In today’s society, cultural diversity is at the highest point it has ever been. As companies are becoming more diverse, it is becoming more important for them to understand and manage that diversity. People of different backgrounds, races, ages, sex, and/or religions create a diverse workforce. There is an importance of having a diverse workforce in order to provide better performance overall. With a diverse workforce, there arises a need for new management strategies, which require organization leaders and managers to know the differences among their employees and to know how to handle situations involving these differences. As Dr. Sondra Thiederman, a leading expert in workplace diversity, stated, ``whether you are a business owner, executive, salesperson or customer- service professional, your success will increasingly depend on your ability to function in a culturally diverse marketplace'' (Thiederman, 2000).
During this past summer, I participated in an internship program in which I worked for a major company, Thorngate, that employees over 300 people. In this organization, there is a divide between upper management and the workers in terms of diversity. Upper management is predominately white male, while the worker population is predominately female. This is added to with the diversity in race among the workers. This divide could potentially be problematic for the company. Literature on the subject of diversity in the workplace and how it can be handled, revealed statistics on diversity and suggestions for how to handle it.
The growth in diversity is continually on the rise. Today, one in four people in this country belong to a minority or are foreign-born (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). These minorities are considered include any person who is not a white-male. Women today, who currently make up less than half the work force, are expected to fill 65 percent of the jobs created during this decade (Jackson et al., 1998). Also during the next decade, all minorities are expected to hold almost three-quarters of all jobs in the country (Johnston, 1999). The work force at Thorngate follows this trend since women are roughly three-quarters of the employees and that women minorities are roughly one-third of the workers. Businesses like Thorngate, whom employ mass amounts of people, should realize that a diverse workforce is needed in order to continue lon...
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... work environment when managed properly can produce better performance. It is for these reason that managers and leaders in the organizations should learn about the differences of gender, age, sex, religion, etc in their work environment and learn how to communicate well between them.
References
Cox, T. H., Jr. & Blake, S. (1992). Managing Cultural Diversity: Implications for Organizational Competitiveness. Academy of Management Executive, 5(3).
Jackson, S. E., & Associates. (1998). Diversity in the workplace. The Professional Practice Series (Douglas W. Bray, Ed., Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology). New York: Guilford Press.
Johnston, W. B., & Packer, A. E. (1999). Workforce 2000: Work and workers for the 21st century. Indianapolis, IN: Hudson Institute.
Thiederman, S. (2000). Profiting in America's Multicultural Marketplace. Lexington, MA. Lexington Books.
Thomas, D. A. & Ely, R. J. (1998). Making Differences Matter: A new Paradigm for Managing Diversity. Harvard Business Review, September-October 1998.
U.S. Census Bureau (2001). Demographic Profiles: Census 2000. Retrieved November 4, 2001 from the World Wide Web: www.census.gov.
Cañas, K. A. & Sondak, H. (2011). Opportunities and challenged for workplace diversity: Theory, cases, and exercises. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.
In attempts to comply with federal laws and in relation to fairness, organizations and business in the United States started increasing women’s representation and employment of people of color. These efforts resulted in a trend where women representation across all types of jobs increased while the workplace was characterized with people from different cultural backgrounds. Organizations and businesses sported multicultural and multilingual hues that resulted in a paradigm shift in the concept of workplace diversity (Srikrishna,
Cañas, K. A., & Sondak, H. (2014). Opportunities and challenges of workplace diversity: Theory, cases, and exercises (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
U.S. Census Bureau (2003). 2003 American Community Survey data. Retrieved April 10, 2005 from: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFPeople?_event=&geo_id=01000US&_geoContext=01000US&_street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=
The diversity message and its tools must be properly presented to front line associates. A memo or mission statement on a corporate website, or a mandatory ‘Click and learn’ course regarding the companies diversity policy is simply just not enough. There must be an ongoing dialogue, education and encouragement for all employees to grow and thrive. Difference must be celebrated and recognized.
Decreasing the disparity among whites and people of color eventually leads to higher productivity, stronger work ethic, and better team functioning. “Diversity enhances and affects group performance in diverse teams” (Van Dijk, et. al., 2013). As stated by researchers Winfred Arthur, Jr. and Dennis Doverspike, to have a diverse and successful working environment, employers and business leaders should work on limiting the role they play in privilege and accept more applicants from minority backgrounds (2005). According to researchers at the Texas A&M University and the University of
Diversity management initiatives are long term and strategic in focus. They strive not only to recruit, but to actively develop, promote and capitalize on the different skills and perspectives of minority employees (Marquis, 2007.) Every day, peopl...
Carrell, Michael R. and Mann, Everett E. “Defining workforce diversity in public sector organizations” Public Personnel Management, p.99 2013
Riccucci, N. M. (2002). Managing diversity in public sector workforces. (p. 28). Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Gender, racial, and ethnic diversity means different things to different people. Some believe that diversity is about quotas, and affirmative action. Others believe that diversity is something that will happen on its own with out intervention. Some experts who study diversity, however, believe that diversity is not something that should be left up to chance. It is important, therefore, for organizations to take action to encourage and foster diversity in the workplace (Clarke, 1995, p. 13).
The importance of diversity, advantages and disadvantages/problems that arise in the workforce will be discussed, as well as the key tools and strategies supervisors need to know about managing diversity in the workplace.
Subbarao, A. V. Managing workforce diversity: an innovation or an evolution? Ottawa: Faculty of Administration, University of Ottawa, 1995.
The impact of diversity in the workplace is contingent upon several factors. Across companies diversified workforces are becoming increasingly common. To successfully manage a diverse workforce, organizations are ensuring that employees understand how their values and stereotypes influence their behavior toward others of different gender, ethnic, racial, or religious backgrounds; are gaining an appreciation of cultural differences among themselves; and behaviors that isolate or intimidate minorities are being improved (Noe et al., 2010, pg. 302).
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.
For the purpose of this paper, I will define what the term Diversity means, and then I will concentrate on the diversity as a result of geographic origin or ethnic diversity. I will look at how ethnic diversity is managed generally and then how my employer, deals with the diverse ethnic groups in its organization and what it needs to improve on.