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Managing Diversity in The Workplace

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Published: Jan 31, 2024

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Definition and understanding of diversity, benefits of managing diversity in the workplace, strategies for managing diversity, challenges in managing diversity, overcoming challenges and promoting diversity, best practices and case studies.

  • Powell, G. N., & Butterfield, D. A. (2017). The Case for Diversity in the Health Care Workforce. Health Affairs, 22(4), 90-93.
  • Dobrow, S. R., & Gupta, K. (2008). Different Strokes for Different Folks: The Impact of Team Diversity on Team Performance in Organizations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 123(2), 180-190.
  • McKinsey & Company. (2020). Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters. McKinsey & Company.

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Managing Diversity in the Workplace

Diversity in the workplace is becoming more important as the workplace is becoming more diverse. The differences between individuals and organizations constitute equal treatment of the employees and respect. Diversity ensures equal opportunities for all employees to succeed in the organization and contribute to more productive and efficient work. The increase in the number of employees in an organization essentially constitutes inequality and mounting tension among some employees among racial lines. This paper will address the challenges in managing diversity, the appropriate strategies, and the critical role of Human resources.

Challenges For Managing Diversity

Lack of understanding of what diversity means.

The organization’s challenges result from a clear understanding of the meaning of diversity. When the number of employees in an organization increases, there is a need to deploy diversity initiatives that ensure all the employees are valued and included in decision-making. Diversity results in equal opportunities among employees, giving them the morale to perform better (Inegbedion et al., 2020). The failure to understand the need for diversity in the organization and the need to treat employees from different racial lines with different personalities make diversity management difficult. The organization failed to have clear importance of diversity, making them manage the employees effectively since every individual has their way of behaving and failure to study their pattern of performance and characteristics results in disagreements and disrespect from other employees.

Ensuring Fairness and Equality

There are several challenges that the human Resource Director comes along with managing diversity within an organization. Ensuring that the organization treats all their employees fairly and equally is one of the biggest challenges I face in managing diversity. Lack of understanding or respect for diversity within the organization made achieving equality and fairness difficult. Employees from different backgrounds have different ways of doing things that differ from one another (Riccucci, 2021). When employees do not get equal treatment, they develop a character of low self-esteem that lowers their morale in the workplace. When the organization do not make the strategies that allow fairness and equality among employees, they feel not included and valued, and that causes conflicts.

Lack Of Resources to Support Diversity Initiative

Implementing diversity initiatives requires financial and human resources to ensure effective diversity in an organization. Lack of enough resources and financial support results in failure in managing the diversity initiative. The organization’s inadequate resources limit the diversity’s scope to only a few employees and make it difficult for all the employees to enjoy fairness and equality (Inegbedion et al., 2020). The organization’s failure to support the adoption of diversity and create understanding among the employees makes them view the initiative as unnecessary. Limiting the scope of diversity to only a few employees in the organization makes other employees resistant to changes and view diversity as a threat to their job, making it difficult for the organization to manage.

Strategies For Managing Diversity

Communication.

Communication is vital in ensuring the effective management of diversity within the organization. The organization should communicate the importance of diversity in the workplace to ensure that all employees are aware of the organization’s commitment to diversity (Axelsson, 2022). The organization also needs to ensure that there is a clear channel for communication between employees and the management; this makes it easy for employees from diverse backgrounds to have an equal opportunity in the workplace and imbues the organization with creative ideas that increase performance. Proper communication will ensure the employees know the respect and fair treatment of other employees with various personalities. Fairness and equality will make diversity management easier to create employees’ awareness of the importance of respect,

Training and Development

To effectively manage diversity in the organization, the management should implement training and development programs to boost the understanding of the importance of diversity and inclusivity. The organization, through the management, should introduce training topics to all the employees to study the need to treat others fairly (Axelsson, 2022). The organization should avoid making assumptions about employees from diverse backgrounds and instead introduce a ground where every individual respectfully gets equal treatment. The organization also needs to create a ground for judging employees according to their merit of success, not the actions attributed to their background.

