Cultural Diversity Organizations today have a social and ethical responsibility for managing diversity and ensuring the culture of the company is one that values the employees no matter the background. Workforce diversity consist of similarities and differences among employees in terms of age, cultural background, physical abilities and disabilities, race, religion, sex and sexual orientation. Organizations are focusing on cultural diversity due to globalization (worldwide growth), generational gaps, increased global competition, and due to the increased social and economic fairness and morality. For whatever the reason, organizations who focus on cultural diversity initiatives, are putting themselves in the driver seat for longer-term …show more content…
Leaders must be aware of a person’s cultural differences in order to be effective. Dubrin (2016) stated a cross-cultural leader must be patient, adaptable, flexible, and willing to listen and learn which is known as cultural sensitivity. Great leaders use emotional intelligence when dealing with individuals or groups. Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. When leaders combine cultural sensitivity with emotional intelligence, you get cultural intelligence. This is the ability for a leader to interpret someone’s unfamiliar gestures in the same way someone from this persons culture would. Reguieg (2014) stated there are four types of cultural intelligence, which include metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral. These are all necessary for leader to fully entrench themselves in the culture of another, especially with …show more content…
Cultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence are vital to the success of the leaders as well as the associates of a given organization. Successful organizations have programs that focus on cross-cultural training as well as conflict resolution. Reguieg (2014) also stated that cross-cultural training is the most effective means for increasing the understanding and awareness for individuals who are confronted with cultures outside of their own! Organizations looking to achieve cultural diversity must have the buy-in from the executive level leadership and be willing to hold themselves and others accountable for achieving diversity in the workforce. Recent studies show the organizations are embarking on diversity training for a great number of reasons, but the ability to compete on a global level is the stand out. According to Lockhart (2002), “The ability of organizations to effectively compete in a global economy increasingly depends on their competence in managing their diverse human resources for strategic advantage” (p.1). Diversity and cross-cultural training are necessary initiatives for organizations that want to make a difference on a global scale and back home in diverse
The modern world has experienced tremendous changes, which have contributed to changes in people living in the global world. These changes have mainly been brought by globalization, which is a major phenomenon in the 21st Century. Leaders across various professions, businesses, and governments need to cope with globalization since it forces them to cross borders more often and communicate or conduct business with people from other cultures. This process involves developing necessary skills for working effectively in the modern complex world. Actually, the ability of these leaders to work effectively not only requires the development of essential skills but the application of leadership principles in the global work environment. In essence, leaders must develop their ability to apply leadership principles across culturally diverse workforce in today’s global work environment.
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.
As companies began to offer workplace principles of independence, out of the box thinking and open-door policies; wouldn't it be even more important to have a cultured workplace. Workplace diversity is the here & now and also the wave of the future as markets expand into global territories. Setting the legal obligations asides a company should want to maximize its potential by reaching out beyond its current marketable persons and into other bodies of people. The cause of having such a diverse foundation shows growth and understanding to support the "changing of the times" of the modern workforce. The effects are how diversity impacts the company's personnel, economy, and global markets.
Culture and Diversity training course should be a part of all organizations and implemented at all levels. Organizations that participate in this type of training offer themselves and their employees many benefits that would be evident daily. Awareness is paramount to attaining set goals and objectives in creating a diverse workplace that thrives with morale and respect for others. However, this type of training should be implemented and enforced from the leadership of these organizations to the junior employee to be effective. Employees are more likely to embrace training that is important to their boss than not. This essay will elaborate on the importance of a Culture and Diversity training course in the workplace, the legal and ethical implications, demographics, standardizations and recommendations of this training course to be globally implemented.
