...Short Essay | Diversity in the Workplace | How it can create business related advantages | | Madison Roney: 7660183 | 5/15/2013 | | In modern western society, the diversification of culture has increased dramatically in recent years. With this shift, along with the growing competitiveness of the labor market, corporations have been forced to hire more employees who are not familiar with the spoken language or societal norms present in western culture. Many corporations, as much as 80% according to equity activist Trevor Wilson, consider cultural barriers to be a burden on their managers and fellow employees. As a result, these corporations fail to treat their employees equitably. (Hayes, 1999). One could argue, however, that the diversification of employees within the workplace has various business related benefits such as improved efficiency, bottom line revenue, and relationships formed with co-workers, managers and customers alike. However, to ensure its success, principles of transformational leadership must be used on the part of managers and various challenges must be overcome in order for these benefits to take full effect. This is not the first time in Canada's history where ethnic equality in the workplace has been a subject of interest. In 1993 the New Democratic Party in Ontario, whom was the provincial government at the time, enacted an employment equity law to ensure fair employment opportunities to workers from select minority groups. This legislation...
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...Workplace Diversity: Challenges and Opportunities Jane A. Hannon Southern New Hampshire University Workplace Diversity: Challenges and Opportunities The fastest growing segment of the workforce in the United States is adults over 55 years of age (Robbins & Judge, 2015). Given advancements in medical treatments, diagnosis, and wellness initiatives; a forecast of continued sluggish economic growth; and the changing landscape of employer-sponsored benefit programs, the increase of workers in this age group does not show signs of slowing down. An aging workforce presents challenges and opportunities for organizations. While some of these challenges are unique to the demographic, many are similar to the challenges and opportunities of managing other “surface-level diversity,” which includes race, gender, culture, and disability (Robbins & Judge, 2015). By effectively addressing diversity through the creation of policies and their consistent implementation, organizations have the potential for greater productivity and growth. Changes in Employee Relationships Generationally diverse workplaces pose distinct challenges for employers and employees. Because workers of different ages bring their own perceptions and personalities to the workplace, there exists the potential for misunderstanding and conflict. “Diversity involves not only how people perceive themselves but also how they perceive others. Those perceptions affect their interactions” (Patrick & Kumar, 2012)...
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...Diversity in the Workplace Diversity in the workplace means celebrating the differences between us and everyone else we work with in our place of employment. Diversity is represented in a number of characteristics such as ethnicity, sexual preference, age, religious affiliation, learning styles, education and life experiences. It's important to understand how these differences affect motivation, performance, our interactions with others, and professional achievements. (Scott, n.d.) Diversity not only affects how people perceive themselves, but also in large part how they perceive others. Those perceptions affect all the interactions they will have with one another. Human resource personnel need to affectively deal with multiple types of issues such as communication, adaptability and change in order for a diverse group of employees to function as an organization. Over the next several years, diversity within organizations will continue to increase. Successful organizations currently recognize the need to immediately respond to this need and are willing to put their money where their mouth is. These organizations are ahead of the game and are ready and willing to invest what is required of them to manage diversity in the workplace now. Communicating Diversity Diversity training and education is an imperative part of supporting the customer service efforts of an organization. Organizations who implement diversity training will have a better understanding of what barriers...
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...Abstract Diversity encompasses characteristics that categorizes individuals and allows for self-identification. Diversity presents itself in two different forms, visible and invisible. Those that are visible forms of diversity include ones physical appearance, sex, race, age, ethnicity, speech patterns and language. Those that are nonvisible include characteristics such as religion, national origin, illness and sexual orientation (Clair 2005). When discussing diversity in the work environment, most often times they are discussing the outward, visible characteristics, however invisible social identities are common in the workplace. Gender is one of the most common viewed issues when looking at diversity in the workplace. The glass ceiling and equality issues are analyzed and discussed frequently. Discoveries have been made that support the idea that woman should be on more Boards and should be making more decisions on allocations of monies. This paper seeks to address how diversity impacts an organization and how managers can make diversity work for them. Introduction According to Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly, and Konopaske (2012), Diversity is a term that describes the cultural, ethnic and racial differences in a population. A more comprehensive definition by Gibson et al (2012) indicates that diversity is “an array of physical and cultural differences that constitute the spectrum of human attributes. There are six dimensions of diversity which include: age...
