Challenges of Managing Diversity in the Workplace Today - Coursework Example

Introduction Workplace diversity has become part of many organisations way of hiring and recruiting employees. Work place diversity can be described as the variety of differences between employees in an organisation. This diversity is based on gender, race, ethnic group, personality age, background, education, cognitive style and many more. Diversity also involves how people perceive themselves and each other in an organisation (Caproni 2005). What is diversity management? Diversity management is associated with the practices of and promoting and employing people from different groups in an organisation to assist them in career development. This involves offering equal rights to employees without discrimination despite their gender, race, background, religion, beliefs or ethnicity (Caproni 2005). Due to the differences in race, ethnic, background, gender and all the others, the human resource office has to effectively deal issues like adaptability, communication and change to ensure effective and efficient functioning of all the members. Why is it necessary to manage diversity, when and how? It is very important to manage diversity to ensure proper functioning of the organisation. If diversity is no managed, it will manage the organisation. This is very dangerous as it leads to conflict in the organisation which in return lowers productivity of the company. The diversity has to know who is in command and who to follow. Management should be made as soon as possible and all the time in any organisation. This process should be done repetitively to remind the workforce of their code of behaviour. Reviews should also be done to check the progress of the workers. This is done to determine whether the strategies put in place have been of influence to the workers (Albrecht 2000). What are the benefits of diversity? Firms with a diverse workforce have a greater variety of solution to a problem as through their differences, they bring individual talents and sourcing for ideas that are flexible is made easy and broadened (Caproni 2005). There is also a diverse collection of experiences and skills and hence a company is able to serve customers globally and from different groups of people in the society. Diversity in organisation increases productivity as a result of interaction of people from different background. Most successful and competitive organisations are based on their ability to handle diversity and know its benefits them. Increased adaptability is one of the benefits which are achieved by proper handling of diversity issues, having and implementing diversity plan. Are there challenges when dealing with diversity in an organisation? Every sector in running an organisation has its benefits and challenges. When dealing with diversity there are various challenges faced by management in a diversity workforce atmosphere. They are related to values, lifestyle, beliefs, background, ethnicity or race of the different workforce in an organisation (Caproni 2005). These challenges form a major stumbling block in an organisation and they should be handled with expertise to come up with a solid answer. What do you think is the best way to deal with the challenge of communication problems? This is the most common and core challenge is communication challenge faced by managers in diversity workforce. Considering that these people come form different cultures, language barrier poses as a major threat to the organisation. Communication is very important in any organisation and hence if there is no effective communication problem like lack of team work, confusion and low morale prevail. The organisation has to overcome this problem for them to obtain full benefits of diversity. Communication plays a major part in running any organisation. In the absence of communication, nothing can be done in any organisation (Caproni 2005). Through communication ideas are shared while problems are discussed and solved. Special managerial posts can be created to offer assistance to workers incase they don’t understand a concept. Diversity comes with resistance to change, how that could be changed? Secondly, another core problem in an organisation with diversity in its workforce is having employees who are resistant to change. People form different cultures and backgrounds join an organisation with their own beliefs and values (Harris & Moran 1996). At times there are employees who always resistant to the social and the cultural changes they find in any workplace. They still hold their beliefs tight and this hinders execution of new ideas and progression. The management therefore is faced by an uphill task to teach them their workplace ethics and requirements. Diversity brings in people form different cultures, backgrounds and races how can the organisation implement the ethics and the policies of the firm?? Thirdly, implementing the workplace ethics and policies to people diverse culture is another major challenge; this is because the organisation must come up with strategies to help put into place the policies and ethics (Caproni 2005). Different strategies like bonding sessions could be put into place to help in implementing the policies as the workforce learn of the organisation ethics, and code of conduct. Policies are very essential in any organisation as it helps in improving relationship between workforces and guide them on how to relate with one another as well as the management. How would a company’s diversity be managed? Another problem associated with diversity lack of successful management personnel. Training people from