Pros And Cons Of Diversity Training

Diversity Training: The Positives and Negatives Did you know that there are numerous examples of diversity in the workplace? From physical appearance to job description, there are plenty of diversity characteristics that can be used as a means to bring employees together and eliminate division in the workplace by using effective training. Diversity training is an educational tool that is used by companies to improve their internal relationships and remove ineffectiveness of employees. More often than not, diversity training is used by employers who wish to place emphasis on the effective advantages of employing people who are coming from different backgrounds and talents in order to provide an all-around on the job environment. This paper …show more content…
Unfortunately, employees are being placed in or surrounded by barriers based on their culture. Aside from the apparent difficulties with understanding and relating to the individuals whose language is different, there are in fact other causes that are challenging people who are trying to work harmoniously with others of a different background. Ethnocentrism, which is when a person believes that one's own culture is superior to all the others and is the standard by which all the other cultures should be measured, is one example of a problematic factor with cultural communication barriers. It should be avoided because if an employer allowed ethnocentrism to infiltrate their organization, then the outcome would often evolve as internal conflict fueled by showing favoritism, rejection and snobbish behavior. Another factor would be the trouble of interpreting and deciphering a different language other than one's own. Most employees have grown comfortable with being around the primary language in the workplace and since “language is a way of looking at the world, and even skilled translators can find it tricky to convey complex emotions and concepts” (Penn) it can be hard to adapt. A possible solution to this dilemma would be for companies to hire more bilingual employees who are capable of mediating and reducing language communication …show more content…
The differences of gender in the workplace are typically stemming from the social factors, which are basically the influences behind the behaviors of men and women; ordinarily involving both physical and emotional factors. It is not impossible for male and female workers to reach an organizational equilibrium as some researchers conducted a study showing that “shifting from an all-male or all-female office to one split evenly along gender lines could increase revenue by roughly 41 percent” (Brooks). There are a bounty of other benefits that can be uncovered if there is gender diversity. For instance, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, “while it may make some employees unhappy, increasing gender diversity in the workplace helps make businesses more productive” (Brooks). Sadly males and females do not view and do everything the same manner. For example, women perceive that an individual's styles of production should be cooperative, where everyone in the organization works as part of a whole unit. Men, on the other hand, perceive that an individual's work should be accomplished independently without any sort of assistance from others in the organization. Women likewise tend to be the more supportive type of managers, whereas men are strictly more straightforward towards their employees. Managers and