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...Throughout the many issues in the workplace, diversity is an issue that needs immediate attention. Our culture is continuously evolving and with that being said diversity in our work environment should be evolving as well. It has been said, “Top performing companies have long recognized that diversity is good for business. But a just released report from The Economist Intelligence Unit finds that a new definition of workforce diversity is emerging. It’s no longer just about avoiding race, ethnicity, and gender discrimination, or even compliance with legal regulations. Diversity now encompasses values, meaning what motivates someone to join a company, embody organizational passions, and be productive for a long time.” (Galer, 2014) It is crucial for an organization to be diverse, lack of diversity can cause several issues in the workplace such as miscommunication, unproductivity, and creates a hostile work environment. By managing the problems with diversity the organization would benefit greatly in many ways. There are many reasons for why the issue of diversity needs to be addressed in the workplace. Specifically in the organization I work in there are many problems with diversity, many of the workers in my organization have brought up the fact that the race is predominantly white, it is also made aware that the engineers for the company are males and the females in the office are usually the subject of jokes and labeled as ‘non workers’. Since the site I currently work in...
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...Value of Diversity in the Workplace Carolina Silva Soc/315 April 11, 2011 Ashraf Esmail Value of Diversity in the Workplace Introduction In the active times that we are living now, every company faces challenges that could be better handled if a diverse environmental workplace is put into play. Some issues may arise leaving some of the protagonists defenseless and the majority of the time unable to deal with the daunting situation at hand. Diversity is one of the most useful tools that any company at any point in time could ever possibly used, due to the fact that trends of growth in the population—in the US particularly—is becoming more diverse than ever. “Diversity in the workplace is about learning from different groups enabling a Company to benefit from the diverse perspectives and achievements.” (Cornell University ILR School, 2009) I am a real estate agent and a few years ago when I first started working my profession as a realtor in Florida, I joined a big franchise to get acquainted with the market and to make a name in the business. As a big franchise, one of the duties of the realtor is to stay at least one day in the office to provide information and to help any walk-in client that might happen to walk in. On one occasion, I was the one doing “floor duty” when a middle-aged Korean couple sat and waited for me at the office. I welcomly introduced myself, asking “How may I assist you?” Beyond obviously looking for a place to live they mentioned how they would...
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...The Value of Diversity in the Workplace MGMT 512 August 6, 2015 “One of the signs of a truly educated people, and a broadly educated nation, is lack of prejudice.” - Dr. Charles H. Mayo As the world grows smaller and more connected through increases in technology such as the internet, accessibility to international travel, and opening of global markets, companies are tasked with creating diversity and inclusion policies. Diversity and inclusion policies are necessary because people/customers, employees, organizations and companies all want to draw upon this vast array of people to conduct and enhance their businesses. It is important for companies to reflect the “look” of the populations they serve through business due to the many advantages that will positively affect their companies. A diversity policy can improve a company’s quality of employees, increase comfort level from the consumers it serves, improve cost reductions through fewer employee issues, augment creativity, problem solving and decision making; and boost goodwill with stakeholders (Collins, 2009). In regard to developing a diversity and/or inclusion statement there are many frameworks to study before crafting a policy for an organization. One example from a biblical perspective is from the Book of Genesis, the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors (Leadership Bible, 2013) which correlates to Dr. Martin Luther King’s letter from Birmingham Jail, on April 16, 1963 regarding the image of...