Equality In Hiring Employees and Talent Assessment

The organization need to recruit and hire employees who are talented and from diverse backgrounds. The organization should have qualified people with good leadership skills and hiring decisions to help overcome bias when conducting interviews and talent assessments (Inegbedion et al., 2020). Organization overcomes the bias by hiring talented with experience, skills and qualified employees regardless of their culture and background, resulting in an easy relationship between employees from diverse backgrounds and workplaces to respect and treat others fairly and equally.

Encouraging Employees to Work in A Diverse Group.

Encouraging a diverse work team in an organization contributes to respect, fairness, and equality and create a close relationship among employees from diverse background. The organization must encourage unity and job rotation in the diverse workplace to allow employees to interact with others, share their experiences, and learn about others’ personalities (Axelsson, 2022). The organization should set policies and procedures that constitute and promote diversity in the workplace. The organization should encourage the employees to recognize and appreciate other individuals’ experiences, cultures and backgrounds, which will break the preconceived cultural misunderstandings.

Role Played by Human Resources in Managing Diversity in The Organization

Ensuring that all the employees are treated fairly and equally.

Human Resource ensures that all the employees, despite their culture and diverse background, get all the information required to perform their jobs. They should recognize the employees’ efforts, results and accomplishments and provide them with the necessary tools and resources to perform their jobs without basing the decision on their culture (De Stefano et al., 2018). For fairness and equality, the Human resource director must encourage employees of the organization to work as a team and listen to employees’ concerns and address them appropriately.

Creating And Maintaining a Positive and Inclusive Work Environment

Human Resource has a role in creating and maintaining a positive and inclusive work environment to promote diversity (De Stefano et al., 2018). HR creates an environment that respects differences and values every employee’s contribution by creating awareness of the importance of respect and equal treatment. HR help to identify and address unconscious bias in the workplace, thus ensuring a positive and inclusive work environment. which can lead to discrimination and cause a barrier to create a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Promoting Diversity and Inclusion Within the Organization

An important part of HR’s role in promoting diversity is to create policies and procedures that are inclusive of all employees. These policies should ensure that all employees are treated fairly and with respect. Additionally, HR should provide training on diversity and inclusion to all employees. This training can help employees to understand the importance of diversity and how to create an inclusive environment.

As the workplace becomes more diverse, diversity is becoming more important since it promotes equal opportunities for all employees to succeed in the organization and contribute to more productive and efficient work. However, to manage diversity, an organization faces challenges like a lack of understanding of the meaning and importance of diversity, ensuring fairness and equality, and lacking adequate financial resources to support diversity initiatives. Therefore, to manage diversity, the organization must implement effective communication, training and development, encouraging employees to work in diverse groups and ensuring fairness in hiring and assessing talents.

Inegbedion, H., Sunday, E., Asaleye, A., Lawal, A., & Adebanji, A. (2020). Managing diversity for organizational efficiency.  Sage Open ,  10 (1), 2158244019900173.

Riccucci, N. M. (2021).  Managing diversity in public sector workforces . Routledge.

Axelsson, E. L. (2022). Managing Diversity in Organizations: Implementing Strategies, Practices and Measurements to Enhance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Workforces: A Qualitative Case Study of Diversity Management in Organizations Operating in Sweden.

Werner, J. M. (2021).  Human resource development: talent development . Cengage Learning.

De Stefano, F., Bagdadli, S., & Camuffo, A. (2018). The HR role in corporate social responsibility and sustainability: A boundary‐shifting literature review.  Human Resource Management ,  57 (2), 549-566.

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Managing Diversity in the Workplace Essay Example

People differ in many ways according to social classes/status, marital status, gender, age, sexual orientation, and disabilities. These differences can be visible or invisible. Human resource management acknowledges these differences and knows that workforce diversity is a reality in every organization. Different countries have different predominant workforce diversity issues. In the recent past, however, the predominant diversity issue worldwide was gender inequality. Women were viewed and treated as inferior to men. Over time, this issue has been corrected, although there are communities where women are still powerless and undermined. In the current world, other diversity issues have come up, such as religion and race/ethnicity. For example, in China, rural migrants are looked down upon and ill-treated in the workplace by their urban counterparts. The human resource department of every organization must ensure that the positive aspects of diversity in the workplace are appreciated and that nobody is treated as a second-class employee only because they are different from other workers. This paper gives an analysis of various issues surrounding diversity in human resources and proposes management guidelines to promote well-being of everyone in the organization.

