Diversity And Equality At Work: Opportunities And Challenges - Essay Example

? DIVERSITY AND EQUALITY AT WORK: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES Grade Diversity Defined Diversity in the workplace is defined as the people working from various different educational backgrounds; different religions and races, having different types of beliefs and values, and all these differences are accepted in a professional manner and should be given proper respect and value by the management (Pilhofer, 2011). The efficiency level and the productivity level can increase to a great extent at the workplace if the element of diversity is managed and valued in the right perspective (Cox, 2011). Challenges of Diversity Maintaining and valuing diversity has many challenges involved in its concept. It is not a matter of just acknowledging the differences amongst the people in the organization, the differences need to be recognized, accepted and valued by the entire organization. Each and every member in the organization plays a role in recognizing and valuing the differences of any type amongst the work force in the organization. Maintaining equality amongst a diversified workforce is a very difficult task. Discrimination of any type such as ethnicity, colour, race, religion need to be eliminated from the workplace and the element of bonding and togetherness needs to be promoted within the workplace (Pilhofer, 2011). Other challenges are dealing with the attitudes of different employees. If employees have negative attitudes, they can act as obstacles towards building a healthy relationship within a diversified organization. Workplace diversity can be affected causing the morale level of employees to go down and also may harm the level of productivity for the organization (Bagshaw, 2004). In a diversified organization, there is language competency and skills issue pertaining and acting as a barrier towards building a strong multicultural organization. The training programs being conducted in the organization may be misinterpreted by the employees and this may lead to further obstacles in the organization (Cox, 2011). To overcome such issues, the organization needs to ensure that they communicate the definition of diversity amongst the employees in an effective and convincing manner (Bagshaw, 2004). Maintaining Workforce diversity Maintaining the workforce diversity and equality in the workplace is important for all organizations as by managing the workforce diversity and equality, the organization can maintain a peaceful work environment for their human resources. By maintaining workforce diversity and equality, the organization can gain a strong competitive edge in the market. Diversified workforce needs to be carefully managed by the top management and they need to ensure that equality is practiced in its fullest sense amongst a diversified workforce (Hartel, 2004). The organization needs to ensure that the human resource management functions actively for the organization regarding the issues of diversity. The human resource managers should know how to tackle workforce diversity effectively. Organization environment should be motivating and satisfactory for the employees so that they can feel comfortable while working. All the standards for the performance must have a set criterion without any biasness of any type. The criteria should state the acceptable and unacceptable behaviours of employees at the workplace. The diversity strategies being implemented by the management should be according to the culture of the organization so that the results attained can be successful for the firm (Cox, 2011). By ensuring proper training programs in the workforce, the dilemmas that are faced by diversity can be minimized to a large extent. The perceptions of the employees related towards the issues of diversity needs to be addressed in such a way so that it removes all doubts and any conflicting issue from the mind’s of the employees (Billy, 2011). Intercultural communication tactics will help in managing a diversified workforce. The cultural differences that are present amongst the workforce need to be respected by all individuals working in the organization. The values and beliefs of the workforce need to be identified and examined and accordingly policies and work practices need to be designed by the management (Pilhofer, 2011) Diversity can also be managed positively by creating a support system in the organization so that the isolation factor can be eliminated from the work environment. This can be implemented by instigating formal systems in the organization and transferring the information through the informal networks (Pilhofer, 2011). Advantages of Workforce Diversity & Equality The advantages include that organizations are in a position to make practical decisions as and when required, with a diversified workforce the organization is able to gain new ideas and suggestions, the level of creativity and innovation of products and services may also be enhanced as a diversified workforce may cater towards untapped areas. Some organization plan to become global and one of the most important advantages of having a diversified workforce and maintaining equality among them is that in foreign markets, the success ratio increases (Seymen, 2006). Diversified workforce builds strong interaction with foreign markets and also enhances their level of job performance. This happens when the diversified workforce have been performing in this group for a long time. They develop strong cultural