Managing Culturally Diverse Workplaces - Coursework Example

Managing Culturally Diverse Workplaces 3120HSL Research Paper Name: Hanbing Su Student Number: s2879502 Due Date: 30th Aug 2016 1.0 Introduction Diversity in the workplace has become a reality in the modern work environment all over the world. In the US, for example, people of color make up 36% of the labor force. Non-Hispanic white people make up 64%, 16% are Hispanic, Asians make up 5% while African Americans make up 12% of the labor force (Burns et al., 2012). In Australia a study conducted in 2013 revealed that 68% of workplaces were diverse by having people of different gender, cultural backgrounds, age and people with physical and mental disabilities (Deligiannis, 2014). These statistics show how diverse the labor force has become. There are two factors that have increased the level of diversity in the workplace namely globalization and the change in the composition of populations in different countries (Nataatmadia & Dyson, 2007). The increase in immigration rates and the high birth rates among minority communities have led to the change in national populations which is reflected in the workforce. Today, national borders continue to become less meaningful as many countries are opening their boundaries through the creation of economic blocks for the purpose of conducting trade (Nataatmadia & Dyson, 2007). Globalization has enabled companies to set up their businesses across the world. The result is that the company will have employees who have different cultural backgrounds. A culturally diverse workforce can be beneficial to a company only if managed in the right way. A culturally diverse workforce can improve customer service, enhance creativity and improve business growth (Nataatmadia & Dyson, 2007). There are several impediments to the proper management of a culturally diverse workplace. Concepts such as discrimination, prejudice and racism have become common challenges in workplaces that are culturally diverse. The focus of this research paper is to look at these concepts and how they have manifested in the tourism industry. Further, the research paper provides strategies that managers can use to overcome these challenges and how they can evaluate the success of these strategies. 2.0 Discrimination, Prejudice and Racism 2.1 Discrimination Discrimination is defined as the differential treatment accorded to a person or individuals based on the fact they are members of a particular group (Baumeister & Finkel, 2010). Discrimination will be held to have occurred where a person or a group of individuals is treated in a manner that is less unfavorable than another person or a group of individuals based on their background or a particular personal characteristic that is common to all. Bobo and Fox (2003) define discrimination as a system of social relations that is of a complex nature involving actions or practices whose purpose is to limit the social, political or economic opportunities of an individual or a particular group of people. Discrimination can be on the basis of race, sex, marital status, ethnic origin, disability, gender identity among other factors (Bobo & Fox, 2003). Discrimination in the workplace environment refers to actions such as hiring, firing, promoting or demoting an employee based on the background or the personal characteristic of such a person that constitutes unfair treatment (Hammond et al., 2010). In the workplace environment, the employer has a responsibility under the law to ensure that all employees are treated fairly. This responsibility does not only cover employees but also prospective employees (Hammond et al., 2010). Where an employer is in the process of hiring new staff, such employer has a responsibility to ensure that the recruitment and selection exercise is conducted fairly. Discrimination in the workplace has become a persistent problem both in the developing and developed nations. Although most countries have enacted laws that prohibit any form of discrimination, discriminatory practices continue to be prevalent across the globe. In the US, there were 97,492 charges that were recorded involving workplace discrimination in 2008 (Hammond et al., 2010). These statistics show that discrimination in the workplace has become rampant. The situation is further complicated by the fact that these statistics do not reflect the cases of discrimination perpetrated against the minority groups who are usually reluctant to file formal charges. The tourism industry is among the industries that have benefited from globalization. Tourism has become one of the main sources of income in most countries in the contemporary world as people across the world travel from country to country to experience nature and visit attraction sites such as coastal beaches (Guimaraes and Silva, 2014). Due to the diversity in the tourism clientele, business owners in the tourism industry employ staff from different parts of the world as a way to provide quality service to the customers. Due to the diversity of the workforce in the tourism industry, cases of discrimination have increased. A recent case study on the issue of wage discrimination based on gender in the Brazilian tourism industry revealed that male employees are the majority of the workforce in the tourism industry in Brazil (Guimaraes and Silva, 2014). Further, the case study revealed that male employees earn more than their female counterparts. Male employees in the Brazilian tourism industry earn an average of R$ 1,297.17 per month while their female counterparts earn only R$ 996.02 (Guimaraes and Silva, 2014). This shows that there is a 23.22% wage gap between the male and female employees. It was further noted that the age and educational levels of the women employees were better than that of the male employees. This means that though the female employees were slightly more educated than their male counterparts, they earned less. Gender discrimination exists in the Brazilian tourism industry as men are more valued than women in their jobs (Guimaraes and Silva, 2014). 