WORKPLACE DIVERSITY

Workplace Diversity

Workplace Diversity

Introduction

Diversity is a tool that can be used effectively in the current work environment to bring about a positive change and success. In the current time we live in, challenges are being faced right, left and centre by organizations as to what kind of clients they face. In this situation, a diverse workforce could be essentially successful and help in further growth of the organization. A changing trend, diversity is being accepted into all organizations, regardless of whether they are big corporations or small businesses. According to Cornell University ILR School (2009), workplace diversity is about different groups that come together to enable a corporation to celebrate their different perspectives and combined achievements. It is a concept that is slowly gaining importance and significance in the corporate environment and as a management strategy. Diversity is a concept that is fully compliant with the equal opportunity act as well as being considered a very valuable asset to organizations as a whole. It can open up an array of new opportunities for managers as well as give them a new perspective to adapt. Not only this, it can provide many procedures that may be more generally acceptable in the current culturally enriched environment, rather than being strictly adherent to the company's old ways. In this paper, I will be evaluating diversity in the workforce and how it can be used in favor of an organization.

Discussion

Diversity in the workplace can be made up of social and personal components. Personal components refer to the factors that may not be directly influenced by the organization leader, such as age, race, gender, orientation, and ethnicity and so on. Another personal component is the ability to impact and choose personal factors, such as marriage, religious leanings, education or appearance. These are important factors to consider as they affect the work flow and determine an individual's behavior and attitude towards work. Social components on the other hand, are reflections of position and job functions, as well as the department or field (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009, p. 98). In the past, all these components were unsuccessfully cultivated, which may have led to some employees being laid off on the basis of factors that were not under their control. Naturally, this became a cause for concern and managed to create uproar and the direction being taken towards workplace diversity was altered. The difference in attitudes towards members of different races or genders, or any such components are now generally celebrated in organizations, a result of which is the success of many organizations as they manage to utilize the skills of a vast array of talent without discrimination. For example, Miller Brewing Co., which is a large and successful corporation, actually started to offer internal and external training classes that would make diversity more acceptable and common among employees (The challenge, 2011).

Managing a diverse workforce in an organization is a hard task, as it means the leader must have a solid enough philosophy aiding their corporate culture that ...