Make every day Harmony Day in your workplace
Dr Hass Dellal OAM | March 19, 2010
The message of Harmony Day is "Everyone Belongs". Millions of Australians are employed in small to medium sized businesses, so yous SME workplace is a good place to start putting this philosophy into practice.
Managing Cultural Diversity a training program for small to medium businesses
The Managing Cultural Diversity Training Program has been developed by the Australian Multicultural Foundation and Robert Bean Consulting for Australian business enterprises. This project is funded by the Australian Government, Department of Immigration and Citizenship through the Diverse Australia Program. The Australian Multicultural Foundation’s Managing Cultural Diversity training resource was recently launched to celebrate the lead up to Harmony Day celebrations on March 21.
Australian enterprises face numerous challenges which are characterised and influenced by cultural diversity. Not only must they meet their compliance obligations under a range of anti-discrimination laws, they must also compete for talent, overcome skills shortages, and retain talent by meeting increased employee expectations regarding conditions and opportunities. Enterprises must constantly adapt to the realities of increased workforce and customer diversity so that they can compete in culturally diverse domestic and international business environments.
The Australian Multicultural Foundation is pleased to have been able to produce a manual that can assist businesses, to address these business challenges and to capitalise on the benefits of managing cultural diversity in the workplace. It is the first cultural diversity management training program of its type in a generation for small to medium businesses. The program was also developed to ensure that the message of the Scanlon Foundation’s ‘Taste of Harmony’ campaign is translated into ongoing action at the enterprise level. The manual includes all the materials needed to design and conduct training for managers and team leaders that will help them to develop the skills needed to factor cultural diversity into business planning, organisational development and customer service.
The free Cultural Diversity Management training manual is available at www.amf.net.au along with program development advice, experienced train-the-trainer facilitators, and public workshops. For further information please call the Australian Multicultural Foundation on 03 9347 6622 or email info@amf.net.au
Dr Bulent (Hass) Dellal OAM is a passionate supporter of the idea that Australia is one people drawn from many cultures. He has been executive director of the Australian Multicultural Foundation since 1989. In 1997 he was entered into the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of his energetic support of multicultural organisations, the arts, and the community. Mr Dellal serves on many committees and boards dedicated to cultural and religious diversity, police relations, skill recognition, philanthropy and the arts.
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