2.2 Prejudice `Baumeister and Finkel (2010) define prejudice as a strong dislike that is founded on a generalization that is faulty. According to this definition, there must be categorization or generalizations which are followed by animosity or dislike that is indiscriminate towards the group and its members. Prejudice, like discrimination, can be directed towards a group or an individual who is a member of the group or the category. Prejudice differs from discrimination in that while people may discriminate against an entire group of people such as women in general, such cannot be the case for prejudice. Prejudice can be said to exist where people become prejudiced against a certain category of women such as those who perform roles that were traditionally reserved for men (Baumeister and Finkel, 2010). In the workplace, people with psychiatric disabilities are victims of prejudice and discrimination due to the stereotypes created around the issue of mental illness. Due to such stereotypes, the individuals affected are delegitimized in the community and the workplace (Russinova et al., 2011). The prejudice against such persons in the workplace has become a significant barrier towards the recovery of employees who suffer from mental illness. Work is an important aspect of the life of a human being and is a concept that inspires a sense of self-worth and identity in the society. The prejudicial treatment of employees suffering from mental illness makes it difficult for them to work effectively and affects their self-esteem. Such prejudice and stigmatization make people avoid disclosing their psychiatric disability (Russinova et al., 2011). Prejudice can also be directed against certain group of people who work in particular stations in the workplace (Russinova et al., 2011). This is where people are discriminated against due to the positions they hold or due to the attitude that other people have regarding the positions they hold. In the Brazil tourist industry, for example, people working as receptionists, housekeepers or waiters in are looked down upon. These positions are looked down upon such that the people holding the positions are not valued. The schools where tourism courses are offered, the industry and the community in Brazil do not value the positions and the people holding these positions which has made many students and young people to avoid such work in the tourism industry. Further, since majority of the people hired without experience are youths, the fact that the society and the industry does not value those working in these positions has led to many people seeking alternative positions and careers in the industry (Dreher et al., 2013). 2.3 Racism Racism, according to Bobo and Fox (2003), is a set of beliefs that one race is subordinate to another and that the subordinate racial group is culturally or biologically inferior to the race that is considered dominant. Such beliefs are used by the dominant race to legitimize discriminatory treatment of the subordinate race. Despite the fact that the world is more civilized than during the period of the slave trade, research shows that many black people and other ethnic minority groups in the modern labor market continue to hold disadvantaged positions (Bobo and Fox, 2003). In the 1990s, economists had predicted that racial discrimination in the workplace would be eliminated by the demands created by the competitive labor market. However, today racial discrimination in the workplace remains a significant challenge to the successful management of a culturally diverse workplace (Bobo and Fox, 2003). The continued use of stereotypical views about black people and the fact that employers today continue to consider black employees as having weaker hard and soft skills compared to white employees is one factor that has led to the continuation of these beliefs. Research has also shown that employers today continue to use recruitment and screening procedures that are discriminatory based on race (Bobo and Fox, 2003). The fact that the workplace environment today has become more diverse than it was some years ago does not mean that the problem of racial discrimination is fading away. One of the factors that has contributed to the increase in the cases of racial discrimination in the workplace is the fact that diverse workplaces are characterized by antagonism where there are people from different races (Hernandez, 2010). Other than racial discrimination between blacks and whites, inter-ethnic discrimination, such as where Latinos discriminate against Afro-Latinos, has also made the problem worse. The creation of culturally diverse workplaces today is considered as more of a way to prevent charges of discrimination against a particular race. This means that a diverse workplace does not directly translate to a harmonious co-existence between the different races (Hernandez, 2010). Racial discrimination affects almost all sectors including tourism where cultural diversity is more common. The tourism industry in Cuba, for example, is marred by cases of racial discrimination (Parker, 2015). The industry is structured in a way that Afro-Cubans are denied the opportunity to work in well-paying jobs. Due to the influence of the United States of America on the Cuban tourism industry, gender and racial inequalities started to emerge. Both males and females of Afro-Cuban background were denied the opportunity to work in the formal tourism industry. Today in the Cuban tourism industry, jobs in the tourism industry that require open visibility and interaction with tourists such as front desk employees, managers and taxi drivers are not available for Afro-Cubans (Parker, 2015). Those having direct contact with the tourists must have the proper social characteristics such as age, race, gender and good looks. One must have good looks in order to appeal to the tourists and as a result, Afro-Cubans do not readily get prominent jobs in the service industry (Parker, 2015). 