Diversity Flashcards
Introduction - cultivating a sharing space guidelines
Thank you for your investment of time in this training. Cedar Fair is about creating better fun for a better world, which means cultivating a culture of belonging, where everyone is welcome.
With that in mind, please remember a few things as we begin today:
- first. Listen respectfully
- second, speak your truth and honor the truth of others
- third of you need a moment, please do
Ask:
• is there anything else you would like to add to this list?
Conversations regarding diversity may elicit discussion about systemic issues related to disenfranchisement and inequity. We also acknowledge that this discussion may spark anxiety, and when we’re anxious we can’t always think clearly. If this feeling starts to derail conversation, there are a few things
we will do as a group to get back on track
- first let the group know you want to pause
- share what you are feeling in the most respectful way possible
Then as a group have a short conversation about what has been shared.
What is diversity ?
Practice: Seeing what the participants believe diversity is
Say: Before we establish the foundation of Diversity, I wanted to take our first moment together to poll the group to see what you think diversity is or what you think the definition of diversity is. As we progress towards a workplace that has a broader depth of knowledge in understanding, it is important to reveal our foundational stance on what this means to each of you.
Ask and Facilitate Responses:
• Can someone tell me what they think the definition of diversity is?
• Can someone tell me what diversity means to them?
• Who can tell me why they think diversity is important in the workplace?
Say: Those are all great examples and as you will see, diversity may seem straight forward, but it is complex and has a major impact on us as associates and our company.
Say: The definition of Diversity is ‘The practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, expressions, and ideas.”
In a nutshell diversity is what makes each of us unique and includes or backgrounds, personality, life experiences, and beliefs.
Diversity Protections
Ask: Raise your hand if you think that within Cedar Fair, associates have diversity protection?
• Ask someone that has their hand raised (if applicable): Tell me why you think associates in different diversity categories have protections.
• As someone that has their hand down (if applicable): Tell me why you don’t think there are any protections for people in different diversity categories.
Say: While diversity is a celebration of differences there are layers of protection both internally within Cedar Fair but also laws and programs that protect diverse classes such as Equal Employment Opportunity and the federal ban on discrimination based on sex. Cedar Fair celebrates diversity and ensures that all associates are working in a safe and welcoming environment.
Activity - creating our mosaic
Ask: Who has heard the terms “melting pot and mosaic”?
Say: That is pretty much everyone in this room. A
“Melting pot” is a term that we are accustomed to, and it may help us understand diversity and what that can encompass. Melting Pot is more of the cultural assimilation that occurred (in reference to early American history). Mosaic (with reference cultural) is the mix of ethnic groups, languages and cultures that coexist within our society.
We are going to do an activity that will demonstrate the mosaic of diversity that we have just in this room alone.
Instructions:
1. Everyone grabs a stack of post it notes/slips of paper.
2. Take two minutes to write descriptions about yourself on separate pieces of the post its/paper that make you unique or different. These can be about your identity, skills, life experience, or anything that you think makes you unique.
3. Once you are done, go to the back of the room at post/tape your descriptors around our “mosaic” and return to your seat.
4. Your two minutes starts now.
5. After the 2 minutes: If you haven’t done so already, go ahead and take your words to the back of the room and post them in the “mosaic.”
6. Now that we are done making our mosaic, take a minute to come back as a group and look over the words and post it notes and try to find some that several people have in common, and then some that are one offs or ones that you would not have necessarily thought would be part of the mosaic.
Discussion: While still at back of room around mosaic
• Can someone tell me a few words or descriptors that stood out to you as a trend that several people have in common?
• Are there any notes that stand out on their own? If so, which ones and do those fit within our mosaic?
• I will not ask what you wanted to say unless you want to share, but did anyone not write down something out of fear of being too different or for fear of being judged?
• Does anyone have any other thoughts or feelings about any specific notes, the mosaic, or any emotions that have been evoked from this activity?
• Is our group’s mosaic diverse than you would have imagined just by looking at the group and not knowing anyone?
Say: As you can see, just the group of people in this room are very diverse. Imagine if we were to do this with every associate within our company. There could predictably be several that will be the same as the descriptors that we have posted here but also there would predictably be many different diversities.
descriptors that are not here. Cedar Fair’s goal is to inspire lasting connection and lifelong memories for all by delivering amazing experiences. One of our core values as a company is.
inclusiveness. You can already see that our team is already diverse in many ways, and we should embrace diversity and celebrate our inclusiveness of each other
Navigating Diversity
Say one of the main ways we can start to break down walls and to have a more diverse and accepting environment is to address and understand biases.
Ask: Does anyone know what bias means? (Facilitate answers - as the facilitator of the course, it would be helpful to have a personal story you are willing to share to help learners relate to this topic)
Say: There are several types of bias but the two we are going to focus on are unconscious and conscious bias.
Ask: Can anyone take a guess on the meanings of conscious and unconscious bias? (Facilitate answers - as the facilitator of the course, it would be helpful to have a personal story you are willing to share to help learners relate to this topic)
Say: When we are consciously bias, we are doing it intentionally. With conscious bias we know we are being bias towards a particular person or group. Conscious bias is the easier of the two to recognize, correct, or eliminate out of the workplace.
Should someone act upon prejudices in the workplace, the associate could face disciplinary action or termination and, in some places, could be charged with a criminal offence. This goes back to what we talked about earlier with protections within diversity.
Unconscious bias is harder to recognize and eliminate within the workplace. Unconscious bias is having a bias towards someone without realizing that you are doing it. Unconscious bias can happen when we are trying to make decisions and judgments.
Our brains work quickly so they access information that is knows and familiar to us first and in doing so can create an unconscious bias.
Ask: How can we work towards eliminating unconscious biases? (Facilitate answers)
Say: One of the best things we can do as associates or as individuals in society is to try to recognize when you are making an unconscious bias, correct yourself, learn from the situation, and try not to make that biased judgment again.
Ask: can someone give me an example of an unconscious bias and how it could be corrected? (Facilitate answers)
Say: Part of our journey to eliminate biases is to educate our associates and to let our teams know where we stand as a company. Cedar Fair values diversity because it is the coming
together of different minds which can increase creativity and productivity. We can also improve associate engagement, range of skills, and have a cross-cultural understanding with one another.
Cedar Fair is committed to making people happy and embracing the diverse views each one of you bring to the table. As a company we are dedicated to celebrating our diverse groups and will have events and programs that will bring this awareness to educate and celebrate our world class team of associates.
Ask: What types of diversity groups would you like to see the company celebrate during the summer?
Use this area to fill out answers from the group to report later:
Facilitator Notes: This is important to make sure we have achieved learning the foundation of Diversity prior to moving forward.
Say: Let’s recap what we have discussed so far and make sure we are on target for our learning today?
1. Identify what diversity is and how it is woven into our workplace.
2. Evaluate different types of diversity and how to navigate biases to create a more welcoming environment.
Say: Now that we have the foundation of Diversity learning started, let us segment into other important areas of our training too. Here is what we will start learning next
3. Describe how equity is blended into our culture.
4. Interact respectfully and appropriately in a variety of cultural context activities.
5. Summarize with at least three key values from our DE&I culture at Cedar Fair.
