Diversity in the Workplace

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Recommended: My reflection on Diversity at the workplace

Business professionals have the opportunity to advance and grow through cultural diversity. Businesses with differing opinions and the uniqueness of other cultures can provide many more possibilities than those without. In this paper, I hope to identify the importance of understanding diversity by professionals in the workplace. “Psychologists tell us that people make judgments about other people in the first seven to seventeen seconds that they interact with a stranger” (Harvey & Allard, 2012, p. 6). In other words, if you pass judgment on a possible employee simply because of their race, gender, and cultural differences then you are missing out on so much more. Business professionals have to be able to look past all of that in order to see all of their qualifications. As the saying goes, “Never judge a book by it’s cover”. People being from differing backgrounds and cultures have so much to offer. They have the ability to bring a different perspective and certain uniqueness to the table. As a nurse working in a hospital, we get patients from many different backgrounds. We also have nurses from different areas and backgrounds. This has the potential to help increase patient satisfaction. If we have a patient who is Hispanic and a nurse who is able to speak Spanish, this may help the patient feel more comfortable. This could positively affect the patient’s outcome. A business other than a hospital can benefit as well. A diverse workforce can be good for them in the long run. A consumer may be more apt to do business with a certain company if they have someone who can relate to them. I tend to believe that a company that cares about their employees will care about their customers and that a well cared for team of worke... ... middle of paper ... ...g my left hand, and found that I actually bowled better than when I had used my right. Cultural diversity is key to running a company. When a company shows that it wants to hire people for their qualifications and then treat them with respect it tends to make customers happier. Coca-Cola proved this. Unfortunately, they had to go through a lawsuit to realize it (Harvey & Allard, 2012, p. 126). Being able to see differences as a positive thing rather than a negative can greatly help all involved. We have to remember to not pass judgment before we know the facts and be able to adapt to others rather than make them adapt to us. Works Cited According to Week One Lesson Harvey, C.P., & Allard, M.J. (2012) Understanding and Managing Diversity: Readings, Cases, and Exercises (Fifth ed.) (p. 6 and 126). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

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