Increasing Diversity in the Workplace

In the modern workplace, major issues concerning civil rights are racial equality and gender equity. However, these are not the only issues that personnel management considers when they come up with diversity initiatives in their organizations. Other factors that need addressing diversity in the workplace include age, disabilities, and workers caring for sick relatives. This has necessitated enactment of various laws to help to cater for these employees’ needs, for example, the Age Discrimination Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family Medical Leave Act. Other factors that increase diversity in the workplace include cultural, religious, and linguistic differences among employees (Marquis, 2007).

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Despite increasing diversity in the workplace, the human resource management has the responsibility for fostering a healthy working environment in their organizations. Their task is to make certain that the organization is compliant with the anti-discrimination laws of the state. In addition, they must facilitate the development of an environment where people of different cultures, ages, sex, race, and religion work together harmoniously to achieve the goals of the organization (Beham, Straub, & Schwalbach, 2012).

Major Issues in Human Resource Diversity Management

Some firms with diverse workforce argue that they are diverse in human resources because they have employees, both men and women, of various religions, races, and skin colors. However, in reality, despite the fact that they have diverse workforce, opportunities differ. Such inequality leads to a situation where a certain group is favored when, for example, promotions are given. Moreover, one finds out that in some organizations only a specific group of people can be in top managerial positions due to, maybe, their race, color, or religion. To handle these cases, there must be a law/policy that addresses such biases. The Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policy protects employees against discrimination in the workplace. It requires that all employees have the same opportunities for recruitment, firing, transfers, wages/salaries, and promotions irrespective of their skin color, sex, race, national origin, or religion. The policy, which was passed into law in the United States in 1964, also states that discrimination in the classification of positions and advertising is illegal. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission handles all issues that arise in this field (Kossek, Lobel, & Brown , 2005).

Diversity management in human resources seeks to harness differences in the workforce to ensure that individual talents are utilized optimally to meet the goals of the organization. Every company should work with different talents among its stuff to guarantee that organizational goals are met in the most efficient way. This means that, instead of concentrating on discrimination, the human resource department should know the strengths of each employee and where they can work most efficiently so that the aims of the organization are achieved. It would be important to note that diversity management tries to overcome discrimination in the labor market by addressing individual differences that are most likely to bring inequality to the workplace. It also highlights the importance of respecting and taking advantage of those individual differences to maximize the potential of the workers and the organization in general. This vividly shows that diversity management in human resource acts, beyond the EOO policy, only requires a legal compliance (Kossek, Lobel, & Brown , 2005).

Objectives of Diversity Management

Organizations implementing human resource diversity management seek to achieve competitive advantage in the market. Their main objective is to comply with the requirements of EEO policy. This is the basic idea for most companies. However, others go a step further and aim at utilizing diversity management to achieve employee attraction and retention. More probably than not, employees will be willing to work in organizations where their individual differences are respected and not used as a basis for discrimination. Therefore, organizations that promote diversity management have a higher retention rate since their staff is more comfortable working there as compared to other organizations where their differences bring about discrimination (Golembiewski, 1995). In addition to this, an organization can use diversity management to improve marketing capabilities. This plan applies where diverse workers present a good image of the organization to the outside world. Consequently, this acts as a marketing strategy for the company. In fact, research shows that diversity management reduces absenteeism among the staff. Evidently, this happens because people feel motivated and appreciated, hence there is job satisfaction. This is dissimilar to organizations with ‘dominant’ and ‘less dominant groups. In such companies, job satisfaction levels are quite low of those individuals who come from less dominant groups as compared to those in the dominant ones. Therefore, not allowing and appreciating diversity in human resources affects job satisfaction and hinders the possibility of healthy working relationships among co-workers and managers (Beham, Straub, & Schwalbach, 2012).

Effective diversity management also aims at promoting greater creativity and innovation. A diverse team allows for more clever ways of solving problems, fostering innovation and creativity in the organization. If the company does not appreciate the diversity of its human resources, then there is a lot of rigidity in the way they operate since they use only one perspective. Involvement of additional perspectives, which involves diversity management, will broaden the scope of thinking among workers and management, enhancing creativity and innovation. This is a great advantage to the organization that will steer its growth and ensure that the goals are attained (Golembiewski, 1995).

