Managing Diversity in the Workplace
What Is The Changing Demographics Diversity Workforce?
The global ageing population and new generation of the young professional workers entering into the market are changing the overall shape of the organizations and workplaces. The companies are looking forward to prepare the workforce of the future generation and also the changes they are going to bring within the organization. There are various ways of organizing and it becomes immensely important for the firms to succeed in the upcoming years. However, it is also very important for the firms to take into consideration the deep diversity and demographic changes which occur at the organizations. Indeed, the organizations have already started facing the challenges of transforming their ways of organizing and the structures in order to incorporate the latest generation. These generations have severe implications on the future of the companies and also the firms need to focus on the talent management and human resource strategies in order to support the human capital (Bezrukova, Jehn, & Spell, 2012).
Managing diversity refers to the overall management as well as leadership practices which aim to value the introduction of diversity into the organization policies for being more successful. The goal and aim of managing the diversity and demographics within the organization is to increase and encourage productivity as well as mutually beneficial interactions between the employees. In addition to this, managing diversity and demographics also promotes valuing the employees’ of various needs, backgrounds, skill sets and others for producing optimal benefits for the organizations, customers and communities they serve for. One of the major challenges of managing the diversity within the companies is demographic changes (Chuang, 2013).
However, while working with organization ABC, I have observed various factors of training that was driven by the workplace needs. Some of them are, sustainability, globalization, increased value placed on the intangible assets and human capital, technology, economic changes and many more. The most significant one is the changing demographics and diversity within the workplace. According to me, the most challenging factor of managing the diversity within the organization is the changing demographics. This is due to the social changes which the demographics bring along with it and impacts the working environment. The demographic changes are the main reason the organizations need to adopt in their practices for responding to the increasing diversity within the labor markets.
Diversity alters the pools of potential employees, the needs of the employees and also it influences the broader objectives of business like the service provisions. In addition to this, the constant change in the demographic profiles of broader population gives an idea of the organizational needs of developing strategies in order to meet the requirements or desires of the citizens of the country (Cascio, 2018). Moreover, in several countries there are stakeholder groups who have keen interest in knowing about the issues at the workplaces which also include diversity. These includes the government agencies who are also interested in immigration, work, governmental employment bodies, human rights groups, industrial groups, trade unions, stake holder agencies, specialized agencies and more.
Challenges of Managing Demographics Changes
The social as well as demographic changes impact the working world and environment at large. Some of the major as well as common social and demographic changes are being discussed as follows;
The family structures are changing in modern days. One parent families are very common in today’s era. The parents juggle their work, household chores, parenting as well as childcare. In addition to this, the ageing population that is the pressure on health as well as welfare services, gradual retirement, unpaid caring work by the children, positive ageing and others, also comes under this factor. Moreover, the labor force diversity like women’s participation into the professional world, ethical and religious diversity also plays a major role into this (Dall, et al., 2013). These demographic changes have profound implications on the organizational managers, in the upcoming decades. The implications include, the need of having better understanding as well as awareness of various cultures including their religious beliefs as well as practices (Bezrukova, Jehn, & Spell, 2012).
Moreover, the organizations are now introducing diversity policies into their organizational norms and procedures. This is due to the beneficial factors which the diversity brings into the organization. The organization need to implement the flexibility within the working environment of the employees so that it does not encourage discrimination, harassments or workplace bullying. In addition to this, it will promote a healthy work life and in turn, it will increase the overall productivity of the organization’s employees. It will help in promoting a better integration of work as well as life and the workplaces will become more family friendly. Diversity helps in bringing in benefits within the business. These also include the following factors; the development of the economically and beneficiary partnerships, legal compliance, new markets, services and products which are culturally appropriate as well as sensitive. The employees who are well accustomed with the social networking as well as team work will help in enhancing the productivity level of the workplace. Moreover, the organizations also need to focus on the environmental as well as social responsibility as diversified workforce helps in bringing its own reward in the terms of cultural sensitivity, awareness as well as awareness among the firms and individuals (Frey, 2014).
Changing demographics at the workplaces can also pose to be a major challenge in the business, if adequate measures are not taken in an appropriate manner. Several experts believe that the business face increased rates of the older as well as younger workers as the range of the middle age workers keep declining. The managers may however, experience increasing compensation as well as training costs for both the older and younger workers, respectively, which will in turn affect the profitability as well as solvency. In addition to this, a growth in the international labor force will also be another factor which may affect the companies or organizations. Furthermore, changing demographics also have a direct impact on the business strategies and models (Cascio, 2018).
Therefore, it becomes one of the major factors at the workplace, as it highly influences the working environment. However, it falls under the responsibility of the organizational leaders as well as managers to conduct training and development sessions among the employees, in order to improve their skills as well as team work for the process areas.
