At Manhattan Relationship Solutions, Inc, you will find our unique programs tailored to suit the needs of your corporation. We provide consultation and training to enhance worker productivity, decrease stress at the workplace, improve leadership, and mediate multicultural conflict. We also provide confidential executive consulting and coaching with excellent program assessment and evaluation tools. Read on to learn more about our programs:

Diversity Initiative for your Company

- Today, almost one in three Americans identifies as a racial or ethnic minority.
- Nearly one out of every five school aged children in the U.S. speak a language other than English at home.
- By 2010 nearly half the total workforce of the United States will be comprised of women and people of color.
- By the year 2050, one fourth of the total U.S. population will be Hispanic; half of the total U.S. population will be people of color.
- The combined buying power of African Americans, Asian Americans, and American Indians will have totaled 1.4 trillion dollars, three times that in 1990.
- Organizations can no longer afford to ignore the diversity of their workforce and consumer base.

DIVERSITY PROMOTES PRODUCTIVITY
Research shows that diverse work teams that have received training on managing diversity score six times higher on problem-solving tests than homogenous groups. If you want a high-performance organization in today's workplace, then you must first ensure that the people in your organization are adequately equipped to work effectively in a diverse environment.

DIVERSITY IMPACTS THE BOTTOM LINE
Diversity work is often assumed to be "too costly." However, not addressing cultural differences in the workplace can be even more costly. As we know, when employees feel undervalued, millions of dollars are wasted due to absenteeism, lack of commitment and interpersonal conflicts. Furthermore, discrimination suits can tie up the energy and resources of an organization for years

TRAINING SERVICES
Providing diversity training to employees and managers is a critical component of any diversity initiative. It helps organizations to:

- Build a culture that is empowered by differences
- Develop effective multicultural teams
- Recruit and retain a diverse workforce
- Resolve conflict between employers and employees
- Reduce employee turnover
- Promote employee productivity
- Demonstrate compliance with emerging federal guidelines

Our Training seminars always include the following basic components:

- Knowledge needed to function effectively in multicultural environments.
- Awareness of learned prejudices and fears about differences and how these impact organizational culture, personal, and professional relationships.
- Skills to increase the level of cultural competence, cross-cultural conflict resolution, and creative problem solving.
- Action to develop plans to implement the new knowledge, awareness and skills, on both the individual and organizational levels. Change may start at the individual level, but it is best sustained when it takes place simultaneously at the systemic level.

CORE TRAINING SEMINAR
These seminars are custom-designed to fit the unique needs of each client. Curriculum development is based on information gathered from an organization's audit. Case examples, drawn from the experiences of the participants, are often included to make the learning relevant and applicable to their work.

- Building Cultural Competence
- Coaching and Mentoring
- Cross-Cultural Communication
- Developing Learning Organizations
- Cultural Competency in Dialogue Facilitation
- Culturally Competent Customer Service
- Leadership Development
- Managing a Diverse Workforce
- Mediating Multicultural Conflict
- Organizational Culture Change
- Performance Management
- Preventing Sexual Harassment
- Recruiting, Interviewing, Hiring and Retaining a Culturally Diverse Staff
- Strategic Planning
- Training of Diversity Trainers
- Working Internationally

WEB-BASED TRAINING
An interactive web-based training (WBT) module is also offered that provides clients with the knowledge and awareness they need to work effectively in diverse environments. System users learn and practice cross-cultural communication, conflict resolution, and problem solving skills.

WBT modules, such as quizzes and case vignettes, can be designed as stand-alone training courses or as supplements to classroom training. Clients benefit from the implementation of WBT programs by providing an innovative teaching tool that:

- Provides a safe learning environment in which employees can ask questions, explore their interests, and practice skills without fear or anxiety.
- Allows employees to learn at their own pace instead of one imposed by a trainer or fellow participants.
- Serves as a permanent resource that employees can revisit again and again.
- Increases access to training while reducing training costs.
- Offers employees convenience and flexibility in completing training courses.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
For any project, an ongoing technical assistance through activities such as post-training follow-up, meeting facilitation, report generation, resource development and consultation to managers-can also be provided.

