By: Derrick Brown
BUS200
Workplace diversity is referred to as the variety of differences between all people in an organization which consist of race, sex, age, ethnic group, personality, education, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, background and so forth. It not only involves the way people perceive themselves, but how they perceive others as well. Those perceptions affect their interactions with others. For a variety of employees from different ethnic backgrounds to function effectively as an organization, human resource professionals has the responsibility to deal effectively with issues such as communication, adaptability and the opposition to change. Diversity has increased significantly over the years and you will see many more companies adopting it in their organizations.. Many successful organizations have recognized the necessity for immediate action and are ready and willing to spend resources on managing diversity in the workplace as we speak. Individuals of different ethnic backgrounds have different values and attitudes. Cultural differences determine the observed differences in peoples work attitudes. The culture in a organization determines the ability of employees from other groups to perform within the organization. People from minority groups encounter challenges everyday facing stereotyping, discrimination, and prejudice. Prejudice can be defined as an adverse opinion, a preconceived idea or bias, or judgment formed prior or without complete knowledge or examination of the facts. Communication has been a huge issue for companies who hire individuals who don’t speak English. Those barriers in a company lead to problems when attempting to create a diverse workplace. Employees and managers may experience difficulties communicating with one another which can lead to misunderstandings and a decrease in productivity to say the least. Lets say a manager gives instructions about completing a certain task to an employee who don’t understand the instructions, it’s a good chance that the employee may make mistakes if he or she attempts to complete the task without receiving clarity. It would benefit companies who hire bilingual employees who can help translate and reduce language and communication barriers. That way, things will run more efficiently with the assistance of the bilingual employees who help companies overcome issues with communication barriers. Ineffective communication of key objectives can result in confusion, low morale and lack of teamwork which create a huge problem for the companies success. Diversity can be very effective if used properly. Workplace diversity benefits an organization as a whole, but some managers and employees may not respond positively to any changes that have to be made. Employees who oppose workforce diversity, most times will reject new ideas and make the workplace a hard and unpleasant place to work. Workplace diversity initiatives may not provide the intended benefits to the company if the managers and employees oppose the changes being made. In order for the company to deal with opposition, they need to take time to explain the reasons for diversity and its benefits to employees and management. To reduce much of opposition that employees and management has, you must get rid of the fear of diversity by doing away with change resistance with inclusion by involving every employee possible in formulating and executing diversity initiatives in your workplace, fostering an open attitude in the workplace encouraging employees to express their ideas and opinions give them a sense of value, promote diversity in leadership positions which provides visibility so the employee can see the benefits of diversity in the organization, utilizing diversity training and use it as a tool to form the diversity policies and start a customizable satisfaction survey for the employees