Common Practices in Human Resource Diversity Management

Human resource management has some functions that are aimed at maintaining and directing human resources of the organization. Diversity management can be incorporated along with these functions to produce an effective blend of policies. The discussion below is an analysis of human resource management functions combined with diversity management.

Recruitment and Selection of Employees

Diversity management in the process of recruiting and selecting employees entails giving everyone an equal chance to enter the organization. This means that, for example, women and other minority groups must be treated fairly. In the modern world, this is an increasing trend after various laws regarding equality in the workplace have been enacted. An organization that appreciates diversity in recruitment of its employees creates a good image, hence winning new customers. From time to time, some countries like South Africa use the Affirmative Action (AA) policy to favor the appointment of black people above better-qualified whites in a bid to address past discriminative policies. These efforts are supposed to provide equal opportunities for both the blacks and whites since initially management positions in the country were reserved for the whites. These efforts have yielded fruit as currently there is a higher percentage of blacks in managerial positions in South Africa (Cartwright, 2002).

Training and Development of Employees

Diversity management in training and development of employees demands “give a fair chance for every employee to get ahead” from an organization. Previously, in the case of South Africa, the blacks were denied opportunities for advancing in their careers since there was a monopoly on skilled labor among the whites. This meant that blacks did not have a chance to learn managerial skills by apprenticeship. The Affirmative Action Programs have solved this issue. Other countries with a strong femininity culture have higher percentages of women in managerial positions as compared to countries where male chauvinism prevails (Kossek, Lobel, & Brown , 2005).

Despite a worldwide call for diversity in training and development of employees, the rate of women and other minority groups is still quite low. It is likely that the management of organizations where diversity management is not appreciated will promote employees with similar views to a position of a human resource manager. Evidently, fewer women are promoted to managerial positions or given relevant training as compared to men. This inequality creates the ‘glass ceiling effect” phenomenon. This is an unacknowledged barrier created for women and colored people in the professional world where they cannot advance beyond; it means they cannot hold top managerial positions in organizations. It is illegal. Many countries and organizations still exhibit this effect, as a result, top managerial positions are reserved for specific groups of people, predominantly men (Marquis, 2007).

Compensation: Wages and Salaries

There should be equal pay for employees who work at the same level irrespective of their background or individual differences. Pay inequality leads to demotivation and job dissatisfaction among employees. The Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) and Affirmative Actions (AA) programs state that compensation among employees must be fair. However, this has not been effective since some people are paid less just because they are, say, women, or come from minority groups. This trend has necessitated the development of trade unions to solve the problem. Unions advocate for numerous issues that employees face in the workplace, among them, zero-tolerance for discrimination among unionized staff regarding wages (Golembiewski, 1995). Although, there have been reduced earnings disparities between women and men in the workplace, it has not ceased being a global concern. Statistics shows that females earn 20-30% less than their male counterparts. This is a total contrast to the requirements of the Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) and Affirmative Action programs. Every organization that appreciates diversity in management should smoothen out this disparity to ensure that ladies do not feel less motivated or looked down upon at work (Beham, Straub, & Schwalbach, 2012).

Performance Appraisals

Diversity management in performance appraisal calls for equal promotion opportunities among workers. This means that promotions are issued in accordance with an employee’s performance irrespective of his/her gender or background. This is an ideal case. More often, it is easier to get a promotion when employees share the background with the managers, which leads to a situation where employees from less dominant groups do not get promoted, or they find it almost impossible to climb the career ladder. Women are victims of these circumstances. This heightens the effect for women who form minority communities. In some organizations, supervisors and managerial staff come from the same location, are of the same age, and they are all men. This is an ultimate sign that diversity management is not appreciated in the organization (Beham, Straub, & Schwalbach, 2012).

