Cultural Diversity in the Workplace - Research Paper Example

? ID Lecturer Cultural diversity in the workplace A workplace culture depicts how well the employees are inter-twined with one another and the kind of relationships that exist within its fore. It is the basis of gaining an understanding that is wholesome and complete. Thus cultural diversity only boosts the business regimes as it brings about more harmonious linkages and a better working attitude which is good for everyone. Cultural diversity is beneficial for companies and business organizations in three main ways; creating multicultural relationship between employees, increasing creativity, and satisfying customers. It has always been a good sign within any organization when employees find it easy to communicate with one another. It allows for fresh ideas to flow and linkages become easier to manage. Any company that fosters multicultural relationships eventually reaps the benefits in the long run (Cox, 1994). On the same footing, the organizations which lack the basic skills of getting along with their employees lose out on quite a few tangents. If employees feel that they are being looked after well and that they continue to grow along with one another, it becomes a very attractive proposition for them to stay with such an organization for quite a long period of time. Also they have positive things to say about such multicultural diversity realms that have come about within the organizational levels. When employees have good relationships existing within their fore, they find it easier to work along. This brings in more productivity for the organization which essentially helps everyone to grow and develop. Good relations immensely allow for effectiveness and efficiency to reign in as and when required. This means that the employees feel that they are not made to work while being caged but they feel free and relaxed whilst working at their best. This is a good omen for the organization because it then knows that its employees are growing along together, and working to their best to foster relationships that would eventually boost the basis of the business from a strategic viewpoint. When employees come from different backgrounds, they bring with them a plethora of knowledge and skills which are specific to their respective natures. Similarly their cultural values are transferred quite easily towards a multicultural diverse setting which has prospered within the organization. The need is to understand where success lies and how to derive it for the best possible results in the long run. This will set the ball rolling for the employees and give them the much needed edge that they so require. Also it will tell all concerned how serious the organizational environment is in terms of fostering relationships and what this means for the sake of the business in the long run. It indeed is a win-win situation which needs to be studied, properly analyzed and then taken into consideration before being implemented in a head on fashion. When creativity is much desired, diversity resolves this issue instantly. This is because diversity allows the people to come from different backgrounds and thus explore the basis of creatively tackling a problem at hand. It also gives the permission to find out alternatives which might not have come about if diversity was absent. Any organization that knows the true value of creativity would always give its employees a chance to express themselves and this can only happen when there is a workforce which is open to understand each other better. Business creativity gets enhanced when people hailing from different backgrounds give in their side of the experience which essentially is a success factor (Boyett & Conn, 1992). This makes the organization feel proud that it offered the multicultural workforce a chance to express themselves, which came about in the form of creativity within the business ranks. It always allows the top management to find out where they can explore new options and how the routes can be envisaged for the same. Some examples of creative multicultural organizations include Nike, Coca Cola, IBM, Facebook, McDonald’s and many more. These organizations have made it big by employing a diverse workforce who understands the true nature of creativity and thus manifests the same through hard work and dedication. As customers, it is pertinent for them to know that a multicultural setting is existent within the organization to look after their needs. They want to interact with someone who can understand them better (Kossek & Lobel, 1996). Thus satisfaction for the sake of the customers is also a very significant area that needs to be worked upon by organizations. A company’s cultural diversity gains essence for the customers because they will then know that the organization cares for them as it recruits people from distinctive cultural settings and so on. The customers will feel glad that the organization is making an effort to reach out to them by aligning its own workforce in a positive way. This creates a positive word of mouth for the organization as far as the customers are concerned. Business can receive immense benefits and an instant boost if customers are satisfied. They will thus prefer this organization more than the competing one. If they know that the business looks after the needs of the customers by recruiting able people, no matter which culture they belong to, they will start giving the organization more respect that it actually deserves (Zachary, 2003). This will be the basis of knowing that cultural diversity is an important tool under such considerations. In the end, it would be fair to suggest that a multicultural workforce would imply for instant positive word of mouth for the business and eventual success for the organization. Planning one such cultural setting is the way to go forward as it will reap rich dividends for the organization from a long term perspective. It will allow the employees to know that they are worthy of their respective jobs and that they must value where they are at the present. This will mean that the issues which remain longstanding in the wake of the cultural angles are also taken care of in an amicable way. References Boyett, J.& Conn, H. (1992). Workplace 2000, The American Revolution Reshaping American Business, Penguin Group, Plume. Cox, T. (1994). Cultural Diversity in Organizations: Theory, Research, and Practice, San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. Diversity in the workplace. (n.d.). Shepelfgi.com. Retrieved from http://www.shepellfgi.com/EN-CA/HRFundamentals/pdf/Diversity%20in%20the%20Workplace%20-%20CA-EN.pdf Kossek, E. & Lobel, S. (1996). eds.: Managing Diversity: Human Resource Strategies for Transforming the Workplace, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, Ltd. Livers, A. & Carver, K. (2003). Leading in Black and White: Working across the Racial Divide in Corporate America. San Francisco. Zachary, G. (2003). The Diversity Advantage: Multicultural Identity in the New World Economy. Colorado. Read More