Case Analysis: Work-Like Balance in Baxter

As we enter the new millenium, diversity in the workforce is rapidly increasing. Businesses and organizations are living up to the great melting pot image the United States has always been popular for. Employees now reflect a diversity of cultural perspectives, ethnic backgrounds, ages, genders, physical abilities, and levels of education. This wave of multiculturalism is here to stay and cannot be ignored. It is in need of attention in order to uphold the well-being and success of businesses and organizations all over the country.

Diversity within an organization is a blending of people from various cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds. Diversity has challenged organizations to set realistic goals for its leaders as well as its employees. The organization must look at the moral, ethical and social responsibilities it has toward its employees and understand their legal obligations set by laws. It is important for

Diversity in the organization can affect the employees and their behavior in many ways. The effect can be positive and negative in the same time. The positive effect is, it will wider employee knowledge, skills, and attitude which will allow the organization to become more competitive globally. Higher diversity of employees mean higher diversity of knowledge, skills and abilities. Sharing experience inspires innovative thinking (Claudia Quaiser-Pohls, 2013, p. 41). Today in the modern workplace, most organizations will have

Barnes took a lot of heat when she stepped down from Pepsi-Cola to raise her children. However, She believed that “Today’s business world calls for a flexible environment that provides opportunity for work-life balance. It empowers employees to do their work on a schedule that works for them” (Finn, 2010). This environment requires diversity of

Corporate America is seeing a shift in workforce demographics, with the terms “workplace diversity’ being thrown around in meetings across many large organizations. There are many definitions and interpretations of workplace diversity, but the this paper will define workplace diversity as “an environment that maximizes the potential of all employees by not discriminating against age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital or partner status, military experience, parental status, religious beliefs, work experience or job classification (Futon). Managers of this era have to work alongside individuals who not only come from different ages and educational backgrounds, but also individuals who are of different origins and have roots in many parts of the world. Organizational leaders are convinced that diversity efforts need to be an organization-wide effort in order for it to succeed (Roosevelt 23). The reality is that the American workforce is changing very rapidly and steps have to be taken to adapt to this new environment. This paper will focus on (1) the growing importance of workplace diversity, (2) the benefits associated with having a diversified work environment, (3) methods of increasing workplace diversity and (4) effective strategies for managing a diverse workforce.

Employees who perceive an organization as having a more supportive diversity climate are likely to be emotionally attached to the company that may lead to greater dedication to their jobs. A supportive diversity climate indicates that all employees have equal prospects to thrive that lighten tensions among employees from diverse background, enhance morale and promote work motivation, all of which increase employees’ willingness to willingly involve in assignments outside job requirements. Employees who feel valued and included irrespective of their demographic characteristics identify strongly with their organization and are more satisfied with their job that increases their enthusiasm to contribute beyond job duty (Chung, Liao, Jackson, Subramony, Colakoglu, & Jiang,

Understanding this fact is critical in understanding how true work-life balance can benefit not just the employees but the company as well. When employees are in better control of their lives, are motivated and are able to manage stress better, the attendant productivity will ultimately, positively affect the organization within which these employees work. Achieving optimal work-life balance is critical to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is the degree to which people enjoy their work. (Spector 1997). Singh 2013 identifies that job satisfaction reflects how well an individual is happy with various aspects of his job to which work-life balance is an aspect. The following factors make up a Work life Balance plan that should be implemented by the Jones Bank of Canada and caters to the varying needs of Baby boomers, Generation X and Millennials.

Over the decades, diversity in the workplace has started to become a business necessity. But what does diversity actually mean? In broad terms, diversity encompasses a group of people with different biological characteristics such as age, race, gender, ethnicity disability and so on. However, the true definition of diversity in the workplace is about ensuring that every single person that goes to work everyday have the freedom to bring along their full self to work and it is not just about welcoming but it is about embracing and harnessing the diversity of thought, the diversity of background, the diversity of experience, the diversity in education, and not just the traditional aspects in diversity. Even so, one of the major challenges that

Today’s an age of competition. Every organization finds ways to be successful. The success of an organization lies in making profits and building brand image. The search by various scholars has found that a diverse workplace, if managed properly, can do wonders for the success of an organization. Diversity means differences due to race, gender, ethnic groups, age, personality, tenure, organizational function, educational background, etc. Diversity involves how people perceive themselves and how they perceive others. These perceptions affect their interactions.

