Evaluation of the Benefits of Diversity, and Challenges to the HR Issue - Coursework Example

IS DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE OPTIONAL? WHAT ARE ITS BENEFITS? WHAT ARE ITS CHALLENGES? Name Institution Professor Course Date Introduction Most business entities or organisations aspire to be inclusive workplaces that embrace diversity, value difference, and support the full participation of the workers. Diversity tends to extend beyond religion, race/ethnicity, culture, and newcomer status to integrate issues such as geography, politics, gender, beliefs, sexual orientation, economic status, skills, abilities, language, and interests. Diversity at the workplace plays a critical role in reflecting communities across the world. It is essential to note that various institutions realize the importance, as well as value of diversity at the workplace. On the other hand, certain organisations are unsure as to how to turn their good intentions into the policies, practices, and plans, which are vital in building and sustaining the dynamic, as well as inclusive workplace. These complex perceptions are critical in the creation of the platform for the assessment of whether diversity is optional at the workplace. The research paper will play a critical role in the evaluation of the benefits of diversity, as well as challenges to the HR issue in the determination of its prevalence at the workplace in the contemporary society. Conceptualisation of Diversity in the Workplace HRM practitioners tend to perceive diversity as the acknowledgement, understanding, acceptance, and valuing differences among individuals with respect to class, race, ethnicity, age, disabilities, and gender among others. Companies need to consider embracing diversity with the intention of looking for ways to becoming inclusive organisations because of the influence of this concept to generate improved work productivity and competitive advantage. In the recent years, diversity has become an invaluable competitive asset. Evidently, managing diversity is a critical element of effective people management in the workplace in pursuit of competitive advantage in the highly competitive economies in the modern society. Is Diversity in the Workplace Optional? Based on the recent HR research findings, diversity in the workplace might be controversial or emotional, but no longer optional. In the contemporary society, HR practitioners have the tendency to believe on the essence of nurturing diversity as a critical component towards unlocking the collective creativity and best thinking in the workplace. In the environment of diverse perspectives, human experiences and thinking styles can develop in the creation of conversations generating the insights and new ideas for the sparking of innovation. In the traditional contexts, the foundation of workplace and social structure did focus on addressing the needs for the homogeneity with reference to the thought processes, values, work styles, and skill sets (Holton, 2005). According to the business leaders, inclusiveness and diversity prove to be critical in attracting and retaining the top talent. These leaders and managers tend to demonstrate commitment for the creation of inclusive cultures in their business entities and institutions. Most HR practitioners tend to believe that creation of the inclusive culture is an essential priority for the business entities in pursuit of their goals and targets at the end of each fiscal period (Hacker and Doolen, 2003). Categorically, diversity in the workplace is an essential feature in the improvement of the bottom-line profits. Similarly, inclusive culture proves to be critical to the organisational future success. There seems to shift in the conservation about the diversity and inclusion because of the approach by the organisation to notice that diversity is no longer optional, but critical in the achievement of success and sustainability of every organization (Aronson, 2002). From this perspective, successful companies are working harder with the intention of fostering the culture of inclusion, thus, the potentiality of holding leaders accountable for the people management. Diversity or inclusive culture tends to affect various business objectives in the modern society. Some of these features include attracting of the top talent, improvement of the organisational culture, employee retention, innovation, and improvement of collaboration at the workplace. In the course of documenting and fostering cultural diversity in the workplace, managers have focused on citing reasons impeding the culture of inclusiveness. Some of these issues include absence of clarity about diversity, inappropriate time for the creation of the culture of inclusion, and ineffective programs to facilitate integration of the culture of inclusion in pursuit of competitive advantage (Aronson, 2002). It is ideal to note that demographics in the global workforce are changing rapidly, as well as the attitudes about diversity and inclusion. Various business entities and organisations are changing their relevant approaches to diversity and inclusion of because of the increased nature of globalisation, thus, inevitability of the nature of diversity in the modern context. There is also growing need for the development and creation of the culturally sensitive leaders with the willingness to collaborate, demonstrate flexibility, comfort with ambiguity and change, openness, and appreciation of difference. These competencies demonstrate the growing influence and role of diversity in the workplace. The HR competencies tend to develop among the top leaders (Hacker and Doolen, 2003). The developments are ideal in understanding the approach by the organisations to adopt and implement the more holistic approach in emphasizing the importance of diversity across all career levels, thus, the most effective approach in achieving, as well as sustaining the culture of inclusion. What are its Benefits? Diversity proves to be beneficial to the associates or employees, as well as the employers. It is essential to demonstrate the fact that respecting the individual differences, in spite of the interdependency at the workplace, is beneficial to the organisation in the achievement of the goals and targets at the end of each fiscal period. Similarly, diversity can play a critical role in enabling the organisation to eliminate issues such as lawsuits while enhancing marketing opportunities, creativity, recruitment, and improvement of the image or reputation (Grosser and Moon, 2005). In the modern society, business entities and organisations focus on the maximisation