The Washington Center is truly a life changing experience, because you are not only engage in an internship, but also you get to explore different parts of your leadership style and learn how to be a professional in your respective field. I personally saw this experience as a way of finding more about myself, and the many potentials I have to be a leader and a professional. The academic internship program helped me clarify my values, challenge my skills, and helped me planned my future goals. My values were clarified more this summer, because I always had a different way of seen values compared to the way I rediscovered them here at TWC. Values to me were only based on culture, and we all had different ones based on the environment we were raised. One of the values I …show more content…
“Diversity” is another value I discovered in my internship site. My internship was at the ISC (International Student Conferences), and it was interesting to work with people that were not American. The co-workers I worked with were from China, Korea, and Japan. My supervisor was from China, the other intern was from Korea, and the previous Executive Director was from Japan. I found it fascinating how different it was to work with them and learn from their culture, compared to what I learned in my textbooks and courses at FIU. Sometimes, answers are not always in books. The Executive Director, before he left, was someone that was secluded in his office and did not bother to interact with myself compared to the rest of the members of the office. Japanese bosses behave differently towards those from lower-level positions, and this was something I learned from one of my courses at FIU. But, I never thought that the experience was going to be as big of a culture shock as I thought it was. Now I am more prepared to work with people that may don’t like to interact with others because
Values mean different things to different people as they have differing beliefs and values. After this book was published, people’s values may have changed as they realized they have had the wrong values and priorities, and needed a change.
Communicators who succeed in a diverse workplace must educate themselves about different cultures and co-cultures. Treating people from different cultural backgrounds with respect is essential. Finally, being willing to acknowledge and discuss cultural differences can help communicators understand and appreciate one another. The impact of culture and listening is very important in everyday life. Think about how many times you have had problems understanding someone from a different culture or even a different sub-culture. Now think about how many times someone from a different cultural background may have had problems understanding you. I know realize once that e-mail was
Diversity is very important on a workplace because it create a respectful environment, reduce conflict, help business reputations, and avoid legal issues. This accepting and managing of these cultural differences has over the years become an important factor of organizational success.
Those that go into the business world quickly recognize that each work environment they find themselves in can be total different from another. This can especially be said even of environments within the United States, from region to region. There is definitely a disparity of workplace environments from country to country. Not only can culture drive a varied atmosphere, but the diversity of the personnel making up that environment can equally create a challenge that a leader must be prepared to manage. Recognizing that special care needs to be placed on communication and perception skills is crucial in our present professional domain. Managers of today need to employee tools from the psychological and sociological field to be successful. Having a deep understanding in the differences in culture and diversity in the workplace is critical, especially when debating about accepting a position overseas or assigning an employee to an embedded position abroad. With a broad knowledge of cultural differences and diversity, success as a manager and the stability of a positive work environment can be achieved and maintained without unnecessary effort and focus.
Also while studying abroad in South Korea, I was able to adapt to the environment quickly and enjoyed interacting and embracing a new culture with ease. This is an advantage for me because while partaking in this internship and beyond, I would be surrounded by other minorities and I would have a better time learning and understanding each individual. Furthermore, the others probably have the same determination to change the statistics for the better as I do so if we have all the same mindset; I believe we can change it for the better. In which will continue to increase my confidence in pursuing this
Currently I am employed with a company that some may say is the 'melting pot' of diversity. Working for Corporate Safeway, now Albertsons-Safeway, I can appreciate how judgement free the environment is in our work place. They are open to hiring minorities, LGBT, (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender), disabled veterans and that's just to name a few. Hiring a staff that is of many different cultures, nationalities and belief backgrounds is a great way to show the awareness of diversity. I am a true believer that a great business starts at the top. If management can provide their employees with the skills and knowledge of working in a diverse setting this will lead to a steady and smooth work environment. Knowing how to properly and correctly carry yourself is the first step in working with the different variety of customers or co-workers you may encounter.
