Diversity in the workplace

Diversity in the Workplace
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Introduction
Diversity is defined as the similarities and differences among the people within an organization. This could be regarding age, cultural background, race, religious beliefs, gender, and sexual orientation. People are different not only on what can be seen but also in their perspective of themselves as well as that of others. Diversity creates a heterogeneous workplace. Instead of a globalized economy, organizations have adopted workplace diversity to become more creative and open to change. Diversity in the organizations has become an area of interest, due to the acknowledgment of how the workplace is continually evolving. However, managing diversity has been a challenge in many organizations, and thus managers have shown interest in understanding multicultural working surrounding, which not only helps the leaders but also helps in preparation of teaching other members in organizations to embrace diversity and to treat other people with respect. Diversity has been a significant challenge for some business leaders, and it brings issues into the organization. Nonetheless, diversity does not recognize the organization boundary and therefore cannot be limited.
Background
The 21st Century has experienced the fundamental shift in the global economy. Most of the organizations are pursuing the concept of globalization. The shift could be attributed to cross-border businesses and shortened distances due to the developments of logistics and telecommunications technologies.

In such a globalized world, multinational companies have employees from diverse backgrounds and with various ideologies and perspectives about their identity and that of others. Therefore, it has become imperative to have a diverse workforce to improve organization performance across different countries. In the current situation, the companies that employ people with distinct regarding gender, cultural background, age, sexual orientation, social class, or religious affiliations are more likely to have a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. However, some business leaders are still contending with workplace diversity, due to the negative implications it might bring. The purpose of this research paper is to give the literature review of the workplace diversity, its advantages as well as its disadvantages. Finally, the article will highlight the adoptable recommendations to make workplace diversity more effective in organizations.
Statement of Problem
Various studies have been conducted on the workplace diversity. The current research is centralized on how workplace diversity promotes corporate culture and productivity in organizations. It further highlights the challenges and disadvantages of diversity in the organizations. The research question that the paper strives to respond to is the extent to which diversity has contributed to organizational productivity. To provide an answer to the research question, the researcher highlights several points to be handled herein: the evolution of workforce diversity; benefits and challenges of workforce diversity; the recommended steps in implementing workforce diversity. This research will help the organizations and scholars by suggesting ways of managing diversity in a manner that people can efficiently operate in diverse workplaces and bring quality results for themselves and organizations.
Evolution of Workforce Diversity Management
The development of workplace diversity starts from when the concept of inclusion worked in workplaces. Over the past century, the workplace diversity has changed, and it is still evolving. In America, the outstanding event that counts to the start of difference is the President Truman’s desegregation of the armed forces in 1948, which termed discrimination on the basis of race, skin pigment, religion, or national background unlawful for everyone in the army. Further, the Civil Rights Act gave discrimination a critical blow, by making it illegal for any private or public organization to practice segregation in their hiring or retrenchment activities. Further, the secretary of labor in 1987, William Broke, commissioned a survey of economic and demographic changes that became a landmark piece Workforce 2000. The Workforce 2000 highlighted several factors that would lead to change in the workforce composition and motivation for the diversity in the workforces in the United States. The highlighted demographic factors included the population of the workforce would change more slowly than in the 20th century, and the average of the population and the workforce will increase, and the number of young people entering the workforce will reduce. In addition, more women will enter the workplace, minorities will form a more significant number of the people joining in the workforce, and that the legal and illegal immigrants will significantly increase in the workforce. These projected demographic trends suggested that workforce would be the only way to remain competitive, and thus spawned labor diversity. Due to this, businesses started focusing on the economic perspectives of workforce diversity. Diversity programs were broadened to incorporate flexible work timetables, emergency day-care, and dressing flexibilities, among others.
