Peculiarities in Managing Diversity - Coursework Example

Diversity With the globalization of corporations, it is important for an organization to have a workforce that mirrors that of the world. Having a healthy representation of today’s society increases organizational competitiveness and optimizes employee utilization. Companies should seek to diversify its employee make-up to enhance productivity. Diversity can be defined as the differences in pattern of lifestyle, values, beliefs, ideals and practices, race ethnicity, national origin, language and religion. Diversity is relatively new on the scene. Diversity has emerged within the past 20 years and spawned from the equal opportunity act which was promulgated in the workforce by the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This law extended voting rights and outlawed racial segregation in the schools, housing or hiring practices. With the passage of this act, American organizations began to hire new employees from different races, ethnic backgrounds and religions into sectors they were once excluded from. There is an undeniable difference between diversity and equal opportunity. Equal opportunity employment has deep historical roots. The law was enacted after years of unfair practices in different sectors denied equal opportunities simply based upon a person’s race, gender or national origin. The passing of this law developed a definition for minorities and now prohibits discrimination based upon a person’s age, gender, religion, sex, race, color or national origin. Diversity promotes accepting individual differences. The business ideals of diversity states that inclusion of a diverse workforce better equip a company to thrive in a marketplace. Exclusion of a diverse approach isolates demographics and limits perspectives. An example of such an implementation of diversity is the inspirational movie Glory Road. The 1966 college basketball team base on the Texas Westerns won the NCAA championship while promoting diversity. Don Haskins, the first year coach of the team, pioneered diversity by recruiting players deemed best for the positions and sidestepping traditional hiring practices. The hiring of the new folks in nontraditional roles is an exemplary example of the advantages of diversity. The team put racial differences aside and worked collectively to attain the coveted championship prize. Peter F. Drucker, author of “The Theory of the Business” (1995: 100) reveals that a valid theory of business suggests that the assumptions about environment, mission and core competencies must fit reality.. Over the past 20 years, cultural diversity has been implemented in the hiring practice of organizations. Changes in the world economy have made more companies conduct business on a global scale. International businesses in other nations call for companies to recognize and embrace the culture of the country. Dr. Pikay Richardson, author of Managing Cultural (2005: 24) explains that a diverse workforce promotes perspectives, ideas, innovation and overall growth. The definition of workplace diversity has grown from just race and gender to include cultural. The ol boys’ way of nepotism or employment exclusion for hiring particular groups is detrimental to a thriving corporation and should be omitted from hiring practices. It is best for organizations to strategically hire a diverse workplace. According to the article “Business Advantages of Having a Diverse Workforce” (2009: 1-2) there’s several advantage to having a diverse workforce. First, a diverse workforce allows companies to increase the ability to respond to cultural preferences of local markets. Also, it also allows for resource acquisition. This allows organizations to enquire a staff of employees from different national backgrounds while appealing to the country’s elite. Another such advantage is the cost argument. Utilizing diversity may help reduce cost of turnovers. Along with the preceding advantages, diversity helps spawn creativity. Promoting diversity may enhance creativity through promoting diverse perspectives, ideas, inputs and minimize conformity. A fifth advantage for utilizing diversity is the problem-solving contribution. A diverse workforce may improve decision making through broader range of perspectives and more thorough critical analyses. Finally, diversity has system flexibility advantages. System flexibility may enhance organizations’ flexibility and responsiveness to multiple demands and changing environments. Diversity should be promoted through a company’s hiring practices. Equal opportunity employment is now the law, so businesses must comply with these hiring practices. Promoting diversity and embracing inclusiveness is now the job of the human resource manager. An effective human resource manager should purposefully seek to promote culture awareness and diversity when seeking those with the greatest talent. The globalization of the business world has jolted corporations to embrace diversity in order to maximize competitiveness and optimize human resources. When recruiting staff, a human resource manager may want to indulge in targeted recruiting. Author Stephen B. Knouse (2009: 347) in his article “Targeted Recruiting for Diversity: Strategy, Impression Management, Realistic Expectations, and Diversity Climate states “ingratiation (project image of likeability and inclusion) and promotion (project image of competence), can enhance targeted diversity recruiting.” The process of targeted recruiting calls for human resource managers to select person’s who will best fit into the dynamics of the company. By putting emphasis upon locating, identifying and attracting potential employees, human resource managers can help curve turnover rates. There is an organizational strategy to hiring diverse workforce. The author (2009: 348-9) recommends several steps that can be implemented to promote diversity, especially when hiring minorities. One such step a company may choose is to emphasize diversity in background, values and ideas. Such unique perspectives can be valued by an innovative company. A second strategy is to search for employee competitiveness. Seeking a potential employees’ skill and ability assets would lead to expansion or creation of new products and services. Another strategic step that justifies strategic hiring is niche development. If the company is focused upon a specific customer, it may prove advantageous to hire employees who are similar and understand that specific market segment. Finally, promoting diversity may help to reduce overall cost as job satisfaction would help reduce turnovers. Once a diverse staff is acquired, then chances are that with the different personalities of coworkers eventually a problem will arise. As people express their individuality, it is desired but improbable that all personalities will gel. Although disagreements are a part of life, the way the dispute is resolved may be the deciding factor to determining if the relationship can be salvaged. Sometimes with diversity, the cultural differences can cause misunderstandings to arise. Experienced management should anticipate disagreements and prepare by implementing conflict resolution strategies. Craig E. Runde and Tim A. Flanagan, authors of the book Effective Leadership Stems from Ability to Handle Conflict, (2008: 92) believe that “most effective leaders are extraordinarily competent at handling conflict” Ken Pierce, author of the article “Healthy Conflict Resolution,” (2009: 60-61) recommends implementing five steps to help diffuse conflict. First, the involved parties should discuss their problems privately. By conversing in private, parties have a chance of dialoguing without outside influence. Next, if the involved parties cannot resolve the issues, then a peer should be brought into the discussion. This person should be a neutral individual capable of rendering unbiased advice. Third, if the conflict still goes unresolved, then a superior should be included. This should happen only if the problem could not be repaired on the lower level. Fourth, all involved parties should be genuine at resolving the issue. Outside support or audiences should not be solicited as privacy may help induce sincerity. Finally, if any involved parties are uncomfortable with the initial onset discussion, a peer or supervisor should be included immediately. . Disputes in the work place may be considered a given, however if properly assessed interoffice conflict may offer benefits. Arising conflicts not only educate the superior of possible dispute on-starts, it can provide essential knowledge as to how to handle specific situations. Wallace Immen (2009:C1)e author of the article “Conflict can lead to workplace harmony; Properly managed, tensions have upsides” states that a survey of 357 human resources managers by Edmonton-based behavioral testing company Psychometrics Canada Ltd found that conflict can be beneficial for work relationships, productivity and engagement. Of those polled, 77% of the managers stated having better understanding of others, 57% said better solutions to problems were crested and 54% reported improved working relationships. Preparing human resource managers for conflict resolution will better prepare human resource managers for the disadvantages that come with diversity. The misunderstanding that can arise from promoting diversity can open an organization up to discrimination lawsuits. Anti-discrimination laws prohibit discriminatory hiring practices based upon persons’ national origins. One of the biggest problems of diversity is the lack of a formal definition for national origin. According Teresa Brady, author of the article “The Downside of Diversity” (1996:29-31) the most guidance for meaning come from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) . The EEOC defines national origin as “the place where a person was born, or the country from which a person’s ancestors came. The now inclusive hiring practices of a firm can open the organization up to discrimination lawsuits. A prepared human resource manager should educate staff by providing formal information with vital language that informs personnel to situations that may prove discriminatory. Human resource managers should also ensure that proper protocol is implemented to make all employees feel as part of the team. Teresa Brady, author of the article “The Disadvantages of Diversity,” (1996:30-31) clarifies forms of discrimination which have already been assessed. Organizations can prepare for discrimination lawsuits that may derive from such things as minimum height requirements. EEOC states that a company with