Diversity The Workplace
Pamela D Jones
1306BMGT3916980
Managing Diversity in the Workplace
19 June 2013
Topic Introduction
With this paper we are going to explore the potential effect of population expansion and its consequences on the diversity of the workplace. The paper will show the steps that can be taken by companies to prepare for these changes that will affect current and future employees. It will also bring into the forefront some of the challenges, and successes, that management will come up against in dealing with individuals from various backgrounds.
Relevance
Many businesses are becoming progressively more diverse as employees who originate from various genders and races but also a variety …show more content…
of cultural, ethnical and religious backgrounds must work together as a team to achieve the successful end result of the institution. With these factors in mind many companies already have their eyes on the future and are taking the necessary steps to ensure that current, and future, employees are educated and capable of working in this different environment. The varied workers from these different backgrounds have the potential to bring a vast amount of skill and education to the workforce. The companies that we speak of are demonstrating that they are not only adapting to these changes but recognizing the benefits of them.
Research Results • What is diversity? Diversity has many different meanings, in the workplace it can be best defined as the differences that are common among the staff members.
These differences can be anything from race, gender, sexual orientation, age, education, and ethnicity, religious or political beliefs. • What is the importance of a diverse workforce? Diversity in the workplace should always be valued for the various positive aspects that it can provide the company; ultimately it can be viewed a growth opportunity. As managers, the interaction with staff members should be viewed as a potentially educational and different way or viewing situations. The individuals should always feel that their ideas are heard and appreciated. These views can provide not only different ways of viewing a problem, but also a different way of handling situations. • Challenges faced by managing diversity? Managers face many different challenges in dealing with their staff; some of these may be the supervisors own short-sightedness or inability to view the value of their staff. The management staff must be able to maintain an atmosphere of respect and trust between all staff no matter what level they might be at. They also must take special care to avoid any behavior that can be construed as disrespectful or …show more content…
discrimination.
• Challenges of diversity from a management perspective. There are many challenges to ensuring a diverse workforce. The most prevalent of these challenges would have to be communication. The communication barrier can be anything from the way someone could misunderstand your meaning to a language barrier. Communication can wreak havoc on the productivity of a team by causing confusion among the members which in the end would create low morale and poor teamwork. Management must take the time to understand the diversities that are specific to their environment. With this in mind they have to ensure that all employees are educated to recognize and understand these differences; they must implement policies to ensure that these differences are respected. While some staff may be resistant to this education they have to understand that while other employees may be different they are also very valuable in the skills that they bring to the table. An approach to this has to be put into place taking all departments and functions into consideration. Diversity training is mandatory in many companies today but as we move forward into the future it will become vital to the success of an organization. • Benefits of conducting staff diversity education. The benefits of workplace diversity training are obvious when the look at the group as a whole and you see many people from different backgrounds working together as one to achieve a common goal. If you take the time to look at each member as an individual you may see things such as the staff member taking the time to go above and beyond what is expected of them. This training could also eliminate the “us vs. them” mentality that many people feel is prevalent in companies today. Most importantly there tends to be a reduction in violence and turnover within the company itself. This just proves that the morale and productivity of the staff improves greatly when everyone works together as a team regardless of their background. Summary
Organizations in the marketplace today have to understand the value of continuous learning and education of their staff.
They must also recognize the benefits that they can attain from the varied workforce. Moving forward these companies, and the employees that work for them, will become more diverse in their makeup. For constant progress, they must ensure that there is harmony between management and the staff. Motivated by a swiftly changing market, institutions are looking for new ways to imagine, arrange, communicate, and work. It has to be recognized that the worker to management association is ever changing. Staff members must be mandated to take more accountability for the work that they are assigned and leadership must make sure that they have the critical thinking and problem solving skills necessary to perform the task at hand. The various backgrounds and skills of all employees, whether they are the president of the company or someone working in the mailroom should be recognized for the value and education that they can bring to the company. With the workforce growing to include people from all over the world it has become apparent that the many cultures and benefits of having such a diverse group cannot be measured. Management will need to understand the importance of them not taking the easy road and falling back into old behaviors and that they use the catalyst of the diversity training and change attitudes which will guarantee that the company moves forward in
a positive fashion.
New ways of learning that involve experiential activity offer promise to organizations striving to achieve high performance. The concepts and practices of action learning, situated learning, and incidental learning also have potential for the professional and self-development of workers who will work in these organizations.
References
Coleman, Christopher. (2013, April). How to Create a Workplace People Never Want to Leave. Retrieved 15 June 2013 from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-11/how-to-create-a-workplace-people-never-want-to-leave-by-googles-christopher-coleman
Gardner, Reginald. (2010, December). Managing Workplace Diversity. Retrieved 15 June 2013 from http://www.phoenix.edu/profiles/faculty/reginald-gardner/articles/managing-workplace-diversity.html
Greenberg, Josh. (2005, January). Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions. Retrieved 15 June 2013 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Diversity-in-the-Workplace:-Benefits,-Challenges-and-Solutions&id=11053
Managing a Diverse Workforce.. (2005, September 23). In WriteWork.com. Retrieved 15 June 2013, from http://www.writework.com/essay/managing-diverse-workforce
U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). (2000, June). Building and Maintaining a Diverse and High Quality Workforce. Retrieved 15 June 2013 from http://www.opm.gov?Diversity/guide.htm
1306BMGT3916980
Managing Diversity in the Workplace
19 June 2013
Topic Introduction
With this paper we are going to explore the potential effect of population expansion and its consequences on the diversity of the workplace. The paper will show the steps that can be taken by companies to prepare for these changes that will affect current and future employees. It will also bring into the forefront some of the challenges, and successes, that management will come up against in dealing with individuals from various backgrounds.