Overall, most companies only comply with the Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) policy regarding the minimum basic legal requirements. However, beyond that, they do not have affirmative action plans to gain the fulfillment of these minimum requirements. An organization that seeks to improve diversity management through human resources can use a variety of techniques. These techniques would involve generating a framework that addresses the strategies necessary for each function of human resource management. If properly utilized, these strategies would deliver great results in diversity management in the workplace. The discussion below analyzes the strategies that can be employed to provide diversity management on every function of human resources in a company (Beham, Straub, & Schwalbach, 2012).

Recruitment and Selection

Human resource managers tend to recruit employees with similar values and cultures as them. To promote diversity in human resources, this should be abolished. In fact, human resource professionals who constitute interview committees ought to be conversant with the ways in which their beliefs, values, and customs influence behaviors of participants during interviews. This will eradicate bias in the selection process, and more diverse groups can contribute to the organization irrespective of individual disparities (Beham, Straub, & Schwalbach, 2012).

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Training and Development

An organization can promote diversity in the workforce by providing excellent diversity awareness training to allow for effective integration of diverse staff. This training is essential for building a mutual understanding of diversity as a value. Consequently, social cohesion among workers may be created, which helps to achieve individual and organizational goals. In 1995, some researchers carried out a study to determine the effectiveness of diversity training in an organization. The results were beyond belief. When the training commenced, only 9% of attendants were positive about diversity training in their company. By the end of the program, the figure rose to 75%. Before the training, 68% were skeptical of its effectiveness. However, after the training, a whopping 93% agreed that diversity training programs do work to create cohesion in the workplace (Marquis, 2007).

For diversity training to work, it would be essential to provide a top-bottom strategy, whereby staff at top managerial positions are taught first, and then they pass the knowledge to their juniors. This training should be accomplished from different perspectives, depending on the organization’s goals and nature of operations. When this diversity training is linked to the strategic goals of the organization, it achieves greater results as compared to situations when it is just a vague general training (Beham, Straub, & Schwalbach, 2012).

In order to adopt effective diversity management in an organization, the principle of equal remuneration and a pay system that is based on performance must be applied. The determinants of wages, benefits schemes, and compensation structures ought to be designed on common principles, taking the ability, skills, and knowledge of an individual into consideration at the same time (Marquis, 2007).

To make the model of diversity management in performance appraisals more effective, fairness is vital. It calls for an inclusion of mon-traditional managers in the performance appraisal committees. These managers should be rational, upholding fairness. Additionally, they must use an objective criterion rather than a subjective one since they must minimize bias in making their decisions on the right candidates for promotions. Moreover, the performance appraisals should use the language that focuses on an individual’s performance and not their religion, race, or culture. This attitude will promote effective diversity management in the organization. It is also important to note that when assessing managers’ performance, those who make an effort to hire and promote minority groups and women should be recognized because they show improve of diversity in the organization (Marquis, 2007).

Diversity Management and Balancing Work and Family Life

Every organization that seeks to have effective diversity management in human resources must adopt measures that help to create awareness of the work environment in order to improve working conditions and stimulate productivity. One of these measures would be to ensure that the organization supports better work-life balance. It could manifest itself in various forms. For example, shorter working hours and childcare leaves. An organization can implement the Childcare Leave Law to guarantee that new parents in the organization are not discriminated against and that they are comfortable at work. The law requires that employees must be given a paid leave of up to 10 days if they return to work within three months after the delivery of their child. A shorter working-hour-program implies that employees with children, who attend third-grade elementary school and lower institution, must be given working hour options and work time patterns that best meet the needs of their individual lifestyles. This ensures that the welfare of these employees, who would be otherwise stressed in the workplace due to rigid timetables, is considered (Robert & John, 2013).

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Effective human resource diversity management is essential for every organization. It fosters innovation since versatile workforce means a broader base of cultural experiences. This brings in a new perspective, improving the operations of the business in a unique way. Additionally, effective diversity management attracts talent and customers. This happens because customers prefer to purchase products or seek services from diverse companies. In the modern world, if an organization wants to be successful and maintain healthy competition against competitors, it must embrace diversity, not only in the products it is dealing with but also in the human resources employed in the organization. Moreover, stimulation of diversity management in human resources promotes cultural intelligence among employees. This may be explained by the fact that it gives both the customers and the employees an opportunity to learn and appreciate the values of other cultures. Diversity expands the minds of the staff, fostering national unity in general since the people have been taught to value other cultures irrespective of the differences they have.