a minimum height requirement must show a necessity. One given example is an employee for a trucking company must be 5’8 in order to see over dashboard. The height requirements ensure safety therefore justifiably excludes individuals under a certain height. This specific discriminatory lawsuit was implemented for clarification as the average person of Spanish origin is 5’4 ½. Another discriminatory lawsuit arrived from the fluency in English and foreign accents policy. The EEOC states that a person cannot be denied employment based on foreign accent unless main duties are to greet public and expedite requests. A job description that meets this definition is a receptionist, as a receptionist job description is to thoroughly dialogue with the public. Another discrimination lawsuit that called for clear definition is the English-only rule. Employers of this rule desired that the English language could be the only language used during work hours except on break. The EEOC disagreed, however agrees to the extent that this may be implemented if it promotes safety, order and discipline. Example of the exception is if employees felt harassed because coworkers were talking negative about them in their native language. Finally, there is the harassment based on national origin rule. Under this rule, employees cannot be harassed based on national origin. An example would be if a Frenchman continuously called an Italian an ass. It is deemed by the EEOC that being called an ass may not be a form of harassment, however if the Frenchman continuously called the Italian a “dago” then harassment based on national origin is present. With the globalization of organizations, the ability to recognize and manage a diverse workforce is necessary for success not just on a national level but on an international scale. Although diversity advantages far outweigh its disadvantages, discriminatory practices should be firmly prohibited to alleviate potential lawsuits. In order to promote diversity, human resource managers should be knowledgeable about and thoroughly train personnel on diversity. Rosanna Tamburri, author of “Think globally, recruit locally; A diverse workplace can give companies a competitive advantage, experts say” (2009: 1-2) reveals that promoting diversity can give companies a competitive advantage. In order to achieve a diverse workforce, organizations should launch a number of initiative programs to recruit and retain employees from different backgrounds. One program is a mandatory online-training program. The training should be diversity specific and does not need to have test questions. However, if companies are attempting to hire an under-represented class of people, then the organization may want to start a mentoring program. The mentoring program may want to have mentors pair with the desired underserved potential employee by recruiting natives students in a nearby community or at nearby colleges. Although there are disadvantages to diversity, the advantages far outweigh them. The advantages of having a diverse workforce should be recognized by competing corporations. Successful companies should prepare human resource managers to effectively implement diversity. Utilizing diversity increases work production and optimizes human resources. Effective human resource managers should work to promote effective diversity management. Works Cited Bolman, Lee G., Deal, Terrence E. 2008. Reframing Organizations. 4th ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Drucker, Peter F. 1994. The Theory of the Business. Harvard Business Review, 95- 104, September-October. Flanagan, Tim A., & Runde, Craig E. Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader: How You and Your Organization Can Manage Conflict Effectively. Effective Leadership Stems from Ability to Handle Conflict. San Franciso: Jossy-Bass. Immen, Wallace. 2009. Conflict can lead to workplace harmony; Properly managed, tensions have upsides, study finds. The Globe and Mail (Canada): C1, February 11. Knouse, Stephen B. 2009. Targeted Recruiting for Diversity: Strategy, Impression Management, Realistic Expectations, and Diversity Climate. International Journal of Management: 26 (3): 347-353, December Price, Ken. 2009. Healthy Conflict Resolution. ACPE.Org: 60-61, Jan/Feb. Tamburri, Rosanna. 2009. Think globally, recruit locally; A diverse workplace can give companies a competitive advantage, experts say. The Globe and Mail (Canada): B8, May 21. The Competitive Advantage of Embracing Diversity. 2005. New Paradigms: 61-62, Spring. Wright, Stephen. 2008. Forgive and Survive. New evidence suggest that forgiveness aids conflict resolution and well being. Nursing Standard, 23 (12): 24-25, November. Works Cited Dimick, David E., Murray, Victor V. 1978. Correlates of substantive policy decisions in Organizations: The case of human resource management. The Academy of Management Journal. 21 (4): 611-623, Dec. 1978 Bolman, Lee G., & Deal, Terrence E. 2008. Reframing Organizations: Interpersonal and Group Dynamics. 4th Ed. San Franciso: Jossy-Bass Bordone, Robert C., & Moffitt. 2006. Create Value out of Conflict. Across the Table, 3- 5, June. Hesselbein, Frances. 2002. Crisis Management: A Leadership Imperative. Leader to Leader. Wort, Matthew. 2009. How to nip conflict in the bud. Birmingham Post: 31, July 15. Read More