different cultures requires a well laid plan and this may consume a lot of time and resources. Managing diversity does not only require a plan but also strategies to help create a culture to be followed by all the workers (Caproni 2005). Diversity management needs skilled personnel who have had good leadership reputation in dealing with diversity. They should be people with knowledge on different cultural background, global perspectives and corporate enculturation. How can an organisation deal with problems associated with diversity like discrimination, harassment and stereotyping? Diversity brings together many different people with different perspective about life. Due to the differences they have, disagreements and quarrels often come up. Other problems like racial discrimination, stereotyping and harassment are also common. These problems can be avoided by having a stable management and stable leadership that will handle the cases effectively; legal actions could be taken at times (Cox 2001). Discrimination lowers productivity due to loss in morale to work. Harassment could affect a person mental ability leading to mental breakdown and hence loss their job. How can an organisation with diversity enhance commonness? Having all workers from different groups work together as a unit is a big challenge for managers. It is however necessary that all the workers put their differences away and work together as a team; this enhances productivity. The managers can organise retreats, dinners and sport activities to bring the workers together as they share their views (Caproni 2005). These activities bring the staff members together and enhance teamwork and cooperation. Commonality is very essential in any workforce .It plays a major role in enhancing an effective relationship and a sense of belonging for the workers. Workers have a sense that they are in the right place and hence they work towards developing the company wholeheartedly. Can diversity be promoted by different treatment or equal treatment of the workforce? Many organisations have been affected by the problem of inequality when dealing with the workers. This is more evident where a leader favours workers whom they have some similarities like background, same ethnic group, same race or gender (Jackson 2002). This often brings conflicts in the workplace between the workers and the management or among the workers themselves. Moreover, it carries away the morale of the workforce leading to low production. To solve this, organisation should handle all workers as equal and avoid discrimination of any kind. How can an organisation solve the problem of insensitivity towards women and minority groups? Discrimination towards women and the minority group in any organisation is also a challenge the management has to tackle. Women are seen to be inferior and men superior .Minority groups are not left out either. They are discriminated upon maybe due to their disability or lack of a voice to air their grievances. The management should discourage these in the workforce by ensuring that all members are treated as equal and cases of insensitive treatment of nay staff should be dealt with sternly. This would serve as an example to all employees (Caproni 2005). How can an organisation enhance diverse workforce? Diverse workforce can be enhanced in an organisation by creating a favourable working environment to people from different groups. To help in achieving this, a company can have training for employees and managers. This will enhance global perspectives, cultural literacy, corporate enculturation and self development to all workers in an organisation (Caproni 2005). This will lead to understanding each others differences ad hence the workers and the management staff will be in a position to work together effectively with minimal conflicts. Organisations should also form occasions to celebrate the diverse workforce. They can bring in their foods, clothing, music and also give them a chance to interact with people form other groups, races, ethnic or background. Conclusion Diversity plays a major in any organisations’ success. Firms should implement the strategy of being diverse in their organisation as it encourages diversification of ideas. Challenges will always be part of running any organisation. However, having a stable management with the necessary expertise always plays a major role in effective management. The management team should be diverse too to reduce the chances of discrimination and stereotyping. In conclusion, many organisations have absorbed the idea of diversity in workforce (Kossek & Lobel 1996). This is a good gesture as organisations are learning how to diversify their products, services and expertise to different part of the society. Institutes for diversity management have also come up to teach mangers on how to mange diverse workforce. The best way to overcome many of these challenges is by forming code of conducts which guide the workers on the expected code of behaviour. Questions As a manager, what do you understand by diversity in workplace? Workplace diversity is having a variety of workers with many differences in relation to their ethnicity gender, race, background, education, age personality and many more differences social, cultural, physical or emotional differences Can diversity exist without diversity management? Diversity management is the processes of controlling the diverse workers. Therefore diversity cannot exist without diversity management. Diversity management ensures there is equal distribution of rights and resources. In your opinion, why do you think that is it necessary to manage diversity and