...Elements of Successful Organizational DiversityManagement Organizational Diversity Management Why is organizational diversity important? Historically, diversity in the workplace has been recognized as an employment equity issue. Now, however, diversity in the workplace is being recognized as a benefit that will contribute to an organization’s bottom line. Increased employee and customer satisfaction end up as increased productivity, all of which are measurable outcomes (Goff, 1998). Diversity goes beyond employment equity to nurturing an environment that values the differences and maximizes the potential of all employees, one that stimulates employee creativity and innovativeness (U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (U.S. MSPB), 1993). To create an organizational culture that supports workforce diversity involves several important elements. These elements include a needs analysis, administrative and management support and commitment, education and training, culture and management systems changes and continuous follow-up and evaluation. Needs Analysis In many of my resources, a needs analysis was the second crucial element after senior management support and commitment. I feel a needs analysis should be prepared first to provide information to senior management in sequestering their support as well as to adequately determine workforce and organizational needs for creating a ...
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...In reading both scenarios the generational differences are very clear. In the first situation with Stan and Alex at the Davis Agency the biggest difference was the technological advances that could be under taken to improve process to deal with the client’s needs. Now Stan being an old timer is having a very difficult time trying any new ideas that cut him out of the loop. Even though Alex conferred with Connor (who was very satisfied) on his way of doing a project Stan felt as if Alex was being insubordinate so wrote him up. Unfortunately, when dealing with older individuals that are unwilling to change you will come to an impasse and not be able to best address which way is different or haw the way things are done can be combined in an effort to satisfy both sides. Now in the second scenario you have three different individuals handling a community effort. While all three try to include older members and younger members there always seems to be someone who leaves feeling that their issues or suggestions have fallen on deaf ears. Now Rick is the one who just doesn’t really care about either side he is a busy man and wants the meetings to go without many interruptions from anyone. This way of approaching the planning of this event leaves all that is involved to try and push their ideas through and walk away feeling as if nothing has been accomplished. While Molly teds to try and find out what is on everyone’s mind she tends to alienate the younger generation whereas they feel...
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...Short Essay | Diversity in the Workplace | How it can create business related advantages | | Madison Roney: 7660183 | 5/15/2013 | | In modern western society, the diversification of culture has increased dramatically in recent years. With this shift, along with the growing competitiveness of the labor market, corporations have been forced to hire more employees who are not familiar with the spoken language or societal norms present in western culture. Many corporations, as much as 80% according to equity activist Trevor Wilson, consider cultural barriers to be a burden on their managers and fellow employees. As a result, these corporations fail to treat their employees equitably. (Hayes, 1999). One could argue, however, that the diversification of employees within the workplace has various business related benefits such as improved efficiency, bottom line revenue, and relationships formed with co-workers, managers and customers alike. However, to ensure its success, principles of transformational leadership must be used on the part of managers and various challenges must be overcome in order for these benefits to take full effect. This is not the first time in Canada's history where ethnic equality in the workplace has been a subject of interest. In 1993 the New Democratic Party in Ontario, whom was the provincial government at the time, enacted an employment equity law to ensure fair employment opportunities to workers from select minority groups. This legislation...
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...group in the U. S. by the year 2010. In order for companies to fully and aggressively compete in the marketplace, they will need to consider these statistics and work towards attracting, recruiting, developing and retaining a diverse workforce. This will be critical if they are to survive. They will also need to recognize that the market they cater to is becoming more diverse. Diverse groups are a growing percentage of the buying power in the United States. In order to maintain competitive advantage in the sector they serve, organizations will need to truly understand its customers, clients, members and employees and will need to create an organizational climate that is welcoming to all. The Birth of the Diversity Movement The “Diversity” Movement was born in 1987, when the Hudson Institute launched a study titled “Workforce 2000”. The study projected demographic trends that would impact the workplace, as we knew it by the year 2000. One of the predictions made was that there would be a marked growth in the number of women and minorities entering the workforce. In fact, the report suggested that women,...