Relevance
Many businesses are becoming progressively more diverse as employees who originate from various genders and races but also a variety …show more content…
of cultural, ethnical and religious backgrounds must work together as a team to achieve the successful end result of the institution. With these factors in mind many companies already have their eyes on the future and are taking the necessary steps to ensure that current, and future, employees are educated and capable of working in this different environment. The varied workers from these different backgrounds have the potential to bring a vast amount of skill and education to the workforce. The companies that we speak of are demonstrating that they are not only adapting to these changes but recognizing the benefits of them.
Research Results • What is diversity? Diversity has many different meanings, in the workplace it can be best defined as the differences that are common among the staff members.
These differences can be anything from race, gender, sexual orientation, age, education, and ethnicity, religious or political beliefs. • What is the importance of a diverse workforce? Diversity in the workplace should always be valued for the various positive aspects that it can provide the company; ultimately it can be viewed a growth opportunity. As managers, the interaction with staff members should be viewed as a potentially educational and different way or viewing situations. The individuals should always feel that their ideas are heard and appreciated. These views can provide not only different ways of viewing a problem, but also a different way of handling situations. • Challenges faced by managing diversity? Managers face many different challenges in dealing with their staff; some of these may be the supervisors own short-sightedness or inability to view the value of their staff. The management staff must be able to maintain an atmosphere of respect and trust between all staff no matter what level they might be at. They also must take special care to avoid any behavior that can be construed as disrespectful or …show more content…
discrimination.
• Challenges of diversity from a management perspective. There are many challenges to ensuring a diverse workforce. The most prevalent of these challenges would have to be communication. The communication barrier can be anything from the way someone could misunderstand your meaning to a language barrier. Communication can wreak havoc on the productivity of a team by causing confusion among the members which in the end would create low morale and poor teamwork. Management must take the time to understand the diversities that are specific to their environment. With this in mind they have to ensure that all employees are educated to recognize and understand these differences; they must implement policies to ensure that these differences are respected. While some staff may be resistant to this education they have to understand that while other employees may be different they are also very valuable in the skills that they bring to the table. An approach to this has to be put into place taking all departments and functions into consideration. Diversity training is mandatory in many companies today but as we move forward into the future it will become vital to the success of an organization. • Benefits of conducting staff diversity education. The benefits of workplace diversity training are obvious when the look at the group as a whole and you see many people from different backgrounds working together as one to achieve a common goal. If you take the time to look at each member as an individual you may see things such as the staff member taking the time to go above and beyond what is expected of them. This training could also eliminate the “us vs. them” mentality that many people feel is prevalent in companies today. Most importantly there tends to be a reduction in violence and turnover within the company itself. This just proves that the morale and productivity of the staff improves greatly when everyone works together as a team regardless of their background. Summary
Organizations in the marketplace today have to understand the value of continuous learning and education of their staff.
They must also recognize the benefits that they can attain from the varied workforce. Moving forward these companies, and the employees that work for them, will become more diverse in their makeup. For constant progress, they must ensure that there is harmony between management and the staff. Motivated by a swiftly changing market, institutions are looking for new ways to imagine, arrange, communicate, and work. It has to be recognized that the worker to management association is ever changing. Staff members must be mandated to take more accountability for the work that they are assigned and leadership must make sure that they have the critical thinking and problem solving skills necessary to perform the task at hand. The various backgrounds and skills of all employees, whether they are the president of the company or someone working in the mailroom should be recognized for the value and education that they can bring to the company. With the workforce growing to include people from all over the world it has become apparent that the many cultures and benefits of having such a diverse group cannot be measured. Management will need to understand the importance of them not taking the easy road and falling back into old behaviors and that they use the catalyst of the diversity training and change attitudes which will guarantee that the company moves forward in
a positive fashion.
New ways of learning that involve experiential activity offer promise to organizations striving to achieve high performance. The concepts and practices of action learning, situated learning, and incidental learning also have potential for the professional and self-development of workers who will work in these organizations.
References
Coleman, Christopher. (2013, April). How to Create a Workplace People Never Want to Leave. Retrieved 15 June 2013 from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-11/how-to-create-a-workplace-people-never-want-to-leave-by-googles-christopher-coleman
Gardner, Reginald. (2010, December). Managing Workplace Diversity. Retrieved 15 June 2013 from http://www.phoenix.edu/profiles/faculty/reginald-gardner/articles/managing-workplace-diversity.html
Greenberg, Josh. (2005, January). Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions. Retrieved 15 June 2013 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Diversity-in-the-Workplace:-Benefits,-Challenges-and-Solutions&id=11053
Managing a Diverse Workforce.. (2005, September 23). In WriteWork.com. Retrieved 15 June 2013, from http://www.writework.com/essay/managing-diverse-workforce
U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). (2000, June). Building and Maintaining a Diverse and High Quality Workforce. Retrieved 15 June 2013 from http://www.opm.gov?Diversity/guide.htm