In Haiti, the family is the most important aspect of their culture. When making important decisions, especially involving the health of a family member, the family is consulted. Family is so important to the culture that everything a person does is reflected onto the family. Everyone represents the family they are in. Because of this, every Haitian family has a reputation which can affect its status and respect in society. Families are so close to one another that it is mandatory to visit a sick member, even if they live far away. In a healthcare context, this can lead to a large number of visitors.20
The workforce of America is more diverse than it has ever been. White male upper class men no longer solely dominate companies. Women, people of color, and other minority groups are now rising in the ranks and demanding change. How can one know all the ways to manage such a diverse group of employees? Through a variety of ideas, experiments, and attempts, leaders across the nation are looking for solutions to this answer. Not only are people coming from different ethnicities, we are also experiencing a great influx of workers from nations all across the globe. To keep the level of job satisfaction high, workers must be able to feel comfortable in their workplace environment. It is almost impossible for a person to know everything about all cultures and be aware of what may or may not offend a person from a different ethnic group. What must be done is to teach cultural awareness and diversity training. Basically what I have discovered in reading the journal articles is that there is no one right way to run a company but there are definitely ‘better’ ways when it comes to cultural sensitivity in the workplace. As I continue my research, I am looking to find what some of the most effective ways to manage a culturally diverse workplace. Some of the issues that I am coming across are related to gender, race/ethnicity, communication patterns, and power struggles. I feel this subject is very relevant to our course because as we focus on management and human relations, we must take into account the humans that we are managing. Even if we just look at the diversity of our class we see how different our perspectives can be. To be an effective manager in this day and age, cultural diversity issues must be given serious consider...
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.
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.
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).
When thinking about cultural competence, it is hard to really understand without knowing what it actually means. According to Sue & Sue “Cultural competence is an active, developmental, and ongoing process, that is something people achieve through ambition rather than it just being achieved” (2003). What kind of competencies it takes to be successful working in a culturally diverse workplace, and how to develop these competencies are two things this paper will discuss. Also, a personal view-point from the author on; what kinds of strengths she has and what areas she needs improvement in regards to cultural competence, and a few ways she feels she could improve those areas in which she needs improvement.
Human Service Professionals will work with clients which have all different types of cultural backgrounds. Part of the responsibilities of the human service professional is to learn about the culture through research as well as through asking the client questions so they are aware of the client’s culture. Throughout this paper the following will be discussed African American culture, laws that impact a cultural group; how laws can affect the clients we will be working with, what represents a good and bad law, why multiculturalism and diversity are important for Human Services, and understanding global perspectives in cross-cultural work. I chose to discuss African American culture because the area that I will be moving to has a larger population
Cultural intelligence assessment will enable the individual to have certain information about himself. It is posited that cultural difference has a greater impact on business effectiveness than we think. That our cultural backgrounds really influence the way we think and act and the way we interpret each others contributions. Our success or failure in communication will depend on the extent at which we understand the different cultural background of the employees and create a fruitful collaboration in situations where cultural differences play a role. To achieve this, we need to act in an appropriate way in multicultural situations coupled with the ability to have an open mind which admits new information and this is curious about difference. We need to both know who we are and be curious about “the other” so that differences can be elaborated rather than smoothed down.
Valuing diversity in the workforce can assist a manager or an organization in developing and utilizing all of the human resources available. Valuing diversity can be defined as, “valuing the vast differences between people within an organization.” Our text defines valuing diversity as: “means putting an end to the assumption that everyone who is not a member of the dominant group must assimilate.” In today’s work environment the workforce may consist of numerous employee’s with various ethnic backgrounds and ages. These diversities give an organization the opportunity to obtain new ideas or alternative solutions to a complex problem. Organizations that value diversity tend to have more creative, motivated and productive employee’s. The employee’s feel more valued and tend to have less interpersonal conflicts and have a greater sense of teamwork. An example of a Company that expresses the importance in Valuing Diversity would have to be Home Depot. If you view the following link: https://careers.homedepot.com/cg/content.do?p=divinitiatives Home Depot openly expresses their Value on Diversity. During an interview with a Human Resource Manager at Home Depot he openly stated how they value each employee by acknowledging that within the workforce there is a vast diversity in culture, age and knowledge. At times management rely on this diversity to acquire solutions to complex problems. Valuing Diversity is an essential step to creating a stronger relationship between the employees and the organization.
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