Claretha Hughes – författare

This book analyzes the emerging concept of diversity intelligence, which values the differences in employees without attempting to make everyone alike. Organization leaders need diversity intelligence to better interact with the changing demographics in America and the global economy, by embracing differences as strengths rather than weaknesses. Without a clear understanding of diversity, leaders are not fully equipped to realize organizational goals through all employees.

The author highlights the importance of integrating diversity intelligence into leadership and career development plans alongside intellectual intelligence, emotional intelligence, and cultural intelligence. In order to fully motivate diverse individuals, leaders must first be able to recognize differences between themselves and others without it being an obstacle to performance. This book is a window into how leaders can reflect on their actions and behaviors to effectively implement new strategies, and is an essential read for HR researchers, professionals, consultants, and managers of global operating companies.  

Organization leaders typically look at each job position, characterized as identical based on pay and job description, in the same way. They hire employees to do that particular job and often do not consider other capabilities that the employees may possess. This book examines how to optimize workforce performance by understanding the diversity of skills and competencies of employees.

Diversity is generally explored in terms of gender, race, nationality, disability, and other physical characteristics that differentiate one legally protected group of people from another. In the workplace, however, diversity can take on a different meaning, describing not only physical differences but also work performance characteristics unique to each individual employee. Inter-personnel diversity seeks to explore those diverse characteristics and begin to understand each employee’s strengths and weaknesses so that they can be developed to benefit the employee and the organization. This much-needed text will inform scholars and scholar-practitioners in HRD and workforce development how to use these differences to enhance the individual and the organization.

This book develops and amplifies the emerging concept of diversity intelligence, which is the capability of leaders to recognize the value of workplace diversity and to use this information to guide thinking and behavior. Organization leaders need diversity intelligence to better interact with the changing demographics in the US and the global economy, by embracing differences as strengths rather than weaknesses. Without a clear understanding of diversity, leaders are not fully equipped to realize organizational goals through all employees.

This book fits in the literature in areas of leadership and business value and aims to satisfy the need for solutions to why diversity training and management efforts continue to fall short of stated goals within organizations. It is a window into how leaders can reflect on their actions and behaviors to effectively implement new diversity strategies, and is an essential read for HR researchers, professionals, consultants, and managers of global operating companies.