Managing Diversity in the Workplace

3300 Words7 Pages

Diversity in the Workplace Abstract Imagine that you are a highly qualified former Hispanic executive who was recently laid off from a fortune 500 hundred company. Within that company you held several key roles in which you were crucial to the success of the organization. In the prior roles you may have never really understood the need or the process of managing diversity. You hold several advanced degrees in key business fields despite all of your experience education and the economy flourishing you can’t seem to find a job comparable to where you were. You happen to buy a copy of the Wall Street Journal and on the front page is the article below: Hispanics are the nation's largest minority group, and the youngest, and the most underrepresented in companies' top management. Since 1990 the Hispanic population has grown from 22.4 million to nearly 42.6 million. By 2050 they'll account for one out of four U.S. citizens. But of the 10,417 board seats in Fortune 1,000 companies, they hold only 191, and occupy just a scant 1.1% of the executive offices in those companies. Of the top 1,000 corporations, 913 have no Latino officers, and 35 entire industries, like insurance and telecommunications, have no Hispanics at all in executive positions. Search firms say their databases are rich with Latino talent. LatPro, the largest job board for Hispanics, has a database of 240,000 professionals, with 50,000 candidates seeking entry level management positions -- the same $50,000 to $100,000 a year positions companies say they're having trouble filling with diverse professionals. Says Ernesto Fresquez of Fresquez & Associates, an Oakland staffing firm, "I could fill every professional position in a major corporation, from entry level to CEO, with highly qualified, educated and experienced Hispanic candidates." But the demand just hasn't been there. One problem, says this article, is that companies may not be aware of these resources; another may be that they're unwilling to face how far behind they are in Hispanic hiring. (Thomas 2003) Introduction When the society’s functioning of diversity and social responsibility fails, the results are a system of inequality and lacking of social commitment. Diversity concerns are relevant and essential human ideas in which making choices is not always a matter of ethics or black and white. Managing diversity does no... ... middle of paper ... ...e 11. 12. Managing Diversity (1999, July). Black Enterprise, 23(12), 79-86.. 13. Overman, Stephanie (1997, April). Managing the diverse workforce. HR Magazine, 36(4), 32-36. 14. Rice Jr., Booker (2000, May-June). Putting diversity to work: Playing on a level field. LIMRA's MarketFacts, 11(3), 38-39. 15. Schwartz, Robert H. & Sullivan, Dale B. (1999, Spring). Managing diversity in hospitals. Health Care Management Review, (2), 51-56. 16. Scott III, Samuel C. (1999, November-December). Vive La Differerce. Financial Executive pp. 44-48. 17. Thomas Jr., R. Roosevelt R. (2000, Winter). The concept of managing diversity. Bureaucrat, 20(4), 19-22. 18. Wagner, Mary (1997, September). Managing diversity Modern Healthcare, 21(39), 24-29. 19. Wilkinson, Brad (1999, October) Managing diversity: Buzz word or business strategy? HR Atlanta, 8. 20. Williams, Mary V. (1997, January). Managing Workplace Diversity. The wave of the 90's. Communication World, 7(1) 16-19. 21. James William, (Feb 26-03). Work-life effort key, say job-seekers. (Diversity). BUSINESS WIRE 22. Scott Thomas (March 18-03). Hispanics absent from high positions. (Diversity) Wall Street Journal

Open Document