norms and everyone in the group respects the differences amongst each other (Hartel, 2004). Many large corporations around the world have acknowledged that having a diversified workforce can make the organization gain a strong competitive edge in the market (Bagshaw, 2004). Disadvantages of Workforce Diversity & Equality The disadvantages of workforce diversity are that the organization may have to invest in the training of the employees. Training may be provided through seminars, various types of lectures and workshops and all of these will add on to additional expenses. Another disadvantage of diversity is that there are chances of conflicts arising. The conflicts arise due to disagreements between individuals on any issue. Workplace conflicts needs to be addressed by the management and if management delays this they may have to face heavy consequences (Billy, 2011). Workplace diversity has increased level of labour turnover as employees may not feel comfortable in a diversified work environment. The minority groups may feel they are not valued: reasons could be stereotyping or the element of prejudice and other such factors (Hartel, 2004). If management is unfair or unequal in dealing with a diversified workforce, this may impact the motivation and ability level of the minority in the workforce and they may make decisions to leave the organization. Mismanagement of a diversified workforce may hinder the path of realizing the potential abilities of the employees as well as of the corporation (Hartel, 2004). Argument There have been other research studies that have indicated that a high level of diversity in the workforce can hinder the element of equality to be maintained amongst the workforce and this in turn can lead to a highly dissatisfied workforce. These types of organizations face a high level of turnover (Billy, 2011). The main element of consideration is the approach towards diversity taken by the management of the organization and not the issue of a diversified workforce working in the organization. The way management handles a diversified workforce depicts how successful such a workforce can prove to be for the organization. Management needs to impose equality in dealing with all the employees in all matters. Opportunities of Diversity & Equality at Work The element of diversity and equality may assist the organization into entering the international markets that have high growth potential and may prove to be highly worthwhile for the organization (Hartel, 2004). The international global arena has spread across wide dimensions and so a diversified organization allows success in international market. To become a global organization is one of the latest practices that are being implemented and worked upon by many organizations, with a diversified workforce the organization’s innovative ability and creativity can be greatly enhanced and the organization may derive demand to a large extent in the international market (Seymen, 2006). Diversified workforce may give organizations the edge in adapting to the changes that take place in the organization or in the business environment. The change factor becomes easily acceptable among the employees. A diversified workforce can in other words be termed as a flexible workforce. Organizations possess the chance of becoming competitive both at the internal level as well as the external level with a diversified workforce performing in the organization (Pilhofer, 2011). CONCLUSION The approaches that are taken up by the management to deal with diversity related issues are important considerations as it has a direct impact on the success or failure of any organization. An organization without a diversified workforce is not possible in this era of globalisation therefore it is wise for organization to develop diversity strategies prior to the recruitment and selection of employees for the organization. If management evaluates the potential abilities and benefits of a diversified workforce, they would realize the importance of a diversified workforce. On the contrary, a diversified workforce has its disadvantages as well but that need to be strategically dealt by the organization by formulating strategies accordingly. Also, the management needs to ensure that they promote equality while dealing with all employee related matters. Employee willingness and motivation to work in the organization plays an important role in allowing the diversified workforce to perform successfully in the organization. REFERENCES Bagshaw, Mike (2004). Is diversity divisive?. Journal of industrial and commercial training, 36(4): pp.153-157. Billy, V. (2011). High Impact Diversity Consulting. San Francisco, CA. Diversity Training University International Publications Division. Cox, Jr., Taylor (2011). The Multicultural Organisation. Academy of Management Executive, 5(2), 34-47. Hartel EJ (2004). Towards a Multicultural World: Identifying Work Systems, Practices and Employee Attitudes that Embrace Diversity, Journal of Australian management, 29 (2): pp.189 200. Keay, A. (2011). The Corporate Objective, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Pilhofer, K. (2011). Cultural Knowledge - A Critical Perspective on the Concept as a Foundation for Respect for Cultural Differences, London: Diplomica Verlag. Seymen, O. A. (2006). The cultural diversity phenomenon in organisations and different approaches for effective cultural diversity management: a literary review. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 13 (4), 296-310. Read More