Diversity Initiatives: A Case Study

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).

Workplace diversity is a popular topic in today’s workforce. Many companies today accept that diversifying the workplace is necessary and part of doing business in today’s global economy. Though more and more companies are embracing diversity for because they have to or believe that they should, Pitney Bowes has been doing so for decades. Though there were many forces for and against diversity in the early years, the diversification initiatives implemented and continued by Pitney Bowes has given them an advantage in employees, clients and global participation.

Throughout the book The Loudest Duck by Laura A. Liswood, we learn about what it means to be truly diverse and how to obtain this diversity. The book gives many examples of how and why it is important for companies to be diverse. Through this paper I will be outlining the main points the other made and share some of the lessons I feel are important.

Many organizations are beginning to view diversity as an organizational change. This could possibly mean changes in the power dynamics and organizational structure, the way decisions are made, and the way an

A multitude of concerns were uncovered such as lack of advancement, mentoring, coaching, networking, success planning, a positive culture regarding diversity, job training, employee empowerment, cultural bias, resistance toward diversity, uncompetitive salary, and existing work and family balance problems. After realizing these set-backs, the CEO must reconfigure the workplace around diversity, and to do so, a plan to the Board of Directors has been created and will be implemented to meet the goals of a minority and women-friendly employer, and to eventually have the two categories represent 50% of top management.

Nursing employments are high in demand with nurses reaching their retirement, younger nurses will be a valuable addition for most hospitals. Not only do the younger nurses are eager to learn but they additionally can be a valuable staff member for the long haul. Each generation of nurses brings multiple attributes such as work habits, beliefs, ideologies, and attitudes (Bradley University, 2015). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Registered Nursing workforce is expected to grow from 2.71 million in 2012 to 3.24 million in 2022.

Tara seems to have trouble building a relationship with adults and seems to have trust issues with adults especially in her own family. This most likely came from her mother not believing her about the sexual abuse Tara was facing. At first it may be difficult to establish rapport with this client under her circumstances. A social worker serves as a model of an adult with empathic ability (Shulman, 2012). The client then can learn to develop powers of empathy to be used, in turn, with those who need support (Shulman, 2012). Being able to use my empathic ability and help my client identify their feelings can help me to gain trust with my client. When talking with this client, I would use responses such as empathic, summarizing, and clarifying. These responses will show my client that I am listening to what they are saying and taking in all of the information. Showing my client that I am listening and responding appropriately will eventually help my client

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)

For instance, BMO is a leading organization that emphasizes on “diversity and learning from our differences” to pursue a vision of great customer service in the future and to do this, they are transforming the organization’s culture by selecting candidates that identify with this value.3 This focus on diversity in BMO’s workforce has led to an increase of executive representation of women in the workplace from 36.5% in 2014 to 40.7% in 2015 and an increase of executive visible minorities from 11.4% in 2014 to 11.9% in 2015.4 In fact, the organization requires a minimum of one in three individuals who are pursuing an executive level position to have same diversity objectives as the organization.5 With an emphasis on BMO’s values, the organization can develop a unique selection process that improves its ability to find the perfect candidate with the right credentials and one who is willing to commit to see the company grow. Should BMO continue to select the right candidates, the statistics of the number of minority representation in the organization is expected to rise and workplace diversity will continue to

To become more involve in Diversity: I have chosen the development in the area to become more involved in diversity, am I an African woman and a U.S. citizen. I was born in the Ivory coast and I went to school in France. Diversity defines where people come from, and also their sex, race, and religion. When people involve themselves in diversity, they are able to learn other people’s cultures – food, music, dance, language, etc. The encouragement of diversity will benefit our society.

The first thing to acknowledge about diversity is that it can be difficult. In the U.S., where the dialogue of inclusion is relatively advanced, even the mention of the word “diversity” can lead to anxiety and conflict. Supreme Court justices disagree on the virtues of diversity and the means for achieving it. Corporations spend billions of dollars to attract and manage diversity both internally and externally, yet they still face discrimination lawsuits, and the leadership ranks of the business world remain predominantly white and male.

population. Companies need to focus on diversity and look for ways to become totally inclusive organizations because diversity has the potential of yielding greater productivity and competitive advantages (SHRM, 1995). Stephen G. Butler, co-chair of the Business-Higher Education Forum, believes that diversity is an invaluable competitive asset that America cannot afford to ignore (Robinson, 2002). Managing and valuing diversity is a key component of effective people management, which can improve workplace productivity (Black Enterprise, 2001).

With the changing demographics of the U.S. workforce (Ng & Burke, 2005) and the need for organizations to continually innovate their products and services to remain competitive, embracing diversity and the benefits its brings is going to be key to driving a successful organization

As a result of these demographic changes as stated above, the ability of us as future business leaders to attract, recruit, and develop a qualified workforce from diverse populations will become critical for business survival. As managers, especially in today’s fast paced business environment we have little time to assess the impact of diversity efforts. Organizations are under pressure to improve the product and services they provide to customers, with greater accountability for achieving results, for reduced cycle time, and at a lower cost. So, as managers how do we manage diversity?

Businesses are recognizing the need and importance of investing in diversity and addition as part of their inclusive talent management practices and to frequently challenge their organizations to make the connection between those values and their group performance.. Diversity is especially fundamental in today’s global marketplace, as businesses cooperate with