Cultural Diversity in the Workplace Essay

heathen smorgasbord in the Workplace EssaypresentationThe worlds increasing globalization requires more(prenominal) moveion among plurality from divers(a) husbandrys, beliefs, and backgrounds than forever before. People no longer live and work in an parochial marketplace they argon now part of a worldwide delivery with competition coming from nearly every(prenominal) continent. For this reason, profit and non-profit establishments need assortment to become more creative and open to permute. Maximizing and capitalizing on employment variation has become an grand issue for perplexity today.Human resourcefulness help is on managing people within the employer-employee relationship. This involves the productive use of people in achieving the presidencys strategic objectives and the satisfaction of person employee ineluctably.Where its objective is to measure scrape to be achieved within a certain time frame. form man get onment is man ripenment initiated, rather th an required by law. This involved in desegregation non-traditional employees ( much(prenominal) as women and minorities) into the work force and using their mutation to the organizations competitive wages, as hygienic as considering other workforce re newfangledal characteristics that need to be intercommunicate to ensure fair and way outive utilization of employees. (Raymond J. Stone, 2008) variation in management includesCultural revolution is the alteration of military personnel societies or g redinesss in a special region, or in the world as a whole. (The term is besides approximatelytimes used to refer to multiculturalism within an organization. Management of cultural diversity has been suggested as the human resource strategy enabling the potent management of the workforce diversity created by demographical qualifys gener completelyy in the late mid-eighties and the early 1990s. Retrieved from Oya Aytemiz Seymen(2006), according to Fleury (1999) explains cultu ral diversity management as an organisational answer or reaction to the need for competitiveness and to the increasing variety of the workforce. In the same resource, it has been stated that management of cultural diversity implies a holistic focus in order to create an organisational milieu that brooks altogether the employees to reach their full potential in pursuing the organizational goals.Gender diversity content the semblance of males to females in the body of work. It is a more take down distribution or is the employee pool composed of close toly males or just astir(predicate)ly females. This lowlife dumbfound an effect on how people interact and be moderate with one another in the body of work and would trespass destination and social environment. Similarly other demographics such as population, racial characteristics and such all contribute to the work environment. According to Kochan et al., 2003, organizations ar imageing that racial and sexual urge diversity, if managed well, whitethorn even fire performance(retrieved from Luis L. Martins and Charles K. Parsons,2007). Researchers have proposed that a greater organizational emphasis on gender diversity management programs depart have a positive effect on organizational attraction among women, as women atomic number 18 the intended beneficiaries of the programs (Luis L. Martins and Charles K. Parsons,2007)Age diversity means the proportion of aged people work in the workplace. Age diversity was similarly positively correlated with health disordersbut only in groups working on routine decision-making tasks. Gender composition also had a significant effect on group performance, such that groups with a highschool proportion of female employees performed worse and reported more health disorders than did gender- versatile teams. As expected, effects of gender composition were most pronounced in large groups. make of age diversity were found when controlling for gender diversi ty and vice versa. Thus, age and gender diversity seem to play a unique component in performance and well-being. The moderating role of task complexity for some(prenominal) effects of age diversity and the moderating role of group coat for both effects of gender diversity further suggest that the impact of these 2 variables depends on different group processes.( Jurgen Wegge and Carla Roth, Barbara Neubach and Klaus-Helmut Schmidt Ruth Kanfer , 2008)Religious diversity is an important component of cultural diversity, which educators are now taking disadvantageously in their pedagogies. However, cultural diversity and religious diversity are very much evaluated sort of differently. In our society now, there is at least a polite and superficial consensus that cultural diversity is here to stay and may enrich life. Minimally, people realize that cultural, ethnic, and class superpatriotism create problems and are inappropriate, though they may be difficult to overcome. Regardin g religious diversity, quite a different evaluation is often employed. Many people value the heart that their religion is indeed superior to others and regard such religious chauvinism as a necessary component of religious commitment, or even a virtue to be cultivated among the faithful. In their official theologies, most religions have dealt with religious diversity only in a perfunctory or inadequate fashion. Frequently, religions have encouraged mutual hostility by teaching that foreign religions are not only different, but also demonic, or at least inferior. (Rita M. Gross(1999) retrieved from http//www.crosscurrents.org/gross.htm)BodyBenefits of Workplace DiversityAn organizations victor and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits. When organizations actively judge their handling of workplace diversity issues, develop and implement diversity plans, nine-fold benefits are reported such asIncreased adaptability administrations 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 tractile 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 sluttish 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 in effect.More effective execution Companies that encourage workplace diversity 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 investm ent.Challenges of Workplace Diversity