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...Diversity in the Workplace Alain Kraussman Hall Baker College Online Human Behavior Management of Organization/BUS615 December 6, 2012 Introduction Diversity is defined as “the condition of having or being composed of differing elements: variety; especially: the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization” ("diversity," 2012). These differing elements are becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society, and especially in the business world. Emigrants from every country in the world have made their way to the shores of America, and from there, to millions of companies and organizations across the nation. From the owner of the neighborhood corner store to the CEO position at Citigroup and Pfizer, foreign-born employees are giving this country a new, diverse, face. Diversity is not just of race, but of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, and disability. In every decade since 1900, the percentage of women 16 years and older in the workplace has increased, going from just 18.3 percent in 1900 to 53.6 percent in 2010 ("Women in the," 2007). The same holds true of disabled workers. In December 1976, there were roughly 2,088,242 blind and disabled workers in the United States. Growing nearly every year since, the Social Security Administration reports that as of December 2011, there are 6,996,435 blind and disabled people in the workforce ("Ssi annual statistical...
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...1.0 Diversity Diversity is generally defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status (Esty, et al., 1995). 2.0 Cultural diversity in workplace As the world becomes more global, it is more likely that the next person sitting close to you “belongs not to just to a different faith, but to the other part of the world as well”( Loveleena Rajeev, 2011 Buzzle.com). In our world today, where businesses or markets transcend all boundaries, cultural diversity in workplace needs to be properly understood to ensure a successful organization. In order to understand cultural diversity in workplace, it’s important to know that diversity refers to people who are culturally, racially and ethnically different from other. In this sense, people that belong to different demographic make ups and the life associated with that difference. It is also a term that not limited to physical appearances, but the ways we communicate, manage and think. There are some challenges in cultural diversity in workplace, like the rightness in conflict, judging others based of their upbringing, circumstances and religious beliefs. And also their varying ways of interpreting key words and valuing things in different ways. But there are many solutions to those problems, such as creating a common understanding among...
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...Diversity In The Workplace Katie Laundree Chamberlin College of Nursing Culture Diversity in the Profession SOCS 350 Tiffani Davis July 07, 2015 Diversity in the Workplace The term work place diversity refers to the variety of different cultures, backgrounds and personalities found within the work environment. Most Americans in the workplace experience people who are very different from themselves. Those differences can include temperament, personality, culture, gender and religion (Harvey & Allard, 2011). It is imperative for managers to be educated on diversity, and have a strong understanding of the differences in their work place population. This understanding will help improve team work performance and employee satisfaction. Imagine not being able to use your dominant hand for an entire day. The hand that you have become so accustomed to using in all your daily tasks, like brushing teeth, driving your car and writing your to do list. These daily takes suddenly become more time consuming, frustrating, overwhelming and may even lead you to give up the task you were attempting to accomplish. Now picture a fellow employee from a different culture or ethnic background, in an environment that varies drastically from one of comfort, trying to work through all the uncertainty and language barriers that may arise. These difficulties are not apparent to others, but can be a major hindrance to the individual. This is why it is imperative that managers and fellow employees’...
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...that having a diverse heterogenic workplace has many benefits. I will be focusing on diversity in employee cultural and gender. Due to the increasingly diverse nature of Australia’s workforce, organisations will have to use strategic tactics such as successful Human Resource Planning, in order to attract, select and retain a diverse workplace. A company with employees that bring different perspectives is presented to be able in finding more efficient ways to operate and grow (Wojcik 2012). Diversity programs enhance the ability of an organisation to meet client needs, which can improve its profits (Wojcik 2012) Dwyer et.al (2001) discusses the potential benefits of gender diversity, such as novel insights, perspectives, creativity, and experience appear to foster and support expansion into new markets. Finding a similar association between racial diversity, growth, and firm performance, This insight will assist me to form an argument to why organisations should select a diverse workforce. Management teams with higher proportion of women promote more interpersonal channels of communication, employee participation in decision-making and monitor feedback and development more intensely (Melero, E 2010) Communities and consumers want to engage with and do business with organisations that reflect themselves and the current population (Lieber 2012). Attracting diverse employees to organisations has a flow on effect on the community. A workplace that embodies respect for all types...