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...Best Practices in a Diverse Work Environment Melody Nelson HRM 531 October 18, 2010 Caroline Willett | InterClean, Inc. | Memo To: First level managers From: Melody Nelson CC: Date: October 18, 2010 Re: InterClean, Inc and EnviroTech Merger Transition Merger Transition The merger between InterClean an EnviroTech is in its final stages. As in any situation involving change, there will be some uncertainties and insecurities among the staff and it is the responsibility of all management personnel at all levels to effectively deal with these issues. However, setting a good foundation and following through with good communication, uncertainties and insecurities will be kept at a minimum. Following are a few ways you can make a significant contribution toward that goal. Enthusiasm is contagious! This is a golden opportunity not only for the future of InterClean but also for anybody at InterClean. As we begin merging the operations of both companies, there very well could be some downsizing in certain areas. However, there will also be new opportunities to learn, grow, and move into positions of greater responsibility. Commitment is contagious! “The importance of talking the talk and walking the walk is fundamental to achieving commitment” (Schifalacqua, Costello, & Denman, 2009). Frequent communications updating the status of the merging of operations should be relayed to all team members in a timely fashion in order to keep the excitement flowing...
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...reach success. Office Depot has developed competencies to increase and maintain employee motivation. As stated previously, employee motivation as a direct impact on employee performance and their productivity. Competency 1: Job Performance (Diversity) Office Depot possesses a fundamental and positive responsibility to ensuring workplace diversity. “Globalization is fast changing the demographic mix of workforce in organizations across countries. Therefore the concept of diversity and its management become imperative. Diversity management (DM) is planning and implementing organizational systems and practices to manage people so that the potential advantages of diversity are maximized while its potential disadvantages are minimized” (Preeti, 2016). Diversity promotes employee motivation as it shows employees that Office Depot is committed to the progression and successful of their staff. According to Office Depot, “At Office Depot, we are committed to creating an inclusive environment where all people are valued and respected. Diversity is an important dimension of Inclusion, Innovation, and Customer Focus -- three of our core values -- and keys to our success in a global marketplace.” (Office Depot, 2016) When organizations promote diversity in the workplace, productivity and positive attitudes increases as it allows for different prospective and boost morale within employees. Competency 2: Behavioral (Employee Engagement) Employee engagement is one of the most...
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...Cornell University ILR School DigitalCommons@ILR Student Works ILR Collection Spring 2013 Which Organizations are Best in Class in Managing Diversity and Inclusion, and What Does their Path of Success Look Like? Pin Zhou Cornell University Daniel Dongjin Park Cornell University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/student Part of the Human Resources Management Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the ILR Collection at DigitalCommons@ILR. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Works by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@ILR. For more information, please contact hlmdigital@cornell.edu. Which Organizations are Best in Class in Managing Diversity and Inclusion, and What Does their Path of Success Look Like? Abstract Question: Which organizations are best in class in managing diversity and inclusion, and what does their path of success look like? What are the criteria to measure ‘best in class’? Keywords human resources, diversity, inclusion Disciplines Human Resources Management Comments Suggested Citation Zhou, P. & Park, D. (2013). Which organizations are best in class in managing diversity and inclusion, and what does their path of success look like? Retrieved [insert date] from Cornell University, ILR School site: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/student/46/ Required Publisher Statement Copyright by the authors. This article is available...
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...ABSTRACT Workplace diversity exists when companies hire employees from various backgrounds and experiences. Many companies see workplace diversity as an investment toward building a better business. Although workplace diversity provides many benefits, it also poses many challenges to employees and managers. To reap the benefits of workplace diversity, employees and managers must understand the challenges and know how to effectively deal with them. Diversity is commonly interpreted in relation to ethnicity, gender and culture. Diversity also captures the differences and similarities between individuals and group, encompassing race, ethnicity, gender, culture, age, sexual orientation, religion, language, education, family status, physical and mental ability. These demographic variables are related to other important diversity characteristics such as values, attitudes, interaction styles, physical and cognitive abilities and non-work commitments. The impact of diversity is both positive and negative. The research questions was: How can diverse workforce affect the organization? Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction 4 Background of the Study 4 Statement of the Problem 4 Purpose of the Study 5 Research Questions 6 Chapter 2. Literature Review 6 Chapter 3. Methodology 12 Data Analysis 12 Final Results 14 References 15 CHAPTER 1. BACKGROUND Today, globalization has become...