3.0 Strategies to Overcome Discrimination in the Tourism Industry According to Kadiresan and Javed (2015), discrimination in the workplace is a vice that needs to be addressed all over the world to ensure equality. Discrimination affects the employees such that they are unable to work effectively which in turn affects the performance of the company or the employer’s business (Kadiresan & Javed, 2015). For managers in the tourism industry, one of the strategies that can be adopted to overcome discrimination is the implementation of policies on equal employment opportunity and harassment. These policies come with dispute settlement mechanisms on issues of discrimination. One of the reasons for the rampant increase in cases of discrimination in the workplace is the fact that managers and employers are only concerned about creating a culturally diverse workplace without taking measures to deal with the challenges that may arise (Tourism Accommodation Australia, 2013). Managers in the tourism industry need to ensure that there are well laid down anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies that ought to be followed by both employees and the clients. Another strategy would be to ensure that all the staff are educated on their rights and responsibilities regarding anti-discrimination policies and laws. There is a need to educate employees to eliminate discrimination, their right to a non-discriminatory workplace and their responsibility to ensure that they do not discriminate against others (Tourism Accommodation Australia, 2013). These strategies on the implementation of anti-discrimination policies and the education of staff about their rights and responsibilities can be evaluated by ensuring that all complaints made touching on discrimination are recorded. When the manager realizes that there is a decrease in such cases, this will show that the level of awareness in the workplace has increased. Further, the increase in the number of complaints made and the successful resolution of these disputes also means that people are aware of their rights and responsibilities. The setting up of an implementation and monitoring department is necessary to ensure that all these details are recorded, and the progress noted. 4.0 Conclusion Discrimination, prejudice, and racism have become major problems in the workplace especially due to the fact that the work environment has become very culturally diverse. The availability of equal opportunities for all cannot be achieved with such challenges in the workplace. Employers in the tourism industry and across all other industries can reap large benefits from having a culturally diverse workplace. However, for these benefis to be realized, managers must be ready to put in place policies to deal with discrimination, prejudice, and racism and also be ready to ensure their successful implementation. Employees must also be trained on their rights and responsibilities to ensure equality in the workplace. References Baumeister, R. & Finkel, E. (2010). Prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. Oxford University Press. Bobo, L. & Fox, C. (2003). Race, racism and discrimination: Bridging problems, methods, and theory in social psychological research. Social Psychology Quarterly, 66(4), 319-332. Burns, C., Barton, K., & Kerby, S. (2012). The state of diversity in today’s workforce. Centre for American Progress. Dreher, M., Carrion, R., & Silveira, A. (2013). Working in the tourism sector: Social inclusion and prejudices. Cuadernos de Turismo, Vol. 32, 281-294. Deligiannis, N. (2014). The balancing act: Creating a diverse workforce. HAYS Recruiting Experts Worldwide. Guimaraes, C. & Silva, J. (2014). Wage differentials by gender in the tourist industry of Brazil. The University of Lisbon. Hammond, W., Gillen, M., & Yen, I. (2010). Workplace discrimination and depressive symptoms: A case study of multi-ethnic hospital employees. Race and Social Problems, 2(1), 19-30. Hernandez, T. (2010). Employment discrimination in the ethnically diverse workplace. Judges’ Journal, Vol. 49, No. 4, 33-37. Kadiresan, V. & Javed, N. (2015). Discrimination in employment and task delegation at workplace in the Malaysian context. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 5(7), 29-41. Nataatmadia, I. & Dyson, L. (2007). Managing the modern workforce: Cultural diversity and its implications. University of Technology, Sydney. Parker, A. (2015). Race and inequality in Cuban tourism during the 21st century. California State University. Russinova, Z., Griffin, S., Bloch, P., Wewiorski, N., & Rosoklija, I. (2011). Workplace prejudice and discrimination toward individuals with mental illnesses. Journal of vocational rehabilitation, Vol. 35, 227-241. Tourism Accommodation Australia (2013). Anti-discrimination guidelines for the hotel and accommodation industry. Australian Hotels Association. Read More