of flexibility and creativity as critical elements in the achievement of competitive advantage. From this perspective, diversity at the workplace is ideal in the realisation of the organisational success. The purpose of this section is to highlight diverse benefits of diversity in accordance with the policies and HR practices at the workplace. Increased Adaptability The success, as well as competitiveness of an institution depends on the ability and potentiality to embrace the issues of diversity at the workplace. Additionally, organisations need to adopt and implement practices, which might enable it to recognise or realise the potential benefits of diversity among the workers. One of the critical outputs of diversity at the workplace is increased adaptability. Business entities or organisations, which employ diverse workforce, have the potentiality to offer or experience diverse solutions to the issues regarding service, sourcing, and allocation of the relevant resources (Milem, 2003). Moreover, workers from diverse backgrounds have the tendency to incorporate individual talents and experiences in suggesting ideas, which are flexible in adapting to the needs and expectations of the fluctuating markets and needs of the consumers. Broader Talent/Service Range Diversity ensures at employees come from different backgrounds and orientation. From this perspective, diversity associates with collection of skills and experiences among the workers inclusive of languages and cultural understanding. This enables the organisation in question to exploit the pool of services to the consumers or customers in the global context. Variety of Viewpoints Organisations have the potentiality of exploiting diverse workforce through inculcating confidence and comfort among the employees to communicate varying points. This is ideal in the creation of the larger pool of ideas and experiences for the organisations to achieve their goals and targets in the highly competitive market (Stevens, Plaut, and Sanchez-Burks, 2008). In the modern or contemporary society, employees play critical roles in enabling organisations to achieve their goals and objectives. It is possible for the organisations to draw from the pool, which meets the business strategy needs, as well as expectations of the customers effectively and efficiently (Roberge and Dick, 2010). This comes out as the most simple, but overlooked benefit of diversity in the workplace. In the course of hiring diverse candidates, an organization has its pick from the much larger pool of the highly talent individuals than organisations, which fail to exploit diversity. This comes out as a huge advantage. Expansion of the top of hiring funnel to include a more diverse set of individuals is ideal in the improvement of the results down the line. Effective Execution Organisations, which tend to encourage diversity in the workplace, have the platform to engage in motivating their workers to participate, as well as perform to their highest ability. The approach is essential in enabling organisations to execute diverse strategies and practices effectively and efficiently (Green, López, Wysocki, and Kepner, 2002). These practices are essential in facilitating realisation of the higher productivity, return on investment, and profit levels at the end of end fiscal period. What are its Challenges? In spite of the aforementioned benefits or advantages of diversity at the workplace, there are diverse challenges, which might hinder the achievement of the organisational goals and targets in the highly competitive markets. From this perspective, taking full advantage of the benefits of diversity at the workplace is not without its challenges. The purpose of this section of the paper is to evaluate the existing challenges of diversity in the work place. Communication One of the critical components of success in the organisation is effective communication among the relevant stakeholders and shareholders. For the diversity programs to succeed in the organisation there is need for the organisations to overcome perceptual, language, and cultural barriers or limitations. Ineffective communication of the key strategies and objectives might generate confusion, as well as lack of teamwork or low morale among the workers in pursuit of competitive advantage (Putman, Hansen, Walsh, and Quintero, 2016). Lack of effective communication among the workers or diverse entities might lead to negative implications in the maximisation of diversity in the workplace, especially in the highly globalised economy in the contemporary society. Organisational diversity should play a critical role in inspiring teamwork on the global context with each employee able to achieve his or her potentiality. Nonetheless, ineffective communication or lack of communication because of diversity in the workplace might generate confusion of the customer needs and business expectations, as well as low employee morale. There are four categories of communication, which impede realisation of the goals and targets of the diverse workforce. In the first instance, there is the direct vs. indirect communication (Hunt, Layton, and Prince, 2014). Evidently, how employees of different culture respond to one another is a major determining factor towards realisation of the cohesiveness of the organisation. Secondly, there are the issues with accents and fluency in communication. The challenge within the diverse workforce is the language barrier among the workers inclusive of fluency and accents. In spite of English being the standard language internationally for business, most of the non-English speakers might feel neglected and unappreciated in the workplace because of challenges in conveying or depicting what they want to say in the non-native language. Thirdly, there is also the issue regarding diverse attitudes toward hierarchy and authority. In different organisations, teamwork proves to be essential in realisation of success and profitability. Nevertheless, in certain cultural attributes, employees experience the diverse treatment based on their rank within the institution. It is essential for diversity training in the workplace to account for the negotiation tactics among diverse cultures. Resistance to Change Resistance to change is one of the major reasons limiting the ability of the organisation to achieve its goals and targets. Evidently, there are always employees who will refuse to accept the fact that social and cultural makeup of the workplace is forever changing. This relates to the ‘we have always done it this way’ group of workers with the mentality, which silences new ideas while inhibiting