Diversity And Public Administration By Harvey L. White And Rice

When looking at diversity in the workplace, many people and companies encourage it. “Cultural diversity has become a defining characteristic of an increasing number of societies” (“Consequences of Cultural diversity” this should be the author and the date). They feel that it is a great thing to have diversity in the workplace, however, what some companies do not think about is the negative effects of having too much diversity in the workplace. “A workforce that has significant differences in ethnicity, race, religion, gender and other individual traits can produce negative effects, especially if not well-managed. These negative effects of diversity are understandable if the work culture does not support tolerance and acceptance of

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

Organizations must stop visualizing diversity as an issue and start seeing it as a benefit for the organization. There are several reasons why a diverse workforce will add value to a company. Most businesses, either large or small, work on a global scale; the information age has brought the entire world a lot closer. Having associates that can deal with different cultures around the world is crucial to an expanding business. A diverse workforce will help to build more rounded individuals with experience they will gain from a mixed environment. Customers will benefit from the diverse workforce because a company that makes a choice to be open and flexible with its associates will more than likely be easy to work with in a business relationship. Probably the most important aspect of having a diverse workforce is the vast knowledge gained by pooling the different life lessons, cultures and experience together thereby allowing everyone the chance to learn new and different business practices (Sappal, Pepi, 2002).

Managing diversity and demographical changes in the workplace presents many dilemmas. Confronted with constant change, management, business educators, and organizational consultants continue to meet the challenges of a new and diverse workforce in a number of ways. Diversity can be defined in numerous ways. Diversity includes all the ways in which people differ, and it encompasses all the different characteristics that make one individual or group different from another. It is all inclusive and recognizes every individual and every group as part of the diversity that should be valued. A broad definition includes not only race, gender, ethnicity, age, national origin, religion and disability, but may include sexual orientation, values,

Diversity is a wonderful asset to an organization and brings with it many benefits. Employees bring in their own personal experiences and knowledge to the team (Burns & Kerby, 2012). Having diverse teams allows for the possibility to fix a problem or perfect a process by using different employee’s experiences and past knowledge to find solutions. A diverse workforce can drive economic growth and capture a greater share of the consumer market (Burns & Kerby, 2012). With diversity as a core value, the recruitment pool is widened to find the most qualified candidate and reduces employee turnover as a result. An organization can be highly competitive with a diversity initiative by adapting to a changing environment (Burns & Kerby, 2012).

In the 21st century, workplace diversity has enhanced organization performances and communication skills which benefited the organizations to become successful businesses. Increasing adaptability in the workplace, having to value diversity, and executing more effectively are three benefits of workplace diversity. Organizations most definitely have the ability to embrace their workplace diversity by helping their employees realize the benefits that enhances the business to become more competitive and successful. Unfortunately there are researchers that argue that workplace diversity can lead to problems in the business.

1.3 Diversity means that someone is different from the majority; for example, a different religion or nationality to where they live etc. There are many benefits to having a diverse workforce for an organisation. The biggest benefit is the creativity this brings in when making decisions or finding solutions to issues. Different cultures can give you a completely different insight in decision making. Also, with diversity you will get a completely different way of working which can inspire a team’s productivity.

The general line of reasoning is that if we learn to incorporate each other’s diverse traits and characteristics in the workplace, we can then use these differences to foster an innovative environment, which will give the company a competitive advantage over the competitors that do not accept workforce diversity. According to the Allied Academies International Conference, “Diversity is rapidly becoming a common practice among companies due to the increasing number of minorities entering the job market today. As these groups become more prevalent throughout companies, upper-level employees are facing numerous challenges when determining what changes must take place to create a positive working environment for everyone. Management is responsible for the development and implementation of effective policies directly relating to diversity to ensure the acceptance of minorities into the workplace and to aid in minorities’ success through equal opportunities and treatment.” (Marcia L. James, 2001, Academy for Studies in International Business Proceedings)

The older worker is a forceful business opportunity for all types of workplaces based on the result of research. Age discrimination, therefore, needs to be avoided in companies. Everyone should be working in a harmonious environment. This is making a better outlook, such as increase job opportunities and open willingness for hiring different people with different ability. Also, in terms of their value or cost to an organization it fits government policies and not merely for the company’s financial condition. (Ryan, S

