Workplace diversity can present its own set of challenges, but it also provides a great opportunity for utilizing the distinct perspectives and contributions of employees to improve product and service quality. 

When employees work comfortably and cooperatively together, they can help each other to be successful in their respective roles to better serve your organization's customers/clients. Although all groups have diversity, there is often a lack of awareness about differences. 

Since differences strongly influence how we interact with others, this lack of awareness can create a barrier to the building of effective work relationships, hindering effective operations. Studies show that most people place a high importance on work relationships, but we have found that they don't always know how to change their approach to be more effective or helpful. 

SWS is a NC-certified Woman-Owned Enterprise and a small business. Our team intentionally reflects diversity of culture, gender, generation, and sexual orientation/identity. We consider diversity to be the dimensions within a person that make them similar or different from another person. Inclusion is a set of intentional conditions and behaviors that result in stakeholders feeling welcome, respected, and invited to make a substantive contribution to a group or organization. “Diversity” without inclusion does not help an organization to realize its full potential.

SWS’s President, Carol Rovello, has demonstrated a long history of commitment to diversity and inclusion. Ms. Rovello chaired/co-chaired the Diversity Committee at A-B Tech for 5 ½ years and worked tirelessly to change this group’s function from an “event” planner to a change agent, helping leaders and employees have those sometimes challenging conversations about differences that result in true relationship building and meaningful change. She served on a planning committee for the Center for Diversity Education’s 10th anniversary, which honored the students of ASCORE whose brave actions resulted in the desegregation of Asheville. Following that event, Ms. Rovello joined the CDE’s Board of Directors.

Ms. Rovello’s professional development focus has been communications-based programs, including leadership, teambuilding, workplace harassment prevention, interpersonal communications, and customer service, all of which include an awareness of, and appreciation for, diversity. She approaches diversity from a very broad perspective and her programs are, at their core, a mechanism for helping people work comfortably and cooperatively across differences. All of her communication-based programs include diversity awareness (without necessarily using the term “diversity”).

Our Perspective about Diversity & Inclusion Programs

Differences strongly influence how we interact with others. Lack of awareness and/or insensitivity toward differences can create a barrier to the building of effective work relationships, hindering the attainment of organizational goals and creating potential liability for an organization. When employees work comfortably and cooperatively together, productivity, safety, and client service improve. When they don’t, there is a greater likelihood for disruptions in the workplace, including harassment.

We believe that most people place a high importance on work relationships, but they are often unaware of how their behavior impacts others. Even with awareness, employees don’t always know how to change their approach. Our respect-based programs build awareness of the issues and teach strategies for changing troublesome behaviors. For leaders, we also stress the importance of being a good role model and taking related concerns seriously.

We recognize there are many dimensions of diversity and you probably have certain aspects in mind. Our approach is to help participants better understand the opportunities and challenges that differences bring to the workplace. Although we will explore some of the expected diversity dimensions, our overall goal is for leaders and employees to understand the personal, professional, and organizational benefit that differences bring to the workplace and to feel motivated to contribute to this initiative in a meaningful way.

Visit The Center for Diversity Education website.