Too Much Diversity In The Workplace

As we enter the new millenium, diversity in the workforce is rapidly increasing. Businesses and organizations are living up to the great melting pot image the United States has always been popular for. Employees now reflect a diversity of cultural perspectives, ethnic backgrounds, ages, genders, physical abilities, and levels of education. This wave of multiculturalism is here to stay and cannot be ignored. It is in need of attention in order to uphold the well-being and success of businesses and organizations all over the country.

When looking at diversity in the workplace, many people and companies encourage it. “Cultural diversity has become a defining characteristic of an increasing number of societies” (“Consequences of Cultural diversity” this should be the author and the date). They feel that it is a great thing to have diversity in the workplace, however, what some companies do not think about is the negative effects of having too much diversity in the workplace. “A workforce that has significant differences in ethnicity, race, religion, gender and other individual traits can produce negative effects, especially if not well-managed. These negative effects of diversity are understandable if the work culture does not support tolerance and acceptance of

The United States is a diverse nation with citizens originating from every other nation on Earth. Despite this diversity, Americans have only recently begun to identify diversity as a integral part of the workplace; and put into practice programs to diversify, and therefore, maximize efficiency and production. However, simply diversifying the workplace, or any other place for that matter, will not automatically increase the efficiency of workers. It requires a diversity-conscious leader who has been trained and experienced in such matters to make diversity an asset in the workplace.

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

It is a known fact that in order for companies to flourish, excellent leadership practices and employees go hand-in-hand. What most companies have failed to acknowledge is how diversity within the workplace, especially in management and executive leadership, does not have a very strong presence. Numerous executives have embraced the fact that their hiring practices are inconsistent with their new motto (we do not discriminate…), but fail to realize that it is more of an internal issue than it is external. The government has tried to regulate some of the practices of hiring and firing applicants. The Americans with Disabilities Act includes protection from discrimination based on a disability as well as requirements for employers and those

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)

America's past should teach America's today that success lies within diversity. In order to achieve ultimate success, diversity is a necessity. Workforce diversity is a fact of organizational life. It is also a key concern for theory and practice in organizational behavior ( van-Knippenberg, De-Dreu, Homan, 2004).

Globalization of the economy and increasing reliance on teams in the workplace has led to a dramatic increase in the number of culturally diverse work teams in companies worldwide. Such teams – with multiple perspectives – can boost firm performance, but that potential comes with some risk.

The journal presented this week discusses the newly diversified workplace. Global companies are no longer the only entities with multicultural workforces. Encouraging diversity within teams or departments requires experienced leaders who can harmonize the cultures present.

Future trends for a diverse society will become more evident. As a result, the workforce and to a greater extent, the marketplace must increase diversity. Globalization of corporations begat a global economy increasing the marketplace, and enlarging a diverse workforce. The reality is diversity will become less of a social issue and more of a business concern linked to competitive strategies. Upper management will become more involved in diversity issues because diverse workforce needs to be better utilized in order to remain competitive. Diversity training will be integrated into other types of training. Corporations will continue to explore demographic changes in our society and link them more closely to global changes.

From our research, we identified three different perspectives on workforce diversity that people embrace, each with different implications for a work group’s ability to realize the benefits of its cultural diversity. We use these observations here to examine critically some of the themes and basic assumptions of previous research and to propose new directions for both researchers and practitioners interested in diversity (Ely &Thomas, 2001). When organizations have a diverse economy, it makes the company strong. Once our nation has embrace the changes from the demographics that reap the economic benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce. Burns et al. (2012) stated in their investigation that:

The world's increasing globalization requires more interaction among people from diverse cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds than ever before. People no longer live and work in an insular marketplace; they are now part of a worldwide economy with competition coming from nearly every continent. For this reason, profit and non-profit organizations need diversity to become more creative and open to change. Maximizing and capitalizing on workplace diversity

Organizations have been becoming increasingly diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality. This diversity brings substantial potential benefits such as better decision making, greater creativity and innovation, and more successful marketing to different types of customers. But, increasing cultural differences within a workforce also bring potential costs in higher turnovers, interpersonal conflicts, and communicational breakdowns. The utilities of diversity training and the essential managerial skills required for effectively managing diversity will also be discussed.

In response to the growing diversity in the workforce around the world, many companies have instituted specific policies and programs to enhance recruitment, inclusion, promotion, and retention of employees who are different from the privileged echelons of society. The privileged groups may vary from one country to the next. The workforce of the world is a dynamic environment, and in order for this dynamism to be put to use for the benefit of organizations, they must develop an effective strategy for managing diversity. Global Diversity Management refers to the voluntary organizational actions that are designed to create greater inclusion of employees from various backgrounds into the formal and informal organizational

The world’s increasing globalization requires more interaction among people from a wide variety of cultures, values and backgrounds. People no longer live and work in a one-dimensional marketplace- they are living in a highly complex and competitive environment that has growing demands of innovation in order to perform successfully amongst other industries. Business and organizations need to respond to this new diverse landscape, and the best corporations increasingly align with it. A strong diversity initiative and inclusion in an organization is crucial in remaining competitive in the current business world. Diversity is in the workplace is claimed to foster and spark creativity and innovation in employees. On the other hand, it is perceived to increase conflict and communication in an organization. Thus, in theory, diversity is allegedly advantageous to worker productivity, though counterproductive in work-group processes and dynamics. However, there is a lack of validity and reliability in the empirical research conducted to support this assumption.