Workplace diversity is when there is diverse culture of individuals in the workplace. It is when there is a value placed on the variety of ideas, race, ethnicities, religion, gender, sexuality and orientation, which is flourishing in an environment. Depending on your employer and workplace, workplace diversity can vary based off several different factors. Usually, there is a preferential standpoint taken on the matter and it can be either display a high or a low context culture of diversity. According to Mason (2013) Workforce diversity has been described as “a double-edged sword; it has the potential for positive and negative outcomes” (p.659). Workplace diversity is important in a business setting because it carries forward a combination of different types of people to work together in unity, encourages uniqueness, innovative, creative approaches, and supports interesting divergent ideas to accomplish tasks or goals.
Benefits of a high workplace diversity environment is it not being stuck to conformity in group thinking, or being narrow-minded with similar thoughts and having preference to only be around people who think like you do which is known as the “diversity paradox”. According to a quote stated from Friedrich Nietzsche, Hackett (2014) “The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently” (p. 415). Instead, it reiterates the importance of having a diverse workplace because it constructs better ideas, coming from different minds, and build upon each other through brainstorming. However, a poor workplace diversity can also adversely affect one’s motivation, which leads to overall job dissatisfaction and demotivation. When there is poor workplace diversity, you can see less communication barriers and cultural resistance, but it also makes it harder for individuals to get used to working with others that aren’t the same as them. This can become a form of adversity for businesses if their employees cannot develop a strong skill set to adapt with not only coworkers but also customers in the environment. Therefore, better communication and interaction skills are essential to promoting a business and making it successful.
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
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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.
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.
Diversity at a workplace includes people from different ages, cultural backgrounds, ethnicities and genders to be managed by supervisors in order to serve as one branch of an organization. Below are some of the advantages of diversity. Employees and Managers are admired by business communities if they strive to increase diversity throughout the workforce. This is because diversity encourages the participation of everyone i.e. majority and minority groups that are a part of the population. However, companies do face challenges when managing diversity in the workplace.
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.
The benefits of managing diversity well includes increased creativity, and reduced conflicts at work. There are many methods of managing diversity, including training, compliance adherence, and socialization. Similar to ethical conduct, managing diversity could be included in the corporate value statement, and is worked into the organization culture so that it
Abstract- Managing Diversity in the workplace requires a lot of focus, training, and time. This paper gives an insight into the world of management and how diversity plays a big part. It explores the key benefits to putting emphasis on diversity and also how not putting emphasis on diversity could hurt your business. This paper also gives examples on how to go about managing diversity in the workplace. With proper focus on managing diversity, your organization can be at a big advantage.
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.
Having a diverse workforce is very important, people of different genders, age, religion and ethnicity may all bring something to the table in their previous work experience. When companies focus on having a diverse work force within their company, there is more opportunity for enhanced creativity, better ideas, and increased productivity. When people of different backgrounds work together, they each bring a different set of eyes, opinions, and experiences to the table. A company benefits from the teamwork that all employees brainstorm and do together.
Business Dictionary. com (2017), defines workforce diversity as the “Similarities and differences among employees in terms of age, cultural background, physical abilities and disabilities, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation.” Workforce diversity is extremely important in today’s workforce because in the past, businesses usually negotiated with clients from only nearby towns and communities, but today with technology bringing us cell phones, computers, and video conferences, it is not unusual for businesses to negotiate with clients from around the world. However, diversity has always been important because it results in a larger pool of talent. To effectively develop ideas and formulate solutions, it is much more effective to utilize the input of various viewpoints than to only utilize a single mindset. Multiple perceptions also breed creativity and innovation. Different walks of life make us wiser to different issues.
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary can define diversity as: the condition or instance of being or having composed of differing elements or qualities. The importance of accommodating diversity has been persistently high for and supported by people all over America for decades. The United States is made up of different religions, gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicities. Thus, making our nation one of the most diverse on this planet. An environment where diversity is respected individuals, and united members of teams can effectively apply all their talents, skills and experiences in pursuit of business objectives to their competitive advantage. In a constant changing world, diversity is all around us, and it is important to relate to others if they are different from us. Diversity itself is a controversial topic today whether it’s in the workplace, judicial system or education facilities.
Workforce Diversity- The variety of differences between people in the company such as race, ethic gender, education, etc. (pg.46)
Workplace diversity describes how people differ in age, race, ethnicity, gender, physical ability, and sexual orientation (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2008, p. 11). Diversity in the workplace is necessary to bring different ideas and solutions to the problems a company may face. By having a diverse workforce a global company is more likely to be successful than a company with employees who are similar and think alike. Diversity allows employees to learn from others who are not the same and promotes dignity and respect for everyone. Workplace diversity is also about creating a work environment that encourages learning from others and takes advantage of diverse perspectives.
Workplace diversity involves building a culture to unity dissimilar individuals to work collectively toward the same goal. This type of comradery builds mutual respect among workers and fosters a presence of cohesiveness. There are times when perfect unity is challenging to achieve among coworkers. However, the visible presence of the different strengths and talents achieved from a diverse group gains undeniable respect from their cohorts.