MANAGING WORKPLACE DIVERSITY

Managing Workplace Diversity

Managing Workplace Diversity

Introduction

Diversity is the quality of being different at the individual or group, whether in the workplace, social, ethnic or mental abilities. The appropriate strategy for the use of diversity is the inclusion, since it is inherent in social systems. That is why at the organizational level should include the diverse talents, as it will not only use their skills, knowledge or skills in the workplace, and it will make sure that, the people feel adapted comfortable and able to give their best.

The Meaning and Context of Diversity

The term diversity includes two sub types, demographic and cultural. The demographic variables that form the characteristics of an organisation's workforce constitute the demographic diversity. These variables include gender, age, physical status, religion and sexual orientation. On the other hand, cultural diversity constitutes the variables of culture that exist within the workforce. Among these cultures are the Hispanic cultures, the deaf culture, the Muslim culture, the Jewish culture, the Native American culture, and the Inuit or the Eskimo culture. It is possible for people with the same demographic characteristics not to share the same cultural characteristics (Thomas 2009, pp. 102). A deaf person who went to school with hearing people, whose parents are hearing, and most of whose friends can hear as well, may be deaf from a demographic point of view, yet the person does not identify with the deaf culture. Following a common practice, the term diversity is used to reflect both the demographic diversity and the cultural diversity.

The Need for Diversity

In recent years, companies invest a lot of manpower, material and financial resources for the various forms of training to enhance the organisational performance and strength and competitiveness of its members. However, the practice in many enterprises such as stop-gap measures and spoon-feeds training proves to be a temporary solution (McNaught 2010, pp. 39). This type of training, at best, can only improve the skills and increase knowledge, but cannot infest the true sense of organisational direction in its members to enhance performance so that it leads to enhancing the competitiveness and the purpose of the organisation. Given the vast amount of resources an organisation puts to get optimal production levels, it is highly imperative that diversity management is properly dealt with.

Women Leadership: the basis of Diversity Management

One of the most important components of workplace diversity stems from the upward trend of women's participation in the workforce. In the 1980s and 1990s, women remarkably formed part in the workforce, both at national and international levels. This trend is well illustrated by its evolution in Latin America. During these two decades, women workforce also raised in Western European countries, including the U.K. Increasing women's share in the workforce was also evident through the inclusion of women at the top-level management in companies. By 1990s, women could well be placed at the company boards (Loden 2007, pp. 3).

The news about the work of women in late nineteenth century and especially during the twentieth century involved ...