Taking full advantage of the benefits of diversity in the workplace is not without its contests. Some of those challenges areCommunication Perceptual, cultural and language barriers need to be overcome for diversity programs to succeed. Ineffective converse of key objectives results in confusion, omit of teamwork, and low morale.Resistance to change There are always employees who get out refuse to accept the fact that the social and cultural makeup of their workplace is changing. The weve always done it this way mentality silences invigorated 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 moldinessiness build and implement a customized strategy to maximize the effects of workplace diversity for their ill-tempered organization. prosperous Management of Diversity in th e Workplace Diversity training only is not sufficient for your organizations diversity management plan. A strategy moldiness be created and implemented to create a farming of diversity that permeates every department and function of the organization. (Retrieved from http//www.diversityworking.com/employerZone/diversityManagement/?id=9)In preparing an organization to accept diversity, it is more important to change the corporate culture or to change structure of the organization. institution nicetyBasically, organizational culture is the personality of the organization. Culture is comprised of the assumptions, set, norms and tangible signs (artefacts) of organization members and their behaviors. Members of an organization soon come to champion the particular culture of an organization. Culture is one of those terms thats difficult to express distinctly, but everyone knows it when they sense it. For example, the culture of a large, for-profit corporation is quite different than that of a hospital which is quite different that that of a university. You can tell the culture of an organization by looking at the arrangement of furniture, what they brag about, what members wear, etc. similar to what you can use to get a sense of smell about someones personality.Corporate culture can be looked at as a system. Inputs include feedback from, e.g., society, professions, laws, stories, heroes, values on competition or service, etc. The process is based on our assumptions, values and norms, e.g., our values on money, time, facilities, space and people. Outputs or effects of our culture are, e.g., organizational behaviours, technologies, strategies, image, products, services, appearance, etc. (Retrieved from http//managementhelp.org/org_thry/culture/culture.htm)Identification with an organization is a furbish up sense of ones role in relation to the organization. When organizational members identify with their workplace, they unsex themselves in terms of the organ ization they internalize its mission, ideology, and values and they adopt its commonplace ways of doing things. Eventually the member may see him or herself-importance as an exemplar or microcosm of the organization. Organizational identification, in other words, suggests a feeling of oneness with the organization. Diversity makes open organizational culture more rich, and shrewdnesss and revolution more applicable to a wide range of contexts. High levels of identification with an organization can limit diversity by reducing communication competencies in the area of social perception skills, including the ability to pick up on the subtleties of social situations and adapt to them. This skill is essential in a cross cultural context. High levels of identification among employees can also levy a lack of organizational flexibility and creativity, over-conformity to organizational dictates, and tyrannical behaviour on the part of leaders. Highly-identified individuals could experi ence a lack of risk taking, loss of an independent self, and burnout. Redding indicates that a focus on high-performance goals in a context of trust and openness make it easier for employees to manage the ambiguity of gaining their sense of identity from shared visions rather than from a physical structure. Knowledge of self and openness in relation to shared goals create a safe zone in which people feel free to explore new ideas and new ways of approaching problem solving. (Retrieved from http//workplacewellness.blogspot.com/2005/08/identity-development-and.html)Organizational StructureDiversity is often viewed as a training program, limited to a human resources initiative focused on race and gender and separate from organizational change efforts. However, as the article describes, the definition of diversity is much broader, embrace primary, secondary, and tertiary dimensions that go beyond race and gender. The aim of diversity is to allow all individuals to contribute fully to t he success of the organization. Thus, integrating diversity and organizational change efforts can enhance the success of most types of organizational change. Organization development theory and principles can also add significantly to the outcomes of diversity initiatives through the effective use of contracts, assessments, action research methodology, and other tiny components.In the current competitive world, diversity and organization development must be partners in successful organizational change efforts. (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D., 1998)The Contribution of diversity to organizationalIntegrating diversity and organizational change efforts can enhance the success of most types of organizational change. All major organizational change involves a cultural change, and a diversity effort is cultural change at its core. It requires an organization to search its collective soul and focus on essential aspects of its culture seminal values organizational demands for conformity in thoug ht, interpersonal style, and action power structure and power dynamics employee date and inclusion/exclusion issues, to name a few.Cultural DifferencesIn addition, most organizational changes involve diversity components. An organizational redesign, for example, may combine functions that have previously been separate, such as market and manufacturing. Certainly, marketing and manufacturing have ii distinct cultures and a successful redesign needs to pay attention to those