Further, organizations started extending their diversity management even to the areas outside the workforce, the clients. For instance, as the minority population has increased over the recent past, their purchasing power has also increased. The gay and lesbian society has also been targeted by organizations for their marketing efforts due to the significant amount of money they control. Therefore, these factors, among others, drove companies to invest in diversity management as a source of competitive advantage.
Advantages of Workplace Diversity
The organization’s success and competitive advantage rely on its ability to embrace and manage diversity in its workforce. When the management actively evaluate how it handles the variety, design and execute diversity strategies, then it is set to record several benefits. First, it has broad viewpoints of diverse individuals. A diverse workforce is comfortable sharing multiple ideas which create a pool of concepts and skills. The organization can utilize the ideas to meet its strategy. Second, diverse workforce brings diverse experience in a firm. When employees are from different backgrounds, they bring to the table different perceptions and expertise during group assignments. Bringing these skills from distinct individuals together can significantly help an organization by fostering the responsiveness and productivity of a group to adapt to the changing surrounding. Third, there is a more efficient execution in such organizations that promote diversity. Companies that support diversity encourage its employees to perform their level best and thus make it possible to execute the strategic objectives, resulting in higher productivity, return on investments, and accruals.
Challenges of Workplace Diversity Management
However, despite its benefits, the workplace diversity is not void of problems. First, there is a high cost associated with work diversity. When an organization strives to adopt diversity efficiently, it will have to undergo training through its managers, supervisors, and employees on the best way to interact with people with diverse characteristics. Second, there is always a problem of communication where diversity is embraced. The communication challenges brought by workforce diversity can decrease productivity and risk the collaboration among the workers. Third, workplace diversity is likely to spur resistance to change. Some managers and employees may be reluctant to accept that the cultural and social aspect of the workplace is changing and they seek to maintain the status quo. This might bring dissatisfaction among them, and thus adversely affect the productivity of an organization.
Recommended Steps in Workforce Diversity Implementation
Evaluation of diversity in the workplace. Companies should evaluate their diversity stance as a part of the integrated management system to determine the challenges and potential of implementing variety. Reassessments could also be conducted to determine the success extend of workforce diversity implementation.
Designing diversity in workplace strategy. The plan drawn should be comprehensive, achievable, and measurable. A firm must determine what needs to change and a timeline when that change will be achieved.
Enactment of diversity in the workplace plan. The individual dedication of the executive leadership and other managers is a must. Diversity must be incorporated into every organization’s function and objective. The top management should also influence the subordinate’s attitudes towards diversity. Therefore, the administration should strive to execute diversity from its leadership down.
Conclusion
As companies are becoming more globalized, there is a need to incorporate a clear workforce diversity plan in the organizational strategic goals. The organization’s success and competitiveness rely on its ability to embrace and enact diversity. Workforce diversity has evolved to become a source of competitive advantage for businesses. An organization that has workforce diversity records benefits such as a pool of ideas, diverse experiences, more efficient execution of the company’s strategies. However, there also challenges associated with implementing diversity in the workforce, such as communication issues, the costs of diversity implementation, and resistance to change and desire to maintain the status quo. To effectively implement the workplace diversity, an organization needs to evaluate, design, and implement diversity in its workplace plan.

References
Emma, L. (n.d.). Advantages and Disadvantages of Diversity in Workplace. Retrieved from Chron: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-diversity-workplace-3041.html
Greenberg, J. (n.d). Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions. Retrieved from The Multicultural Advanatge: http://www.multiculturaladvantage.com/recruit/diversity/diversity-in-the-workplace-benefits-challenges-solutions.asp
Johnston, W., & Packer, A. (1987). Workforce 2000: Work and Workers for the Twenty-First Century. Diane Publishing.
McCormick, K. (2007). The Evolution of Workplace Diversity. 1-10. Retrieved from http://www.texasbarcle.com/Materials/Events/6369/4079_01.pdf
Saxena, A. (2014). Workforce Diversity: A Key to Improve Productivity. Procedia Economics and Finance, 76-85. doi: 10.1016/S2212-5671(14)00178-6
Shaban, A. (2016). Managing and Leading a Diverse Workforce: One of the Main Challenges in Management. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 76-84. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.09.010