Business environments today display diversity, a numerical composition that reflects different kinds of people, such as men and women of different ethnic origins, educational experiences, and professional backgrounds (Beamish, Morrison, Inkpen, & Rosenzweig, 2003). A vast amount of organizations are emulating a diverse workforce. Fair treatment of employees is the responsibility of the human resource management team within a firm. Footsteps of past generations are the facilitating mechanism allowing today’s generation to participate in a safe and fair workplace. Specific rules and regulations assist in equal employment opportunities for every employee. The Equal Employment Opportunity Act, Family Medical Leave Act, and the Drug-Free Workforce Act protect employees and employers, are targets of present-day court cases, require the HR department to manage employer-employee relationships, and facilitate the implementation of HR compliance policies.…
This study evaluates four aspects of diversity. Employee viewpoints of the organization and leadership, business culture, demographics including length of service and measuring success within the workplace. Measuring these areas allows the company to incorporate findings directly into their training modules as they are identified.…
“At capital One, diversity means seeking out and embracing differences for the richness those differences add to our lives and to our business.” (http://www.capitalone.com/about/corporatecitizenship/diversity.php) A company that opens it business to diversity has the ability to value human differences, and in return acquire beneficial relationships. Capital One has partnered with MWBE (Minority and Women Business Enterprises) and the relationship is yielding a positive reaction in terms of the communities that house Capital One and in the corporate world. Because Capital One is an information based company there diversity plan is also well thought and proven. The diversity plan includes targeted recruitment, development and advancement, communication and awareness, retention and accountability and rewards. By making informed decisions and thinking outside the box they have been able to discover talented diverse candidates. With these type of workforce the company has created a place where all associates have a chance to balance work and life because of the flexible work arrangements. In hiring people who are varied but understand the goal of the company they have been able to initiate software to allow representatives to work from home, developed a retention plan, open health doors for domestic partner health coverage, partnered with the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Richmond, and much more. Capital One has brought diversity into every level of employment to ensure success in the present and the future. The VP/CIO is a woman by the name of Kathy Busser and usually at this level you don’t see many woman, but Capital One is breaking the mold so incorporate placing the best person for the job without looking at race, color, religious preference, or anything that is superficial. Employees are attaining jobs clearly on the ability to perform the duties at hand and be open to change and new innovative techniques to help the company move forward in the…
Susan Jackson states in Diversity in the Workplace: Human Resource Initiatives that, “Surveys of business leaders confirm the perception that interest in managing diversity successfully is widespread. In a study of 645 firms, 74% of the respondents were concerned about diversity, and of these about one-third felt that diversity effected corporate strategy.” This means that the majority of organizations feel diversity is important, and see the need to take action, however; implementing the process can be more difficult. This paper will outline a human resources strategic plan that includes diversity training for all employees to include managers and frontline staff. It will focus specific diversity training segments to address management’s perspectives, and will use a change model to persuade management to implement needed modifications to the organizations practices. This paper will also propose a brief training outline of diversity content. Finally, this paper will recommend a comprehensive method of evaluation to ensure the training will create the needed changes.…
Every day the global workforce is growing and for many years there has been big issues within the workplace. One of those big issues being diversity. Every employee has something very unique to bring to the company. The ideal company will have the best team players with great work ethic. In most cases a successful company holds employees that have different views which come in handy for big business decisions. In a growing global workforce, some of these differences cause barriers which can affect the company.…
The development of exceptional diversity training class organizations extends their reach far beyond race, culture, gender, and workplace ethics. Successful diversity training within the organization provides employers with the tolls needed to attract new employees and retain a diversified work place. The implementation of diversified leadership and management training programs provide coaching to assist those skills of the individuals, thus creating exceptional employer and employee relationships. These training programs increase the organization abilities to grow, and reduces complaints as well as lawsuits filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for violation against the Civil Rights Act.…
A 1: Diversity means more than race and gender. Diversity means creating an environment where all employees can grow to their fullest potential. The first chairman of Xerox, Johnson C. Wilson had the commitment to diversify. Chairman Wilson took proactive steps to create a more diverse workplace in response to race riots in the 1960s. He called for increased hiring of African Americans in order to achieve equality among its workplace. Throughout the 1970s Xerox established an internal affirmative action office and began to hire significant number of minority employees. Xerox placed an emphasis on the advancement of minorities and females in the 1980s. It was during that Barry Rand, an African American, was named the first minority president of a division. In the 1990s sexual orientation was included in the company’s Equal Opportunity policy. Xerox has 50% of its workforce made up by women and minorities. Of that 50%, 48.2% are Xerox’s senior executives. In 2007, Ursula Burns was named the first African American female president of Xerox Corporation. The definition of diversity was changed by Anne M. Mulcahy. She said Diversity was the key to success. Diversity breeds creativity. Companies ruled by a hierarchy of imagination, and filled with people of all ages, races, and backgrounds challenge each other’s underlying assumptions, freeing everybody from convention and orthodoxy.…
