Workplace Diversity
Introduction
Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between individuals in an organization. It encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background, and more. Diversity not only involves how people perceive themselves, but how they perceive others. Those perceptions affect their interactions. For a wide assortment of employees to function effectively as an organization, human resource professionals need to deal effectively with issues such as communication, adaptability, and change. Diversity management benefits associates by creating a fair and safe environment where everyone has access to opportunities and challenges.
Importance of Workplace Diversity
Workplace diversity fosters mutual respect among employees. Whether employees work in groups or teams comprised of co-workers with varied work styles, or colleagues who represent different cultures or generations, a synergistic work environment becomes the norm. Although an idyllic atmosphere may be difficult to achieve, employees nevertheless recognize the many strengths and talents that diversity brings to the workplace and they gain respect for their colleagues' performance.
Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace
Diversity in the workplace benefits associates, customers and the organization. It can increase adaptability and offer a variety of viewpoints. A diverse workforce can also help the organization reach a broader client base and improve market share.
Increased Adaptability
Organizations employing a diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of solutions to problems in service, sourcing, and allocation of resources. Employees from diverse backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences in suggesting ideas that are flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer demands.
Broader Service Range
A diverse collection of skills and experiences (e.g. languages, cultural understanding) allows a company to provide service to customers on a global basis.
Variety of Viewpoints
A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences. The organization can draw from that pool to meet business strategy needs and the needs of customers more effectively.
More Effective Execution
Companies that encourage diversity in the workplace inspire all of their employees to perform to their highest ability. Company-wide strategies can then be executed; resulting in higher productivity, profit, and return on investment.
Challenges of Diversity in the Workplace
Developing and maintaining a diverse workforce is a process, or journey. The first step is understanding the benefits. The next step is developing and implementing a diversity plan.
Communication
Perceptual, cultural and language barriers need to be overcome for diversity programs to succeed. Ineffective communication of key objectives results in confusion, lack of teamwork, and low morale.
Resistance to Change
There are always employees who will refuse to accept the fact that the social and cultural makeup of their workplace is changing. The "we've always done it this way" mentality silences new ideas and inhibits progress.
Implementation of Diversity in the Workplace Policies
This can be the overriding challenge to all diversity advocates. Armed with the results of employee assessments and research data, they must build and implement a customized strategy to maximize the effects of diversity in the workplace for their particular organization.
Successful Management of Diversity in the Workplace
Diversity training alone is not sufficient for your organization’s diversity management plan. A strategy must be created and implemented to create a culture of diversity that permeates every department and function of the organization.
Recommended steps that have been proven successful in world-class organizations are:
Assessment of Diversity in the Workplace
Top companies make assessing and evaluating their diversity process an integral part of their management system. A customizable employee satisfaction survey can accomplish this assessment for your company efficiently and conveniently. It can help your management team determine which challenges and obstacles to diversity are present in your workplace and which policies need to be added or eliminated.
Development of Diversity in the Workplace Plan
Choosing a survey provider that provides comprehensive reporting is a key decision. That’s because a thorough report will illuminate which policies are working and which are not. It will identify the barriers to your diversity goals and provide the information needed for diversity-training programs.
Implementation of Diversity in the Workplace Plan
The personal commitment of executive and managerial teams is a must. Leaders and managers within organizations must incorporate diversity policies into every aspect of the organization’s function and purpose. Attitudes toward diversity originate at the top and filter downward. Management cooperation and participation is required to create a culture conducive to the success of your organization’s plan.
Conclusion
Workplace diversity is an important aspect of corporate culture. It can significantly benefit a company’s performance and operations. However, developing a diverse workforce requires a company to adopt a new mindset. Diversity is not simply a human resources issue, but a business strategy that embraces all aspects of the company.