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The impact of workplace diversity in an organization
The impact of workplace diversity in an organization
Workplace diversity in the 21st century
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Managing Diversity
No two humans are alike. People are different not only in gender, culture, race, social and psychological characteristics but also in their perspectives and prejudices. Society had discriminated on these aspects for centuries. Women and minority groups were denied of their due rights. But not any more. Since 1960s, when federal legislation prohibited employment discrimination, minorities and female applicants have become the fastest-growing segment in the work force. Diversity makes the work-force heterogeneous. The work-force diversity used in the corporate world today is the varied characteristics of employees working in same organization. Despite the magnitude of the ethical, legal, economic, social, and political dimensions that define diversity initiatives in the workplace, the fields of human resource development and continuing professional education have yet to develop an integrated vision for creating more inclusive work environments. There are issues being raised. Dominant groups are not fully prepared to accept the reality. There are communication problems as well. But then there are enormous benefits as well. Keeping these aspects in mind, this paper will highlight various issues related to diversity.
What is Diversity
Workforce diversity refers to the varied personal characteristics that make the workforce heterogeneous . Diversity is not merely related to sex alone. With passage of time, organizations are becoming more diverse in terms of race, age, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. In addition to these aspects, dimensions of diversity in organizations have now expanded to national, regional or other geographical areas of origin, educational background, family status, income, military exper...
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In attempts to comply with federal laws and in relation to fairness, organizations and business in the United States started increasing women’s representation and employment of people of color. These efforts resulted in a trend where women representation across all types of jobs increased while the workplace was characterized with people from different cultural backgrounds. Organizations and businesses sported multicultural and multilingual hues that resulted in a paradigm shift in the concept of workplace diversity (Srikrishna,
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.
Cañas, K. A., & Sondak, H. (2014). Opportunities and challenges of workplace diversity: Theory, cases, and exercises (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
America’s workforce is continuously changing. Businesses today hire and retain culturally diverse employees to compete in the globalize market. Companies are developing ways to tap into and capitalize upon the talents of their workforces. They are discovering how to value the diversity of their workforces and the potential that diversity brings in flexibility, ingenuity and problem solving are helping them achieve their goals.
Workplace diversity is broadly defined as an inclusive company culture that strives to respect variations in employee personality, work style, age, ethnicity, gender, religion, socioeconomics, education and other dimensions. A company that favors certain characteristics about its employees runs the risk of lawsuits, turnover and reduced productivity. Tom 's topics will include: State and Federal employment discrimination laws and how they differ; avoiding discrimination claims; properly handing employee complaints of discrimination; Diversity is more than race and sex, and Inclusion is more than being nice; and diversity and cultural awareness during a time of unprecedented economic
“Commitment to diversity is at best a distraction and at worst an essentially reactionary position that prevents us from putting equality at the center of the national agenda,” ()according to Walter Benn Michaels, in his 2004 essay, “The Trouble with Diversity.” Upon hearing the word 'diversity,' members of society may immediately think of race. and political correctness urges society to support racial diversity. According to many, celebrating diversity is the best way to combat societal inequality. This is because people are convinced that the differences that divide society are the results of racial prejudices. Michaels, however, feels that the biggest problem in America is not that of sexism or racism, but instead the increasing gap between the rich and the poor. So if the problem is actually in the economy... The fact that people re-describe economic inequality as racial inequality is counterproductive to equality because people are simply trying to solve a different problem. But how did the notion that what separates us is race even start?
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.
Gender, racial, and ethnic diversity means different things to different people. Some believe that diversity is about quotas, and affirmative action. Others believe that diversity is something that will happen on its own with out intervention. Some experts who study diversity, however, believe that diversity is not something that should be left up to chance. It is important, therefore, for organizations to take action to encourage and foster diversity in the workplace (Clarke, 1995, p. 13).
Diversity is a highly important issue in today’s business, especially in a globalized company. Workplace diversity helps to get better solutions to business problems (Schawbel, 2012). When you have a group of individ...
In a world that has grown increasingly smaller due to mass media, world travel, and readily available information, the workplace has grown increasingly diverse in both gender and cultural aspects. Individuals no longer live and work within the confines of their geographic locations. At almost any position with any company the individual employee is a part of a larger world economy that harvests assets from the ends of the earth. Because of this, companies seek to capitalize on diversity to become more creative and flexible in their business models.
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).
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.
The researcher believes, in this fast-changing era, any kind of company or organization should be able to improve the quality of workplace diversity by having some important main factor to boost the new paradigm of a diverse workplace, such as:
Workplace diversity has become a growing concern within organizations. Managers are now challenged with learning new ways to effectively communicate the importance of embracing different races and ethnicities. Diversity encompasses many different characteristics including age, gender, ethnicity, religion and disabilities (Robbins). As of late, age has become more of a concern as the baby boomer generation begins to reach retirement age; many are not retiring early but instead are working well into their seventies. Unfortunately for those baby boomers, the number of retirees decreased during the 2008-2009 recession mostly due to economic struggle. People cannot afford to retire, perhaps because they did not save enough for retirement or had to dip into their retirement fund to survive earlier in life. In addition to age discrimination, gender discrimination is another common diversity issue. According to “Organizational Behavior,” as of 2000, more women are working full time, have more education, and have started to close the earning gap between men and women (Robbins). Most commonly, women are targeted in the workplace fo...
The importance of diversity in the workplace that it can aid in a competitive framework