Diversity

From Hollywood to the the social sector, diversity, rather the lack thereof, has been a topic of conversation. Although many organizations have begun to advocate for diversity, more work must be done. Across the social sector,women and people of color remain severely underrepresented in leadership positions. Organizations must become intentional about creating a diverse workforce and implementing inclusive policies that foster positive work environments. When employees feel represented and included they are happier and more likely to contribute to fulfilling the organization's mission.

Have you ever been to the doctor and don't quite understand what the provider is telling you, or are you a healthcare worker and you don't understand your patients? Should the healthcare provider get diversity training or should they maybe learn new languages? More than ever before, healthcare professionals are subjected to dealing with a number of immense and different cultural diversities. While diversity is often a term used to refer specifically to cultural differences, diversity applies to all the qualities that make people different. Diversity requires more than knowing about individual differences and it key for overcoming cross-cultural barriers in healthcare.

Healthcare managers are responsible for ensuring that their organization has a plan or strategy that is geared toward eradicating health inequality through cultural competency. Best practices are of utmost importance in assuring cultural proficiency. Buchbinder and Shanks (2012) outlined these practices in their textbook Introduction to Healthcare Management: a diverse workforce, leadership and organizational culture that fosters cultural competence as well as human resource policies which do the same, appropriate training/education for all employees, linguistic services and materials, systems capable of tracking data with regards to health outcomes, and responding to and engaging the community (p. 321). Additionally, a Commonwealth Fund study provided a list of actions that diversity leadership should adhere to in accordance with the National Standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards. Aside from employing a culturally diverse staff and patient services and regular re-evaluations of goals, healthcare leaders engage and report their progress to diversity goals the community (Dreachslin, 2008). Inasmuch as cultures change and evolve, it is suggested that cultural competence training be an ongoing process and that organizational policy and strategic plans be reassessed periodically for effectiveness (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012). Time, revenue, and energy spent in interventions that do not bring the desired results is not

The purpose of this paper is to share research information of health care organizations who are experiencing issues with Cultural Diversity. The information shared will help to support health care systems as they continuously work towards reducing health care disparities. While they continue their efforts to decrease diversity in health care governance and leadership. According to recent studies, the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, found that there is about 81 percent of hospitals educated. Studies also found that all

MasterCard has also partnered up with other minority-focused organizations, such as Women 2.0, which is focused on connecting talented women in technology to existing entrepreneurs (6). The relationship between Women 2.0 and MasterCard will help create communities of innovative women in technology, and to help them cultivate future leaders of these women and provide continuous support through their careers (6).

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines diversity as “the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different race or cultures) in a group or organization.” For a human resource professional, it is the “variety of experiences and perspective which arise from differences in

Based on the article, "Mindful Reflection as a Process for Developing Culturally Responsive Practices," prepare a 500-750-word reflective essay. Within your essay, address the following:

As Corporate America transforms into varying cultural needs, it is not simple to eliminate health and healthcare disparities (Dotson & Nuru-Jeter, 2012). This article was written to identifies the roots of leveraging diversity to influence organizational operations. Dotson and Nuru-Jeter (2012) presented the argument for a business leadership diversity case within the healthcare industries and describes the need for research on management solutions to health and healthcare disparities. To address the issues with sanitation and healthcare disparities, the authors studied three evidence of the relationship between diversity and performance. The link between investments in diversity to financial outcomes and organizational metrics of success.

Healthcare, ever changing, has advanced to an era of progression in which it is becoming more and more common for radical change in all varieties of aspects of the process within which the health care system runs to occur. For many of us, there is the ever so present idea that constant change is necessary not only to stay competitive in regards to any other competitors in the same field of service, but also to also provide groundbreaking and innovative equalized opportunities and treatment of all. As modern day society becomes increasingly aware and active on the topic of equality, it is important for health care providers to remember that it is essential for there to be diversity within the culture imbedded in healthcare delivery systems. Many of the reasons that make the issue of culture a topic worth mentioning include, but are not limited to, the potential positive and/or negative impacts culture and diversity can have on the healthcare delivery system, the importance in staying up to date and staying competitive with other healthcare systems, and the internal factors that have a hold in the change of culture and whether or not it can be successfully maintained within the health care organization. As stated by B.E. Smith’s article Leadership Diversity: The Path to Value-Based Care, “Increasing the racial, ethnic, gender and generational diversity of health care leadership is essential for the provision of culturally competent,

Currently, the United States is experiencing a period of profound demographic change. Our nation is undergoing an inevitable transformation into a multiracial, multicultural society and this drift poses huge challenges for medical professionals. While it is well known that racial disparities consistently plague the health care system, the prominent issue is a lack of cultural diversity in the workplace. Health care experts have been stressing the critical need to develop a more diverse workforce as it is seen as a strong solution in achieving health equity and improved care. Evidence demonstrates that the scarcity of underrepresented minorities among physicians prevents appropriate cultural competence within the medical profession, limits the

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

Before we start out with this section, I want to clarify what diversity is to an organization. Diversity is described in our textbook in a variety of ways. One definition for deep-level diversity is differences in values, personalities, and work preference that becomes progressively more important for determining similarities as people get to know one another better. Another definition is called surface level diversity which involves easily perceived characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, or disability that could contribute to a variety of stereotypes.

Understanding that progress requires effort; progress is not the inevitable result of population shifts. Research reveals that in the past year, women have gained little ground in the upper echelons of management. Although they constitute 50.6% of managerial, professional, and other, related occupations, women represented just 15.2% of the boards of those companies in 2008 compared with 14.8% in 2007; in 2008 women held only 6.2% of the top earner positions compared with 6.7% in 2007.5 Without constant attention, progress stalls—and can dissolve. Diversifying the diversity office. Don’t restrict leadership and involvement to women and minorities. Create rotational tracks in roles that include employees of all backgrounds, including white males. This embeds a firsthand

As we enter the 21st century, workforce diversity has become an essential business concern. In the so-called information age, the greatest assets of most companies are now on two feet. Undeniably, there is a talent war raging. No company can afford to unnecessarily restrict its ability to attract and retain the very best employees available.

For health care workers, cultural competency is important for obvious reasons. On a daily basis, healthcare professionals work with patients of a variety of cultures, and many work with team members who come from different cultures than their own. Medical and other healthcare professionals spend many years in school learning how and when to treat patients for giving symptoms, but teaching them to interact with patients currently falls on knowing the things that make up a person’s cultural identity. Cultural differences that exist between people, such as language, dress and traditions, and the way societies organize themselves, their conception of morality and religion, attitudes about illness and death and the way they interact with the environment. Cultural competence is important in health care because the patient outcome, patient readmissions, staff retention, and labor relations all determine the outcome of an organizations success. Diversity improves the effectiveness and productivity of the workforce. Disadvantages of ignoring cultural diversity can result in a loss of revenue for the business. Company growth will also be affected by ignoring cultural diversity. Steps an organization should take to face this challenge is to implement training that cover workforce diversities and keep an open dialogue among employees expressing concerns, differences, ideas, etc.