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...Feature articles Workplace diversity: developing a win-win-win strategy Joan Marques iversity as a topic earns more attention today than it has ever received before, and the reasons are easily understandable: global migration is increasing, the internet is enabling communication on a worldwide scale, and business leaders are continuously in search for less expensive resources and lower wages to pay. All these trends result in progressively diversified workforces locally and internationally. D Joan Marques is Instructor, Business and Management, Woodbury University, Burbank, California, USA. Increasingly, companies allocate special room for diversity practices on their web sites. Yet, there are some interesting observations that may not necessarily be new, but should nevertheless regularly be brought to the attention of business leaders. Why? So that they can keep track of the best way to develop and implement diversity in their organizations. Let us briefly look at the right reasons and the right way, beginning with the right reasons. The right reasons Often, organizations pride themselves in implementing diversity in order to accommodate customers. But there is only limited reason to be proud of this way of bringing diversity to the workplace. What these companies overlook is that they apply diversity only as a means toward an end, not as an end in itself: B They apply diversity with the primary mindset of profits. They reach out to their customers, but do not...
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...workplace diversity. The reasons why Xerox should be motivated to diversify their workforce is more talent will be employed at Xerox if employees of all cultures and race are hired because diversity is a key to achieving critical business results. Furthermore, there will be more knowledge sharing employees can share cultural traits, market demographics and help develop companies develop robust knowledge management and market intelligence systems that create productive people and an innovative company by recognizing and respecting diversity and empowering individuality. Enhanced Productivity by processing varied skills, competencies and capabilities of different races and cultures, Xerox can increase its productivity worldwide (Xerox) that will make them a prominent player despite the economic slowdown in technology spending. Reduced Discrimination at Xerox woman and minorities make up for 52% of the workforce and 42.5% of Xerox senior executives are women or people of color or both (Xerox). This motivates employees in a way that they feel like they appreciated and valued. Besides, its make them challenge each other’s underlying assumptions, freeing everybody from convention and orthodoxy. Xerox has strict discrimination policies as well. With the inclusion of women in the workforce, Xerox developed a form of “flex time” that allowed for a better work/home life balance which has increased productivity which clearly shows how Xerox shows its values workplace diversity. They also...
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...Abstract Diversity encompasses characteristics that categorizes individuals and allows for self-identification. Diversity presents itself in two different forms, visible and invisible. Those that are visible forms of diversity include ones physical appearance, sex, race, age, ethnicity, speech patterns and language. Those that are nonvisible include characteristics such as religion, national origin, illness and sexual orientation (Clair 2005). When discussing diversity in the work environment, most often times they are discussing the outward, visible characteristics, however invisible social identities are common in the workplace. Gender is one of the most common viewed issues when looking at diversity in the workplace. The glass ceiling and equality issues are analyzed and discussed frequently. Discoveries have been made that support the idea that woman should be on more Boards and should be making more decisions on allocations of monies. This paper seeks to address how diversity impacts an organization and how managers can make diversity work for them. Introduction According to Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly, and Konopaske (2012), Diversity is a term that describes the cultural, ethnic and racial differences in a population. A more comprehensive definition by Gibson et al (2012) indicates that diversity is “an array of physical and cultural differences that constitute the spectrum of human attributes. There are six dimensions of diversity which include: age...
