We live in a country that is fueled by diversity. Cultural-sectioned neighborhoods, food, relationships, and clothing are prevalent all across the nation. There is a great need for diversity to be socially accepted. The fact is, is that diversity includes everyone, no one is alienated from being diverse; therefore, it is necessary for organizations to develop a platform for employers and employees to comprehend and acknowledge cultural differences through extensive training and collaboration, without jeopardizing the success of the organization. However, the challenge that most organizations face these days, is how to properly implement the inclusion of diversity in a global market, while promoting cultural awareness in the workplace.
For
…show more content…
The very diversity of people can be utilized to enhance problem solving by combined action.” (22) Developing effective synergy may be the driving force in having a successful diverse work environment. (Adler, p. 109)
With an effective leadership, organization will benefit from incorporating diversity in the workplace. It will increase the productivity of their employees, and serve them as a competitive force in today’s society. Moreover, employers and employees in multicultural work environment have the opportunity to learn from each other about various aspects; such as work style and ethics, behavioral patterns, and socially acceptable
…show more content…
I have been privileged to work in an environment with a diverse group of faculty, staff, and students. My workplace offers international academic programs in all areas of study, as well as recruits faculty and students globally. Although English is the primary spoken language, there remain times when words spoken get lost in translation. “Communication does not necessarily result in understanding. Cross-cultural communication continually involves misunderstanding caused by misperception, misinterpretation, and misevaluation” (Adler, p. 72). When addressing cross-cultural situations, it is important to recognize that cross-cultural communication challenges the limits of basic understanding. Therefore, establishing a reputable relationship amongst employees and employers can prove to be beneficial in the end. Though time-consuming at times, I have developed an open line of communication with my employers, colleagues, and employees. This communication is not limited to face to face interaction, but includes communication medium to further enhance communication (Chiller, 2010), such as instant messaging. Developing alternative ways to communicate also helps to enhance multicultural
Diversity is the piece that makes the modern workforce so amazingly unique and challenging at the same time. Valuing diversity means creating a work environment that respects and includes differences, recognizing the unique contributions these differences can bring, and maximizing the potential of all employees and the company. In The Loudest Duck, the author describes what often happens when diverse individuals enter the modern diverse workplace. Liswood gives great examples, analogies and shares simple insights into the hardships of bringing people from diverse backgrounds together to accomplish goals. The main emphasis is put on recognizing that diversity strictly by statistics of different races and/or genders present is insufficient.
The Challange of Cultural Diversity in Corporate America The expanding conflict over cultural diversity in corporate America may present as many opportunities and problems as affirmative action. Today, cultural diversity is an important fact of life and business, due to the changing face of society, and therefore, the work place. It is growing ever more essential for people to interact with others outside of their racial, ethical, religious, regional, social, etc. boundaries. To stay on top of their competitors, corporations must change their approach, and see diversity not as a necessary evil, but as a source of enrichment and opportunity that may bring a wealth of benefits to the company.
According to Kinicki, diversity represents the multitude of individual’s differences and similarities that exist among people. When developing a cultural diversity training program, one has to manage diversity with a new approach of inclusion and recognition. Managing diversity enables people to perform up to their maximum potential (Kinicki p. 111). As we analyze diversity, we will evaluate some common barriers and challenges in managing diversity. In developing a diversity program, we will analyze methods and procedures that will be apart of the program. Kinicki (p.*) says an important first step in overcoming these obstacles is for leaders to convey to their employees why the organization values diversity.
With market globalization and international competition, firms have come to realise that a diverse workplace is a strong competitive advantage in today’s markets. It helps to attract a diverse customer base and provides new perspectives in an organization. We see diversity initiatives being implemented to improve corporate productivity and performance.
Diversity in the workplace is very important in today’s global workforce because workers in the economy all over the world are currently made up of many different ethnicities, varied cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds. People that are involved in management such as managers, and supervisors could greatly benefit from being accustomed to diversity in the workplace because their job entails dealing with a multicultural work environment on a daily basis. Knowing how to handle diversity in the workforce and having the necessary skills for supervisors would be beneficial not only to them but also to the success of the company and economy because a strong, diversified workforce will create a more “creative, innovative, and productive workforce.” (Kerby, 2012).
Schein in his book “Organizational Culture and Leadership” explains how different believes and behaviors start to be logical when we understand their cultures by stating “When we learn to see the world through cultural lenses, all kinds of things begin to make sense that initially were mysterious, frustrating, or seemingly stupid” (2010, p. 13). This kind of foresight should be the starting point in order to manage the tremendously growing diversity in the workforce nowadays. Leaders and administrators of both public and private organizations through their influence are responsible to promote and manage diversity in an ethical manner.
