Week Six Team A Reflection
Elvareen Mukhim, Keri Steward, Mallory Herring, Rebecca Blackburn, Rickie Clark, Shawnta Shorts, and Kalyn Shenefelt
HRM/531-Human Capital Management
December 10, 2012
Instructor; Ginny McMinn

Week six Team A Reflection This week brought discussion about diversity in the work place, and how managers get educated about diversity and how to handle a diverse work place. There are many cultures, skill sets, and different personalities in a work place and it is important to be respectful and not discriminate. The work force continues to grow and become more and more diverse so managers must adapt and educate their staff on how to manager such a diverse work place. There can be miscommunication and conflict and that should always be mediated and handled appropriately. Some team members had a harder time than others but overall everyone under stood what a managers have to do so they can ensure the managers are educated in cultural, religious, sex, and disability rights. Further, the have to practice diversity in order for it to work.

Strengths
This objective was comfortable for each team member to embrace diversity and truly appreciate it. Diversity affects each aspect of Human Resources Management. It’s not about being politically correct or a quota for hiring minorities. It’s a characteristic of modern organizational life and presents exciting opportunities for HR and other organizational leaders to respect and affirm employees while concurrently achieving organization objectives. As part of the team’s role in promoting diversity, we recruit broadly. When we have job openings we work to get a diverse applicant pool, and we have to make sure the selection process does not discriminate. All the selection tests are strictly job related. Moreover our team embraced the Affirmative Action policy to help create a more diverse environment. Each year we retrieve data to ensure that equal employment opportunities are provided for all employees and applicants.

Team Struggles Some members of the team challenges was the task a manager may face on how to create a winning environment where employees spanning all age groups can not only coexist but also flourish utilizing the experience and new ideas each employee has. Managers need support from the top levels of an organization’s leadership to feel comfortable promoting diversity within the workplace. The word comfortable is used because managers need to feel as if they are empowered to promote diversity and supported by upper management should an issue arise with an employee during times of promotion, demotion or termination.

Application to Field Diversity in the workforce is becoming more and more of a standard with the growing globalization economy. Not only should managers be aware of the conflicts and issues that diversity brings, but the manager has the responsibility of creating a work environment where the employees all understand the importance of a diverse workforce. I find it interesting that diversity was such a new concept in the workforce not that long ago. But now, it is becoming a norm. If a business wants to stay competitive in global markets and attain highly talented people, they have to start looking for a diverse workforce. This week brought discussion about diversity in the work place, and how managers get educated about diversity and how to handle a diverse work place. There are many cultures, skill sets, and different personalities in a work place and it is important to be respectful and not discriminate.

Conclusion While learning team A discussed diversity in the work place we saw the different thing a company should incorporate in order to make sure their managers and employees understand the importance of other cultures. Business strategies require employees learn how to work together in ways that embrace value and individual differences. The dynamic corporate environment means people need to know how to come together and understand each other. The workforce has changed and will continue to change. Diversity is a trend that’s going to continue and grow as more companies are looking to sell and work in a larger diversity market.

Reference: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-affirmative-action-workplace 18141.html
Cascio, W.F. (2010). Managing Human Resources (8th ed.)