Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Impact of diversity on employee performance
Aspects of workforce diversity literature review
Impact of diversity on employee performance
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Impact of diversity on employee performance
In the last couple of decades, Australia has developed into a multicultural society. As globalisation increases, employing people of diverse cultures, beliefs and skill backgrounds has become more crucial for both creating a sustainable workforce and transcending the Australian national context (D’Netto, 2013:1261). Innovation, creativity and the ability to be open to change assists an organisation’s success and competitive advantage in areas such as marketing, problem solving and resource acquisition. This is brought on by the introduction of diversity management policies and procedures (Cox, 2001:34). The implementation of appropriate procedures should be developed through the human resource department and senior management team as part of an organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plan. Managers are now expecting that workplace diversity will achieve “higher workforce morale, more effective customer service and improved financial performance” (Kulik, 2014:131). However, these benefits can only be achieved if diversity is properly valued and encouraged, if support from managers is absent, then challenges can arise, such as poor communication, resistance to change, as well as economic and time losses. In the last few decades, Australian governments have introduced laws which can lead to greater …show more content…
However, it has been shown that generally ethnically diverse employees possess a stronger work ethic, are more productive and innovative, as well as building synergy and introducing new attitudes and processes to keep up with modern times thus improving an organisation’s reputation. An organisation with family-friendly and proactive EEO practices will see these positive behavioural changes amongst current employees (Houkamau and Boxall,
Workforce diversity refers to the existence of individuals with different cultural, economic and social backgrounds within an organization (Claretha, 2014). In the modern world, there is increased level of diversity in the workforce due to increased level of awareness and socioeconomic interactions among people. Therefore, organizations have become multicultural places which require effective communication to ensure organizational success. That is, in the modern global community, the workplaces in various organizations have become more culturally diverse (Claretha, 2014). This has had serious impact on the personal and professional relationships among employees depending on the communication model that is established in an organization. In addition, due to the increased level of competitiveness in the business environment, organizations have been forced to establish suitable framework to effectively manage human diversity. This paper will analyze the concept of workforce diversity and organizational communication and determine its benefits and possible disadvantages in relation to business success.
Diversity refers to the ways people differ from each other. These ways are significant and plentiful. Culturally, people vary in gender, age, ethnicity, race sexual orientation, educational background, religion, lifestyle, as well as veteran and/or immigrant status. Functionally, people vary in the ways we think, learn, process information, respond to authority, show respect and reach agreements (Pollar & Gonzalez, 2011.)
With the increase in globalization, interactions and communication among workplace employees requires diverse backgrounds, cultures and beliefs to coexist. Humans now work in an isolated workplace; we are a part of an economy with worldwide competition generating from all corners of the world. Diversity is needed within profit and nonprofit companies in order to be more effective; these companies must welcome change and adjustments. Diverse employees and environments will help companies to become more creative and successful. Workplace diversity has become an important issue for management nowadays in an attempt expands the workplace structure.
Not only are there benefits for external stakeholders to see a company’s diversity management successful, internally having different viewpoints and cultural backgrounds help bring new perspectives to problem solving. A study found that “a diverse workforce has a better quality solution to brainstorming tasks, displays more cooperative behavior relative to homogenous groups, and can raise organizational efficiency, effectiveness and profitability.” (Shen, 2009) Human resources’ role in diversity management is finding a way to implement a strategy to incorporate diversity into a corporation’s day-to-day activity. “Both HRM and diversity management are concerned with individual differences the development and well being of each and every ...
With the ever-changing business environment, employers are adapting diversity guidelines and schemes that appeal to their employees, clients, vendors and suppliers. Diversity in the workplace brings with it a host of potential benefits, as well as potential conflicts for employers to manage. Diversity is about learning from each other in spite of our ethnic background and combining those differences into the workplace to gain experiences and enhance understanding Managing diversity in the workplace should be an essential part of the background of the entire organization. Successful organizations focus on instilling and embedding the values of diversity in their culture and management systems. These organizations
Ultimately, to create a culture of tolerance that helps attract and retain employees, top executives need to set a tone that accommodates diversity practices. There is no point in diversity programs if management does not get it. And, there is no point in addressing age, and religion. The demographic diversification of the American workforce is well underway and will become only more challenging in the future.
The focus of this paper is to elaborate on the changing landscape of work in America during the twenty-first century. According to the researchers, as the economy continues to slowly recover from the recession and economic crisis, more of our baby boomers are reentering the workforce. In addition to the introduction of automation and computer technologies into the workplace, this has dramatically changed the nature of jobs for the older workers (Czaja and Sharit 2009). As stated in the Government Accountability Office in 2006, the number of workers over age 55 is projected to increase significantly over the next 20 years. Evidence shows that ageism, stereotypes, and misinformation about our older population continue to be major issues across
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).
Living in a country where it was founded by immigrants, diversity is everywhere you go especially in the workplace. There are many types of diversity; ethnicity, gender, religion and age just to name a few. Working in a diverse organization it can give you a taste of the real world, and what you will deal with wherever you go. There is so much diversity in the world today so it is a benefit to experience it in the workplace as well. You are given the chance to learn so many things from different cultures, why wouldn't you want to work in a diverse organization?
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 todays, world diversity, equal profit, many companies hiring different ethnic group of people to work because it gives satisfaction to customer service and feel comfort to different race of the customer. There are many types of diversity, gender, religion, ethnicity, and age. I believe it is important for owners and Managers to value the diversity in the workplace by recognizing their workplace configuration, and the cross-culture differences and similarities. Diversity brings creativity, knowledge, changes, and custom to companies. Here is the thing I will talk about in this.
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.
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
Within an organization, there are always people that think and behave differently, all dependent on their personal values and cultures. Efficient managing of the human resources is an art, and it is hard to find a perfect solution/combination. It is important that management recognize and understand that people work differently. This is why it is important to have strong cultural foundations that also guides how employees are expected to behave and work. Thereby it should be easier for management to utilize the work force diversity to something meaningful.