However, there are obstacles to having/bringing diversity into the workplace. Such as there are advantages and disadvantages, just like there are strength and weakness to this being in the workplace. Management has the opportunity to develop a successful strategy to manage a diverse workplace. Workplace diversity is taken more serious now than 20 years ago. The demographics of the American workforce have changed dramatically over the last 50 years. In the 1950s, more than 60% of the American workforce consisted of white males (Lindenberger). Macy’s is one of many companies that is an diverse and inclusive organization. Macy’s believes that different perspectives are important to their company. Also they believe “To serve their diverse customers, …show more content…
Ethnic minorities represent about 59 percent of our associate team and represent approximately 36 percent of our management team” (Inc). As companies and businesses are learning, diversity inclusion is tied to and related to the bottom line of the organization. If employees feel included in the organization then they will want to stay there and keep producing at high levels. An inclusive environment minimizes an insider vs. outsider culture to gain traction (Avatel, 2010). Leaders and managers within organizations must incorporate diversity policies into every aspect of the organization’s function and purpose. Management cooperation and participation is required to create a culture conducive to the success of your organization’s plan. (Greenberg). It should be the HR’s main goal to ensure that the organization mission, aspect and goals are being executed. Management strategies must be effective in managing a diverse workplace. Successful management of a diverse workplace faces multiple challenges in the aspect of diversity existing in today’s workplaces. Increased diversity and inclusiveness in an organization increases the understanding and trust in the …show more content…
Researchers reviewed previous research that showed diversity training programs often have “little positive effect” and undertook further experiments that demonstrate that programs may actually backfire, setting diversity back at companies (Sherman, 2016). “One explanation for the lackluster success of most diversity management attempts: when people feel threatened, they may resist efforts to make the workplace more inclusive” (Sherman, 2016). One study showed how the existence of a diversity policy can lead whites and men to believe that work environment is fair. “Participants from ethnic minorities viewed a pro-diversity company as no more inclusive, no better to work for, and no less likely to discriminate against minorities than a company without a pro-diversity stance,” (Sherman, 2016). Companies seem to be putting more into diversity programs and actions for diversity than what they are getting out of from it. One of the researchers believe that for the effort of diversity initiatives to work companies need to embrace people in order to be reliable for results. “If companies are going to say they value diversity, they need policies in place that support diversity; otherwise it’ll make people [in the majority] feel vulnerable and likely less supportive of the cause.” (Sherman, 2016). I believe that for diversity to work for organizations and for it to be successful for organizations they would need to
According to McCormick (2007), the first form of workplace diversity happened in 1948, when President Truman approved Executive Order 9981 whose main purpose was to advance equal treatment and opportuities in the armed forces. Therefore, scholars cite it as the origin of workplace diversity because President Truman the committee tasked to implement the executive order, used it to pursue desegregation in the armed forces. In the business world, many companies long held the belief that the assimiltion of new recruits in an organization required their socialization to adapt to the organization’s existent culture. However, over the last few decades, business organizations have realized that because of various reasons, the orgnizational culture must conform if it must attract and maintain a competitive workforce. This change has been steered by variety of workplace diversity initiatives. Despite the proliferation of such initiatives, the term “workplace diversity” is virtually never defined. Many attempts at defining the term are often in a circular or conclusory manner that does little to strengthen a collective understanding of this term.
Generally when someone begins speaking about diversity in the workplace, thoughts of Affirmative Action, racial diversity, or even sexual equality are usually foremost in our thoughts. However, diversity in the workplace really is so much more than this, we must also consider aging workers, handicapped workers, those with alternative lifestyles, and even physical traits to name others (For the sake of simplification, throughout this paper these will usually be included in the term, minorities).
14. Rice Jr., Booker (2000, May-June). Putting diversity to work: Playing on a level field. LIMRA's MarketFacts, 11(3), 38-39.
The workforce of America is more diverse than it has ever been. White male upper class men no longer solely dominate companies. Women, people of color, and other minority groups are now rising in the ranks and demanding change. How can one know all the ways to manage such a diverse group of employees? Through a variety of ideas, experiments, and attempts, leaders across the nation are looking for solutions to this answer. Not only are people coming from different ethnicities, we are also experiencing a great influx of workers from nations all across the globe. To keep the level of job satisfaction high, workers must be able to feel comfortable in their workplace environment. It is almost impossible for a person to know everything about all cultures and be aware of what may or may not offend a person from a different ethnic group. What must be done is to teach cultural awareness and diversity training. Basically what I have discovered in reading the journal articles is that there is no one right way to run a company but there are definitely ‘better’ ways when it comes to cultural sensitivity in the workplace. As I continue my research, I am looking to find what some of the most effective ways to manage a culturally diverse workplace. Some of the issues that I am coming across are related to gender, race/ethnicity, communication patterns, and power struggles. I feel this subject is very relevant to our course because as we focus on management and human relations, we must take into account the humans that we are managing. Even if we just look at the diversity of our class we see how different our perspectives can be. To be an effective manager in this day and age, cultural diversity issues must be given serious consider...
