Diversity in the Workplace

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).

Regardless of how diversity is defined, it is an issue that is sweeping the nation. By the 21st century, racial and ethnic minorities will constitute 25% of the U.S. population, affecting the makeup of the U.S. labor force (7). By the year 2000, women will constitute 47% of the total workforce and the average age of the workforce is expected to increase from 36 in 1986 to age 39 (7). If the corporate society does not address the issue by learning how to manage diversity, they will fail.

Year after year, the various departments and agencies of the United States Federal Government are becoming more diverse. The discussion of workplace diversity is not a discussion that is likely to disappear anytime soon in the future. To explain, the literature from Starks (2009) notes that by the year of 2050, minorities groups will account for fifty-percent of the population, in the United States of America. As a result, the discussion of diversity in the workplace is likely to still be a constant topic, for the various department and agencies of the United States Federal Government.

Nursing is a field that is predicted to expand over the years. It takes a special type of person to become a nurse. Nurses are deem to be patient, advocate, caring, and dependable. Although nursing continues to advance, diversity is yet to be address in order to tackle the issue of health disparities and maintain health equity. The term nurse is mostly construe as a Caucasian women rather than an international black female. There is a lot more diverse population which contributed to the advancement of nursing rather than just one race or ethnicity. Rosseter (2015) states, nurses who have been in the field for years perceived a strong connection between culturally competent workforces and the quality to give socially skilled patient care. In

“In 2020 one half of the population of The United State is expected to be a mixture of different ethnic group.”(Huston, p138). According to the latest Nation Sample Survey of Registered Nurse (NSSRN) from 2008, “nurses from minority background represent just 16.8 % of the registered nurse work force with RN population comparing 83.2 % of white RN”. (Huston, p138) It is evidence that this unbalanced workforce white health care nurses cannot adequately meet the needs of the increasing non-white population.

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

Diversity in the workplace is crucial for a competent and efficient staff to enable a smooth and effective performance of their duties and responsibilities (Huston, 2010). In nursing, there is an even greater need for diversity, bearing in mind the ever-changing population trends leading to a diverse citizen base. Ethnicity is one aspect that is on an increase and requires constant updating, if nurses are to deliver quality services to the patients of different ethnic backgrounds. The influence of diversity in the nursing field has been immense, and has catapulted the quality and speed of service delivery in many healthcare providing institutions. With further diversity, especially with regard to demographic, gender and ethnic factors, more

Many organizations are beginning to view diversity as an organizational change. This could possibly mean changes in the power dynamics and organizational structure, the way decisions are made, and the way an

In Diversity Training, we discuss the many benefits to and steps to becoming a thriving organization in today’s global workplace. After working with this course, you will be able to:

Yet if this is true—and we believe it is—where are the positive impacts of diversity? Numerous and varied initiatives to increase diversity in corporate America have been under way for more than two decades. Rarely, however, have those efforts spurred leaps in organizational

As companies become more diverse in the work field employees are getting harder to manage and understand. One issue in the global market today is workplace diversity. Workplace diversity is defined as all characteristics and experiences that defined each employee as individuals, but it can also be misunderstood as discrimination against employees. Diversity can include race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability and sexual orientation discrimination. One reason why workplace diversity is important is because when you respect your employees productivity rate rises and many companies do not know that. A diverse workplace targets to create an inclusive culture that values and uses the talents of all employees.

With the changing demographics of the U.S. workforce (Ng & Burke, 2005) and the need for organizations to continually innovate their products and services to remain competitive, embracing diversity and the benefits its brings is going to be key to driving a successful organization

Workforce diversity is a key element of OB and should be a priority of effective leaders and managers because "Diversity is emerging as one of the most serious issues in the workplace today, yet most employers are not prepared to deal with it" (Copeland, 2003, Erroneous

I found myself taken aback by Peter Buerhaus’ research findings that by 2025 there will be a “shortfall of 500,000 RNs…the largest shortage of nurses in history,” (Mason, 2011, p. 22). That is a surprising quantity, but it distinctly illustrates the extent to which the demand for nursing has grown, and emphasizes the vital role nurses play. I emphatically support Mason’s observation regarding pitfalls employers should take care to avoid in their attempts to rectify this nursing shortage. She observes that, “much of the focus has been on how to recruit more new nurses, with insufficient regard for how to retain and better utilize qualified

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