Managing Diversity Within An Organization

Making sure equality and diversity procedures are followed in a business environment will impacts on overall success of organisation. By recognising the strengths of differences between individuals company can get a great advantage in terms of employee motivation and clients satisfaction.

This paper will explore the how diversity is addressed within my current work environment. For the past 21 years, I have been a Behavioral Health Assistance Service Director of a private, non-profit organization that provides community support services to children and adults in Pennsylvania with mental illness, intellectual disabilities, and autism. Our agency’s mission statement expresses our commitment to “enhancing the quality of life and personal growth of those we serve through support for individual choice and independence” along with embracing the philosophy that each individual has the ability to succeed in life, through personal empowerment with dignity and respect. Our agency provides services in four different regions (Northeast, Southeast, Lehigh Valley and Western) of Pennsylvania that include 16 counties. Due to the vast array of services and their locations, focus will be place on the Northeast region of the agency. Please note that policies and procedures are agency wide as so are agency trainings.

The topic that I’m choosing is Chapter 17, “Managing a Diverse Workforce.” Although there is an improvement in the diversity in the workforce, there is still room for change. Businesses have made many changes to help enforce the laws that were passed regarding diversity in the workforce. Women have been integrated into the workforce and there also have been many immigrants from other countries that have been given a new start to the workforce in the United States. Laws of equal opportunity have been made to help increase the workforce diversity. The goal for full equality of women and persons of color in the workplace has not been fully met; however, the United States’ workforce has made a lot of progress.

Organisations have sought out to have a more diverse workforce, as it is claimed to increase organisational effectiveness. A team with individuals from different social group, personalities, values and beliefs, and etcetera, when managed well, can be an asset to the organisation. More often than not, there will be some sort of discrimination in the workplace, especially with a very diverse workforce. Therefore, with proper training and benefits to ensure the development of these employees, and legislation and policy to ensure equality and reduce discrimination within the workforce, it can drive competitive advantage and organisational profit. When looking at diversity in the workforce, the business case and the moral case justification are often necessary. The following paragraphs will talk more about the business case and moral case, and the linkages between them, as well as the theories and conceptual frameworks for the business and moral cases justification for diversity management in organisations.

This research paper addresses the importance of diversity training in the workplace. Having realized how pertinent workplace discrimination is globally, this paper will give a broad look into the various ways that diversity is displayed in the workplace. The diversity issues involving gender, sexuality, race, age, culture and religion will be explored,

For many years, Americans have held certain opinions concerning gender, sex, women, and sexual orientation. A definition of both gender and sex will be provided. The roles of women throughout American history will be discussed. When people think about masculinity and femininity, they have certain preconceived ideas. How these ideas contribute to the understanding gender, sex, and sexual orientation will be examined. Finally, the status of GLBT individuals will be explored. An increased understanding will be gained concerning these issues.

Diversity in organisations is seen to be an imperative part of any company in this day and age. Many companies are adopting diversity policies to ensure that the benefits of having a diverse cohort are realised. In order to achieve these benefits, diverse employees need to be treated fairly and respectfully, which comes under the moral case of an organisation. The business case is concentrated primarily on how a set of diverse employees can be used to a company’s advantage in terms of profits and public image etc. Although these two cases focus on different aspects of diversity, the moral case of organisations and society can often profit an organisation in more ways than one.

Diversity in the workplace has been a very knowledgeable course in which sometimes I have been challenged on my own thought process and beliefs. As I move forward in my studies and life I plan to expand my awareness of recognize my own ethnocentricities and respect the benefits of other cultures diverse values and behaviors. As I make the move into management I plan on applying what I have learned about diversity management and how as stated in (Canas & Sondak, 2014)creates not only a competitive advantage in consumer markets but an environment in which differences are “valued and allowed to influence positively [organizational members’] experience in and contribution to the work of the organization. Looking back on my research paper when deciding what company to choose my audit for I found each company has the same concept that would be they could change the world through diversity in the workplace. I plan on taking this business belief and applying it to my company and show the success that it has brought to other companies.

Diversity is what makes people different, not just culturally but in human differences. Having a multitude of differences in the workforce gives an organization the ability to use many ideas to reach a common goal. A person could say that a diverse group of people together in one room can accomplish greater achievements than a room filled with the same types of individuals. Managers understand the concept of diversity, and how important diversity is to the success of a company’s ability to implement programs that continue to develop a harmonious and diverse workplace. The recognition that diversity is a reality in the workforce has generated an enormous amount of activity over the years among leaders in business, government, and civil

In response to the growing diversity in the workforce around the world, many companies have instituted specific policies and programs to enhance recruitment, inclusion, promotion, and retention of employees who are different from the privileged echelons of society. The privileged groups may vary from one country to the next. The workforce of the world is a dynamic environment, and in order for this dynamism to be put to use for the benefit of organizations, they must develop an effective strategy for managing diversity. Global Diversity Management refers to the voluntary organizational actions that are designed to create greater inclusion of employees from various backgrounds into the formal and informal organizational

Managing diversity and equality effectively in the workplace is the core responsibility of any organization in the contemporary business world. Shen, Chanda, D’Netto and Monga (2009) conducted a survey whose results revealed the massive diversity within the British society in terms of ethnicity, nationality and religion. As a result, the Equality Act of 2010 was formulated and became law whose provisions focus on legal protection against discrimination based on gender re-assignment, marriage, civil partnership, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, pregnancy and maternity, sex and beliefs (Monks, 2007). Therefore, managing diversity in the workplace is critical towards the achievement of equality and discrimination free working environment. Bhatia (2008) observed that the ability to understand, accept, value, acknowledge and celebrate differences among people with respect to race, sexual orientation, religion, age, ethnicity and mental ability within an organization is crucial in eliminating discrimination. Discrimination refers to the tendency of denying equal treatment to people believed to be members of the same social group (Ozbilgin, 2009). In other words, discrimination in the work place is related to denial of equal treatment in terms of promotion, compensation, career development, training and empowerment. Therefore, managing diversity in the work place is crucial towards the achievement of a discrimination free working environment and the

Managing diversity within organisation is about ‘recognising this range of differences in people and valuing people as individuals, respecting their differences and their differing needs. It is also about accommodating differences wherever possible so that an individual can play a full part in the working environment’ (Daniels and Macdonald, 2005)

Organizations have been becoming increasingly diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality. This diversity brings substantial potential benefits such as better decision making, greater creativity and innovation, and more successful marketing to different types of customers. But, increasing cultural differences within a workforce also bring potential costs in higher turnovers, interpersonal conflicts, and communicational breakdowns. The utilities of diversity training and the essential managerial skills required for effectively managing diversity will also be discussed.

Kersten (2000) defined diversity management as a method to achieving equal treatments that encourages employers to utilize and acknowledge individual differences within their workforce. These differences include both visible, such as age, gender and race, and invisible, such as sexual orientation, work experience and some aspects of disability. However, she also argued that there is no single definition of diversity management yet (Kersten, 2000). This absence has caused multiple interpretations of diversity management from employers that lead to inconsistencies and the dominance of expediencies of its practices (Thorpe, 2014a).

Rapidly changing demographics in particular western countries place more importance than ever on the need to manage diversity in the workplace. XYZ is a relatively new diversity strategy that has emerged from earlier concepts of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action. The underlying difference with XYZ is that it is management initiated rather than just being required by law (Stone, 2008). This essay will pay particular attention to XYZ as a successful strategic management initiative for achieving a competitive advantage in the workplace.