Differences between People - Essay Example

Embracing Diversity Instead of Managing It

Introduction

People, despite having some characters in similarity, are very different. Everyone is different, be it in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, religion, race, color, and education level. Imagine a situation where all the people were similar with no differences. I believe that it would make the world dull, having no differences. The dullness would again affect the global outlook as there would be no differences to observe or think bout. That is why, in as much as others are against it, diversity is essential. It ensures that everyone is unique in their way, making the world more interesting and colorful. Diversity can be defined as people being different on various levels. Humans have so many differences, but only some are highlighted when it comes to diversity. The issue of diversity has been in society for so long. The only difference now is that people are becoming more open to the idea of diversity.

Body

Diversity goes hand in hand with inclusion, which is being advocated by accepting diversity. The only way society can move forward is to accept that there is diversity and that the world is better with diversity. The first step is accepting diversity and understanding it so that we can avoid discrimination, be it in any institution educational, hospital, and others. The way that people see the world depends on how they are taught. Therefore, in as much as society influences the minds of the people, the education institution has some influence. There exist so many ideologies that people pick up while at school, and acceptance of diversity is one of them. That is why learning institutions should take it upon themselves to teach on diversity. That way, we can move from managing it to embracing it and the good that it brings. When society learns to appreciate diversity, we can easily move forward and even use diversity to foster growth. Managing diversity involves working with the diversities, but being skeptical while embracing diversity involves accepting the differences that we gave and doing our best to blend in with them. With the advanced technology that we have today, it is easier to interact with everyone around the world, making it the best time to accept diversity. The world is made up of billions of people who are all different, and our differences are what bring us together. The differences help us deal with the different issues that there in the world. They also give us different perspectives on issues.

According to Connerley (2005), several organizations have been noted to employ different individuals in the modern world, not based on their traits but their professional abilities and capabilities. On its own, that brings and converges different individuals into a professional environment but each with personal attributes, characteristics, and practices. How individuals identify themselves and how they are perceived to be by other employees makes an enormous difference in defining diversity in an organization. Different distinctions and comparisons of employees such as their race, ages, ethnic groups, sexual identity, religion and faith, citizenship status, and mental and physical conditions are majorly what defines diversity among the organization's employees. Notably, an organization's diversity among its employees has several advantages, leading to employee productivity and organizational growth. For example, having employees with ethnic diversity, for instance, can be helpful for the organization while wanting to venture into international markets.

Additionally, diversity in an organization is advantageous since employees with diverse backgrounds will always bring in and chip in different concepts and perspectives informed by their cultural experiences and backgrounds. Moreover, target demographics for a diverse organization is easy to deliver on since the employees present to provide direct input to such projects. As an organizational manager, however, there is a remarkable difference between managing and embracing diversity in a bid to have a productive and manageable team.

As an organizational leader, diversity can pose a challenge to the productivity of specific employees and to that of a team if not well managed. Therefore, it is necessary and of great importance for organizational leads to identify specific diversity issues and manage them before they get out of hand. To effectively handle such issues, corporate leaders need to understand their employees' backgrounds and understand how their behavior affects the organization's diversity. To manage diversity in the workplace, organizational leaders need to apply management strategies such as prioritized and effective communication among and with their employees, treat their employees individually, encourage the employees to professionally interact by encouraging them to work in diverse groups and ensure each employee is treated the same by setting base standards on objective criteria. Being open-minded, especially in talent acquisition and hiring processes, is more important. By so doing, the organizational leaders and managers will be managing diversity among their employees, a factor and action that is different from embracing diversity.

Notably, embracing diversity is different from managing diversity since it based on a more dynamic and conflict-accepting approach. Actions taken to embrace diversity among employees ensures that people's differences are noted and better understood for the sake and purpose of achieving innovation and improving productivity among employees. Different from how organizational leaders recruit and retain employees from different backgrounds, embracing diversity is a form of accepting, giving value, respecting and adapting to individual differences and beliefs for the sake of providing employees confidence and comfortability in engaging as part of a team. To embrace diversity, actions such as learning the lives and interests of the diverse employees out of the workplace environment can be of great aid. Moreover, involving all employees in planning for social events, providing time off for cultural and religious events, and holy days shall go a long way in embracing diversity(DeZure, Shaw, & Rojewski, 2014). Lastly, permitting and providing flexible schedules for employees with diverse religious and cultural activities shall go a long way in ensuring that diversity has been embraced. The most crucial aspect as a leader you have to consider in a bid to embrace diversity is focusing on the professional skills and strengths employees are bringing on the table and standing discriminatory actions or moves in the organization.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Managing and Embracing Diversity

Managing Diversity

It involves the acquiring and retention of employees or members who will fit with the heterogeneous group. Most of the time, it is done to make the company or institution look good in the public. It doesn’t mean that the people accept the diversity bro differences that come with diversity, but they accept that they have to include the different people within their circles. In the earlier years, this was what mainly happened; it is sort of a way to survive with diversity without necessarily accepting it. Even then, it does have its advantages that cannot be ignored. Among the advantages, we have the fact that it allows employees to focus on their strengths(Lord, & Emrich, 2001). Diversity comes with different views of things, and with the management of diversity, it allows that the people can now focus on that they are good in which will maximize output. It also opens up to more job opportunities for minorities, especially in the US. We have acted like an equal employment opportunity, which allows for everyone to be treated equally.