Xerox, founded in 1906, is the world’s largest service and technology company in the computer industry with number one market share and sales in excess of $17 billion. They are also recognized as the world’s most admired company in the computer industry. This has come about as a result of internal growth and diversity in creating an environment where all employees can grow within. Xerox defines diversity as follows: “Diversity is about more than race and gender. It’s about more than numbers. It’s about inclusion. Diversity means creating an environment where all employees can grow to their fullest potential.”…
An increasing number of companies are realising the benefits of having a diverse workforce and as a result are incorporating equality and diversity objectives in their business strategies.…
It is important for managers to be educated on diversity, and have an understanding of the differences in their workforce’s population, because it will improve performance potential and increase employee satisfaction. There are numerous benefits to valuing diversity. With each unique combination of gender, ethnic background, culture, and life experiences, each person brings a different set of strengths, skill sets, and approaches to problems. According to Bell, (2007) , “Valuing diversity can benefit organizations in the areas of cost, resource acquisition, marketing, creativity, problem solving, and system flexibility”. An employee’s satisfaction is much higher when they feel accepted and valued for their unique qualities.…
Regardless of sexual orientation, gender, race, or age, all organizations need to hire, retain, and develop a diverse workforce that provides a deeper pool of talent and unique perspectives that help the organization identity and meet the needs of a diverse customer base (McGraw-Hill 2012, p.46). Organizations are now recognizing the need and importance of investing in diversity as part of their overall mission. Diversity is crucial in this day 's global marketplace as companies interact with different ethnic cultures and clients. The results of having a diverse workplace are increased creativity, increased productivity improved moral, new language skills, global understanding, new processes, new solutions to difficult problems and improved employee recruitment and retention.…
Organizations today are looking at various ways to keep a competitive edge over the competition in their industry. Diversity management was created by organizations as a strategic mechanism to help with the growing diversity in today’s labor markets. Over the years, diversity has been used to define individuals based on ethnic origins, gender, age, sexual orientation, and political or religious beliefs in both society and the workplace. With globalization increasing in the 21st century, organizations have to reevaluate their past practices of diversity management. Human Resource Managers today are challenged to create effective training programs that incorporate upper level management down to front line employees to be responsible for equality and diversity initiatives.…
One of the major arguments supporting the implementation of managing diversity programs aimed at achieving EO in employment, and that of the business case. The business case in simple terms is utilising the diversity in an organisations workforce to gain competitive advantage. This notion is reinforced by Strachan et al (2007) which argues MD programs have the ability to increase the chance to attract a wider range of talented employees in a competitive job market, reduce staff turnover, reduce absenteeism, enhanced staff motivation resulting in increased productivity therefore playing a major role in providing a competitive edge for the organisation. This argument is reinforced by Illes (1995) who also argues that MD approach plays a major role in reducing turnover, absenteeism and improves customer service and sales to minority groups (Iles 1995). In terms of providing equality in the workplace, it is argued that to ensure MD initiatives achieve EO within the workplace, it is important that the MD program changes the organisations philosophy and culture to help achieve EO for minorities and women in the workplace. This argument is reinforced by Mighty (1991, p.67) who states that” managing diversity approaches should be a broad organisational change effort that involves changing individuals attitudes and…
Diversity in the workplace is a topic that many industries and organizations spend an abundant amount of time and training on in order to ensure its presence. Today's workplace is more diverse than it has ever been in history. While the workforce has made strides in the direction of equality, it is still far from attaining total equality in the workplace. A company must value diversity. The main objectives of valuing diversity include awareness, education, and positive recognition of the differences among people in the workforce. Organizations are increasingly emphasizing group work or teamwork as a source of competitive advantage in a diverse workforce. It has been suggested that such organizations must target their recruitment efforts…
Diversity can foster opportunity and excellence for an organization by increasing workplace creativity, broadening the range of knowledge and skill, improved decision making because of varied perspectives, and improved service delivery to a diverse customer base (Manning & Curtis, 2012). Many organizations have realized the importance of diversity and are now focused on educating and promoting it within the ranks of their employees. Diversity is no longer just a buzzword, a marketing strategy or a nice, fluffy, feel good policy; it has become a primary focus because they have realized that it is tied to the competitive advantage and success of the organization, which makes it an economic…