The Benefits of a Diverse Workforce - Essay Example

Essay on the Benefits of a Diverse Work Force and Analysis of Some of the Common Problems Encountered By Diversity Initiatives Introduction The organisation’s diversity program has been a matter of debate since the time it was introduced six months back. As asked by the chief executive office, this report has been prepared which will analyze all the issues related to the workforce diversity programme and relate the results to the tourism sector. This report will begin by first giving a brief introduction to what the term ‘workforce diversity’ refers to. It will then move on and describe the benefits that a diverse workforce might bring to an organisation. Next, it will outline all possible problems that a diversity initiative presents for an organisation. Towards the end it will provide a brief conclusion on the topic at hand. Diversity The term ‘workforce diversity’ refers to differences in human resources and when an organisation implements this, it accepts and values these differences. It is defined as hiring people with different human characteristics and qualities who belong to various cultural groups (Boddy, D). This approach of organising the workforce has been recently recognized by organisations throughout the world. Earlier, it was often thought that diversity threatens organizational functioning and that difference is deficiency. Organisations used to think that there is only one kind of an ideal employee. The employee must be rational, between the ages of 35 to 49 with an impersonal management style. He must be married, competitive and heterosexual (Loden, M. & Judy B. Rosener). Basically, it is when organisations hire employees regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation etc. For example, a factory of Digital Equipment Corporation near Boston which produces Digital’s computers employs a workforce of 350 people. These people come from 44 countries and spoke 19 languages. Written announcements are printed in English, Chinese, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole (Dreyfuss, J). This shows the degree of diversity that organisations are implementing nowadays. This is, in a way, a stand against racism and prejudice. Now, why might organisations implement this? Just like every other action, this has good characteristics as well as bad ones. Opportunities Every organization must be able to make use of the unique characteristics of the people it is hiring. These should be thought of being their strengths instead of differences (Songer, N). The question remains how can these diverse characteristics prove to be useful for organizations? First of all, the biggest benefit to any organisation of hiring employees from difference races and ethnicities is that it increases the over all potential of the organization. It leads to a greater pool of ideas. When people come from different backgrounds, they tend to think differently in terms of logic as well as innovation. Research has also proven that a diverse workforce improves and enhances the problem solving process as well. It helps to solve problems in more than one way. All the different people will bring in different perspectives into an issue. This will prevent groupthink, a phenomenon in which everyone in a group accepts the same decision and do not contribute freely (Daft, R.L). This then saves time and when employees save time in deciding how to solve something, they utilize the rest in producing more. This leads to an increase in productivity. Higher productivity, ultimately, generates profits for firms. This can help organisations in the tourism sector like it would help any other organisation. It will make their operations more efficient and effective. Another benefit of a diverse workforce is that it increases its ability to meet the needs of a diverse range of customers. Culture plays a very important role in consumer behavior and preferences and when there are people from different cultures, the organisation will be able to understand these preferences better. It will also help to improve interaction with the customers (Daft, R.L). This will help a tourism company especially because the company must have knowledge regarding every kind of culture it will be dealing with and if there are people from numerous cultures within an organisation, they can all pool in their ideas and suggestions to make their service better. The can understand what their tourists customers prefer and design the service that will given to them accordingly. Besides this, having a diverse workforce within an organisation creates a good impression in the minds of socialists, the public and all other stake holders. Organisations value this good impression to a great extent because these stakeholders greatly affect the future of the business. This is very important for an organisation in the tourism sector in particular because since this tourist organisation will be dealing with people from numerous cultures. It must have support from all the types of cultures as this helps it gain additional profits and other non monetary benefits such as good will only by creating a noble image in the minds of their customers and other stakeholders. Lastly, diversity helps to reduce lawsuit. It also increases marketing opportunities (Esty, et al., 