The benefits of having diverse workforce cannot be understated. They go a long way in bringing fruits at organizational, national, and global levels. If people are taught to give every person an equal chance in everything, this attitude instills in them a strong culture. It reduces circumstances where workers feel discriminated against and receive no satisfaction in their jobs. Otherwise, organizations will have to work with employees that have no job satisfaction and behave like robots. Such conduct will mean that attainment of organizational goals will become too hard or sometimes, the goals become ultimately unattainable. For this reason, it would be in the best interest of every organization to ensure that they diversify their human resources and manage them effectively.

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Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Workplace Essay

Introduction, observation summary and experience, significant factors underlying the experience or observation, reconstructing – reconstruction of future practice or professional understanding.

Workplace inclusion, diversity, and belonging have developed into crucial components of a philosophy that permeates all enterprises. Due to the value they provide, hose concepts swiftly ascend to the forefront of enterprises’ priorities. They not only help to create more content, open-minded, and productive staff, but they also enhance the financial performance of the companies.

Nevertheless, building a multicultural and welcoming work atmosphere remains one of today’s greatest difficulties. It requires more than a training film or a talk on being kind to employees to achieve real diversity and inclusion. Numerous reputable firms have been making efforts to establish, enhance, and continuously monitor these values on a variety of fronts, including employment, promotions, opportunities, conduct, and more.

The commercial argument for this is becoming more widely understood. Although social justice is frequently the driving force behind these initiatives, businesses have started to see belonging, inclusion, and diversity as key success factors, more particularly, as crucial facilitators of development.

There are three main concepts that serve as the base for the paper – inclusivity, diversity, and belonging. Included are people’s participation and empowerment. People are valued and respected when they are included. When they are their true selves, employees perform at their best. One has to feel included in order to be one’s true self. In the workplace, diversity contains all aspects of the human experience, including ethnicity, financial background, community, gender and sexual identity, religion, and culture. It necessitates the eradication of all prejudices and the use of exclusively merit-based hiring.

When an employee feels accepted, included, and has a sense of identification with a particular organization, group, or location, they are said to have a sense of belonging, which is a sense of safety and support (Traavik, 2019). Employee perceptions of their reception among coworkers and inclusion for suitable changes, activities, and more are influenced by how they feel appreciated, acknowledged, and included at work. Thus, the paper aims to provide a reflection on the three critical workplace factors and analyze their role and importance in the organization.

In order to get a deeper understanding of diversity and inclusivity, there is an example of an incident that happened at Google regarding those issues. A former Google employee filed a lawsuit against the business on Friday, alleging that it routinely discriminated against Black employees by assigning them to lower-level positions, underpaying them, and depriving them of advancement prospects. April Curley, who was employed at Google since 2014 before being fired in 2020, is the complainant (Wakabayash, 2022).

While working there, Ms. Curley created initiatives to attract candidates from historically Black institutions and universities, which assisted the corporation in hiring Black personnel. She claimed that “Google maintains employment rules and procedures that have a discriminatory impact against Black employees all across the United States and is involved in a countrywide pattern or practice of deliberate race discrimination and retaliation (Wakabayash, 2022).

According to the lawsuit, Google often employed Black employees with lower job statuses than were suitable for their level of expertise (Wakabayash, 2022). Pay is linked to work for groups; hence the business was able to pay Black employees less than their white counterparts.

The lawsuit reflects several grievances Black workers have made throughout the years regarding working at Google. Even as it expanded into one of the biggest private companies in the country, the business has had trouble diversifying its workforce in terms of race and gender, particularly among its highly compensated engineering personnel. 4.4% of Google’s U.S. employees were of different ethnicities, one of which is Black, which is much less than the national average for content creation and search organizations (Wakabayash, 2022).

Ms. Curley also claimed that her workplace was unfriendly. She said that during the course of her six years there, bosses frequently confused her with two other Black coworkers. She said that a boss had asked which of her coworkers she desired to have an intimate relationship with and that neither she nor those coworkers had been given the opportunity to speak or present at crucial meetings. Eventually, Ms. Curley got a decrease in wage and was fired.