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...employees at their corporate office located in Lincolnshire, Illinois and twelve distribution centers located in Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, California, Oregon, and Connecticut. The CEO/President of the company is Sergio Pereira and the company currently have revenue of $1.6 billion. Quill value their employees by offering many activities such as a wellness center, intramural sports, and hosting associate resource group meetings. Associate resource group meetings are held to provide associates with many skills, build confidence, and prepare for professional opportunities to help grow their careers. These activities allow employees to become comfortable and interact with each other in the workplace (Quill Lincolnshire Inc., 2015). Annex Incorporated is a direct sales...
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...Effective Diversity Management Essay Workplace Diversity: A Contribution to Organisational Success Abstract Workplace diversity is vital for any organisation. The benefits diversity can bring are able to drastically change the performance of an organisation. The following essay explains the essence of workplace diversity, describes the difficulties that may arise in diversity management, and presents the key benefits that it can bring to an organisation. With these issues explained, it is evident that organisations can benefit from workplace diversity and how it can make them successful. Workplace Diversity: A Contribution to Organisational Success Workplace diversity incorporates more than it seems at a glance. Diversity presumes mainly cultural, racial, and gender differences, because these are the most visible distinctions between people. There are, however, many other characteristics in which employees differ. Rice (2010) defines diversity as “differing cultures, languages, ethnicities, races, sexual orientations, religious sects, abilities, classes, ages, and national origins of individuals in an institution, workplace, or community.” (p. 96). As far as the workplace is concerned, diversity is crucial for it. Employees of different cultures, races, ages, classes and backgrounds can make their own unique contributions to the development and performance of an organisation. This is why numerous “business and governmental organisations have implemented workforce...
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...Importance of Understanding Culture Diversity in the Workplace Jennifer Schulz Devry University Cultural Diversity in the Professions SOCS350 William Tutol January 10, 2014 Importance of Understanding Culture Diversity in the Workplace In business today it is important to have a diverse group of employees in the workplace. Our textbook defines diversity as real or perceived differences among people in race, ethnicity, sex, age, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, religion, work and family status, weight and appearance, and other identity-based attributes that affect their interactions and relationships (Bell, 2012, p. 5). It is very important to understand the cultural, ethnical, and gender differences by professionals and management in the workforce in this day and age. If an organization develops a reputation for valuing all types of employees, it will become known as an employer of choice, in which workers from all backgrounds feel they have the opportunity to work, grow, and be treated fairly (Bell, 2012, p. 4). By being diverse in its employees, a business has a better opportunity for new ideas and growth potential and less likely to be stymied. Despite extraordinary corporate and media attention paid to diversity in the past thirty years, discrimination, inequality, and exclusion persist in organizations (Bell, 2012, p. 4). As discussed this week in class, when the department head turned down the Jamaican friend for the position, even though he seemed...
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...Running head: DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE Diversity in the Workplace Amber Barger ORG536 – Contemporary Business Writing and Communication Colorado State University –Global Campus Dr. Phillip Jackson November 26, 2013 DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE As companies start to regain their footing after the recent economic downturn, 2 factors such as the rising number of immigrants, mergers of large corporations, the popular use of temporary workers and the increasing globalization of business, has forced the American workforce to become more diverse (White, 2009). While businesses begin to communicate more with other businesses around the world, it is equally important to remember the advantages of becoming diverse domestically. According to Guffey and Lowey (2001), diversity comes in many forms. Race, age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities and religion are only six of the endless qualities that make up diversity. Fortunately, American corporations have begun to raise the bar when it comes to diversity in the workplace. What makes a company successful at fostering diversity? Daniels (2004), identifies a few strategies that companies are using to foster a healthy diverse culture. Companies begin by interacting with outside minority communities such as colleges where minority groups are well represented. While on these college campuses they participate in job fairs where they offer internships or job positions to qualified minority students about to graduate from college....
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