The Challenge Of Managing Diversity In The Workplace

Decent Essays
Diversity in the workplace is more than just racial diversity or sexual equality there are aging workers, handicapped workers, alternative lifestyles and other differences that makes up the new workplace. Many people do not believe that the acceptance of diversity will happen without intervention which may be the case as personal biases are hard to change. Organizations need realize that diversity can be an asset and plan accordingly to use that asset to give their company a competitive edge. According to Mello (2015), “Diversity has become and continues to be one of the principal buzzwords for both public and private organizations, as recognizing and promoting diversity is seen as critical for organizational success” (p. 44). Diversity …show more content…
That racial, gender, abilities and differing lifestyles can affect the perspective of the employee about the company. Employees own experiences and value system will shape their opinions of the workplace. An organization has its own cultural structure which has to be integrated to fit into an employee’s own cultural influence. Organizations need to create a culture that supports diversity to be able to recruit and retain the best talent. Many companies now have diversity programs and understand the importance of utilizing their diverse workforce to increase their business success. Active recruitment of diverse groups of people and creating an environment of openness to help retain individuals will be key to having a diverse workforce. An organization should develop training and groups to support diversity. According to Kranc (2014), “A theme that emerges continuously is the need for commitment from the very top being essential for any diversity program to work” (p. 38). Creating vision statements that align with company goals and activities to foster members to become more open to fellow employees who are different from themselves. Behaviors that are not acceptable should be part of the training that is …show more content…
Once a company decides the reasons why they need diversity training they will want to decide how the training will fit in to their company goals and objectives. Employees may not take the training seriously if they feel that the company did not put much thought into the program or does not fit with the business needs. Diversity training will have more positive results if they are designed for the business and have a strategy that works within the framework of the company. Diversity training needs to be effectively implemented to have the positive effects that an organization is looking to achieve. The main goal of diversity training is to reduce stereotypes and allow people to be more accepting of cultural differences. This is a broad goal that most companies would agree that is what they strive for at their company but this does not have any specific outcome or plan. According to Cocchiara, Connerley and Bell (2010), “The only way that decision makers can be absolutely certain that they have achieved the desired diversity training outcomes is to be clear about the reasons for training and set goals that target those reasons” (p. 12). What policies and practices will bring about the desired change of the employees and have a positive effect on the organizational

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