However, this experience positively impacted the organization’s approach toward diversity and stimulated it to work on more effective practices. By 2021, they have increased the leadership representation of ethnic minorities by 30%, and by 2025, management expects to have doubled Black+ representation across all of our U.S. locations. Google is concentrating on a lot more than hiring as we work toward our representation objectives.

To enhance hiring, advancement, and engagement for disadvantaged minorities at Google, our recruitment leaders collaborate closely with internal organizations such as Black Googler Network. New onboarding initiatives are being introduced to all members of the program. In addition, the company strives to help Googlers experience the new, improved mental health services and internal mentoring initiatives.

During the observation of the situation, I experienced certain feelings connected with the diverse and inclusive practices in the company. The most frustrating fact is that Google seemed to have more focus on the image of the progressive company when it was not reflecting the reality. Moreover, it is highly possible that not only Google but other organization that portrays themselves as diverse companies follow the same pattern. If such a huge corporation still does not manage to ensure the well-being of all the employees and implement innovative practices, then the overall situation in the workplace might not be positive.

It is devastating that usually, it is hard or even impossible to say if the certain company follows the chosen direction or only pretends to work on the issue. Mostly, due to the employees that have the courage to speak to the public about the inappropriate situations happening in the workplace, people can recognize if the company does any actions.

This incident reflects the major problem that exists in society, and even despite any personal beliefs and biases, it is still a relevant issue. Regarding my personal values, I strongly stand for inclusivity and diversity in general, and I feel that there should be a lot more for people of color and all minorities. For instance, the framework of belonging is something that I use in evaluating the case.

Employees should feel accepted and valued in the company, whose ultimate goal is to provide a safe and secure environment for work. Unfortunately, there were signs that black employees do have such a positive experience in the company, which means that there are certain problems with diversity and inclusivity.

Although I have never experienced anything like that personally, I have read articles and news about such cases in the companies. Even though I did not witness or experience such problems as inclusivity, I learned through the media and conversations with minority representatives about such cases. All the time, the conditions were rather similar when the companies claimed that they stand for inclusivity, but inside, employees experienced discrimination.

Google, for example, demonstrated certain disruptive behavioral patterns in this situation. Although the corporation aimed to hire more black people, the positions that were offered to them were significantly lower than for other ethnicities (Lopez, n.d.). I examined the case through the concept of diversity and inclusion, which was significant in evaluating the incident. Some of the skills regarding those concepts that were useful are openness. Openness to many different types of thoughts, experiences, methods, and practices retains curiosity when faced with something novel, strange, or distinct. It helps to be receptive to new ideas and potential biases.

Moreover, being open to new ideas and perspectives enables us to solve challenging issues. In addition, it would be helpful to view the situations from different perspectives and broaden the sphere of perception. Taking into account what someone else could be feeling or thinking and actively looking for other points of view to help in decision-making and problem-solving, holding a variety of truths.

Empowering decision-making and voices across a diverse spectrum of identities by adopting a different perspective allows for better comprehension of cultural variances and fosters justice and belonging. Those skills will be useful; for example, I evaluate the organizational performance regarding inclusivity and diversity.

The major factor that underlines the observation is the existence of quantity, but not the quality of the diversity practices. The company hired racial minorities but failed to provide them with opportunities for development and made them experience a lack of sense of belonging (Adejumo, (2021). The experience was driven by compliance since Google’s statement did not manage the actions.

The situation was beneficial for the organization even though they were sued by the ex-employee; it made them reconstruct the way the professional responsibilities were distributed among the racial minorities. Thus, eventually, it had positive results on the corporation’s culture and values. Diversity and inclusivity are a priority at the CEO level, and they are valued at all organizational levels of management from the concept of inclusion.

From the case of Google, I have learned that the company’s purposes and actions do not always match each other. It is important to evaluate not only the visible outcomes but look deeper into what is happening inside the organization. Through the concepts of diversity, inclusion, and belonging, I would suggest certain methods for the improvement of the situation in the company. Firstly, increasing cultural variety provides insights into fostering well-being for all people and utilizing diversity’s advantages at work, which improves performance (Krause, 2019).

