Workforce Diversity
Diversity of the workforce refers to practices and policies embraced by a company to accommodate people of different backgrounds (Chong &Baez, 2009). These might include culture, religion, race, class, and sex among others. Several factors motivate small and large organizations to diversify their work force. These are as signs of social responsibility, as resource importance, economic payback, as a legal requirement, as a marketing strategy, capacity-building process, and as a business communication strategy (Chong &Baez, 2009). Work force diversity has several cons and pros, which make it both a blessing and a curse for any organization (Segal and Vasilache 2011).
Advantages of work force diversity
Currently, businesses and non-business organizations are recognizing the essence of inclusion and investing in diverse workforce as an important aspect of talent management. Further, inclusion in the workforce offers organizations continuous challenge of making connection between corporate or business performance and human resource management strategies that respects its workforce (Chong &Baez, 2009). Diversity is essential in the contemporary global market place where companies interact with different clients and people from different cultural background. This arises because many people are migrating back and forth their countries seeking for jobs opportunities. Therefore, various countries have diverse job seekers.
The benefits touch each area of organizations by increasing productivity, enhancing creativity, acquiring new language skills, developing new solution to common challenges, promoting tolerance and developing great agility in the work force (Segal and Vasilache 2011). Further, enhancing work diversity promotes retention and employee recruitment processes (Paludi 2012). Businesses that fail to identify the vital role of work force diversity may fail to retain and attract kinds of employees, customers and business partners. There are several advantages of work force diversity and may be considered as its blessings (Aldgate, 2009).
Increased productivity
Inclusion and diversity plays a vital role in bringing to board different talents and pooling the talents together to achieve the goals of the organization effectively (Paludi 2012). The quest to achieve a common goal is imperative when using the diverse skills to ignite productivity and retention in an organization. One of the major companies that have utilized diversity to attain high performance and productivity is Deloitte and Touché, a leading global auditing, and consultancy firm (Chong &Baez, 2009). The firm recruits people from every country that it works in, thus enhancing productivity, positive brand image and attains a good pool of talents that have enabled it to remain one of the major accounting and consultancy firms (Gilmore & William, 2011). In maintaining a diversified workforce, the company builds its reputation internationally and easily sets up companies due to the knowledge it has obtained in dealing with various individuals from different countries or different races. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is another organization that employs diverse labor. It brings on board many newscasters from around the world. It has several stations that employ the locals in the respective countries that have BBC stations (Smith &Mounter, 2009).
Increased problem solving techniques and creativity
Groups are essential in an organization because they assist in achieving organization goals. However, groups with the same mind tend to fail in their undertaking and so diversity assists in bringing together different minds, thus creating different ideas. Different individuals bring their ways of thinking, making decisions and problem solving techniques. The people may come from countries and societies that are well versed in knowledge and handling of issues. As such, organizations can solve complex problems through diversification (Dessler, 2010).
Attract and retain talent
The quest to attract and retain talent is imperative in providing a competitive edge to an organization or business (Daft and Lane, 2009). Feeling appreciated improves the feeling of belonging and enhanced loyalty. Further, language skills are imperative in propelling and increasing the chances of an organization entering an international business arena. Barclays bank incorporation is a leading global bank whose headquarter is in Britain. However, it has several branches including countries whose national and officials are not English. The bank recruits people from different cultural and linguistic background making it popular even in non-English countries such as China (Ting-Toomer & Oetzel, 2009). Embracing cultural diversity becomes effective in dealing with them in their countries of origin, especially when the workforce consists of foreign workers. Barclays, therefore, harnesses the local skilled labor and does not have to bring in expatriates who may prove to be expensive in the end, as they require higher wages.
Assist in enhancing communication skills and building synergy in teams
Workforce diversity assists in creating and bringing in new attitudes, group formation processes and improving communication skills. It creates tolerance among workers and thus enhances cohesion within the organization. People withstand others’ culture no matter how indifference the actions may be. In addition, it creates positive among employees toward organization policies and make it easier for the work force to embrace changes hence high revenues and growth (Schedler & Proeller, 2009).
Creating a satisfied diverse customer base and increasing market share
People value organizations that accept their cultural diversity and offer support to communities. Starbuck is a major company that deals with beverages such as coffee .It has faced big problems in its quest to enter Arabic market (Smith &Mounter, 2009). The reason can be attributed to the belief that it has a Jewish background and fails to employ Arabs. The negative opinion in the Arab countries is clear that people prefer seeing members of their communities employed in big organizations (Saunders, 2010). This brings in the aspect of diversity in organizations. In the case of Starbucks, it will promote good public relations with the Arab population.
Adhering to legal and ethical requirements of practice
There are some countries and states where it is a legal requirement to include minorities in the work force and top management. In countries such as Sweden, it is a legal requirement for all boards to businesses and other organization to include women in them. In Rwanda, a third of the total number of members of parliament must be women. This is a clear indication that diversity is appreciated (Sonnenschein, 2009). The legal requirement may not be comfortable to some people in the workforce, but they have to be followed. The people in the organization have to deal with the diverse nature of the workforce and accept others regardless of their nationalities or race.
The pros or blessing of diversified work force plays an important part in improving the base line earnings of an organization and can either make or break businesses. As such, ignoring the existence and effects of diversity in the contemporary global environment will retard the growth of an organization and may affect the brand and reputation of the organization in both national and global levels (Smith &Mounter, 2009).
Disadvantages of diversified work force
The common belief is that a diverse workforce is essential for an organization to attain a competitive advantage and build a satisfied work force. It assists in bringing in innovations, ideas, and tolerance within the organization. However, there are several disadvantages that if not well managed, they may be detrimental to growth and survival of the organization.
