Workplace Diversity and Decision Making

An experienced human resource professional with a logistics and strategic planning background, Antiwan Henning served as director of operations and logistic supervisor with the United States Army. Antiwan Henning is devoted to workplace inclusion and diversity.

Workplace diversity entails treating all employees fairly, regardless of their age, color, ethnicity, gender, or other distinctions. Diverse workplace culture can go a long way toward making workers feel welcome, regardless of who they are or where they came from. This inclusivity aids in the breaking down of boundaries and the reduction of the fear of rejection, not just for who they are but also for their ideas. A Deloitte research from 2013 found that when employees feel involved, their ability to innovate improves by 83 percent.

Any successful company's strong basis is its employees. Employees are a wealth of information and ideas, yet they are frequently underutilized. Employee participation in decision-making enables them to contribute to the prosperity of an organization and saves time and money through greater productivity and less outsourcing.

By involving employees in decisions, employees recognize that their ideas are valuable contributions to the firm as active participants in the decision-making process. This empowers them to have a say in their work's outcome, resulting in greater job satisfaction and a favorable attitude toward their job and the organization as a whole.

Diversity in a Workplace Boost a Business

Antiwan Henning graduated from the Cornell University in Ithaca NY with a specialization in Diversity and Inclusion. He is a certified demonstrated senior logistician and he is a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant at EMC Insurance Companies. Antiwant Henning has a passion for diversity and inclusion in human resources and promotes diversity in the workplace.

Diversity in workplaces, or in general can include many things such as diversity of religion, culture, sexual orientation, and language. Diversity in a workplace can create creativity and you can benefit from multiple perspectives as an employer or employee. This can go on to create innovation and solutions for problems quicker than a group of people that have grown in the same place and have the same pattern of thinking.

Furthermore, research showcases that diversity can even boost productivity throughout the workplace by up to 35 percent. A diverse group can handle a client’s needs easier as they can all work towards ideas that might work in certain situations. This can open the doors to a wide range of customers since people might like to acquire the help of someone they can relate to.

Society for Human Resources Management

Previously the director of HR Development and Inclusion for the US Army in Leavenworth, Kansas, Antiwan Henning is now the CEO of the nonprofit Saving Armed Forces Members (SAM). Passionate about this work in helping to achieve diversity and inclusion in the US military, he donates his time and receives no compensation for this work. In keeping with his efforts to secure diversity in the workplace, Antiwan Henning is also a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

The SHRM is a group of over 300,000 business professionals in the field of Human Resources. The largest professional organization of its kind, the SHRM provides access to news, resources, and tools for the support of its members in the day-to-day activities of their jobs. Some of these resources include the following:

1. Templates to assist in document preparation, such as sample documents and how-to guides

2. Updates and analysis on current state and federal employment laws

3. Advisors who can offer assistance with questions or concerns

4. HR Magazine® and e-newsletters to keep members up-to-date on relevant topics and events

Applicable to both new and veteran human resources professionals, membership in SHRM is individual and stays with the member as they move from job to job. For more information, please see the SHRM website at www.shrm.org.