Table of Contents
Abstract 4
Introduction 4
Gender Diversity 7
Diversity in Sexuality 8
Racial Diversity 10
Diversity in Age 11
Cultural Diversity 12
Religious Diversity 13
Importance of Diversity Training 18
Recommendations for Managers 22
Conclusion 26
References 28
Abstract
This research paper addresses the importance of diversity training in the workplace. Having realized how pertinent workplace discrimination is globally, this paper will give a broad look into the various ways that diversity is displayed in the workplace. The diversity issues involving gender, sexuality, race, age, culture and religion will be explored,
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It is believed that in order to change people, you have to change the way that the think.
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)
Gender Diversity
Women account for half of the workforce today, but when looking at their current standings in the areas of salaries and career advancement, there seems to be a gap in comparison to men. It was in 1964, when the Civil Rights Act demanded equal employment
One of the main advantages to having a diverse workplace is the synergy that occurs between people from different backgrounds, cultures and work values. Employees feel good about diversity that occurs naturally, instead of forcing diversity into the workplace. When diversity is the primary concern, members of nonminority groups sometimes feel excluded, and that minority groups are receiving preferential treatment. The opposition to diversity management manifests itself in many ways. The most detrimental is an employee who is resentful concerning diversity (Pros & Cons of Diversity). Drawing attention to a “problem” only makes it
In Diversity Training, we discuss the many benefits to and steps to becoming a thriving organization in today’s global workplace. After working with this course, you will be able to:
The first factor that is increasing the diversity in the U.S workplace is welcoming social diversity meaning to recruit talented workers of both sexes, racial and culture backgrounds. The potential of employees requires meeting the needs of women and other minorities, which may not be the same as white men’s. The second factor is that the businesses must develop a way to deal with the tensions that are in the work place from social differences, which means they will have to work harder to make sure that everyone is treated equally and respectfully by having no tolerance for sexual or racial harassment. The third and last factor is that these
Imagine that you are a highly qualified former Hispanic executive who was recently laid off from a fortune 500 hundred company. Within that company you held several key roles in which you were crucial to the success of the organization. In the prior roles you may have never really understood the need or the process of managing diversity. You hold several advanced degrees in key business fields despite all of your experience education and the economy flourishing you can’t seem to find a job comparable to where you were. You happen to buy a copy of the Wall Street Journal and on the front page is the article below:
Recent diversity initiatives are impacting all levels of the public and private sectors in relation to personnel and workforce planning. Over the last twenty years, research shows that productivity gains from the existing workforce increase with a diversified staff (dol.gov, 2017). Diversity in the workplace is defined as, the variety of differences between people in an organization. Diversity includes gender, age, race, ethnic group, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more (dol.gov, 2017). The need to become inclusive in management and the
Workplace diversity is dealing with the differences that employees have but it is also the celebration of these differences in the company’s work environment. Therefore, the company’s diversity training is very needful to building awareness and maintaining a cohesive work environment. In developing a diversity training program several things need to be considered such as: assessing the needs of the team, providing tangible materials that reflects the training requirements, as well as how the information will be presented to the employees. A successful implementation of diversity training allows the company to experience higher employee retention rates, greater morale, less lawsuits, and improved production.
This training on cultural diversity encouraged me to examine and re-evaluate my personal belief system, the principles and opinions and attitudes I hold dear, and the significant issues of life we encounter in the workplace and in the general community. Such issues as discrimination, prejudice, stereotyping of persons, hostile work environment and sexual harassment, in addition were discussed. Issues of workplace harassment, hostile work environment, oppression and privilege, particularly with respect to gender, race, class, and sexual orientation were examined and discussed with respective consequences. This training encouraged the alignment of theory, policy and practice of cultural diversity in the workplace.
Diversity training is defined as a different set of plans intend to eliminating or decreasing discrimination, facilitating with assisting positive team’s communication and improving the skills, abilities, awareness, knowledge, and motivation of workers to interact with diverse members supporting self- disclosure and Intergroup communication. Diverse workforce represents the verity of business organizations. The impact of managing diversity is growing in business world. Effective diversity management is to hire the differences in age, culture, disability, economic background, ethnicity, religion beliefs, education, geographical background, gender, sexual orientation, education and to create a productive teamwork in which every employee feels appreciated, considerate, valued, where talents are fully utilized and in which organizational goals are achieved.
Discrimination are more common in workplaces, because some people only think of discrimination as making a distinction and judgment of a person based on color of skin. Discrimination goes far beyond color of skin. A person can be disseminated agonist for their age, disability, gender, religion, or even for being pregnant. In a workplace there are standards and policies in place to decrease the chances of a person being discriminated against. When the staff is diverse in a workplace, discrimination less likely to happen. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission indicates that it is “illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex, national
Workforce diversity is not a transient phenomenon; it is today's reality, and it is here to stay (Barak, 2013). A successful entity must provided a tool for cultures integration for its employees. Therefore Diversity training is important part of successful management. The most important components of an effective training diversity training are support of the organization. Training can be put out, but the company management level must also endorsed the training. The critical information that must be included in the training is respect of other differences. The attitude of the trainer can directly impact the attitude of the trainees on receptive of the information put out. If the trainees understand
Unfortunately, all honeymoons eventually come to an end and currently American Airlines is facing some challenges in ensuring they are the leader of the pack in terms of labor relations, as it was reported in January 2017 that American’s lead is slipping and risking falling behind the industry’s rival airlines. As reported in Bloomberg, the Pilots Union has been complaining that pay rates are falling behind those of other major airlines, the union representing the some 30,000 ground workers is pressing for speedier contract negotiations, and some flight attendants claim that their new uniforms make them sick.
Managing diverse employees in a multicultural environment proves challenging to managers; yet, increasing diversity in the workplace is very beneficial for an organization. Diverse employees will provide a wider array of talents and will relate better to varied customers. Because managers have more influence than rank-and-file employees, it is imperative that managers commit to diversity of the workforce.
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,
In any society, how we see ourselves and how others treat us depends on many factors. Race, ethnicity, and cultural background are identifiers of individuals. Most people have confronted prejudice based on these identifiers, either personally experiencing discrimination or knowing someone who has. Beyond ensuring organizational compliance with a country’s anti-discrimination laws, it is incumbent upon managers to support diversity in the workplace and to be culturally competent.
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.