Types of diversity in the workplace
The status quo of the world has changed in a substantial manner in the recent times and as a matter of fact the various workplaces can be seen as the amalgamation of the diverse cultural as well as ethnic groups (Benschop 2016). As per Riccucci (2018), the net result of this is the fact that individuals from diverse social as well as cultural or ethnic groups are required to work in close association with each other for the uniform growth of the an organization. These diversified workforces which are a part of the majority of the organizations offer various benefits to the concerned organization like it improves the talent pool of the organization, enhances the employee performance and others (Harvey and Allard 2015). However, Martin (2014) is of the viewpoint that there are various factors which the organizations need to take into effective consideration for the effective management of these diversified workforces like the cultural factors, communication factors and others.
I work in an advertisement organization which is called “ABC Advertisement” and the company designs the various promotional advertisements and media campaigns for the other organization. The organization boosts of an employee strength of around 40 people however not all of them are Australians. For example, some of them are Indians, Torres Strait Islanders and others. This has enriched the diversity of the workforce and has also improved its performance. This report will discuss about the types of diversity which are there in my workplace, my respect for the diversity of the organization, my strategies for being proactive and addressing potential issues related to diversity. The report also discusses the advantages of this diverse workforce in terms of productivity, culture and others. Finally, some recommendations through which the organisation can promote a culturally safe and more inclusive workforce have been provided. Briefly, this report will show that the construct of diversity has not only enriched the performance of the organisation but also its culture.
In the framework of the contemporary workplaces it is seen that there are various types of diverse like gender, age, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, socioeconomic background, personality and others. The organization that I work for also boosts of such kinds of diversities although there are only 40 employees. There are 4 Indians, 3 Torres Strait Islanders along with the other Australians in the organization. In addition to this, the organization has around 21 women in its workforce. Furthermore, the number of young individuals who are below the age of 35 years is around 25 in comparison to the remaining 15 individuals who are over the age of 35 years. However, in terms of religion it can be said that the organization is not that diverse since it is seen that the majority of these employees follow the religion of Christianity. Moreover, the diversity in the workforce also becomes apparent in the socio-economic background of the individuals since it is seen that the employees are from different socio-economic backgrounds and also from different educational backgrounds. Thus, on the basis of these statistics it can be said that the workforce of the organization is a fairly diversified one.
Respect for diversity
I would like to say that I not only try to respect the individual diversity of these employees in the organization but also try to foster a team environment within the organization by helping to resolve the diversity issues that these individuals often face. Furthermore, at the same time, I try to create the kind of environment or culture within the team wherein these individuals will not only get along with each other but at the same time contribute in a positive manner towards the improvement of the performance of the other individuals. I firmly believe that the individual difference of these employees not only makes the workplace of the organization a unique one but also contributes towards the efficiency of the organization in a significant manner. In addition to these, I personally feel these diverse individuals by virtue of having different intellectual property and also cultural intelligence are being able to not only handle the different kinds of work of the organization in a much more effective manner but also contribute towards the growth of the organization in an adequate manner.
There are various issues or problems that the organizations with regards to the effective management of these diverse workforce within the framework of their organization. For example, one of the most common issues or problems that the organizations face with regards to the effective management of these diverse workforces is the tensions which are related to cultural differences (Barak 2016). It is seen that these individuals from diverse backgrounds besides having different cultural traditions also follow language patterns and communication styles which are drastically different from the ones followed in the mainland civilization of Australia (Hatipoglu and Inelmen 2018). In this regard, the friendly manner of conversation and also friendly handshakes and other kinds of gestures of the Australians becomes an important one which is not there in the other cultures of the other individuals (Gordon 2018). This is one of the major reasons along with the language differences which contribute to a significant amount of tension within our workplace.
