Answer 1)

In my experience, the most valuable employees are the ones who are proactive. By definition, this
means they control situations by causing things to happen rather than waiting to respond after things
happen. People who are proactive dont sit around waiting for answers to appear; they stand up, put
one foot in front of the other, and find the answers. They dont wait for someone to hand them an
instruction manual and a box of tools; theyre resourceful.
Proactive people are constantly moving forward, looking to the future, and making things happen.
Theyre actively engaged, not passively observing. Being proactive is a way of thinking and acting.
Now, this concept can be a little abstract for some. An article written by motivational speaker, Craig
Harper in 2007 explains it like this:

However, the ability to be proactive provides a clear advantage in the workplace and most managers
expect staff members to demonstrate a proactive mentality.
I have identified five key behaviors (The 5 Ps) involved in being proactive. Below, Ive outlined my
system and exactly how you can develop your abilities in each area.
1. Predict
In order to be proactive, you must first develop foresight.
Proactive people are rarely caught by surprise. Learn to anticipate problems and events. Understand
how things work; look for patterns; recognize the regular routines, daily practices and natural cycles
that exist in your business. At the same time, dont allow yourself to become complacent. Use your
imagination when anticipating future outcomes. Dont simply expect the past to always be an
accurate predictor for the future; use your creativity and logic. Come up with multiple scenarios for
how events could unfold. Proactive people are always on their toes.
2. Prevent
Proactive people foresee potential obstacles and exert their power to find ways to overcome them
before those obstacles turn into concrete roadblocks.

They prevent problems that others would simply look back on in hindsight and claim unavoidable.
Dont allow yourself to get swept up in a feeling of powerlessness. When challenges approach, take
control and confront them head on before they grow into overwhelming problems.
3. Plan
Proactive people plan for the future.
Avoid one-step, here and now thinking and instead, look ahead and anticipate long-term
consequences. Bring the future into the present; what can you do today to ensure success
tomorrow? Dont make decisions in a vacuum; every decision is a link in a chain of events leading to
one final conclusion. In order to make the best decision, you have to know where you came from,
where you are, and where you want to end up.
4. Participate
Proactive people are not idle observers, they are active participants.
In order to be proactive, you must get involved. You have to take initiative and be a part of the
solution. Recognize that you are only a piece of the whole and that you influenceand are
influenced bythe actions of others. Dont simply react to them. Engage with them. Exert your
influence and make a contribution.
5. Perform
Being proactive means taking timely, effective action.
You must be decisive and willing to do the work NOW. Procrastination is not an option. Take
ownership of your performance and hold yourself accountable. Stand behind your decisions. Being
proactive means you have taken careful, thoughtful steps to choose the appropriate path; youre not
just reacting impulsively to your environment.

Answer 2)
Benefits of Workplace Diversity
An organizations success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits.
When organizations actively assess their handling of workplace diversity issues, develop and implement diversity
plans, multiple benefits are reported such as:

Increased adaptability

Organizations employing a diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of solutions to problems in service,
sourcing, and allocation of resources. Employees from diverse backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences
in suggesting ideas that are flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer demands.

Broader service range

A diverse collection of skills and experiences (e.g. languages, cultural understanding) allows a company to provide
service to customers on a global basis.

Variety of viewpoints
A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view provides a larger pool of ideas and
experiences. The organization can draw from that pool to meet business strategy needs and the needs of customers
more effectively.

More effective execution

Companies that encourage diversity in the workplace inspire all of their employees to perform to their highest ability.
Company-wide strategies can then be executed; resulting in higher productivity, profit, and return on investment.

1. Increased Productivity: Diversity and Inclusion brings in diverse different

talents together working towards a common goal using different sets of skills that
ignites their loyalty and increases their retention and productivity
2. Increased creativity and Problem solving: With so many different and
diverse minds coming together many more solutions will arise as every individual
brings in their way of thinking, operating and solving problems and decision
making
3. Attract and Retain talent that add a competitive edge to any organization.
Feeling included and appreciated increases loyalty and feeling of belonging.
Language skills pool is increased and propels organization forward either to
compete in the International global world or to increase its diverse customer base
4. Help to build synergy in teams and enhances communication skills that
brings in new attitudes and processes that profit the whole team
5. Applying the proper diversity& inclusion management strategies does not only
save money on litigation expenses generated by discrimination lawsuits but is
the right thing to do for the business.
6. It increases market share and create a satisfied diverse customer
base by relating to people from different backgrounds. It does propel the United
States and its status to claim its place and success in the global business world of
the 21st century.
Rule 3: When someone tells a racist joke, play dumb.
Figuring out how to react when a co-worker makes a racist joke is tricky. If you dont call the person
out on her racism, you seem to be condoning the behavior. But if you do say something, you risk
alienating him and sabotaging your working relationship.

The best response to a racist joke should accomplish 3 things:

1) Communicate that you find this behavior unacceptable.
2) Demonstrate that the joke is racist.
3) Inflict as little damage as possible to your working relationship with the joker.
My recommendation? Play dumb.
Put on a bewildered expression, act as if you dont understand the joke, and ask your co-worker to
explain it to you. He will not be able to explain why the joke is funny without evoking a racist
stereotype. You can then question the veracity of this stereotype, thus pointing out the racism of the
joke, without being confrontational and without humiliating your co-worker.
Racist jokes rely on an unspoken, shared knowledge of racist stereotypes. Without the stereotypes,
there is no humor.

How you can respond

Example response to a racist email
Reply with a very short email to the effect of: I received [the thing] you forwarded to me. I think it is
racist and was very offended by it. Please do not forward anything like that to me in the future. Sign
off as you usually do with that person (no emotions).
Example responses to a racist ethnicity comment

Tell them that you distant yourself and your family from them because you dont
agree with their beliefs. Wish them the best in life and tell them that when they
change their tune, they can apologise and re-enter your life.

Tell them that God loves every color, thats why he created so many of them.

What is a behavioral interview?

Developed three decades ago by industrial psychologists,
behavioral (also known as competency based) interviews have
rapidly grown in popularity and most organizations now use them
to some extent. Unlike your traditional interviewing techniques,
which are based around popping open questions to the candidate,
behavioral interviews focus on past performance and behaviors.

The behavioral interview will give you the chance to showcase your
competencies such as skills, abilities and knowledge through
specific examples from your experience. The interviewer doesnt
want to hear what you think you can do in the future; they want to
know what you have done and how you did it. Its all about how
your past performance being the guiding light for your future
performance

How to prepare for a behavioral

interview
Before you start preparing you answers, you have to determine
what competencies you think the employer is looking for. Do your
research, who else is doing this job? What does the job
specification say? Speak to your recruiter, HR contacts, people in
your network.
Any company is likely to look for a combination of the following
skills: communication, creativity, attention to detail, management
material, action orientation, loyalty, ability to make/save money,
team player, enthusiasm and flexibility.
Identify and rank these based on the job you are interviewing for.
Now come up with specific examples where you have demonstrated
these competencies. For ideas on what questions and answers to
work on, see the list of typical behavioral interview questions .

Whatever the question and answer may be, there is a useful tool
for your delivery. The best way to tell someone about a specific
event and how it went is to employ the STAR model:
Give the interviewer the Situation or Task that you had to resolve.
Then describe the Action you took and what Result or outcome you
achieved. Be as specific as possible, add any relevant components
to your answer such as the people, environment, scale and scope.
Be open about the outcome, whether it was a complete success or
a result that you could learn from in order to do things better next
time.
You now have to practice, practice, practice and turn your real-life
competencies into interesting stories. More on effective story
telling in interviews here.