Organizations must stop visualizing diversity as an issue and start seeing it as a benefit for the organization. There are several reasons why a diverse workforce will add value to a company. Most businesses, either large or small, work on a global scale; the information age has brought the entire world a lot closer. Having associates that can deal with different cultures around the world is crucial to an expanding business. A diverse workforce will help to build more rounded individuals with experience they will gain from a mixed environment. Customers will benefit from the diverse workforce because a company that makes a choice to be open and flexible with its associates will more than likely be easy to work with in a business relationship. Probably the most important aspect of having a diverse workforce is the vast knowledge gained by pooling the different life lessons, cultures and experience together thereby allowing everyone the chance to learn new and different business practices (Sappal, Pepi, 2002).
forthcoming. “Diversity has long been viewed as a tool to enhance education, and research has
The general line of reasoning is that if we learn to incorporate each other’s diverse traits and characteristics in the workplace, we can then use these differences to foster an innovative environment, which will give the company a competitive advantage over the competitors that do not accept workforce diversity. According to the Allied Academies International Conference, “Diversity is rapidly becoming a common practice among companies due to the increasing number of minorities entering the job market today. As these groups become more prevalent throughout companies, upper-level employees are facing numerous challenges when determining what changes must take place to create a positive working environment for everyone. Management is responsible for the development and implementation of effective policies directly relating to diversity to ensure the acceptance of minorities into the workplace and to aid in minorities’ success through equal opportunities and treatment.” (Marcia L. James, 2001, Academy for Studies in International Business Proceedings)
Another one of my internships was at a family resource center. There services ranged from counseling, community classes, food pantry services, medical and dental services, and insurance assistance. Vista Community Clinic: The Gary Center helped different population of clients of all ages, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds. One of my main tasks to do was help people fill out their Medi-Cal, Cal Fresh, and Cash aid applications. This task helped me learn more about the insurance system and how complicated it can be to apply to. I also assisted in the food pantry where I was able to interact with clients of all different ages and ethnicities. However, the major population served was Latino/a low income community. Working with population
Our ideas, ethics, and perceptions of what is important mold our values. “Values come about through a combination of experiences and learning: exposure to situations and information, and interpretation of those experiences. Interaction and socialization, which help to form common values, also play important roles.” (Hollinger, 2010). Personally, my values dramatically changed after my complete surrender to Jesus Christ. This transformation established my values on the firm Christian foundation. “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (I Corinthians 3:11). Let’s explore my fundamental
My values change every year, last year I valued getting a job, enjoying my time alone, working on selling urn necklaces on Amazon, reading my favorite books and socializing with more people on the internet. This year my values have changed a bit, I value meeting new people who share similar interests like mine, focusing on college, exercising and building a stronger relationship with my family. These values come from myself because I like change in my life and want to get out of my comfort zone little by little and be more out there. As a student I don't feel that my values from last year have aligned well
Today's workforce is undoubtedly varied. Creating an environment that is acceptable and optimum for performing is what you want in the business environment. This will reduce the chances that an employee will feel under-valued, which can ultimately affect absenteeism rates and employee turnover. More diverse companies produce better results. Companies that respect and support individual employees ethnicity, age, gender, skills, and abilities provide for an all-inclusive atmosphere that allows employees to feel comfortable. Understanding cultural mannerisms, linking them to there abilities and not taking there age and gender to heart may help the judgement of candidates for their job skills, not their interview skills.
There is a quote by Ola Joseph, “Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one other’s uniqueness.” Through experience and personal research, I have worked to become more a culturally competent person, not only in my professional life, but in my personal life as well.
As a person I believe I have strong values and have made right choices in my life. I am a very honest and dependable person that makes a positive impact at home and the workplace. We gain out outlook on values from day one starting with our parents and on up to role models and our environment. These values can change depending on outside factors and events in our lives. Values help us differ from right and wrong and help us with decisions every day. One of the biggest venues for values is in the workplace where we face challenges and obstacles all the time. Working with others and on team’s present challenges where our values come into play on how we work cohesively.