Introduction
Diversity brings about the prime challenges in an organization hence the need for a major shift in the day to day running of any successful organization. Organizations need to accept change, value the change, work with it and learn to live with it (Laroche & Rutherford, 2006). The way you treat people equally in any organization is an integral aspect that yields effectiveness and productivity in an organization.
Discriminating against people at the work place is mostly done on the basis of disability, age, gender, religion or race. The world today is changing so rapidly hence this calls for the employers to come up with new provisions and conditions aimed at providing new working patterns that touch on equality as an element of their employment package for easy management of employees in order to gain numerous improvements in their businesses.
Common forms of discrimination in workplaces
Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic group discrimination
Some communities have been discriminated against due to their racial backgrounds for instance in America the biomedical research there are ethnic groups that have not been represented; African Americans, Red Indians, Hispanic Americans, Alaska natives who are said to have traditional affiliation and community attachment.
Physically challenged
This category includes those that are physically or mentally impaired hence this aspect limits their effectiveness in performing one or more duties in life. Physical impairment could be blindness or hearing impairment partial or total, morbidity and orthopedic. However, its been said that the disabled in employment do same jobs as the non-disabled and are more effective in problem solving skills due to challenges they face in their everyday life.
Social cultural and educational discrimination
This comes in where jobs are advertised for categories of either graduate level or post doctorates only. Social may come in whereby employers target a specific social class of people. Cultural discrimination is whereby a particular group of is discriminated due to certain traditions they embrace which may be regarded as backward or primitive.
Economical discrimination
This comes in where people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are not considered fit to work in certain organizations.
Age Discrimination
Life expectancy is said to increase one more year in approximately a period of every four years. This is evident in most organizations where the older generations between 55-65 years have more positions than the 18-40 years of age.
Other types of discrimination include:
- Family background
- Income
- Nationality, regional or geographic area of foundation
- Possession of assets
- Work skill.
Managing diversity in an organization
Managing diversity is the art of recruiters valuing their employees in terms of business issues, moral and social welfare (Laroche & Rutherford, 2006). This phenomenon combined can bring in new ideas, creativity and innovativeness which in turn will bring about growth and competitiveness in business due to efficient products and better services.
The era in which we are today calls recruiters to have a commitment in improving the contribution of their employees by effectively putting in practice the workforce diversity. This is the central feature of a profitable business. The viability of an organization and its competitiveness relies on developing peoples abilities to avoid wasting employees’ talents.
Recruiters need to manage diversity in order to create opportunities for organizations to develop a workforce that enables them to meet their goals and achieve good customer care. Proper management of diversity curbs chauvinism, harassment and inappropriate behavior within a work environment.
Requirements of managing diversity while creating equality.
The management of diversity entails an open workplace culture based on trust, respect and understanding. Managing diversity while putting into consideration equal opportunities an organization should ensure regular revision of policies, practices and norms to ensure they do not dignify or demoralize the employees hence building a rapport.
In an organization equality should be handled in a structured manner. It brings change and avoids biases which hinders personal development. It acknowledges peoples abilities and skills which contribute positively to growth of an organization. Equal opportunities should be given to all employees through changing some of their cultures and adopting more flexible policies that enable employees to contribute and participate on equal terms hence appreciating the potential diverse workforce brings (Laroche & Rutherford, 2006).
Managing diversity helps to curb prejudice and other personal differences like; age, accent, race, colour, previous mental illness, marital status, political affiliation, sexuality, and physical or mental disabilities.
Managing diversity calls for the participation of all the members of an organization following the up down management that is from the chief executive, the board members to the subordinate staff. It needs to be a conventional issue that influences all the policies and practices that govern a workplace.
It is evident that organizations committed to diversity are much more productive. Employing ethnically disadvantaged and disabled people draws in a wide range of talents which in turn attracts a pool customer base.
Different organizations have different values of diversity in regard to the variety of needs in their environs. The diversity is linked with those that relate to individual and the health of the society ay large.
Benefits of diversity to an organization
- An organization that practices diversity improves customer care and maximizes productivity; this ensures that a wider market is served since the growth of a firm relies entirely on customers.
- Diversity creates better occupational ethics and ideals. This comes from acceptance and appreciation of different cultures, hence an organization that has diversity of labor enjoys the benefit of a vast flow of ideas brought by different people through mutual understanding.
- Through diversity new ideas are introduced which enhances the employees management skills and techniques. A firm with proper leadership grows faster and reaches more people due to good communication in both the vertical and horizontal aspects.
- The world today is becoming a global market where interdependence is on the rise. An organization that accepts diversity adjusts well to changes in the international market and is more acceptable to the target group e.g. the youth who embrace modern trends in fashion and design industry.
- Political goodwill is evident in places where people live together in harmony despite their differences in race, religion and cultural practices. This makes legal processes like legislation, taxation, inspection, licensing etc much easier to the advantage of the firm.
- Diversity in an organization improves talent among staff members and helps to retain talent well as gain experience and exposure to new and different ideas. This is helpful in stuff recruitment and training for the human resource management and other related departments.
- Diversity improves advert quality and marketing techniques. Majority of the adverts in the market do not have similar impact on the analogous populations. Diversity makes it is easier to create or design adverts and campaigns that meet the needs of the diverse market.
- Diversity increases productivity. Due to acceptance, different groups of people find the working conditions more favorable hence do their best which greatly increases the level of output per head.
- Products produced by organizations with diversity are often easier to bring into play since they are created by individuals who well understand the desires of a vast range of needs.
Conclusion
The importance of recruitment of diverse people in an organization has been well documented. A diverse work force enhances work force harmony, peace, unity and trust between employees and the management of a company. This is critical in creating a work friendly environment that motivates the employees hence boosting the efficiency and productivity of a company.
Reference List
Laroche L. & Rutherford D. (2006). Recruiting, Retaining and Promoting Culturally Different Employees. New York, NY: Butterworth-Heinemann.