To say that diversity is not a benefit, especially in the United States, ignores the cultural diversity of a country that once prided itself on being a ‘melting pot.’ In a time when the United States is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, 43% of Millennials are not white, and the “religious landscape” of the U.S. is changing (Cohn), diversity should be valued rather than dismissed. These demographic changes bring a changing culture, a change that cannot be overlooked. This change will affect politics, education, religious institutions, and business. Already, It can be seen that companies with more diverse employees outperform other companies by 35% (Tulshyan). Ruchika Tulshyan, a writer for Forbes says that, “While correlation does not equal causation – greater diversity doesn’t automatically mean more profit – the link indicates that companies committed to diverse leadership are more successful.” Thomas Mason with the Huffington Post hypothesised that these diverse companies may be doing better, in part, because having a diverse group of people also brings a diverse skillset and cultural knowledge that would be neglected otherwise. A group of writers for the Harvard Business Review thought otherwise, and discussed their findings in an article entitled, “Diverse Teams Feel Less Comfortable - and That's Why They Perform Better.” The article suggests that

According to the book entitled, Diversity and Public Administration: by Harvery L. White and Mitchell F. Rice, they stated that Public administrative curriculum consist of public personnel management or human resources management; public management; public budgeting; organizational theory and behavior; research methods and qualitative analysis; policy analysis; and ethics (White & Rice, pp.124). In 1970, an organization called National Associations of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration was established to promote training and education in public service. National Associations of Schools of Public Affairs and Administrative accomplishes its goals and objectives through direct services such as:

Diversity is what makes people different, not just culturally but in human differences. Having a multitude of differences in the workforce gives an organization the ability to use many ideas to reach a common goal. A person could say that a diverse group of people together in one room can accomplish greater achievements than a room filled with the same types of individuals. Managers understand the concept of diversity, and how important diversity is to the success of a company’s ability to implement programs that continue to develop a harmonious and diverse workplace. The recognition that diversity is a reality in the workforce has generated an enormous amount of activity over the years among leaders in business, government, and civil

Benefits of a high workplace diversity environment is it not being stuck to conformity in group thinking, or being narrow-minded with similar thoughts and having preference to only be around people who think like you do which is known as the “diversity paradox”. According to a quote stated from Friedrich Nietzsche, Hackett (2014) “The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently” (p. 415). Instead, it reiterates the importance of having a diverse workplace because it constructs better ideas, coming from different minds, and build upon each other through brainstorming. However, a poor workplace diversity can also adversely affect one’s motivation, which leads to overall job dissatisfaction and demotivation. When there is poor workplace diversity, you can see less communication barriers and cultural resistance, but it also makes it harder for individuals to get used to working with others that aren’t the same as them. This can become a form of adversity for businesses if their employees cannot develop a strong skill set to adapt with not only coworkers but also customers in the environment. Therefore, better communication and interaction skills are essential to promoting a business and making it successful.

People will be more apt to spend their money more comfortably with them (Mayhew, 2017). There are intangible benefits to maintaining a robust diversity policy starting with the way people are able to engage in interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Individuals will always have some kind of conflict in the workplace. How people deal with that conflict will determine the effectiveness of their overall performance. The more diverse an organization is has a direct correlation to how well people are able to deal with conflict and adversity. The degree in which we’re able to resolve interpersonal conflict directly affects employee productivity. This high level interaction also builds the mutual respect we have for each other. When people are able to see and recognize each other’s differences while working through conflict as it arises, builds respect also allowing an increase in overall productivity (Mayhew, 2017).

Aging! We all do it every day, but have you ever thought how it is going to affect the rest of your life or more importantly your career? Aging isn’t something that we get to choose if we participate in, however working is, and aging may affect that choice. Right now, I want you to think about the age of sixty-five. What words pop into your head when you think of someone sixty-five? I’d imagine some of the words you thought of were retired, old, fragile, slow, as well as many others. Those words right there all help to explain the many concerns that one’s employer may have when hiring someone that is of the older population. When we think of the older population in the work force we don’t necessarily think of positive things, instead we think of things. When we think of this population in the workforce we generally think of lower production rates and higher costs. These can create issues among the older population, as employers must consider all the possibilities when hiring someone. We know that more people in the older population are continuing to try to continue their careers, but why? How hard is it for them to continue? What changes have made it easier? How are the younger and middle aged populations perceiving them in the work place? This are only some of the many question surrounding the increase of aged workers.