Individuals Irrespective Of Age, Race, Class, Gender, Ethnicity, Disabilities (Essay Sample)

Diversity
Name:
Institution:
Diversity
Diversity refers to understanding, acknowledging valuing and accepting the differences between individuals irrespective of age, race, class, gender, ethnicity, disabilities, spiritual practice, sexual orientation among others. With globalization, organizations are required to embrace interactions among individuals from different backgrounds. Currently, people do not live and work in insular environments but they are part of the global economy. Therefore, non-profit and profit organizations need to diversify to remain more competitive. Capitalizing and maximizing on diversity plays a vital role towards organizational performance (Bond & Haynes, 2014). Ideally, diversity is crucial in management. The managers and supervisors need to understand and recognize the modes in which the workplace diversity evolves and changes. The managerial skills should adapt to accommodate people from all cultural settings hence managing diversity in an organization is a challenge. The paper focuses on the impact of diversity on organizational success.
Diversity covers numerous human qualities and attributes and it plays a critical role in improving company’s performance. However, inadequate guidance and mentoring results in low productivity. Therefore, regular improvements should be put in place to effectively and effectively manage and control a diverse workforce in dynamic and ever-changing world. Numerous studies indicate that diversity has increased productivity in various firms though factors like differential treatment hindered successful implementation hence affecting company’s success. Diversifying workforce has improved the performance especially in big organizations (Bond & Haynes, 2014). People are unique and they have different abilities that when blended can result in improved organization’s performance.
Diversity can be categorized into two dimensions namely;
* Primary dimension
* Secondary dimension
Primary Dimension
Primary dimension diversity exhibits primary major differences among various individuals in terms of age, sexual orientation, gender among other factors (Hays-Thomas, 2016). Such differences have more impact especially on initial encounters and it serves as filters via which humans view the world.
Secondary Dimension
The secondary dimension includes religion, geographical location, income, education among others. Such qualities cannot be noticed in the initial encounter and they are subject to change in different encounters (Kundu & Mor, 2017). Ideally, these qualities are noticeable when individuals interact for some time.
Recently, globalization has triggered interactions between people from diverse backgrounds and cultures than before. Notably, individuals in the marketplace have become open-minded and hence triggering competition from every part of the continent. Diversity has numerous constructive benefits to companies. Diversity is of essence only if it is tactfully controlled by the firm’s managers and supervisors (Hays-Thomas, 2016). Workforce diversity provides solutions to problems experienced in organizations.
Companies that are open to change and creative adopt diversity in their own perspective. Improving and increasing diversity has turned to become a crucial issue for the management (Bond & Haynes, 2014). Therefore, organizations should embrace diversity to cope with changes and trends witnessed in workplace recently. However, managing diversity remains a challenge in multiple organizations, supervisors and managers should learn managerial skills required in a multicultural workplace. Such skills not only enable them to value and appreciate cultural differences but also to treat all workers with dignity. Ideally, the concept of diversity differs from one organization to another depending on their guidelines and rules which they have stipulated for specific purpose. The organization employs diverse workforce with an aim improving its income and productivity (Hays-Thomas, 2016). It is vital for an organization to consider the following attributes and factors when adopting diversity;
* Organizational culture
* Company type
* Company location
Organizational Culture
Organizational culture refers to a set of organization’s values that reflects on their activities. Company’s culture involves five components which include its vision, practices, people, value history and its place (Kundu & Mor, 2017). Each company’s culture is different and unique thus the decision made by firms about diversity are based on their norms and beliefs which should reflect on the company.
Company Type
The type of the organization plays a vital role in the process of decision making especially in determining whether to employ diverse workers or not. Ideally, firms differ in activities and size, they establish their own company act and rules. Public companies employ more employees compared to private firms’ due their large size (Kundu & Mor, 2017). Public institutions employ diverse workers due to the believe that the organization will do well with them on board.
Company Location
The location of the company influences diversity as it contributes to the organization’s decision-making process of employing diverse workforce. Companies with manufacturing plants found in numerous parts globally have no choice but to employ individuals from diverse cultures (Bond & Haynes, 2014). In multiple manufacturing plants employees are required in every office they operate. However, some organizations may decide not to recruit a diverse workforce when they are located only in their place or country of origin. Embracing diversity is crucial for international companies operating in different parts of the globe.
Effective and efficient Mentoring Program
Cultural mentoring is crucial in managing diversity in various organizations since it orients individuals from diverse cultural background regarding the new environment and activities they encounter. Mentors can come in ways such as;
* An individual person
* An association
* A group of people
* A seminar
Mentors coaches and motivates employees from diverse backgrounds to enjoy their working environment. Ideally, effective mentoring program enables a diverse workforce to cope in a new environment where diverse believes and culture meet. Worker’s experience determines the mentoring relationship success (Rice, 2015). Notably, an effective and efficient cultural mentor does not rely primarily on the conception of elegance. Therefore, proper management of diversity in a work environment contributes largely towards organization’s success. The interaction between managers and employees serves to add an input in firm’s policy planning. Numerous organizations believe in the efficiency and effectiveness of diversity in their places of work since it facilitates the interaction among diverse people with diverse ideas that are crucial towards achievement of company’s success. However, others believe that diversity causes lack of concentration as well as destruction in the work environment thus leading to low performance. Some individuates associate diversity to the preferential treatment and discrimination witnessed in a diverse working environment that results in employees’ dismal performance (Rice, 2015). Countless studies conducted on diversity indicate that diversity has encouraged individuals to share carious ideas which have enabled organizations to record higher returns. Therefore, it is believed that diversity provides an effective and efficient way of increasing company’s productivity.
Diversity Management
Diversity management refers to a process of directing, planning, applying and organizing the managerial attributes and qualities for developing a working environment that allows all diverse employees to effectively and actively contribute towards company’s success irrespective of their differences and similarities. Diversity is a combination of peoples’ differences that makes them unique. Diversity defines both the similarities and differences that exists among people (Bond & Haynes, 2014). Supervisors and managers should integrate the differences and similarities between employees into the organization. Therefore, diversity have four layers namely;
* Personality
* External dimensions
* Internal dimensions
* Organizational dimensions
Personality
Personality refers to the person’s stable set of traits that develops one’s identity (Klarsfeld et.al, 2014). There are numerous personality traits that a person can portray. These characteristics manifests themselves in three forms namely;
* Person’s action
* Behavior they process
* Their attitude
Furthermore, personality traits can be classified into positive and negative personality traits. The table below shows some personality characteristics found in a diverse working environment
Positive Traits

Negative Traits

Honesty

Unfriendly

Patience

Self-centered

Intelligent

Laziness

Reliable

Obnoxious

Trusting

Rude

External Dimensions
These personality traits possess great influence or control. They include factors like recreational and personal habits, income, education, religion, appearance, work experience, geographic location and marital status (Klarsfeld et.al, 2014).
Internal Dimensions
Internal dimensions are traits which have influence on individual’s expectations, attitudes as well as perceptions towards others. Such dimensions include factors like sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, physical ability, race and age.
Organizational Dimensions
Organizational dimensions are of essence to the company...