Secondly, position advertising can explicitly mention the purpose of hiring and retaining a multicultural workforce that provides an inclusive atmosphere in order to improve and encourage candidate pool diversity (Martinez-Acosta & Favero, 2018).

Finally, bullying occurs often in this context, whether it occurs at work, in social settings, or in an educational environment. It is crucial to inform workers about the value of inclusion and diversity of all kinds (Prayson & Rowe, 2019). People need to believe there is a place they can turn to for support and assistance if they are being bullied, and such conduct has to be handled immediately.

Overall, the paper provided a reflection on the three critical workplace factors such as diversity, inclusivity, and belonging, and analyzed their role and importance in the organization. Those frameworks are necessary to apply to ensure the development and productivity of the organization along as well being of each employee.

Although companies try to use some methods to promote diversity, it may not be enough for full inclusion and requires more work and strategic planning. Eventually, it benefits not only the employee but the corporation themselves due to the greater variety of people in the workplace with different backgrounds and creative perspectives.

Wakabayash, D. (2022). The lawsuit accuses Google of bias against black employees. New-York Times. Web.

Lopez, C. How we’re making progress on our representation goals . (n.d.). Google Belonging. Web.

Krause, W. (2019). Leading in times of cultural diversity: Achieving wellbeing, inclusivity, and organizational performance. In The Routledge companion to management and workplace spirituality (pp. 250-260). Routledge.

Martinez-Acosta, V. G., & Favero, C. B. (2018). A discussion of diversity and inclusivity at the institutional level: The need for a strategic plan. Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education , 16 (3), A252.

Prayson, R. A., & Rowe, J. J. (2019). LGBTQ Inclusivity and Language in the Workplace. Critical Values , 12 (2), 28-30. Web.

Adejumo, V. (2021). Beyond diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Leadership , 17 (1), 62-73.

Traavik, L. E. (2019). Where differences dwell: inclusion and the healthy workplace. In Creating psychologically healthy workplaces (pp. 215-234). Edward Elgar Publishing. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2023, October 21). Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Workplace. https://ivypanda.com/essays/diversity-inclusion-and-belonging-in-the-workplace/

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  1. Managing Diversity in the Workplace

    However, poor management of diversity can lead to discrimination, low morale and dismal performance at the workplace. The most important human resource functions in the hospitality industry include staff recruitment, retention, compensation, training, performance appraisal and promoting inclusiveness.

  2. Managing Diversity in the Workplace: [Essay Example], 928 words

    Diversity in the workplace has become an increasingly important topic in today's globalized and interconnected world. With the growing diversity of the workforce, organizations are faced with the challenge of managing and leveraging this diversity to their advantage.

  3. Managing Diversity in the Workplace

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  4. Managing Diversity in the Workplace

    Introduction. This paper aims to critically explore the key benefits and challenges of managing diversity within the workplace. It begins by examining the concept of diversity and the drivers for it, and then, drawing on examples from the current literature, reviews the different benefits and challenges of managing diversity in the workplace.

  5. Managing Workplace Diversity: Issues and Challenges

    Diversity will increase significantly in the coming years, and successful organizations recognize the need for immediate action and are ready and willing to spend resources on managing diversity in the workplace now. It is in this context that the present study was conducted to explore the diversity dimension in the Indian context.

  6. Managing Diversity in the Workplace Essay

    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)

  7. Managing Diversity in the Workplace Essay

    › Managing Diversity in the Workplace Essay Example. People differ in many ways according to social classes/status, marital status, gender, age, sexual orientation, and disabilities. These differences can be visible or invisible. Human resource management acknowledges these differences and knows that workforce diversity is a reality in every ...

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    Managing diversity and demographical changes in the workplace presents many dilemmas. Confronted with constant change, management, business educators, and organizational consultants continue to meet the challenges of a new and diverse workforce in a number of ways.

  10. Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Workplace Essay

    Leading in times of cultural diversity: Achieving wellbeing, inclusivity, and organizational performance. In The Routledge companion to management and workplace spirituality(pp. 250-260). Routledge. Martinez-Acosta, V. G., & Favero, C. B. (2018). A discussion of diversity and inclusivity at the institutional level: The need for a strategic plan.