We Need Diversity in the Workplace Essay

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 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.

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

Today’s an age of competition. Every organization finds ways to be successful. The success of an organization lies in making profits and building brand image. The search by various scholars has found that a diverse workplace, if managed properly, can do wonders for the success of an organization. Diversity means differences due to race, gender, ethnic groups, age, personality, tenure, organizational function, educational background, etc. Diversity involves how people perceive themselves and how they perceive others. These perceptions affect their interactions.

Organizations are increasingly emphasizing group work or teamwork as a source of competitive advantage in a diverse workforce" (Aghazadeh, 2004). The success of an organization depends on the workforce of the organization. By using demography, managers can learn how to handle the needs or concerns of people of different genders, ethnicities, etc (Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn, 2005). "Cultural diversity has an impact on the interaction process and performance in teams" (Saji, 2004). A diverse team or workforce gives companies a competitive advantage by enabling them to better meet the needs of their customers, successfully compete in the global marketplace, and hire from an expanded labor pool. Managing diversity involves the creation of an open, supportive, and responsive company in which diversity is acknowledged and valued by

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)

Diversity is no longer exclusive to recognizable differences such as race, gender, and culture; diversity now includes the viewpoints and methods of observable and unobservable variances a group offers to the workplace (Hewins-Maroney & Williams, 2013). Multicultural work environments add to the complexity of a diverse workforce because the units consist of three or more

Being successful at managing workforce diversity involves attracting and retaining the highest quality individuals in the talent pool. For managers it means learning how to manage human potential sensitively. It requires an ever-increasing awareness of how people from different backgrounds deal with authority, communication, overall business etiquette, and relate to their communities of affiliation. Successful management of workforce diversity is a process that takes place in many stages and on many levels. It requires managers to first recruit a competent and qualified staff, then to accommodate individual needs within the context of the work team and the organization.

According to Longenecker, Petty, Palich, & Hoy (2013), workforce diversity is the “differences among employees in the dimensions of gender, age, race, and ethnicity”. Differences among employees can be challenging and beneficial in a business. The benefits of attracting a diverse pool of candidates are; “improved effective recruitment methods, good relations maintenance with increasing heterogeneous customer base, varying perspectives to bear on business challenges, workplace innovation, and positive problem solving” capabilities (Longenecker & Petty, et al., 2013, p. 538). These benefits all contribute to the overall success of an organization.

A diverse workforce is required to be successful in today’s business market. People want to be a part of an organization which embraces diversity at all levels and tiers of a company not just at the entry or middle management. One of the ways to retain a diverse workforce is to ensure people can see that diversity at every level not just in the new location where they were just hired. Seeing this will allow a future vision of upward mobility unhindered by barriers commonly

Diversity in the workplace can be beneficial for an organization if the team is managed properly. However, many challenges can be presented such as communication issues, discrimination complaints and resistance to change. Managers are prepared to monitor performance and provide proper training when applicable; managers are not prepared to work with the differences that can be presented between employees. A manager should always be prepared to handle employees with different cultures, religions, ages and sexual orientations. The discrimination complaints against managers and/or other coworkers have increased significantly during the past years. Managers can avoid discrimination complaints when managing a diverse team. Managers should evaluate and assigned tasks to teammates individually or should the tasks be assigned in a group setting. The management team needs to identify what management style is more effective while managing a diverse team. Manager need to understand how to address a situation when two employees are using racial comments against each other. Every Human Resource department for these companies has to provide the proper training and monitor managers according to diversity of the team. The Human Resource department of these companies has to be ready to handle these complaints. Must companies are affected and face monetary losses due to discrimination complaints and lawsuits. All this can be avoided and/or minimized because managers have the ability to make a

The topic of diversity is an ever-growing discussion to encourage inclusion of different people, cultures, and backgrounds into the global marketplace. In my issue paper, I will explore the idea of diversity, its benefits, and how it can be included within key sectors of the business world. Diversity is an important factor to the business place that allows employees and customers to interact with companies that value their background as an essential part of their business plan company culture.

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).

Workforce Diversity: In the past, companies took a “melting pot” approach to diversity assuming that people would somehow automatically assimilate into the existing culture. But today’s managers have found out that employees di not set aside their cultural values and lifestyle preferences when they come to work. The challenge, therefore, is to make organizations more accommodating to diverse groups of people by addressing multiple different variables.

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