cultural issues involved. Diversity offers both the perspective and the technology to deal with these intercultural issues, whether they are triggered by redesigns, mergers, or global expansions. When an organization is redesigned, some of its subsystems discover they have to transact a new form of business with new, unfamiliar partners. Naturally, they hook on that their established styles of doing business, their traditional practices, priorities, values, and methods, will be perfectly acceptable, perfectly functional. Thus, marketing is surprised when this assumption turns out to be invalid for manufacturing. Marketing assumes that its new partner, manufacturing, simply has not appreciated the benefits of changing and adapting to marketings traditional way of doing business. Thus, organizational redesign invariably leads to organizational conflict. A diversity perspective adds insight to the identification of and techniques for the management of such issues. Conflict, by definition, means that differences exist. These differences may be based on style, role, values, priorities, power, mental models and patterns of thinking, or culture. The diversity perspective of valuing and utilizing differences offers a positive framework from which to manage conflict. (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D., 1998)Team EffectivenessTeam intensity level has even clearer diversity connections. For a team to develop and be effective, its members must find productive ways to both elicit and manage individual and s ubgroup differences. In any group development model, there is always some version of a storming stage fairly early in a groups development. The group must navigate this troublesome phase successfully to spring up toward more productive phases of development. Successful navigation cannot occur if differences are submerse or conformity is forced upon diverse members. To be effective means to acknowledge differences and to utilize them creatively to gain the teams objectives. (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D., 1998)Organizational Cultural happy chanceIn the case of a complex organization change (for example, passing game from a production-driven to a marketing-driven focus or moving toward Total Quality), a fundamental shift in organizational culture must occur. A cultural change of this magnitude and complexity poses a major challenge for most organizations because of the ambiguity involved and the enormity of the task. An understanding of diversity enables organizations to find ways not to insist on conformity in a major change process, but to encourage employees to contribute, to take a recent look, and to continuously evolve. (Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph.D., 1998)Diversity oriented HRM policiesIt is the responsibility of the HR coach-and-four to drive the organizations ability to use provide efficiency and effectively to achieve strategic business objectives. The HR manager is also responsible for ensuring that all employees are rewarded fairly and equitably for their contributions to the organizations. Fair and equitable rewards not only includes fee and salaries, but also opportunities for training and career development and the provision of a work environment in which all workers are treated with respect. Ensuring that all employees are treated fairly and equitably is not only a matter of legal and ethical responsibility, but also recognises that employees who perceive that they are receiving unfair or inequitable treatment may be slight committees to the or ganization and thus may be less productive.The HR manager can achieve these outcomes byIdentifying the significant difference in their organizations workforce and in the labour market from which they draw employees.Exploring the potential advantages to be gained from hiring persons from particular groups.Identifying relevant diversity factors existing in the present workforce.Developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating staff management practice that facilitate the ability of each employee to contribute effectively to the organization and to be rewarded appropriately.It is also the professional and business responsibility of the HR manager to establish audit measure that identify and quantify the advantage gained from diversity employment practice and that minimise the costs of diversity employment. (Raymond J. Stone, 2008)Diversity in management includesConclusionA diverse workforce is a notice of a changing world and marketplace. Diverse work teams bring high value to the organizations. Respecting individual differences will benefit the workplace by creating a competitive edge and increasing work productivity. Diversity management benefits associates by creating a fair and safe environment where everyone has access to opportunities and challenges. Management tools in a diverse workforce should be used to educate everyone about diversity and its issues, including laws and regulations. Most workplaces are made up of diverse cultures, so organizations need to learn how to adopt to be successful practices.ReferencesStone, Raymond J., (2008). Human resource management, 6th editionSeymen, Oya Aytemiz., (2006). The cultural diversity phenomenon in organisations and different approaches for effective cultural diversity management a literary reviewMartins, Luis L., Parsons, Charles K., (2007). Effects of Gender Diversity Management on Perceptions of Organizational Attractiveness The image of Individual Differences in Attitudes and BeliefsWegge, Jurgen., Rot h, Carla., Neubach, Barbara., Schmidt, Klaus-Helmut., Kanfer, Ruth., (2008). Age and Gender Diversity as Determinants of deed and Health in a Public Organization The Role of assess Complexity and Group SizeM. Gross, Rita., (1999). Religious Diversity Some Implications for Monotheism, retrieved from http//www.crosscurrents.org/gross.htmLapid-Bogda, Ginger, Ph.D., (1998). Diversity and Organizational Change, retrieved from http//www.bogda.com/articles/DiversityandOrgChange.pdfhttp//www.diversityworking.com/employerZone/diversityManagement/?id=9http//managementhelp.org/org_thry/culture/culture.htmhttp//workplacewellness.blogspot.com/2005/08/identity-development-and.htm