The concept of diversity has broadened in scope in the recent past, evolving from the concept of mandated quotas and affirmative action, to the reality of a diverse workforce being capable of providing quantifiable business value. A variety of external factors have influenced the conceptual evolution of diversity within the workplace. For example, globalization of markets has provided the concept of diversity with an opportunity to demonstrate a clear competitive advantage. A native understanding of the cultural values, norms and business practices of a foreign market can give an organization a clear advantage over their competition. Another area where diversity offers advantages is in the
A critical concept all businesses or companies should strive for is diversity. It’s been lacking for earlier parts of history and still can be an issue in today’s world. Diversity in the workplace focuses on the differences and similarities that people bring to an organization. Differences or similarities including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. For many companies, diversity of the workplace is an enormous strength that can attract job seekers, create a competitive advantage, resolve or prevent many internal conflicts, and helps give a better approach to many obstacles in every-day
Diversity in our nation and workforce continues to increase each year. People with different backgrounds, degrees, and experiences are coming together to build strong teams, oriented around creativity, innovation, and productivity (Kerby, 2012). A greater emphasis is being placed on acceptance within diverse workforces. “Diversity represents all the ways in which people are unlike and alike— the differences and similarities in age, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, capabilities, and socioeconomic background” (Williams, 357). Understanding these differences are the key to creating a strong company culture. Within an organization, diversity should be seen as a positive—where each individual’s experiences and talents can better
This paper covers diversity management theory and how it affected my academic experience. Diversity management is an important and rapidly growing concern in many workplaces. Managers want to insure a safe environment for their employees and increase productivity, awareness, and morale. If the employees are happy, there will be more successes within the company. People respond to positive and guiding help or advice better than discrimination and down talk from a boss. The training in place for managers deals with cultural, gender, and social diversity. By enhancing the workplace and creating a team environment, companies can unleash their potential.
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
In the light of this change in the nature of contemporary workforce, the concepts of diversity and equality will be discussed vis-à-vis the reality of women in the workplace. As such, this research will address the following questions: what are diversity and equality policies? Do they work? Finally, do they open possibilities and opportunities for women?
In order to investigate that what will it take for organizations to reap the real and full benefits of a diverse workforce, a research effort taken by the article author’s team. In order to understand three management challenges for Diversity, it conducted its research over a period of six years. The challenges undertaken were:
Workforce diversity has become a major factor in small and big organizations. Some organizations have created workforce activities to promote diversity and differences. Although there is no way to define workforce diversity, these programs and activities are producing positive effects in organizations. Workplace diversity is a way of defining behaviors of employees to acceptable or not. Diversity shows how employees may or may not be similar or different. Some differences in character observed are: disability, national origin, religion, color, sex, age, or any other differences. The way an organization defines diversity and how it manages its diverse workforce, may determine its success.
The term “diversity” usually refers to individual characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, culture, age but as time has advanced, it is now also known to defer between those of sexual orientation and physical or mental abilities. Through time, not only the notion of diversity has become more broad but it has also been more focused on. Due to its ability to provide benefits such as improved morale, contrasting perceptions and strategies, enhanced teamwork and mutual understanding within the organisation, workforce diversity management has evolved to become an increasingly significant unit of human resource management in organisations. However, through each advantage there are challenges which may range from legal, moral to ethical.
Organizations have been becoming increasingly diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality. This diversity brings substantial potential benefits such as better decision making, greater creativity and innovation, and more successful marketing to different types of customers. But, increasing cultural differences within a workforce also bring potential costs in higher turnovers, interpersonal conflicts, and communicational breakdowns. The utilities of diversity training and the essential managerial skills required for effectively managing diversity will also be discussed.
It is very important for leaders and managers to embrace a diverse workforce. Because diversity could possibly add influence to the market share, and could widen the talent in the recruitment process for the organization. In addition, the organizations could benefit from the various perspectives and experiences; for example, different races, gender, and age groups within the workforce. However, a diverse workforce might also be challenging; for instance, leaders and managers may spend too much time in promoting
The workforce in America today is enhanced with a significant mix of genders, race, religion, age and other background factors. For a business to be successful long term demands for a diverse range of talent that can bring perspective, fresh ideas and opinions to their work. The challenge of diversity is allowing managers to make the most out of different cultural backgrounds, lifestyles, plus different genders and ages to answer to different business opportunities more creatively and promptly. Diversity has changed in a way that the issue is no longer just male or female and black and white. It is greatly complex now. It is many things but it is greatly about the way we connect, emphasize and interact with different individuals. The advantages
Different organizations approach the management of diversity from several perspectives. For the success of diversity, the most crucial component is seeing it as a commitment throughout the organization
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
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)