Workplace Diversity - Essay Example

Name: Professor: Course: Date of Submission: Organization Behavior Workplace Diversity The ubiquitous transmission towards globalization enhanced the concept of diversity in working environments, which is seen as a crucial determinant of corporate competitiveness in the global organizations. Diversity in this context is applied to imply the inherent differences within organizational human capital that include gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, disability and skills (Green, Lopez, Wysocki & Kepner 2002). The underlying elements of diversity emerge as blessings in disguise for many firms, but with proper strategies to promote harmonious co-existence among the people. Workforce diversity management entails implementation of strategies that facilitate unity of the diverse workforce, and use of their differences to propel organizations towards improved performance. With the advent business globalization, organizations will require managers and workforces capable of dealing with individual differences in order to have a sustainable future. Diversity also stretches to cover differences associated with work teams among other generational differences that should be identified and managed in order to promote organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Generational diversity in workplace connotes differences in attitude and approach to work, loyalty, work and life balance, and differences in power among other inherent differences (Commonwealth of Australia 2001). Workforce diversity has been associated with numerous benefits including improved performance, attraction and retention of skilled workers, enhanced productivity and promotion of good business image among others. However, diversity presents significant challenges including negative attitudes and behaviors, and poor recruitment and employment criteria such as discrimination, prejudice and stereotyping. This paper outlines the different aspects of workplace diversity including its benefits, challenges and strategies for promoting effective workplace diversity. The Concept of Workplace Diversity and Its Contributions to Workplace Effectiveness The contemporary discourse of globalization has seen different regions and countries across the world experience increasingly diverse populations and labor markets. The trend presents significant challenges in business operations due to the growing awareness of the diversity. In this case, the concept of diversity management has emerged as an effective organizational response to the challenges of the increasingly varied workforce. Different organizations have adopted different strategies to promote and manage the diverse workforces. Additionally, diversity management promotes accommodation and integration of employees’ diverse and belief systems, and elimination of discriminatory practices. Achievement of workforce diversity takes place through strategic harmonization of workforce variables such as the bias of culture, identity and individual perceptions with those of other people to form a workforce team (Green, Lopez, Wysocki & Kepner 2002). Diversity promotes effectiveness in workplace with proper training of individual employees and the management in dealing with group process issues, especially those involved in problem-solving and communication within the diverse workforce. Promotion of effective workforce diversity contributes to the effectiveness of the workplace through establishment of an environment that allows increased innovation (Lien 2004). A diverse workforce promotes the labor innovativeness through convergence of a wide range of ideas and insights in the organization’s operations. Contributions from the diverse team in decision making result in better decisions that adversely affect the effectiveness of the firms’ activities. Diversity further advances the ability of an organization to understand its clients better leading to improved communication with the clients and satisfaction. Effective workplace diversity plays a critical role in enabling the workforce to realize its full potential as well as maintaining the organizational knowledge and expertise for sustainable performance. Proper management of workforce diversity further contributes to workplace effectiveness through limitation of workplace conflicts and promotion of healthy interpersonal relationships (Commonwealth of Australia 2001). Conflicts and poor workplace relations greatly undermine efficiency and effectiveness of the workforce. Organization Programs for Promotion of Workforce Diversity Different organizations have adopted diverse programs to promote diversity in their workforce depending on their operations and the communities they serve. Such programs include hosting of international interns, staff training and development programs, new recruitment and employment strategies, and promotion of cultural awareness programs (Walsh 2009). Nonprofit organizations promote diversity through programs and initiatives such as organization and participation in diversity committee aimed at providing opportunities for discussing diversity issues, provision of diversity scholarships to enhance knowledge in the diversity issue and acquisition of first hand experiences in institutions with well established workforce diversity. Other organizations go to the extent of allocating resources to support diversity efforts in the organizations. Most diversity programs aim at creating awareness and the appreciation of human and cultural differences, enhancement of interactional skills, elimination of stereotyping and bias, and creation of inclusive workplaces. Diversity programs applied in different organizations can be broadly categorized into responsibility structures such as diversity committees, affirmative action plans, and task forces. The other categories involve educational programs such as diversity training and feedback mechanisms, mentoring and networking programs. Structural programs particularly play a critical role in the creation and propagation of the diversity culture in the organizations (Landy & Conte 2009). The program ensures that the changes towards a diverse working environment start with management down to the employees. Mentoring and networking programs on the other hand serve to create a united workforce through effective interaction, and mentoring people on the ways to uphold good relationship within the workforce. Individual based efforts such as reduction of inequality in the workplace, and eliminations of behaviors undermining good coexistence emerge as some of the commonly applied strategies in organizations to promote significant diversity. Challenges of Workforce Diversification Implementation of workforce diversity presents significant challenges to the management of the diverse human resource. Effective diversity management requires identification of value in the various differences in workforce, and putting the inherent benefits into positive