CONSULTING
Consulting programs help to integrate diversity into all aspects of an organization's structure, systems and culture. Specific interventions to meet the unique needs of managers and employees in diverse workplace settings serve as a basic forum of this initiative.

A Diversity Initiative is a proactive, comprehensive approach to institutionalizing cultural competence in order to remain competitive and ethically driven, meet the needs of diverse stakeholders, and demonstrate compliance with various national standards. One must have the expertise to assist clients in all aspects of designing and implementing diversity initiatives that are tied to organizational goals. Successful diversity initiatives must answer the following questions about an organization:

- Does the structure promote equal opportunity and equal access to authority and responsibility?
- Are the management systems implemented in an equitable manner and do they reflect the needs of a culturally competent workforce?
- Does the culture enhance employee satisfaction, effectiveness, creativity, and efficiency?

We work closely with clients to outline a Diversity Action Plan that serves as a blueprint for accomplishing the goals of the diversity initiative and addressing the structures, systems, and culture of the organization.

Organizations can be assisted in the design and selection of Diversity Councils, inclusive entities in which staff and managers from all levels of the organization work together to develop diversity initiatives. We skillfully guide Councils in crafting, implementing, and sustaining innovative and successful efforts.
Councils are particularly important in addressing issues of policy and management systems. They often focus on areas such as:

- Policy Review and Benchmarking
- Strengthening and Developing Recruitment and Retention Programs
-Planning and Assessment
- Promoting Cross-Cultural Communication
- Leading Crisis Interventions
- Networking with Affinity Groups
- Developing Relationships with Women and Minority Suppliers
- Sponsoring Special Events
- Oversight of Training

EXECUTIVE COACHING

EXECUTIVE CONSULTING AND COACHING
While training is valuable for executives, it is often impractical to include them in a training process with their staff. A program catered to an individual manager's unique circumstances is a direct and effective means of professional development. Our coaching encompasses confidential one-on-one sessions with executives, complete with performance objectives and measurements, addressing topics such as: managerial style, stress and work pressure, delegation, conflict management, performance appraisals and feedback.

APPROACH TO COACHING
Our approach to coaching features two simple principles:
1. The content of the sessions is driven by an individual's performance needs and development objectives.
2. All coaching sessions are confidential.

COACHING IN AN ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
For coaching to be successful, we believe that there needs to be top management buy-in to the importance of the coaching program. Top leadership participating in the coaching is the most visible endorsement and also gives leadership a first-hand experience of the benefits of the coaching. We also recognize the importance of positioning the coaching, appropriately advertising the program and inviting potential clients. Placing a coaching initiative in the right context and ensuring that it has top leadership support are critical to the success of the program. Aligning coaching with the overall goals of the organization is also key to long- term success. This ensures that the coaching moves from an individual intervention to a more systemic level, which is necessary for sustained organizational change.

ASSESSMENT
Assessment lays the groundwork for both training and consulting. Effective organizational diversity audits, training needs assessments, evaluations, policy reviews, and benchmarking often differentiate diversity initiatives that simply spin their wheels, from those that produce lasting change and growth in an organization. A diversity audit can be performed as part of an established diversity initiative, or as a tool for developing a strategic diversity plan. It provides a "snapshot" of where the organization is today in achieving the principles of diversity, and is conducted through individual interviews, focus groups, survey data, documents review, and often, benchmarking.

We are particularly skilled in both gathering relevant information and reporting it back in ways that minimize defensiveness and maximize impact. Our audits are tailored to the client, and a comprehensive report is provided with results and recommendations.

TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENTS
Some organizations choose not to undertake a full diversity initiative. Nevertheless, they wish to provide training for their managers and employees. In such instances, we will conduct a limited needs assessment to gather information on the current status of diversity within the organization and among the employee base. We believe that a needs assessment is essential for a successful training program, as it begins the process of inclusion and obtains input from employees.

EVALUATION
Evaluation measures the transfer of knowledge and long-term effectiveness of a diversity initiative. Our approach to evaluation is comprehensive, examining both immediate and long-term impact through a variety of evaluation tools and techniques.

Call or email to inquire about our programs!!