What Is Organizational Diversity

It predicts higher performance from a diverse organization and view diversity as a business necessity’. [4] As a result, diversity is a concept celebrated by many organizations [4]. Yet, in spite of the amount of attention diversity receives, the concept is neither clearly defined nor well understood by the general public. [4] Given diversity ambiguous meaning, people may interpret the concept of diversity in a manner consistent with their desire to preserve inequality along socially important dimensions, such as race.

In our report, we will explore whether diversity s, in fact, a changeable concept capable of serving opposing social agendas. Diversity: Definition In simple terms, diversity can be defined as a point of reference. According to Coffey, “diversity is a term for valuing and promoting differences, similarities, and unique characteristics of groups and individuals in different areas in the world. It is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. ” [1] In today’s world, we can all agree that everybody is unique and different as each has different characteristics and ideas.

So, in general, it can be said that “diversity is no ore than Just tolerating differences”. [1] Diversity: Past Over 25 years ago, what we now dub diversity was often referred to as pluralism. [6] This Journey began when we wanted to recognize that there was more than one culture present in the workplace. We could continue to be different, yet be part of the same firm. We believed that co-existence was better than trying to help people to become culturally assimilated into one larger culture. 6] For some companies, the story of diversity started after the civil rights movement of the ass’s. It was about beginning to appreciate each other for who we are. In the ginning, we appreciated pluralism in an attempt to move beyond anti- discriminating laws. Pluralism encouraged people to be authentic – who they really are rather than who others want them to be. “Think of the bilingual employee who is challenged to hide his/her accent while at work but speaks only Spanish with his/her family.

Or the white employee who works in a multi-ethnic work environment but worships in an all-white environment and has no friends or family of color. ” [6] Following pluralism, diversity was the first attempt to move away from race and gender by adding other attributes to the equation. In order that society progresses award the ultimate goal of diversity, it was important to have a foundation of balanced race and gender. Diversity’s main purpose is that it “should help everyone assume that everyone is included and that there is no underestimations of any group in any given situation, team, group, etc. [6] Diversity: Present Discussions on diversity have evolved from consisting of advancement in race-based civil rights employment legislation to including a broad range of demographic dimensions not protected by law [4]. For example, in present-days research on organizational behavior, diversity has been defined as “the distribution of differences mongo the members of a unit with respect to a common attribute X, such as tenure, ethnicity, conscientiousness, task attitude, or pay’ [4].

It has also been defined more simply as “heterogeneity in personality attributes, personal values, work attitudes, education, and life-style” [4]. Thus, diversity now seems to encompass heterogeneity in a wide range of dimensions – not Just racial composition, as was originally intended when the term came into common use [4]. Research on laypeople understanding of diversity also suggests the term may be not be clearly understood. For example, Unguent found that people define diversity n broad terms that include a wide range of demographic dimensions (e. . , race, religion, parenting style, age and education). [4] Yet, other research shows that even when diversity is construed in racial terms, people disagree about which particular groups are most associated with diversity. Specifically, Unguent found that members of minority groups (I. E. , Asians, Latino, and African Americans) perceive diversity as primarily entailing the representation of their in-group. [4] Today, many organizations are attempting to move closer to intellectual diversity or diversity of thought. [6] Diversity: In The Future

To ensure future success, “diversity must be authentic and honest”. [6] “To keep diversity authentic in corporations, it will be vital that we create environments that allow for authentic contributions of all”. [6] It may not mean training that comes at the expense of only one group, but it does mean asking questions and listening and learning from those around us. If we are sincere about our intentions as well as respectful of our differences, “organizations have the potential for growth and the possibility of reaping the rich benefits that diversity has to offer”. 6] This means an all-inclusive organization with the richest of profits. Diversity: What you Want It To Be Research reported by Unguent suggests that when people are exposed to vague information concerning an organization’s diversity, they interpret diversity in a manner consistent with their social-dominance motives. [4] Specifically, anti- egalitarian individuals broaden their interpretation of diversity to include nonracial (I. E. , occupational) differences when an organization’s racial differences are low.

By contrast, egalitarian individuals broaden their understanding of diversity to include nonracial heterogeneity when an organization’s racial differences are high. [4] The inclusion of occupational differences in perceptions of diversity allows people across the spectrum of social-dominance orientation to Justify their support for or opposition to affirmative-action policies. Nausea’s findings suggest that diversity may not have a fixed meaning and that, without a specific sketch of what the concept means in particular contexts, people may interpret diversity in a manner consistent with their social motivations. 4] Factors that Affect Diversity There are several factors that affect diversity among people and in organizations across the world. Such factors include, but are not limited to the following: “giving errors a chance to be trained, long-term evaluation of training results, awarding successes among people and managerial rewards for increasing diversity, and believing the power of inclusion in the organization”. [1] Different characteristics are other factors that affect diversity and diversity management.

Examples of such characteristics include but are not limited to are: “age, culture, cognitive style, disability (mental and physical), background (economic, geographic, and psychological), ethnicity, race, education, gender identity, language(s) spoken, partnered status, physical appearance, political affiliation, religious affiliation ND so on”. [1] Advantages and Disadvantages of Diversity Management Workforce diversity can generate both advantages and disadvantages for organizations. The advantages include mainly enabling access too changing marketplace by mirroring increasing diverse markets, better-quality solutions to brainstorming tasks and displaying more cooperative behaviors, among others”. [3] The disadvantages are the existence of segregated ethnic communities within the organization, increased conflict, increased training costs, communication breakdown, low cohesion, and high turnover. [3] According to Jaguars, the key to capitalizing on the advantages and minimizing disadvantages of workforce diversity is to effectively manage diversity [3].

Main business benefits of focusing on diversity management are “the ability to recruit from a wider selection of people and retain better workers for longer, broader market intelligence and internationalization, greater creativity and innovation, diverse perspectives on business issues, and improved problem solving and decision making, improved marketing, improved community relations and an enhanced company image, increased productivity, reduced costs linked to turnover and absenteeism, and increased resilience and flexibility’. 3] Managing Diversity Managing diversity involves understanding that there are differences among employees and that these differences, if properly managed, are an asset to work being done more efficiently and effectively [3] “Diversity management initiatives are specific activities, programs, policies, and any other formal processes or efforts designed to promote organizational culture change”. 3] Its objective for organizations is to “raise awareness of cultural differences; develop the ability to recognize, accept, and value diversity through organizational intervention to minimize patterns of inequality, modify organizational culture and leadership practices so that members of all socio-cultural backgrounds can contribute and achieve their full potential”. [3] Some examples of diversity management initiatives include flexible work arrangements, work-life balance initiatives, education and training programs to raise cultural awareness, and equal opportunity policies and practices. 3] Conclusion As the world becomes global, the managers’ Job is changing. In broad terms, “diversity is any dimension that can be used to differentiate groups, workers, and people from others”. 1] That means people should respect and appreciate differences in ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, education, and religion. [1] “But no one can deny that it’s more than this. Diversity management has an important role for the organizations.

It is significant to understand diversity in diversity management to manage people”. [l] Other research may suggest that diversity may be in the eye of the beholder. It is a concept that is widely discussed yet poorly understood. It seems that diversity meaning can shift in accordance with people’s social motivations. Rather than reading a more welcoming environment for underrepresented minorities, attempting to achieve equal racial representation for example, may inadvertently allow people to turn diversity into whatever they want it to be.