The impact of diversity in the workplace is contingent upon several factors. Across companies diversified workforces are becoming increasingly common. To successfully manage a diverse workforce, organizations are ensuring that employees understand how their values and stereotypes influence their behavior toward others of different gender, ethnic, racial, or religious backgrounds; are gaining an appreciation of cultural differences among themselves; and behaviors that isolate or intimidate minorities are being improved (Noe et al., 2010, pg. 302).
Today’s management in the workforce is composed of all types of people verses thirty years ago when white males held a majority of upper-management positions in companies. These positions are now held by a mixture of ethnic back grounds and women who hold just as many if not more management positions then men. Just by looking at the changes in management demographics shows how important it is for people to understand cultural competency in the workplace. Dr. Roosevelt Thomas Jr. (1999) stated, “Diversity is the collective mixture of whomever we have in our workforce characterized by their differences and similarities” (p.11). Managers and supervisors must understand the characteristics of a diversity mature individual; they also need to be able to articulate the differences between affirmative action, managing diversity, understanding and valuing diversity to build skills that transforms awareness into productive and supportive workplace behaviors.
In the workplace, it is common to encounter individuals of different cultures, ethnicities, and genders. This diversity can either lead to an introduction of new work methods, or it can lead to conflict between coworkers. In order to avoid conflict, and have all employees work as a cohesive team, managers must educate themselves, and their employees on the topic of cultural diversity. In order for your practices to be considered effective, you must not only respect and recognize an employee’s diversity, you must use their difference to benefit them.
Diversity in the workplace is important for employees because it manifests itself in building a great reputation for the company, leading to increased profitability and opportunities for workers. Making sure all members, students, parents and guarding’s are welcomed at all times in a well-mannered environment Workplace diversity is important within the organization as well as outside ensuring all different are put aside and everyone can come together and work well as a great team.
Moreover, this equivalent opportunity concept in workplace diversity is aimed for guaranteeing that business organizations make the most out of the difference from workforce varieties rather than to losing ability which may help the businesses to be more proficient and effective. Workplace diversity carries with the heterogeneity that should be sustained, developed and acknowledged as method for enriching organizational effectiveness in this modern society (Henry & Evans, 2007). In order to make sure organizations achieve the diversity goals, businesses should take the appropriate actions to boost culturally diverse employees. Thus, businesses need to gain progress toward multiculturalism, which should incorporates to avoid employees ' impression of the degree of separation and bias, the equal rewards and punishment, the openness of critical information, and the chances for employees to stepping up for their career goals in future (Brown, 2008). Truly, develop and implement multiculturalism in the workplace is not an easy thing to do for businesses. It needs a certain numbers of policy and regulations to follow and adjust before businesses or organizations are actually considering diversity. Also, work diverse group come from people that has different ages, ethnicity, and sexual orientation working together to form a multicultural workplace. There are some
America is often referred to as “The Melting Pot” of the world. With this appellation, it is not wrong to assume that the U.S. has one of the most diverse cultures. Conversely, a majority percentage of people in America would disagree with this sentiment and argue that the U.S. is comprised of many subgroups. These subgroups vary based on race and skin color and are hardly “melted” together. This apparent racial divide is very common in many American corporations as well. Management researchers have found that maintaining a racially diverse workforce has been proven to have many important benefits within a corporation. For example, having a racially diverse workforce can help match the culture of the customers in the economy to build trust, provide new and differing insights, and right some of the wrongs caused by racism and sexism in our society. Facilitating diversity is not easy, and many organizations have encountered challenges from attempting to do so. Fortunately, there actions that organizations can take to overcome these challenges in order to make diversity a reality.
Diversity is all around us and how organizations deal with the notion of diversity can be complex and quite diverse. We know that being diverse in the workplace is important to the organization's success, should be recognized, accepted, and embraced. It’s how the organizations live up to what they believe in and must go above and beyond legal compliance and requirements to promoting diversity and inclusion. Otherwise, employees may view the organization's vision and policies as lip service and only be tolerant of diversity because the organization said so.
Culture is about a set of values, beliefs, and norms that affect the behaviors of large groups of people. Whereas, diversity is more than skin color or ethnic heritage. Diversity within a group is about the quality of being different. The differences between values, traits, attitudes, status is what diversity entails. Engleberg and Wynn state that these “characteristics include age, occupation, physical ability, marital status, personality preferences, and much more.” We must remember to avoid stereotyping individuals and learn to accept that diversity in groups is the skillset that individuals bring to the group. The knowledge that individuals bring to the group is the diversity that most businesses are
Abstract: Globalization has made intercultural communication inevitable. Communicating with other cultures characterizes today’s business, classroom, and community. Technology, especially the internet, has increased the probability that whatever is documented online will be read by someone from another culture. Intercultural communication is of importance in any career field, thus the art of knowing how to communicate with other cultures should be a workplace skill that is emphasized. This is a conceptual paper whose purpose is twofold.