Surface Level Diversity

The owner of the company is of the black American descent. That has a lot to do with the decoration inside of the building. Before opening the store the owner did research on different cultures to gain knowledge about different backgrounds. This is done out of respect to different people that may come into the store. It is understood that different people have different beliefs and expect to be treated a certain way. The employees at the company are of different diversities and all work well together. They are required to attend yearly sensitivity training which helps with customer service and that allows the company to stay at the top of its game.

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).

Diversity is vital in today's workplace. Having a diverse workforce opens up a wealth of possibilities and helps to encourage creativity and innovation.

In this world today everyone is unique as we all have different characteristics, however in some workforce’s diversity has occurred causing some issues. Despite this, diversity is made up of deep and surface level diversity, which is based on our values and beliefs and our appearance. As such, people in society are making judgments about individuals based on their appearance causing an issue in the workforce. The topics discussed relevant to surface level diversity are age, gender, disability, culture, religion and race which is causing issues like exclusion, misunderstanding and conflict (Armstrong, Adam, Denize & Kotler 2015). Therefore this essay will discuss some issues involving diversity and the differences in ability for

Diversity is very important on a workplace because it create a respectful environment, reduce conflict, help business reputations, and avoid legal issues. This accepting and managing of these cultural differences has over the years become an important factor of organizational success.

The purpose of this paper is designed to introduce, educate, and promote diversity within your company. Your company will be shown the merits of diversity and how diversity within your organization can be a benefit. This paper will be broken down into three main areas: Benefits of Diversity, Challenges of Diversity, and Recommendations for an effective diversity within your organization..

The way in which an organization tackles diversity determines its negative or positive outcome. All the 5 companies agreed that diversity has contributed to their success. Some barriers were identified in managing diversity like the difficulties faced by women in managing the work and family, fear of discrimination, resistance to change, diversity is not seen as an organizational priority, resistance to change and unsupportive working environment for diverse employees. Diversity contributes to more productivity but if not properly managed could hinder success.

Hiring a diverse workforce is valuable in enhancing effectiveness of any manager or leader for many reasons, as outlined by Kerby and Burns (2012): (1) a diverse workforce drives

Diversity should be respected and valued because everyone is different and can offer an alternative perspective. Everyone should be treated equally because everyone has something to offer and everyone has a strong factor/skill that they can contribute to the company.

Rewards should be given out to the people that truly work and earned their position not just handed to them. Managers as well as supervisors that end up working fair and are fully open to everyone should be acknowledged and rewarded at the end. Different services as training can be given to promote the different benefits of diversity when dealing with cultures as well as the advantages that are being gained as well as customer service. Providing this training can make each employee more open to wanting to work with other people that come from different backgrounds and importantly be able to know how to communicate. Creating a work environment that is created from different backgrounds will end up creating more services. With that being said, it’s my recommendation to focus on being diverse, friendly and focus on recruiting different ethics as well as acknowledging different selections in order for the overall division to continue to work and make the store even more successful than what it is

Slowly, society is changing its views about diversity. Beginning with strong legislation regarding anti-discrimination in the workplace, laws have been established, in the United States, from the Civil Rights Act and Title VII of 1964 (which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, and natural origin), Age Discrimination Act of 1967, Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, just to name a few. These, and a multitude of other laws, have been created as a need to comply with equal opportunity employment objectives as well as a personal feeling of wanting to “do the right thing.” Now, many decades later, it’s not just doing the right thing but rather doing the “smart thing”. With a global economy, a technological revolution, and both customers and suppliers coming from diverse backgrounds, it makes

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)

Currently I am employed with a company that some may say is the 'melting pot' of diversity. Working for Corporate Safeway, now Albertsons-Safeway, I can appreciate how judgement free the environment is in our work place. They are open to hiring minorities, LGBT, (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender), disabled veterans and that's just to name a few. Hiring a staff that is of many different cultures, nationalities and belief backgrounds is a great way to show the awareness of diversity. I am a true believer that a great business starts at the top. If management can provide their employees with the skills and knowledge of working in a diverse setting this will lead to a steady and smooth work environment. Knowing how to properly and correctly carry yourself is the first step in working with the different variety of customers or co-workers you may encounter.

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?

Diversity in workforce “include, but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience”(Thomas 1992). Diversity in the workforce is initially perceived as a response toward the increasing diversity of the consumers in the market (Agocs & Burr, 1996). From there, it has been observed that capitalizing on existing differences among the employees provide benefits to the organization. Diversity in workforce fosters and encourages