As I was reading the "SAS" article I thought to myself this sounds very fictitious. It is very rare that corporation focus on their employees to this magnitude. The overall goal of the life-balance strategy is brilliant, because in the end there is a recognizable amount of cost savings. Some of the elements of SAS's life balance strategies include, a relaxed mood for the employees. This is a goal of Jim Goodnight, to have a nice surrounding for his employees. He believe that a person's surrounding, have a lot to do with how a person feels (Fishman, 1998). At SAS there is no limit to the amount of sick days that an employee can take. This allows employees not to stress and worry about losing their jobs, when things happen in their families and they need to be present. The seven hour work day at SAS is another element of the life-balance strategy that allows families to spend time with their families. Goodnight feels that if employees are off by 5 o'clock, they can sit down and have dinner with their families (Fishman, 1998). The facilities at SAS are equipped with 36,000 square feet of gym space, which can be used by employees at any time. To encourage usage of the gym facilities, there is a laundry service onsite. Ultimately, Jim Goodnight is

Therefore, focus on creating a healthy work-life balance that makes a difference for their staff by offering amazing workplace

It is often said that the success of a Business has to do with how well its backbone team manages it. In today’s world, most of a company’s management and backbone team is one that is composed of up of a diverse group of employees. Strong, diverse teams play a vital role, on the success of a business. Diversity is understood to be the ways people can be similar or different from each other. Some examples of diversity in the workplace include culture, race, age, and gender. A good diverse workforce group is made of distinct employees from diverse backgrounds, different age groups, and distinct gender. Cultural Diversity in the workplace is one business component that has extreme importance in an organization. More and more organizations

Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. Workplace diversity is about acknowledging differences and adapting work practices to create an inclusive environment in which diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds are valued. It is about understanding the individual differences in the people we work with that arise from a broad range of backgrounds and lifestyles, and recognizing the value of using those different perspectives, ideas and ways of working to enhance the quality and outcomes of work. Our diversity is shaped by a variety of characteristics including age, ethnicity, gender, disability, language,

Diversity is many things; a bridge between organizational life and the reality of people’s lives, building corporate capability, the framework for interrelationships between people, a learning exchange, and a strategic lens on the world” (para. 3). The long-term success of any business calls for a diverse body of talent that can bring fresh ideas, perspectives and views to their work. The challenge that diversity poses, therefore, is enabling some managers to capitalize on the mixture of genders, cultural backgrounds, ages and lifestyles to respond to business opportunities more rapidly and creatively. According to Helium” A benefit of a diverse workforce is the ability to tap into the many talents which employees from different backgrounds, perspectives, abilities and disabilities bring to the workplace” (para. 5). An impressive example of this is found at the BMC HealthNet Plan because of different languages necessary to serve their members fairly. Diversity of their workforce helps them reduce cost by not using the language line too often. Their own employees serve as interpreters to provide better customer services to their diverse populations.

As today's organizations have become characterized with employers from diverse backgrounds, workplace diversity has become a common facet of today's working environment. Such diversity is basically due to the existence of a workforce with staffs from different ages, backgrounds, educational levels, genders, and professional experience. Managing this diversity can become a major challenge in some situations though a diverse workplace provides unique benefits. Actually, workplace diversity provides an opportunity for a great and differing corporate environment with varied perspectives and experiences to contribute to improved results of an organization. Diversity management has attracted huge debates as both proponents and opponents provide many reasons for their positions. Adaptation of diversity in the workplace is critical for reversing discrimination, language and cultural barriers, and lessening costs. Consequently, it enables these employees to maximize their potential that result in an improved corporate image and enhanced product and service ideas.