when? It is necessary to manage diversity to ensure easy running of any organization, company or firm. In my organization diversity is managed at all times to ensure high productivity You have been a manager for seven years now, what can you say about benefits of diversity? Due to the diverse differences of the workers, there is a huge collection of skills and knowledge; as a result ideas are easily generated, there is enhanced creativity, team work, cooperation and this leads to high levels of productivity. Are there challenges when dealing with diversity in an organisation? Challenges are a daily encounter of a manager. In running any organisation with diversity, managers encounter many challenges like communication problem, resistance to change, discrimination of minors, stereotyping and many others. Communication problem is one of the core challenge, have you ever had an encounter where there was communication barrier? In an organization where people come form different ethnic groups, language barrier is a major problem. At times the organization is forced to offer training lessons to teach a certain language to enhance communication possibility. In your organization have you encountered individuals who were resistant to change? In every organization where there are people from different backgrounds, everyone comes with their own beliefs and values. Sometimes hard to get them to divert from their beliefs and adapt to the ethic of the organizations. Diversity brings in people from different cultures, backgrounds and races, in your organization, how do you implement ethics and the policies of the firm to the diverse workplace? Our policies, ethics, rules and regulations are written in brochures that are given to the employees. There are other strategies like sending them through email, notice boards and having bonding sessions to teach the workers about the same. Cases of problems associated with diversity like discrimination, harassment and stereotyping are evident in many organisations; how do you deal with this challenge? Discrimination, harassment and stereotyping is a common problem whereby certain people from different society view themselves as superior to others and a result they look down to them. Incase the cases are extreme legal actions are put into place. Is there a correlation existing between commonness and diversity? Commonness is very important in diversity. All workers have to have a sense of togetherness to enhance co-operation and teamwork. Can diversity be promoted by different treatment or equal treatment of the workforce? Diversity cannot exist without equal treatment of workers. All workers in the organization are treated equally despite their background, race, ethnicity, gender or personality. Insensitivity towards women and minority groups is another major core challenge, how do you and your organization deal with this problem? Women and minority are the most victims of discrimination. Men have always looked down upon women while the minorities which include people with disabilities and other special cases have faced major harassments. Incase of these kinds of problem, the parties involved are fired or demoted without negotiations. How can an organisation enhance diverse workforce? Any organisation can enhance diversity by having he right management to handle them. The management should be trained and are conversant with different cultural backgrounds and other factors related to the society. As a manger how do you help in reducing the negative effects of diversity in your organisation? The manger role is the hardest of them all. Managing people from with many differences poses a major challenge and we try to reduce the negative effects of diversity by ensuring that they follow the organisations policies, rule, laws and regulation. Incase of a person failing to do so, they are fired immediately. What recommendations would you give to other organization? I would recommend them to encourage diversity in their firms by employing qualified staff to manage them. Moreover they can get them form divert training institute where workers are taught how to deal with issues related to diversity in workplace. Discussion From my reading and the interview of the manager, it is evident that diversity is very important in any organisation. The interview and the reading had so much in common and hence nothing contrasted at all. The reading gave the benefits of diversity and during the interview, the manger highlighted the same benefits as it the reading. In the interview, he talked about the same challenges found in the reading. The manager has the effective skills and knowledge necessary diversity management. His attitude and behaviour too portrayed a great leader and good qualities of leadership. His ways of handling cases in the organisation also portrayed an effective diversity management leader. References Albrecht, MH 2000, International HRM: Managing diversity in the workplace. Oxford. Blackwell. Caproni, PJ 2005, Management skills for everyday life, Pearson, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Cox, T 2001, Creating the multicultural organization: A strategy for capturing the power of diversity, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.  Harris, PR, & Moran, RT 1996, Leadership in global communications. Managing cultural differences (4th ed.).Gulf Publishing Co, Houston, TX.  Jackson, T 2002, International HRM: A cross-cultural approach. Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA.  Kossek, EE, & Lobel, SA 1996, Managing diversity: Human resources strategies for transforming the workplace .Blackwell: Cambridge, MA. Read More