes to hiring veterans. Veterans bring unique skills and experience to the workforce, but they are often overlooked by employers. To create a win-win relationship, organizations need to focus on the "right man for the right job" approach, which means finding the best match between the skills of the veteran and the requirements of the job .
2. In order to create a successful veteran hiring program, it is important to have suitable involvement and representation from stakeholders, including veterans themselves. This ensures that strategies and policies are formulated with the target audience in mind, taking into account their unique challenges and opportunities.
3. To help veterans grow and succeed in their new roles, organizations should provide an upskilling roadmap that includes training and development opportunities tailored to their needs. This not only enhances their performance but also contributes to the overall success of the organization.
4. Establishing a reasonable "expectation yardstick" for performance assessment is also important. This should take into account the unique challenges faced by veterans, such as adjusting to civilian work culture, and should be designed to support, rather than punish, their progress [8 ].
5. Offering growth, promotion, and future opportunities is another way to create a win-win relationship with veterans. This not only motivates them to perform well but also creates a culture of loyalty and trust within the organization. Finally, implementing a feedback mechanism is essential to continuously improve the program and make sure that veterans are satisfied with their work and career development opportunities

Conclusion

Our diversity and inclusion programme must go through a whole evolutionary journey before they are ready to accomplish the end aim. A deliberate approach and plan must be devised with the participation of all pertinent stakeholders in order to make decisions that are in the organization's best interests.

Instead of focusing solely on group identities, we need to look at individuals as a whole. We need to recognize that everyone has their own unique experiences and perspectives. By doing so, we can create a more inclusive and accepting society where individuals are valued for who they are, rather than being judged based on their group identity. It is important to value veterans for their unique skill set and experience rather than simply tokenizing them as part of diversity hiring. Leaders should understand the vision and align fresh ideas and thoughts with the organization's strategy, goals, and objectives. Ultimately, diversity should not solely focus on immutable characteristics but rather on creating a diverse and inclusive workplace for everyone.Some closing thoughts?-

• If an organization lacks good leaders, it affects the organization’s ability to attract and retain talent.
• “Like attracts like,” and without good leaders, the organization’s foundation will erode from the bottom up.
• Policies are only undermined by poor implementation; this cycle needs to be addressed.
• People must be brought on board in accordance with the organization’s vision and values such as kindness, honesty, transparency, compassion, reliability, and authenticity.
• Even the smallest member of an organization can make a big difference; they must be taken care of.
• .The Ordinary Heroes of the Taj divident of investing in your team can be well understood from here .

Finally, a comment on the Diversity and Inclusion

"Each soldier feels proud to be judged on merit rather than being granted special consideration. They deserve to be respected, but that has very little to do with their professional competency and work ethics is the idea of meritocracy. "

While it is important to acknowledge and celebrate diversity, relying solely on group identities can lead to harmful stereotypes and assumptions. Instead, a focus on individual merit and suitability for a given job can resolve issues of endless intersectional representation. In the case of veteran hiring in multinational companies, it is essential to evaluate each candidate based on their professional competency and work ethics, rather than any special consideration based on their identity or background. By adopting a meritocratic selection process, we can ensure that the best individuals are selected for the job, regardless of their group identity. This approach not only promotes fairness and equality but also ensures that the organization benefits from the unique skills and experiences of each individual, leading to a more diverse and successful workforce.

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The article mentions veterans as one group that is often overlooked in the push for diversity, but there are also other groups, such as people with disabilities and women, who are also overlooked. Therefore, the author advocates equally for addressing other groups that are often overlooked.