Diversity is a composite of racial, gender, ethnic, nation origin, cultural, attitudinal, social-economic, and personal differences. With the many legal implications and issues surrounding every aspect of the Human Resource function, the human Resource department must be prepared to resolve issues in a timely and cost efficient manner. With the saturation of laws surrounding personnel, nearly every decision made by the Human Resource Department has the potential for legal suits. Even if the Human Resource department has done everything that is required of them, it can still be costly to defend it. That is why supervisors, managers and workers must be trained on managing diversity in the workplace.
According to researchers Frances Maher and Mary Kay Tetreault, “Privilege, in its root meaning, pertains to a law--in this case often silent and unseen--that works for or against individuals and groups” (2009). In other words, although privilege is not an object, it is real. Privilege has been demonstrated in various forms of inequality and prejudice all throughout the United States’ history. From not allowing all races to become citizens of the U.S. prior to the Fourteenth Amendment to controlling who got to vote, privilege continues to impact societies. Currently, racial privilege has had a large effect on young adults, such as those in the workforce. Here, privilege negatively affects young people by limiting their hiring opportunities,
Managing workplace diversity well requires the creation of an wide-ranging environment that values and utilizes the contribution of people of different backgrounds, experiences and perspective. All organizations policies, practices and processes that impact on the lives of employees need to recognize the potential benefits that can be derived from having access to range of perspectives and to take account of these differences in managing the workplace. Work systems, organizational structures, performance appraisal measurements, recruitment and selection practices and career development opportunities all have impact on the organizational behavior upon the management of diversity.
Business Firms and organization need to apply workforce diversity in their management. Diversity at the workplace is simply understood as the variation of skills, experience and ideas among employees. This can arise due to differences in various aspects like race, gender, religion and physical attributes. In addition to these, other discrepancies include national origin, medical conditions and so many more (Subbarao 98). Diversity among the workers is an important tool that often leads to prosperity in an organization hence the need for maximum application of this important business virtue.
Workforce diversity has become a reality in organizations. More organizations have written workforce diversity policies or programs. Although there is still no consensus on how to define workforce diversity, diversity policies and program are producing positive effects in organizations. Diversity in the workplace is a way of defining acceptable behaviors of employees. Diversity represents all the ways in which individuals are both similar and different. It involves a variation of characteristics such as: age, sex, color, religion, national origin, disability, or any other differences. Although diversity initiatives are common in the workplace today, this is due mainly to the federal government use of constitutional amendments, legislation, and executive orders, along with court decisions to interpret the laws for equal rights (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2010). The way an organization defines diversity and how it manages its diverse workforce may determine its effectiveness.
The Bangladesh genocide of 1971 had left a huge scar between the East Pakistani’s (Bengalis) and West Pakistanis (Punjabis). Both groups had different views on religion and power, enough to create atrocities. This conflict had influenced immense tensions between modern day Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. How did it all begin?
Companies such as Buzztronics are leading the way in the global economy because of their dedication to diversity in the workplace. In order to build a diverse and successful workforce, a business needs to recruit, train, and retain capable and talented minorities.
In a world that has grown increasingly smaller due to mass media, world travel, and readily available information, the workplace has grown increasingly diverse in both gender and cultural aspects. Individuals no longer live and work within the confines of their geographic locations. At almost any position with any company the individual employee is a part of a larger world economy that harvests assets from the ends of the earth. Because of this, companies seek to capitalize on diversity to become more creative and flexible in their business models.
In the workplace, it is common to encounter individuals of different cultures, ethnicities, and genders. This diversity can either lead to an introduction of new work methods, or it can lead to conflict between coworkers. In order to avoid conflict, and have all employees work as a cohesive team, managers must educate themselves, and their employees on the topic of cultural diversity. In order for your practices to be considered effective, you must not only respect and recognize an employee’s diversity, you must use their difference to benefit them.
Support employees to engage with others effectively: giving certain amount of opportunities, such as diversity skills training, team gatherings, activities outside the working environment.
Diversity refers to an inclusive community of individuals with similarities and differences. Diversity includes unified type of individuals in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, age, and religion (DuBrin, 2015). A business that proactively seeks diversity can build a great reputation and provide multiple prospectives. Diversity in the workplace can “establish relationships with recruiting resources of diverse people, and actively create a culture of inclusion” (Phillips & Gully, 2015, p. 31). However, diversity in the workplace can present challenges of its own.