Enhancing diversity climates in human services organizations

ABSTRACT The article examines the ongoing paradigm shift on enhancing diversity climates in Swedish human services organizations. Traditional social policy arrangements based on a monocultural style of service provision has been challenged by the growing need for cultural competence and ethnic sensitivity. A study of cultural competence enhancement finds the recruitment of ethnic social workers to be the most efficient strategy for making social services more culturally sensitive. At both the operational and the managerial level, ethnic staff contribute to regular training and the updating of staff cultural competences, as well as to the strategic diversity plans of entire organizations.