1995). For example, a tourism office that employs people of different races will attract different customers. For instance, Asian representative employees of the office are more likely to bring in the organization Asian travelers and so on. Challenges The biggest problem that diversity presents to organisations is because of diversity, the management of an organization faces challenges of maintaining a unified corporate culture. The managers must work harder in order to keep the employees united and avoid any kind of behavior that would offend any one particular employee. If the workforce was homogenous, the culture of the organization would be much solid (Daft, R.L.). Another problem encountered by diversity initiatives is that it causes communication barriers. Effective communication is very important for efficiency and effectiveness and for this, the receiver must understand the message that the sender has sent. However, within a diverse workforce, this becomes very hard. This happens because people come from different backgrounds. They have different accents, different ways of thinking, different ways of perceiving things, and different ways of understanding. Therefore, this causes intra- and inter-team communication barriers. Either ‘diverse’ employees have problems understanding the communicator, or they have problems making themselves heard. Even feedback problems are likely to occur. Some may think that having a number of ways of solving a problem is good. It leads to saving time and maybe even increased productivity. Alternatively, other might say that having too many ways of solving one problem may lead to confusion. It becomes more difficult to judge what would be a better option. Different perspectives into an issue might open different choices for something but it might also increase the confusion of deciding on which option is the best. Also, it gives rise to disagreements between different individuals, especially more when they are of different mores. The disagreements that arise because of difference in opinion causes frustration amongst team members and other colleagues which further leads to a hostile and an uncomfortable environment. This could even be the cause of de-motivation of employees. There is likely to be plenty of communication problems within different groups or between individuals as it is. A difficult-to-work-in environment further leads to more communication problems. Also, cultural biases are spawned when trying to change the corporate culture. If such biases and behavior grow in frequency and intensity it can result in legal charges of discrimination, in its most serious form (Thomas, 1997). Finally, when an organisation employs a diverse workforce, it becomes important to acknowledge their needs and earlier unrecognized discrimination so that no single group or individual feels left behind. Hence, laws have to be enforced to meet these requirements. For example, laws for protecting physically disabled employees are enforced. Once these are imposed, steps have to be taken to monitor that people are following them. This is an added cost in terms of money, time and effort. Conclusion A changing marketplace gives rise to diversity. Any organisation in any sector must be able to cope up with this change. In order to do this, a possible option available to organizations is employing diversity in the workplace. This will help an organisation in the tourism industry by increasing the potential of organisations, quick problem-solving techniques, increasing the ability to understand diverse customers, improving the image of the organisation and much more. However, there are many problems that are caused as a result of multiculturalism. These include more hassle of handling a diverse workforce and avoiding conflicts, communication barriers etc. But to overcome these, the organisation could provide training on how to effectively manage a diverse workforce along with communication tips. The senior managers who criticize this new approach of operation must be made aware of the problems that are associated with workforce diversity. They also must be encouraged to value diversity and the benefits that it brings to an organisation. Finally, our organisation from tourism sector should weigh the costs and benefits to decide on an appropriate diversity action plan. This plan can only be made successful by learning how to adapt to diversity. References Esty, Katharine, Richard Griffin, and Marcie Schorr-Hirsh (1995). Workplace diversity. A managers guide to solving problems and turning diversity into a competitive advantage. Avon, MA: Adams Media Corporation. Boddy, D (2005) Management – An Introduction (3rd Edition). FT Prentice Hall: London. Daft, R.L (1997) Management. (4th Edition). The Dryden Press. Dryfuss, J. (1990) Get ready for the new workforce. Fortune Magazine. Thomas, R.R. (1997). Have You Met the Challenge of a Diverse Organization? Retrieved on April 13, 2008 from American Management Association. Website: http://www.amanet.org/editorials/editorial.cfm?Ed=263&pending=true Songer, N. (1991) Workforce Diversity. B & E Review. Loden, M. & Judy B. Rosener. (1991) Workforce America. Business one. Pedler, M; Burgoyne, J and Boydell, T (2006) A managers guide to self-development (5th edition), London: McGraw-Hill Education Read More