The management team of the organization has taken various measures for the resolution of these tensions and also to ensure the creation of a congenial cohesive culture in the organization. For example, in order to develop the cultural intelligence and also the competency of the employees the management team of the organization regularly organizes various kinds of cultural workshops wherein the employees are encouraged to discuss their culture (De Jesus-Rivas, Conlon and Burns 2016). This not only helps the employees to understand the cultures of their colleagues but also enables them to convey the necessary information regarding their own culture to their colleagues (Greene and Kirton 2015). Furthermore, the management team of the organization in order to reduce the cultural tensions also takes the help of the process of employee engagement. Through the active utilization of this particular concept the management team has been able to not only increase the engagement and also the interaction among the employees but also reduce the tensions among the employees as well (Lynch 2017). In addition to these, the instances of tensions or disputes all the employees involved in the process are given the opportunity to place their views and perspectives before the authority and the decisions reached by the authority are made taking into effective consideration the perspective of all the parties involved in the process (Meyers and Vallas 2016).
Strategies for managing diversity
The effective utilisation of the concept of diversity provides various kinds of benefits to the contemporary organisations. According to Harvey and Allard (2015) one of the major advantages of diversity in the workplace is the fact that it enhances the talent pool of the concerned organisation in a substantial manner. Individuals from diverse cultural as well as social background bring in not only different kinds of talents or resources to the organisation but at the same time help in the completion of the various tasks of the organisation in an effective manner (Gordon 2018). Secondly, the effective utilisation of the concept of diversity within the workforce encourages not only the organisation but also the employees to utilize the construct of innovation for the completion of the various tasks in an innovation manner (Barak 2016). This has a direct correlation with the overall organisational productivity and also the individual productivity of the employees as well. The employees through their interaction with their colleagues from other cultural and social backgrounds are able acquire new skills and talents which can affect their job performance in a positive manner (Lynch 2017). Thus, it can be said that the use of the concept of diversity in the workplace has helped the organisation in a substantial manner.
The organisation can follow various steps or measures to promote a culturally safe and more inclusive workforce. Firstly, the organisation can begin by enhancing the cultural competency of the employees which will not only reduce the cultural tensions among the employees but would also help in the creation of a culture wherein the individuals would feel culturally safe. Secondly, the organisation needs to appreciate the employees on the basis of the hard work and the effort that they put in for their work rather than on the basis of their culture or social class. This will not only improve the culture of the organisation and thereby the performance of the employees but would also help in the creation of a more inclusive workforce.
Conclusion
To conclude, the concept of diversity has become one of the most important ones in the present times and various enterprises are activity taking the help of this concept within their workplace. The effective utilisation of this process provides various benefits to the organisations like the enhancement of the performance level of the employees, increasing the talent pool of the organisation and others. However, at the same time, it is seen that the organisations need to develop various strategies for the mitigation of the adverse effects of the cultural tensions which arises because of the diversity of the workforce. Furthermore, the effectiveness as well as the efficiency of these diverse workforces depends on the extent to which these organisations are being able to mitigate the adverse effects of these cultural tensions and disputes.
References
Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage Publications.
Benschop, Y. 2016. The dubious power of diversity management. In Diversity in the Workplace (pp. 35-48). Routledge.
De Jesus-Rivas, M., Conlon, H.A. and Burns, C., 2016. The impact of language and culture diversity in occupational safety. Workplace health & safety, 64(1), pp.24-27.
Gordon, P.A., 2018. Age Diversity in the Workplace. In Diversity and Inclusion in the Global Workplace (pp. 31-47). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Greene, A.M. and Kirton, G., 2015. The dynamics of managing diversity: A critical approach. Routledge.
Harvey, C.P. and Allard, M., 2015. Understanding and managing diversity: Readings, cases, and exercises. Pearson.
Hatipoglu, B. and Inelmen, K., 2018. Demographic diversity in the workplace and its impact on employee voice: The role of trust in the employer. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(5), pp.970-994.
Lynch, F.R., 2017. The diversity machine: The drive to change the white male workplace. Routledge.
Martin, G.C., 2014. The effects of cultural diversity in the workplace. Journal of Diversity Management (Online), 9(2), p.89.
Meyers, J.S. and Vallas, S.P., 2016. Diversity regimes in worker cooperatives: workplace inequality under conditions of worker control. The Sociological Quarterly, 57(1), pp.98-128.
Riccucci, N., 2018. Managing Diversity In Public Sector Workforces: Essentials Of Public Policy And Administration Series. Routledge
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