Page 6 - All Inclusive
P. 6
Right:
Cognitive Diversity
Data: elaborated from “The New Science Of Team Chemistry”, Harvard Business Review, 2017 and “Business Chemistry: Practical Magic for Crafting Powerful Work Relationships”, Deloitte, 2018, both by Kim Christfort and Suzanne Vickberg. “The Emergenetics Profiles”, 2018, and “Herrmann Whole Brain model”, by Ned Herrmann, 2015.
This page:
Types of diversity: explained
Data: elaborated from “Types of diversity in the workplace you need to know. A guide to 34 unique diversity characteristics”, by Bailey Reiners, 2019, and “Managing teams for instructional change: Understanding three types of diversity”, by A. Olmstead, C.R. Henderson, and A. Beach, 2018.
all-encompassing mix of human differences and similarities along any given dimension” (5).
While the demographic and experiential aspects have been addressed in discussions about diversity in the workplace for a long time, only more recently has there been any focus on understanding the richness of every individual by recognising their unique cognitions. This is a crucial factor when it comes to fostering teamwork as well as a more holistic way of thinking and better approach to problems. It can also identify those activities and tasks employees might perform better.
To support this approach, a growing number of tools and models have been developed to help people understand cognitive differences by classifying ways of working and communicating, specifically in terms of HR management.
An understanding of cognitive diversity and its importance relies on the way that it helps to clarify the variety of behaviours and work styles used in the composition of effective teams. These teams should be structured to make the best use of all the team members' skills. Interesting models include the “Emergenetics Profile” (6) or the “Whole Brain Model” by Herrmann (7), both developed to measure how people think and behave. Meanwhile, the system developed by Deloitte called
TYPES OF DIVERSITY
ORIGIN
Socially-valued assets
VALUE
Socio-demographic difference
COGNITION
Task-relevant knowledge
INHERENT
Age
Race
Social power Sex, sexual orientation Geographical origin Citizenship
Heritage Ethnodiversity & behaviour Personality
Family background
Language & linguistic accents
Cognitive & physical disabilities
COGNITIVE
Lifestyle Occupation
Value systems Group norms Feelings
Work experience Perceptions Attitudes Learning & thinking style Communication
ACQUIRED
Gender expression Income, socio-economic status Parental status
Social roles Religious orientation
Ideology Morals Political preferences Beliefs
Education Skills Mental health