applications. Individual factors undermining diversity emerge as the most difficult to manage in a diverse workforce. Managers often face significant challenges in eliminating discriminatory practices as well as promotion of inclusiveness in the workforce. Additionally, cultural and religious differences emerge as some of the common barriers (Groschi 2011). Ineffective diversity often results in high workforce turnover rates due to incompatibility, discrimination, and prejudice. Diversity may also result into decline in productivity as factor of many issues arising from the diverse populations such as poor interpersonal relationships, conflicts and inefficiency in the working teams. Workforce diversity can also present rebellion towards organizational change if not well management. Significant delays in the decision process can also be experienced due to inherent differences in the diverse workforce (Green, Lopez, Wysocki & Kepner 2002). Such delays often undermine organizational efficiency and effectiveness in responding to clients’ demands and changes in the markets. Workforce diversity can also result into increased complaints some of which may lead to legal actions against the organization or the management. Other challenges revolve around negative behaviors and attitudes in workforce that become barriers to effective diversity management in the workplace. Such behaviors undermine the morale of workers and breed discrimination, prejudice, and stereotyping tendencies in the organization’s operations. Controlling of these behaviors through changes in recruitment, retention, and elimination of some practices may result in costly impacts on the organizations. Losses associated with strategies to create diversity may include escape of competent and skilled workers as well as costs associated with immature termination of employee contracts. Strategies for Overcoming Diversity Challenges Strategies of dealing with workforce challenges revolve around the preparation and change of employees to fit the organization through use of selection, training, socialization and rewards to ensure that new workers are easily inducted to the existing system (Landy & Conte 2009). This strategy limits the development of poor attitude towards the new workers and the new diversity practices introduced in the organization. Issues of resistance to change can also be addressed through changes in the organizational structure to accommodated diversity. Changing of organizational structures presents limited difficulties compared to strategies aimed at changing the people. In this case, people can easily fit into an organization that upholds diversity as opposed to changing the people to adapt to the diversity practices. The challenge of cultural differences can be resolved through programmed instructions that facilitate interpretation and understanding of people from other culture groups. Cultural differences can also be dealt with through establishment of strategies capable of creating an inclusive working environment. Effective workforce diversity can also be achieved through fostering of a free environment where employees can express their ideas and views without any fear of intimidation from their superiors. The openness attitude plays an important role in advancing the feeling of equality among the workers. The training program among other diversity awareness strategies can be critical in identification of negative attitudes and behaviors in the workforce as well as ways of dealing with such as situations (Walsh 2009). In order to avoid resistance to diversity changes, organizations should involve all the members of the workforce in creating policies on diversity. This would particularly be important in ensuring that the views of all members of the workforce are taken into consideration. Implementation of a reward system and disciplinary actions also presents a great opportunity for dealing with workplace diversity challenges. Networking and interactive programs further limit the magnitude of the challenges associated with workforce diversity. Importance of the Information Discussed This information is important for both the workers and the management in different organizations because it provides in-depth understanding of the workforce diversity concept. The study illustrates several benefits associated of workforce diversity as well as some of the challenges associated with the phenomenon. This can assist managers in making informed decisions about implementation of diversity management in their organizations. The study also enhances employees’ knowledge on what they expect in organizations with diverse workforces. Conclusion Diversity refers to the differences among employees in terms of gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, disability and skills in an organization. Diversity can also include differences in the workforce such as loyalty, commitment and authority. With the advent of globalization, numerous organizations have realized the numerous benefits associated with the concept of workforce diversity. Association of workplace diversity with workplace effectiveness is underpinned by its role in advancing innovation, maintaining knowledgeable and experienced workers and reduction of conflicts in the organization’s process. However, work diversity presents numerous challenges including potential increase in employees’ turnover rates, reduction in productivity, increased conflicts and possible legal actions against the organization. Such challenges can be averted through implementation of programs such mentorship, and training programs as well as involvement of all workforce members in the establishment of policies on workplace diversity. The information covered in this paper is important for understanding of different aspects workforce diversity among workers and organizations’ leadership. References Commonwealth of Australia 2001, ‘Guidelines on workplace diversity’, Commonwealth of Australia, Accessed April 23, 2012, < http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications01/diversityguidelines.pdf> Green, K, Lopez, M, Wysocki, A & Kepner, K 2002, ‘Diversity in the workplace: benefits, challenges, and required managerial tools’, The Institute of Food and Agricultural Science. Accessed April 23, 2012, < http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/HR/HR02200.pdf> Groschi, S 2011, Diversity in the workplace: multi-disciplinary and international perspectives, Gower Publishing, New York. Landy, F & Conte, J 2009, Work in the 21st century: an introduction to industrial and organizational psychology, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken. Lien, M 2004, ‘Workforce opportunities in diversity: the melting pot, Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Accessed April 23, 2012, < http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2004/summer/art02.pdf Walsh, D 2009, Employment law for human resource practice, Cengage learning, Stamford. Read More