Research Paper on "Diversity in the Workplace"

Research Paper 11 pages (3384 words) Sources: 10

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Studies show that in various organizations there are individuals of ethnic groups with minority representation. Workers like to associate with members of their ethnicity since they can share their experiences and attitudes. In the United States of America, studies reveal that Latino and African-American workers seek linkages. These linkages may be either of a friendship nature or networks of communication with other members inside or outside their working unit (Pitts 615-621). The study further argues that the more a worker interacts with members of their ethnicity the more their job satisfaction improves.

However, the study did not consider the other scenario where there is a high representation of African-American and Latinos workers. Analyzing this varied scenario proves that there is a direct relationship between concentration of ethnic groups and low performance. The low performance associates to poor working conditions, a situation which has negative impacts on the psychological well being of workers. In contrast, many corporate managers and workers argue that ethnic diversity has little impact on organizations. Considering the Australian labor force, a large proportion of managers thought that ethnic diversity had a positive impact on organizations. Authors of this topic suggest that ethnic diversity is a norm than embraced (Poster 321). The argument supporting this is that employees have a positive attitude towards ethnicity in corporation. However, there is variation in feelings about the extent of its benefits.

Ethnic diverse workforce had positive outcomes, and there was a positive attitude towards ethnic diversity in organizations. Therefore, there is a need for leaders, to create favorable environments to cater for this diversity than resisting it. Unilever a corporation, which embraces ethnically workforce, is already benefiting (Pitts 619). The company has a lower turnover rate, and it has increased its profit margin. Organizations that invest at the ethnicity of workforce add knowledge, new skills, and new talents and generate innovative ideas.

Embracing diversity means that a corporation will be able to interconnect at a global level with ease. The benefits of managing ethnic diversity include the following; growth of business in relation to cultural, networks and market intelligence, increased rate of productivity and innovation, increased level of motivation and increased number of ideas generated. Workforce, which is multicultural, has an advantage in different market segments. For example, the knowledge of a foreign language will be of advantage in cases where one has to do business oversees. Unilever has outlets at various locations all over the world. Its diverse workforce has made the organization penetrate markets once unattainable.

Diversity in Educational Backgrounds

Various human resource scholars say that diversity in the workplace has a number of benefits. Some of the benefits include a clear understanding of the market place, improved problem solving ability of groups and a better use of talent. Organizations have individuals with different classification of educational background. When one looks at the educational qualification of workers in a mining company, one will realize that they come from diverse educational backgrounds. There are various groups of engineers, technicians, and office staff. These groups of employees come from diverse educational backgrounds, and their interactions meet organizational goals. Organizations should avoid conflicts between groups, which can be a hindrance to goal development. Diversity in organization teams reduce work conflict, reduce absenteeism, and improve on productivity.

Diversity in Religion

Sixty four percent of organization report to having employees with religious diversification in the United States of America. Religious diversification includes those who have faith in a deity as well as those who do not belief in an established religious faith. Medium and large organizations can report employees with religious following. However, organization with multinational branches reports a greater religious variation than those in one country. Religious affiliation in an organization assists with its growth and performance. Therefore, accommodation of these diverse religious affiliations builds high performance in teams. Many respondents of various studies belief that, employees of various religious following work cooperatively.

Management should be accommodating to employees religious needs. Corporation should protect the rights of employees against religious discrimination. According to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers are required to observe employees religious beliefs sincerely as requested. The condition can however be neglected in cases where accommodation may lead to undue influence on the operation of the business. These protections however apply to where a person's religious beliefs are non-religious, religious or of the mainstream nature. Religious diversity in the workplace has been a rising trend in recent times. The situation comes because of migration of workers as well as globalization.

Human resource practitioners recognize that those organizations, which value the religious beliefs of employees, tend to benefit from high performance. A Survey of nearly 550 corporation show that religious accommodation is among the top priorities of organizations. These organizations took into account holiday events, allowed decorations of workplaces and offered flexible work schedules to accommodate various religious rights. The workforce of the United States of America has become diverse, and employers need to capitalize on this diversity to reach at corporate goals. According to the practitioners, employees' whose religious and cultural beliefs gain acceptance in organizations, tend to align their efforts towards the organization. Therefore, organizations and management need to recognize this far from a legal requirement (Kossek, Sharon and Jennifer 53-74)

Diversification in Age

Age differences have an impact on corporations. There is no direct link between age and performance. However, the indirect interaction between individuals of diverse age groups may result to negative emotions, which influences the overall performance of an organization. Age diversity triggers fears, anger, and sometimes disgust (Desmette and Mathieu 178). These negative emotions arise only because there are differences between an older experienced employers and a young employee. These groups of employees do things differently, behave differently, and have different preferences and different values. The difference can lead to group formations, which may result in misunderstandings or even discrimination.

Age diversity on the other hand may result in negative emotions if people are allowed to express their feelings. If the management teams and department heads can suppress these emotions, then the organizations will have fewer conflicts. As evident, there is no link between age and performance. The only problem that arises is on the fact that employees of various age groups tend to have negative emotions. Managers of highly age diverse corporation should develop strategies of suppressing emotions. These are one of the measures that they can employ in suppressing the menace; creating a complaint channel where members of the organization can express their feeling without involving supervisors or colleagues (Desmette and Mathieu 174).

Diversity involving Handicapped Employees

A normal working environment has diverse groups of employees. This diversity, involves age, gender and disability. According to the International Labor Organization, employees with disabilities have a right in to employment in corporations. Many companies realize that disabled employees are productive, beneficial and are reliable to organizations. Diverse workforce is inclusive of employees with disabilities. Some organizations provide services specifically for persons with disabilities. Employing persons with disabilities has the following advantages to the organization: people with disabilities have high job retention rates, make good employees and have lower accidents. People with disabilities, also, represent a great source of talent and skills. Some of the skills they hold include technical skills, problem-solving skills as well as valuable skills developed through their experiences (Ball et al. 97-103). Disabled workers also contribute to the diversity of the workplace; enhance the image of the organization to customers and customers.

ILO policy on disability in the workplace postulates that companies should apply the following internal operations in dealing with disabled workers. Corporations need to develop policies that prevent discrimination against workers with disabilities, develop disability networks for employees and development of awareness programs for management and co-workers. Organizations should also promote hiring, training and retention of disabled persons to reach at corporation goals. Some of these programs include providing of internship, mentoring, and training programs for disabled workers. Organizations need to provide reasonable accommodation to meet individuals' needs. Further corporation should develop practices and policies that protect interests of persons with disabilities. A disability is not an inability as some disabled workers are more productive as compared to normal persons (Ball et al. 107).

Recent Perspectives to Diversity

Perspective of diversity in the workplace covers two diverse aspects. These aspects relates to the geographical perspective. The perspectives relates to local interaction and international interactions. These interactions lay emphasis on learning and information transfer. Therefore, diversity means the understanding the uniqueness of individuals while recognizing differences of individuals. This diversity relates to sexuality of individuals, race, socio economic class, age, religious beliefs, and other ideologies. It is about embracing other people's situation despite their diversity, without prejudice or favor. Diversity is a conscious understanding of the natural environment, humanity, and culture (Nishii and Mustafa 1890). These forms of understanding of culture should build alliances across different groups while eradicating any form of discrimination.

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