To effectively overcome the barriers against diversity in the workplace, first a general understanding of what diversity is must be developed. Knowing how diversity affects a workplace environment, advantages and disadvantages of diversity in the workplace, and the legal obstacles that surround both employers and employees when dealing with diversity and equality are important to understand. Based on the results from the survey completed with the employees, these topics are a great place to start in the training.
What is Diversity?
The Business Dictionary defines diversity as “Human Resources – a mixed workforce that provides a wide range of abilities, experience, knowledge, and strengths due to its heterogeneity in age, background, ethnicity, physical abilities, political and religious beliefs, sex, and other attributes.” (Business Dictionary, 2017)
Diversity does not mean race or race relations; the actual meaning of the word diversity is difference. Differences in thinking styles, values, race, ethnicity, orientation or any aspect of our social identity, are examples.
Diversity in the Workplace
People with demographic differences working in the same organization make a diverse workforce. Perceptions affect people’s relations in how they communicate and interact with one another. Human resource professionals must be effective when dealing with organizational issues relating to diversity in order for those organizations to be successful. Assessing any needs that arise
Diversity is very important on a workplace because it create a respectful environment, reduce conflict, help business reputations, and avoid legal issues. This accepting and managing of these cultural differences has over the years become an important factor of organizational success.
Before we move on it is important to take the time and think what diversity means to your organization. How does your company define diversity? A simple definition of diversity is that every individual is unique, and has differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, mental abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, personality, cognitive style, or other ideologies. Your organization’s success and competitiveness may depend upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits.
Diversity means to value and respect the differences and individuality of people. This means to embrace the differences between people and to treat a person’s race, culture, religious beliefs, age, sexual orientation, gender, physical and mental characteristics etc. with respect.
Diversity – In the literal sense the word ‘diversity’ means different. Through diversity we recognise the uniqueness of the individual and value these differences. Diversity can consist of factors which include personal characteristics such as background, culture, personality and work-style. However, certain characteristics are protected under discrimination such as gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, disability and age.
The term ‘Diversity’ means the state or fact of being diverse; different or unlike. Within equality and inclusion it is the difference between individuals and groups including: culture, nationality, ability, ethnic origin, gender, age, religion, beliefs, sexual orientation and social class.
Workplace Diversity does not only refer to those groups that have been discriminated against or that are different from the dominant or privileged groups, but to the mixture of differences, similarities and tensions that can exist among the elements of a pluralistic mixture.
“Diversity is a variety of demographic, cultural, and personal differences among an organization’s employees and customers (Williams. 249)”. Diversity is having different people who have from different
This paper is the first part of a training manual that will help employees to have a better understanding of diversity in the work place and how to act towards different diversity issues that may arise in the workplace. It will also give current statistics and recent trends of the demographics in the United States as well as the forecasted trends. Also included will be a rough outline of the entire contents of the manual and the table of contents for the manual.
Diversity in any organisation includes hiring and promoting a workforce of people with differences. These differences include race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical abilities and economic backgrounds. The premise of a diverse workplace is that employees are
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines diversity as “the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different race or cultures) in a group or organization.” For a human resource professional, it is the “variety of experiences and perspective which arise from differences in
Diversity is what makes people different, not just culturally but in human differences. Having a multitude of differences in the workforce gives an organization the ability to use many ideas to reach a common goal. A person could say that a diverse group of people together in one room can accomplish greater achievements than a room filled with the same types of individuals. Managers understand the concept of diversity, and how important diversity is to the success of a company’s ability to implement programs that continue to develop a harmonious and diverse workplace. The recognition that diversity is a reality in the workforce has generated an enormous amount of activity over the years among leaders in business, government, and civil
The general line of reasoning is that if we learn to incorporate each other’s diverse traits and characteristics in the workplace, we can then use these differences to foster an innovative environment, which will give the company a competitive advantage over the competitors that do not accept workforce diversity. According to the Allied Academies International Conference, “Diversity is rapidly becoming a common practice among companies due to the increasing number of minorities entering the job market today. As these groups become more prevalent throughout companies, upper-level employees are facing numerous challenges when determining what changes must take place to create a positive working environment for everyone. Management is responsible for the development and implementation of effective policies directly relating to diversity to ensure the acceptance of minorities into the workplace and to aid in minorities’ success through equal opportunities and treatment.” (Marcia L. James, 2001, Academy for Studies in International Business Proceedings)
Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. Workplace diversity is about acknowledging differences and adapting work practices to create an inclusive environment in which diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds are valued. It is about understanding the individual differences in the people we work with that arise from a broad range of backgrounds and lifestyles, and recognizing the value of using those different perspectives, ideas and ways of working to enhance the quality and outcomes of work. Our diversity is shaped by a variety of characteristics including age, ethnicity, gender, disability, language,
As companies become more diverse in the work field employees are getting harder to manage and understand. One issue in the global market today is workplace diversity. Workplace diversity is defined as all characteristics and experiences that defined each employee as individuals, but it can also be misunderstood as discrimination against employees. Diversity can include race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability and sexual orientation discrimination. One reason why workplace diversity is important is because when you respect your employees productivity rate rises and many companies do not know that. A diverse workplace targets to create an inclusive culture that values and uses the talents of all employees.
Diversity can be defined as the differences among the people working in the same workplace. Those differences can be related to gender, race, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, culture or personalities.