With the management of diversity, such acts and legal requirements are observed. Helps in managing biases within an organization. The inclusion of the minority groups and different people within an organization makes it easier to notice when there is an instance of favoritism or discrimination (Hytten, 2011). Within a workforce, it increases the output and even attracts more customers. All this while reducing the chances of burnout as the team becomes more vigorous. When diversity is managed within a workforce, it makes the other members more sensitive, which means that they take time before making decisions. Such actions promote effectiveness, which manifests in the output of the work. Even then, managing diversity can promote discrimination. While they have new different people around them, some end up using the differences so that they can discriminate and differentiate between the other groups. With managed diversity, it means that there is a group that does not accept the move to diversity. As such, they will most likely find fault, which will lead to arguments and major disagreements. For instance, in a workplace, the others might feel that the diverse group should not be in a leadership position. As such, they will create issues even when there are none. The biggest issue with managing diversity is that the people only do it because they feel that they have no otherwise. As such, they can be very unforgiving and discriminative.

Embracing Diversity

Undoubtedly, embracing diversity helps us see and view the world from a different view. That is our perspective on so many ideologies and issues that change becomes more vivid. The push towards embracing diversity has increased, and even leaders are taking it upon themselves to ensure that they promote it. Embracing diversity brings about inclusion. With inclusion, then, people can create more as they easily understand each other. That way, it increases as a chance for leadership and organizational effectiveness. It increases better chances of marketing and problem solving, as there is an abundance of different perspectives. It also creates a socially responsible culture within an organization and society in general. With this, it creates a better reputation for an organization. Unfortunately, there is the downside of embracing diversity. One is that there is an increase in disagreements within an organization that is keen on observing the diversity initiative(Hofmeyer, Sheingold, Klopper, & Warland, 2015). It could create communication issues within an organization or institution. People from different cultures have different methods of communication, as well as ways of doing things. With this, there can be some miscommunication, especially within the first moments and weeks together. Even then, embracing diversity is the way forwards, and even though it will be hectic at the start, it will help alleviate society.

There is the issue of diversity within educational institutions. I feel that the burden should be left for educators to create an environment in which the students can embrace diversity. In as much as educational institutions are known for their students, the educators are a common factor. While students come and go, educators can be within the institution for years. That is why they should have the burden of educating the students and creating an environment where diversity is embraced rather than managed. Ideologies are followed due to one person leading them. The same case with embracing diversity. Students come from all walks of lied each has a preconceived idea of diversity. With a conducive environment, they are better inclined to have an open mind (Ayman, 2010). The educators within an institution have a lot of power and influence on the students. It is similar to leaders, especially within the transactional model. Diversity is like the transactional model of leadership, whereby it is done by accepting changes that are within the society. Therefore, teachers and educators are within a category where they can help promote the embrace of diversity. Students are the leaders of tomorrow, and with that, they can help a lot in facilitating the embracing of diversity shortly (Gholamzadeh, & Ravana, 2016).

Ethical Concerns

In as much as diversity is great, we cannot necessarily ignore the differences. Among them, we have the religious differences which cannot necessarily be overlooked. Embracing diversity means accepting every single difference that they have. We also have cultural differences within an institution. Students come from different cultures, and the educator has to be very sensitive and careful with how they handle the differences. Gender issues on how to treat each member despite their genders or affiliations. While embracing diversity is a noble action, maintaining ethical considerations is very important as well. Legal consideration, too, is very important to observe. No-one is allowed to discriminate, be it based on gender, race, religion or even ethnicity. An educator has to be well endowered within the differences. That is, for them, they should not bend towards any affiliation. The educator has to act as the barrier and glue between all the differences of the people. Be it culturally, religiously, within the race, among others.

Preferred Practices

Institutions can make efforts to ensure that they are facilitating the embracing of diversity. Among the different ways they can do that is by pushing and ensuring that there is equal treatment. That is, by incorporating the celebration of different events by the different cultures. That is by using multicultural practices, which will include the inclusion of every student in the institution. Acknowledgment of the major practices of each diverse group is also very essential. The same way that people celebrate thanksgiving, then every diverse group should be presented during the sessions. The spirit of inclusion is very important within the act of embracing diversity. Encourage student interactions so that they can learn more about each other. All in all, promote positivity and a good attitude about diversity. In as much as the differences define us as people, we have to create equity for equality to proper. That can only be achieved by accepting and embracing diversity.

Conclusion

Change inevitable, and diversity is no change. People have struggled with acceptance due to their differences, and it is time we moved to embrace the differences. The way to do that is by the promotion of embracing diversity, especially among the students. While they are the future of society, they have to learn to embrace diversity. If we can find common ground where we can all live together as one and accept each other, society can be great at moving ahead.