Managing Conflicts among a Diverse Workforce - Essay Example

The growth of multiculturalism in the workplace imparts the need for the managers to understand the cultural, ethnic, and gender-based differences of the workforce so that their conflicts can be resolved and their needs can be addressed.

Challenges for Managers in the Contemporary Organizations

• Resolving Interpersonal Conflicts

Over time, there has been an improvement in the discouragement of such notions as slavery, racism, and violence grounded in differences of race, gender, or ethnicity at all levels all across the world. However, although many people say that they condemn such practices, yet deep inside, they still cultivate certain negative perceptions about others who are not like them in terms of race, ethnicity, and such other variables. This sets the stage for the occasional conflicts among the diverse workers. Many times, workers may not even like to cultivate such negative perceptions about others, but they still feel discomfort and irritation when they are unable to understand or identify with the opinions, values, and beliefs of their peers and coworkers that are grounded in their respective cultures. “It's common to have friction with co-workers who have different values and work styles” (McGrath). Conflicts arising among workers because of such differences are very challenging for the managers to resolve because managers belonging to a certain culture may indeed feel the same frustration as the workers do.

• Protecting Public Relations

            Public relations matter a lot to contemporary organizations. Good public relations provide organizations with a competitive advantage in the market that is overcrowded with organizations rendering similar services as they do. Conflicts based on the differences of cultures, race, or gender happening in the workplace can generate a very negative message for the stakeholders, particularly the consumers in the society if they happen to learn about them. Managers face the challenge of not only resolving the interpersonal conflicts in the workplace but also controlling the information leaking out to the stakeholders to keep the organization’s image from being tarnished in the public eye.

Strategies of Conflict Resolution

• Learning Cultural Differences

Addressing the cultural, ethnic, and gender differences of the workforce requires managers to be more educated in these areas than they were ever before. Managers serving in the workplaces in the contemporary age need to acquaint themselves with all possible sources and causes of conflicts between the culturally and ethnically diverse workforce and have suitable strategies in place to resolve them effectively. To utilize their optimal potential, managers need to be proactive rather than reactive. Although managers may not primarily be educated in cultural diversity and the subjects that entail it like the study of different languages, the study of norms and values of different cultures, and the behaviors appreciated and condemned in them, it is recommendable for the managers serving in the contemporary organizations to undertake short courses in these areas or do a self-study of these subjects for the least. This would build up competency in the managers to analyze and understand things from a variety of cultural perspectives and identify the causes of conflicts among the workers at the grass-root level.

• Creating Awareness through Right Policies

            In addition to learning the cultural norms themselves, managers should also spread this awareness among the workers. Different cultures differ from one another to the extent that actions appreciated by one culture are condemned by the other. For example, a female and a male worker shaking hands in the workplace is a symbol of gratitude in the USA whereas an Indian female worker might not feel comfortable shaking hands with a male worker in the workplace because such behaviors are considered offensive in many parts of India. A multicultural workforce means a workforce having people of all colors in it that have to work together as teams. They can only work together in mutual harmony and as a team when they appreciate their cultural and physical differences rather than criticizing them. Managers should develop a code of ethics that condemns all objectionable behaviors so that acceptable behaviors can be standardized irrespective of all kinds of differences.

• Maintaining Confidentiality

It is of utmost importance for the managers to maintain the confidentiality of conflicts and the parties involved in them (“Resolving Conflict”). This not only protects their integrity but also reduces the risk of information leaking to unwanted places. Ultimately, an organization’s image in the public eye is protected.