Introduction
Companies in the 21st century are facing fierce competition, economic and global challengers. In the midst of challengers organisations should have distinctive competences to resist it. Survival depends on the maintenance of market share by having a good image, cost leadership, sound technical or service superioty, committed employees and speed of market. Organisations success depends on how well the use of resource are utilised in achieving the core competences. Human assets are becoming the most important resource because of the rapid growth in the service sector. Human resources hold valuable knowledge and information, which sets them a part as the source in creating intellectual capital that sets a firm a part from its
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With the increase in job satisfaction higher levels of production also can be achieved. This is similar to the Soft Approach of human resource management. The soft approach takes the view the benefits will accrue in the long run. Organisations persistence for good work practise will earn the reputation tag as a good place of work. All these are consequences in the long term reiterated by the theorist of the soft approach. Beer et al (1984) and Guest (1987) stated by applying human resource policies firms could achieve committed, competent employees, which would be cost effective in turn increasing the companies bottom line. Shiel (2001) based a review on South African Beers (SAB) reputation for implementing equity-employment plan aimed at significantly increasing the number of African, Asian and black people throughout the salaried staff, so that these ranks would be more demographically representative of the markets served. These were in place 27 years before equal opportunity legislation was introduced in South Africa. This earned a good reputation for the firm, which was a benchmark for other firms.
Another benefit stated by Robbinson and Dechant (1997) from diversity is the ability to create value through creative, innovative ideas to solve problems. A diversified workforce will enhance the creativity as individuals are from different backgrounds. This in turn would create innovate ideas. Ideas to be creative and innovative workforces and teams have
Diversity is vital in today's workplace. Having a diverse workforce opens up a wealth of possibilities and helps to encourage creativity and innovation.
Diversity can be shown through many different aspects such as ethnicity, environments we were raised or things we have experienced. For me, I bring diversity through experiences with the various people that I have worked with. Every summer of middle school and high school I would go on mission trips with my youth group. For these trips instead of going to other countries like a lot of people do, we would go to various cities in the United States to help the people there. My youth group has gone to cities like Newark, Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, and Nashville. In these cities, we worked with the boys and girls club, assisted in the homeless shelters, worked at the food banks and fixed up homes for the people that needed it in those areas.
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.
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
In Canada today we see a new future of demographics at work: soon there will be five generations in the workplace at once. The mutigenerational diversity in the workplace has many advantages and disadvantages, it offers a broader range of talent, but it can often mean conflicting ideas and stereotyping. “Canada is becoming a nation of the aging and the very young.”
Diversity in the workplace is a subject that has gained increased attention in the workplace over the past few years. After all, the impact of affirmative action and equal employment opportunity programs on the nation's work force is undeniable. Women and minorities were the first to dramatically alter the face of the economic mainstream, while gays, persons with disabilities and senior citizens followed not far behind. The result is a diverse American labor force representing a microcosm of our society - yet one that continues to struggle with its identity. Diversity as a social condition is not new to America. We were founded as a nation of Diversity. “America has always been a merger of cultures and, as such, has undergone periods of
The impact of diversity is a successful learning experience for companies, and is equally as important to a company as its mission statement because of the educational and work ethics of its employees. Awareness and knowledge of diversity in addition to the similarities that humans possess can build relationships between employees and employers. Diversity helps employees and employers to be well educated and informed as to what forms a person’s values, attitudes, and behaviors.
Furthermore, the power of context is the things in the environment can change people’s behaviors. This will let them know what kinds of actions are properly doing at what time. Lofferda proposes that some higher level people in the society always do not have good behaviors and take advantages of gays, she states that “the Supreme Court upheld a Cincinnati ordinance that denied gays and lesbians legal protection from discrimination in housing, employment, and other public accommodations” (249). This quote shows that even in higher government, the gays cannot get the same treatment like the housing and employees as the other residents. The surroundings around them are really terrible. They cannot get really benefits and advantages from the society or the government.
While there were many quotes from The Prince that I thought about using, this is the one that stuck with me the most. “And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things, because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new” (Machiavelli 1532, Pg.42). The reason this quote stuck with me so much is because it can be applied in two scenarios, the first being when you are a newcomer to something and second is having to come in and take over, no matter what that may be and it may require some changes.
Why am I here? I am here because I am everywhere that I am invited. I am here because that is my job, that is what I have been doing for years and years. Does it mean I endorse any meeting I attend, or any Eritrean configuration that I see? Nope. Do I feel comfortable to talk about diversity in a very congregation that has no semblance of diversity? Not at all. If I did, I will betray the cause for which I struggle. When I see warts in our operations, I have to mention it. I do not feel comfortable as the only Muslim among the 21 assembled "speakers" or "panelists," among who are people I respect very much. And I have to emphasize, I object to tokenism even if I understand it is not for lack of good intentions.
Diversity management is important to every company because no one wants a cookie cutter company and if you don’t you diversify that is what you will have.
Google, one of the largest American multinational technology companies, is one of the many Silicon Valley tech industries accused by friends and colleagues to lack gender and racial diversity (Swartz 1). Companies are required to report to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which aims to ensure non-discrimination in the workplace (Coldewey 5). These reports are usually private however Google’s senior vice president, Laszlo Bock, publicly released the reported stats revealing that a diversity problem is indeed present at Google. Charts showed that “70 percent of Google's employees are men, 61 percent of its total workforce is white, another 30 percent are Asian, three percent are Hispanic and two percent are African American” (McGregor
Diversity is important to companies because with a diverse environment people can benefit and learn from others' ideas. Other reasons for the importance of diversity to many organizations are the recognition of differences as prerequisites for high performance and continuous improvement, enhancing the effectiveness and creativity of the organization, and valuing conflicts as opportunities for more effective decision-making and problem solving. Diversity has a major impact on our behaviors in the work place.
John F. Kennedy once said " If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity."
Diversity in the workplace means bringing together people of different ethnic backgrounds, religions and age groups into a cohesive and productive unit. Advances in communication technology, such as the Internet and cellular phones, have made the marketplace a more global concept. In order to survive, a company needs to be able to manage and utilize its diverse workplace effectively. Managing diversity in the workplace should be a part of the culture of the entire organization.