progress of the organisation in question. Resistance to change is a challenge to diversity because of the inability of certain group of workers to accept on the diversity at the workplace (Canas and Sondak, 2013). There is need for the organisations to engage in the adoption and implementation of awareness programs to facilitate eradication of resistance to change. Implementation of Diversity in the Workplace Policies Another critical challenge to the realisation of positive implications or influences of diverse workforce is the implementation of the diverse HR in the workplace policies. This can be the overriding challenge to all diversity advocates. In the midst of the results of the employee assessment and research data, it is ideal for the diversity advocates to engage in the building and implementation of the customized strategy. The approach will play a critical in maximising the effects or implications of diversity in the workplace for the specific organisation. Overcoming Challenges to Diversity Since diversity is no longer optional at the workplace, there is need for the management practitioners to adopt and implement effective mechanisms to overcome the challenges. In this section, there is need to discuss certain mechanisms to achieve the goals and targets. Training In the first instance, there is need to train employees and practitioners who are not familiar with diversity. Evidently, managers should be careful in the course of choosing the most appropriate training program because of the training needs to suit or fit their employees. For instance, it is ideal to consider the amount of flexibility, openness towards diversity issues, and the diversity experience of the workers in the documentation of the training programs for the employees (Pendry, Driscoll, and Field, 2007). Moreover, there is need for the employers and managers to engage in the execution of the awareness programs or educational training to depict positive implications and inevitability of diversity in the workplace. The approach will be ideal in enabling the employees to accept and appreciate diversity while working collectively in the pursuit of the shared objectives and expectations. Transparency In this context, transparency relates to the way of communication within the organisation between the management and the diverse workforce. It is critical for the management to ensure that communication and information distribution is transparent when dealing with the diversity issues (Ewoh, 2013). Evidently, it is critical for the management to ensure that employees understand the benefits and implications of diversity such as generation of competitive advantage while exploiting the output of the diverse workforce. Moreover, employees should be able to engage in free expression of their thoughts on the issue of diversity with the intention of enabling immediate handling of the conflicts or protests. Affirmative Action There is need for the organisations to adopt and implement policies, which translates to the positive feeling of all employees working in the same organisation while sharing higher goal of improving effectiveness. These policies will aim at the creating equal opportunity for the employees regardless of their diversities in the workplace (Bell and Narz, 2007). The policies will create togetherness feeling among the employees, thus, the platform to cooperate more effectively through diminishing negative effects or implications in pursuit of the collective or shared goals. Conclusion The research paper sought to evaluate the benefits of diversity, as well as challenges to the HR issue in the determination of its prevalence at the workplace in the contemporary society. According to the findings of the paper, diversity is no longer optional for the business entities or organisations because of the growing importance of the feature in addressing competitive advantage. Diversity is essential in the generation of benefits such as adaptability, diverse perspectives, enhanced execution, and improved profitability and productivity levels. Nonetheless, there are challenges affecting diversity such as communication, resistance to change, and ineffective implementation mechanisms. It is ideal to incorporate features such as training, affirmative action, and transparency in overcoming these challenges in the generation of the culture of inclusion based on its inevitability in the modern context. List of References Aronson, D., 2002, “Managing the diversity revolution: Best practices for 21st century business,” CRJ, 6, p.46. Bell, N.S. and Narz, M., 2007, “Meeting the challenges of age diversity in the workplace,” The CPA Journal, 77(2), p.56 Canas, K. and Sondak, H., 2013, “Opportunities and challenges of workplace diversity,” Pearson Higher Ed Ewoh, A.I., 2013, “Managing and valuing diversity challenges to public managers in the 21st century,” Public Personnel Management, 42(2), pp.107-122 Green, K.A., López, M., Wysocki, A. and Kepner, K., 2002, Diversity in the workplace: benefits, challenges, and the required managerial tools, University of Florida, 1(4). Grosser, K. and Moon, J., 2005, “Gender mainstreaming and corporate social responsibility: Reporting workplace issues,” Journal of Business Ethics, 62(4), pp.327-340. Hacker, S.K. and Doolen, T.L., 2003, “Strategies for living: Moving from the balance paradigm,” Career Development International, 8(6), pp.283-290. Holton, V., 2005, “Diversity reporting: how European business is reporting on diversity and equal opportunities,” Women in Management Review, 20(1), pp.72-77. Hunt, V., Layton, D. and Prince, S., 2014. Diversity matters. McKinsey & Company. Milem, J.F., 2003, “The educational benefits of diversity: Evidence from multiple sectors,” Compelling interest: Examining the evidence on racial dynamics in higher education, pp.126-169. Pendry, L.F., Driscoll, D.M. and Field, S.C., 2007, “Diversity training: Putting theory into practice,” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 80(1), pp.27-50. Putman, H., Hansen, M., Walsh, K. and Quintero, D., 2016, “High Hopes and Harsh Realities: The Real Challenges to Building a Diverse Workforce,” Brookings Brown Center for Education. Washington, DC. Roberge, M.É. and van Dick, R., 2010, “Recognizing the benefits of diversity: When and how does diversity increase group performance?” Human Resource Management Review, 20(4), pp.295-308 Stevens, F.G., Plaut, V.C. and Sanchez-Burks, J., 2008, “Unlocking the benefits of diversity all-inclusive multiculturalism and positive organizational change,” The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 44(1), pp.116-133 Read More