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...Diversity and Inclusion SOC/315 November 09, 2011 Diversity and Inclusion Diversity refers the inclusion of different types of people in a group or organization. Many people with different backgrounds work together every day to accomplish tasks assigned on daily basis. Before working together the group should know the different dimensions of diversity. “Dimensions of diversity exert an important impact on our early socialization and a powerful sustained impact on our experiences, values, assumptions and expectations throughout every stage of history ” (Harvey, 2009). The different dimensions of diversity are race, gender, age, education, sexual orientation, and geographic origin, or employment. “Dimensions adds layers of complexity to individual identity, it is the dynamic interaction among all the dimensions that influences self-image, values, opportunities, and expectations” (Harvey, 2009). Dimensions of diversity apply an effect on each of us at home, work, and in society giving definition to our lives. “The United States is a very diverse nation and becoming more” (Schaefer, 2011). Concerning ethnic, cultural, or other groups I identify with all. My social circle is consistent with people from all groups. My social circle consists of individuals not a group. I think of all my associates as individuals with different personalities. My social circle member’s personalities are very different and the dimensions play a part from the way we dress, race, gender, and sexual...
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...When defining diversity, one must acknowledge the differences between groups on human beings. These differences may include attributes such as ethnicity and race, religious and spiritual beliefs, educational and economic backgrounds, physical abilities and disabilities, age, gender, marital status and occupational status (McRae, 2012). By having all this diversity, individuals can have positive and negative impacts on the workplace. Diversity in the workplace can be perceived as a function of forced societal tolerances (McRae, 2012). No one employer has the right to turn down an applicant based on race, age or gender, it is a law. The workplace should have a diverse group of people. Diversity in a working environment could be seen as evidence of fair hiring practice within an organization (McRae, 2012). The most important impact of diversity in the workplace is perspective. By having different groups of people in the workplace there are different viewpoints to discussions and more than one resolution of issues. By having all these attitudes and ideas, the groups can provide valuable input to brainstorming sessions and issues demanding creative solutions. Businesses should strive for diverse groups and teams. When individuals are able to work with others whom are different from each other it challenges people’s preconceived notions about how the world works and it forces people to step outside their comfort zones and consider new thought processes. By opening people up to new...
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...Value of Diversity in the Workplace Carolina Silva Soc/315 April 11, 2011 Ashraf Esmail Value of Diversity in the Workplace Introduction In the active times that we are living now, every company faces challenges that could be better handled if a diverse environmental workplace is put into play. Some issues may arise leaving some of the protagonists defenseless and the majority of the time unable to deal with the daunting situation at hand. Diversity is one of the most useful tools that any company at any point in time could ever possibly used, due to the fact that trends of growth in the population—in the US particularly—is becoming more diverse than ever. “Diversity in the workplace is about learning from different groups enabling a Company to benefit from the diverse perspectives and achievements.” (Cornell University ILR School, 2009) I am a real estate agent and a few years ago when I first started working my profession as a realtor in Florida, I joined a big franchise to get acquainted with the market and to make a name in the business. As a big franchise, one of the duties of the realtor is to stay at least one day in the office to provide information and to help any walk-in client that might happen to walk in. On one occasion, I was the one doing “floor duty” when a middle-aged Korean couple sat and waited for me at the office. I welcomly introduced myself, asking “How may I assist you?” Beyond obviously looking for a place to live they mentioned how they would...
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...Throughout the many issues in the workplace, diversity is an issue that needs immediate attention. Our culture is continuously evolving and with that being said diversity in our work environment should be evolving as well. It has been said, “Top performing companies have long recognized that diversity is good for business. But a just released report from The Economist Intelligence Unit finds that a new definition of workforce diversity is emerging. It’s no longer just about avoiding race, ethnicity, and gender discrimination, or even compliance with legal regulations. Diversity now encompasses values, meaning what motivates someone to join a company, embody organizational passions, and be productive for a long time.” (Galer, 2014) It is crucial for an organization to be diverse, lack of diversity can cause several issues in the workplace such as miscommunication, unproductivity, and creates a hostile work environment. By managing the problems with diversity the organization would benefit greatly in many ways. There are many reasons for why the issue of diversity needs to be addressed in the workplace. Specifically in the organization I work in there are many problems with diversity, many of the workers in my organization have brought up the fact that the race is predominantly white, it is also made aware that the engineers for the company are males and the females in the office are usually the subject of jokes and labeled as ‘non workers’. Since the site I currently work in...
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