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Conducting the Needs assessment |
Resources Required |
Who will I need to consult |
Who will I need to Inform |
Start Date |
Completion Date |
Notes |
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Diversity Trainings |
Presentations, laptops, projectors, role playing exercises, case studies, interactive sessions, ice breaker sessions and more. |
Board members, Organizational managers, human resource managers, organizational leaders and others. |
Project sponsors, stakeholders, certified trainers, professional experts and others. |
17th March 2018 |
17th April 2018 |
The diversity trainings will help in introducing new and innovative ideas within the organizational policies and procedures. |
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Being clear about the training goals and objectives |
Power point presentations, organizational goals and strategies, interactive sessions, study materials, projectors, laptops and others. |
Board members, Organizational managers, human resource managers, organizational leaders and others. |
Project sponsors, stakeholders, certified trainers, professional experts and others. |
17th March 2018 |
17th April 2018 |
Being clear about the training goals and objectives will let the employees get an idea regarding the organizational strategies and objectives. |
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Ensure employees readiness for Training |
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Surveys |
Online survey tools, internet, laptops, setting up of questionnaires and others. |
Board members, Organizational managers, organizational leaders and others. |
Project sponsors, stakeholders, organizational leaders and board members. |
18th April 2018 |
19th April 2018 |
Surveys will help in gaining an understanding regarding the employees’ acceptance regarding the training and what they understood, whether the trainings session was productive or not. |
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Create the Learning Environment |
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Interactive sessions, personal sessions. |
Employee profile, registers and laptops. |
Organizational leaders and managers. |
Board members and stakeholders. |
19th April 2018 |
25th April 2018 |
This will help in gaining an idea of the competencies and in-competencies of the employees. |
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Ensuring Transfer of Training |
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Training materials must be circulated online to all the employees concerned. |
Company webmail, laptops, internet and others. |
Human resource managers, organizational leaders and managers. |
Board members, directors and others. |
15th March 2018 |
16th March 2018 |
Transferring of training materials to the employees on the date before the training session, will help the employees, gain an understanding of what the session is all about. |
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Developing and Evaluation Plan |
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Detailed information of the gathered needs as well as methods needs. |
Models and theories, presentations, laptops, projector, internet and others. |
Organizational leaders and managers. |
Board members. |
20th April 2018 |
25th April 2018 |
It will help in proving the capabilities of the employees. |
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Select Training Method |
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Seminars, group discussions, mentorships, role playing, management games and others. |
Presentations, laptops, projectors, role playing exercises, case studies, interactive sessions, ice breaker sessions and more. |
Board members, Organizational managers, human resource managers, organizational leaders and others. |
Project sponsors, stakeholders, certified trainers, professional experts and others. |
17th March 2018 |
17th April 2018 |
The trainings will help in introducing new and innovative ideas within the organizational policies and procedures. |
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Develop and Deliver the Program |
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Development and delivering the program details to the employees. |
Company webmail, laptops and internet. |
Organizational managers, human resource managers, organizational leaders and others. |
Project sponsors, stakeholders, certified trainers, professional experts and others. |
16th March 2018 |
17th April 2018 |
Details must be provided to the employees beforehand. |
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Monitor and Evaluate the Program. |
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Monitoring and evaluation of the programs after the training session. |
Laptops, internet, employee profile, registers and others. |
Organizational managers, human resource managers, organizational leaders and others. |
Project sponsors, stakeholders, certified trainers, professional experts and others. |
20th April 2018 |
25th April 2018 |
Monitoring and evaluation of the programs after the training session will help in understanding the employees’ issues and problems. |
Conclusion
To conclude, diversity trainings help in developing valuable diversity skills as well as cultural skills within the organizations. Effective training sessions of diversity is highly necessary. The overall success of the organization depends on the availability of the right tools as well as support for maximizing each and every employee’s performance and development. It will also prove beneficial for the company to reduce their legal risks. Being crystal clear regarding the organizational values, mission, goals and objectives will also contribute to its success. In addition to this, diversity events must also be organized so that it gives a clear idea regarding the competencies and in-competencies of the employees.
References
Bezrukova, K., Jehn, K. A., & Spell, C. S. (2012). Reviewing diversity training: Where we have been and where we should go. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 11(2), 207-227.
Cascio, W. (2018). Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill Education.
Chuang, S. F. (2013). Essential skills for leadership effectiveness in diverse workplace development.
Dall, T. M., Gallo, P. D., Chakrabarti, R., West, T., Semilla, A. P., & Storm, M. V. (2013). An aging population and growing disease burden will require alarge and specialized health care workforce by 2025. Health affairs, 32(11), 2013-2020.
Frey, W. H. (2014). Diversity explosion: How new racial demographics are remaking America. Brookings Institution Press.
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