Conflicts
In most cases, people from different backgrounds may become easily annoyed, confused, or threatened by their colleagues. The people think differently about each other, and this prevents any teambuilding. The people cannot work as teams and this leads to rebellious behavior. Respect is diminished among the employees (Cartwright, 2009). The divisions can tear down a company resulting to financial loss. The human resource should be responsible for such actions to prevent cases of conflicts arising among workers. Thus, it is tasked with the job of creating unity in an organization. The leadership may favor some people and this may lead to conflicts. Some people will feel inferior because they are from certain groups of people. There may be constructive disagreements, however, the differences may result in power struggle and bring about bad political atmosphere that may be detrimental in advancing organization goals or projects (Zemke,Raines & Filipczak, 2010).
Bureaucracy
The processes of decision-making may be delayed due to different opinions and divergent viewpoints resulting in poor action and slow implementation of decisions.
Minimal or lack of productivity
Lack of cultural uniformity or dissimilar cultural values negatively affect the teamwork spirit that is vital for high levels of productivity (DuBrin 2010). This is evident where the workforce has consisted of certain race or tribe. The inclusion of a new diverse group tends to create a misunderstanding that can affect eth productivity of the workforce. In the US, there have been several reported cases where the minority populations especially African Americans and red Indians have been blatantly denied promotions and recognition in organization (Cartwright, 2009). The affected people, therefore, are lowly motivated to focus on their work and perform below average since they do not expect to be promoted or rewarded in any way (Chong &Baez, 2009). They become lowly motivated individuals and pessimism may set in, consequently affecting the quality of the work, they do at the end of the day. This results in decrease productivity and the company suffers loss. As such, talented members of the discriminated groups underuse or fail to utilize their talents fully, resulting in organizations failing to harness the human resources effectively (Cartwright, 2009).
Disunity
Diverse people in the organization may have differing opinions on how the operations should be managed. Such differences might lead people to do their own things or projects. In cases where there is no clear authority or protocol, such actions might lead to disunity. In the end, this could compromise the performance of the organization (Powell, 2009). For effective coordination and cooperation, people need to see each other as part of the organization and not of dissimilar races, different cultures, or groups. Disunity decreases the productivity between the individuals in the company and the workers may not put in their best because they think that they have been slighted, yet, this is not the case. The leadership can create a good working environment among the culturally diverse people. Hence, Clear authority that recognizes and appreciates diversity needs to be in place to enable order in the workplace.
Reverse discrimination
The calls to enhance work force diversity may result in reverse discrimination, a factor that may cause bad feelings of discrimination and vilification especially among majority groups (O’Sullivian, 2009). The various prejudices and misconceptions about the diverse groups, especially the minority groups, may create a tense work environment. In addition, the adoption of diverse workgroups, may not be accepted easily by the majority will feel sidelined. The companies fostering the diversity may create animosity among the diverse groups, which may affect the organizations involved negatively. The people may cause riots against the diverse groups and lead to destruction and loss of property. Organizations have to be careful on how they handle matters that concern reverse discrimination. They can do it subtly without anyone knowing.
In conclusion, diversity has become an important factor to consider in the workplace in modern corporations. A diverse work force has both advantages and disadvantages and so it can be stated to be both a blessing and a curse. As such, organizations must develop strong diversity management practices to ensure their survival, growth, maintain good reputation, and have a vibrant work force. The apt key to harness the benefit of diverse work force is to offer proper support and training to managers, especially human resource managers, on the essential need of understanding individual within teams, create strategies for tolerance and balance the conflicting opinion and needs of the work force.
Reference List
ALDGATE, J. (2009). Enhancing social work management theory and best practice from the UK and USA. London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
BRIEFINGS PUBLISHING GROUP, & GRAVITY SHIFT SOLUTIONS, INC. (2012). Team-building techniques that work. Alexandria, VA, Briefings Pub. Group.
CARTWRIGHT, S. (2009). The Blackwell encyclopedia of management. Malden, Mass, Blackwell Pub.
CHONG, N., & BAEZ, F. (2009). Latino culture: a dynamic force in the changing American workplace. Yarmouth, ME, Intercultural Press.
DAFT, L. R. and LANE, P. (2009). Management. London: Cengage Learning.
DESSLER, G. (2000). Human resource management. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall.
DUBRIN, J. A. (2010). Essentials of management. London: Cengage Learning.
GILMORE, S., & WILLIAMS, S. (2009). Human resource management. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
O’SULLIVIAN, K. (2009). Strategic knowledge management in multinational organizations. Idea Group. Hershey, PA, Information Science Reference.
PALUDI, M. A. (2012). Managing diversity in today’s workplace: strategies for employees and employers, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO
POWELL, G. N. (2009). Managing a diverse workforce: learning activities. Thousand Oaks, Calif, Sage Publications.
SAUNDERS, M. (2010). Organizational trust: a cultural perspective. New York, Cambridge University Press.
SCHEDLER, K., & PROELLER, I. (2009). Cultural aspects of public management reform. Amsterdam, Elsevier JAI.
SEGAL, T. and VASILACHE, S. (2011). Cultural integration and workforce diversity. London: GRIN Verlag.
SMITH, L., & MOUNTER, P. (2009). Effective internal communication. London, Kogan Page.
SONNENSCHEIN, W (2009). The diversity toolkit: how you can build and benefit from a diverse workforce. Lincolnwood, Chicago, Ill, Contemporary Books.
TING-TOOMEY, S., & OETZEL, J. G. (2009). Managing intercultural conflict effectively. Thousand Oaks, Calif, Sage Publications.
ZEMKE, R., RAINES, C., & FILIPCZAK, B. (2010). Generations at work: managing the clash of veterans, boomers, xers, and nexters in your workplace. New York, AMACOM.
