Diversity in the Workplace

Difference between Diversity and Multiculturalism

When it comes to multiculturalism and diversity, there is always that tendency by most people to use the terms interchangeably, when in fact there are major differences between the two. The difference between people is as diversity, and the differences range from gender, race, sexual orientation, background, socioeconomic status and much more. The human resource management perspective on diversity goes ahead to look at policies set so as to meet compliance standards where we see commissions such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) verse complaints in the area. On the other hand, multiculturalism is much deeper than diversity as it focuses on inclusiveness, understanding as well as respect and further looks at unequal power in society. In the workplace most human resource managers see multiculturalism as not being well defined, places emphasis on gender and ethnicity as well as focusing too much on compliance (Carr-Ruffino, 2008).

Diversity is about otherness between individuals and the purpose of diversity being ensuring that people are treated the same through policies. As much as making everyone get the same treatment it is the right thing to do multiculturalism comes in and looks at a system of advantages as per race, gender as well as sexual; orientation called power and privilege. It through this system that advantages of diversity get identified where a person’s race, a person’s gender as well as individual’s sexual orientation is used in setting societal rules as well as norms. Power and privilege are not something that is easily recognized and as such it is mostly regarded as invisible privilege (Fine, 2012). Some of the privileges include

• Privileges that are gender based- This is privilege indicates the advantage that one gender has over the other for instance when there is that assumption that once a female gets married, she will automatically change her last name and take up her husband last name (Fine, 2012).
• Privileges that are race oriented- When one race is treated as better than another or regarded greater as this may make the race seen as less get infuriating (Fine, 2012).
• Privileges that are social class oriented- This are privileges that only those in a certain social class get for instance the upper class may have advantages in club membership than those in the lower social class (Fine, 2012).
• Privileges that are sexually oriented- This privilege is seen mostly when a person of a certain social orientation easily does something that another person of a different social orientation cannot do. For instance, it is easier for heterosexual couples to display affection publicly yet a gay, lesbian and transgendered people couple May not being in a position to do the same without racing eyebrows (Fine, 2012).

The above privileges are indeed invisible as most people focus on what they can see only, and they focus on for instance the color of the skin to determine whether they treat people the same or not. The invisible privileges are often ignored or go unnoticed as most people do not recognize the privileges they receive due to the certain race, a certain gender or even sexual orientation (Fine, 2012).

It is though no recognition of the difference in the society as well as the difference between people that there is the failure to see that people have different needs, assets as well as perspectives. Further power and privilege enable people to know that as much as there has an advantage in one area there is always that other area that their difference may not get appreciated by the same society that accepts the other privileges that they have. For instance, a Caucasian female in America may have race privileges but not gender privileges. Power and privilege importance are as it enables individuals to understand their stereotype as well as systems of advantage thus allowing them to get inclusive with coworkers, employees, and managers (Fine, 2012).

In Human Resource Management it is crucial to combine the understanding of certain systems that enable as well as allow for power and privilege as it is such a system that will allow the understanding and thus eliminate or try to minimize the issues that emerge from our difference in the society (Fine, 2012).

Advantages of diversity in the workplace

One of the best things that an organization can get is a workforce that is diverse where individual have the difference in perspective as this may mean that t6hwe organization profitability levels may go up, and it may also lead to better service offer to its customers. However rather than looking at diversity as a way of attaining numerical goals or just complying with the law, it is best to combine the concept to create a workplace that is much better for everyone in the organization. The following are some of the advantages of diversity in the workplace

1. Allows better service to customers- It is through diversity that an organization can offer better services to its customers as it will give a broader range of services, such as variety in languages as well as the understanding of the difference in culture (Gilbert & Ivancevich, 2000)
2. Allows for better communication- Diversity allows better communication between individuals in the organization allowing saves in time as well as money (Gilbert & Ivancevich, 2000).
3. Allow compliance with the law- It is commonly a legal requirement for most governments in the world to treat everyone the same regardless of their race, gender or sexual orientation (Gilbert & Ivancevich, 2000).
4. Allow for better ideas and solutions- It from the perspective of diversity that an organization can create ideas and solutions that are better for the benefit of the organization (Gilbert & Ivancevich, 2000).

The following are some of the disadvantages of diversity in the workplace

1. Contributes to discomfort among employees- Many employees feel that some changes are not necessary and may prefer maintaining a status quo and thus resist diversity as it brings them discomfort (Gilbert & Ivancevich, 2000).
2. Integration Issues- As much as social integration influence in an organization in a minimal way it still has a negative impact. It is through diversity that formation of cliques, as well as exclusive social groups, takes place, and the problems come in when the organization can no longer control the groups. These uncontrolled cliques further contribute to informal division in the staff thus creating situations where culturally diverse employees avoid exposure to each other during break times as well after work. As much as the scenario seems harmless there is a high chance that it hinders the effectiveness of knowledge sharing, experience, and skills, thus preventing growth and brings ineffectiveness in teams (Gilbert & Ivancevich, 2000).
3. Freedom of speech impairment- In the workplace diversity existence creates a barrier in the speech where workers that previously could tell jokes happily are forced to quell their exercise of the First Amendment Rights that they hold riotously all in the name of diversity (Gilbert & Ivancevich, 2000).
4. Relationships in the Workplace- Employees tend to feel less important when an organization main focus becomes diversity creation especially if the employees do not represent a typical diverse population that focus on race, sex, age as well as disability. The feeling of undervaluation and unappreciated that is purely by no representation of certain diversity may hinder employee’s productivity (Gilbert & Ivancevich, 2000).

Strategic HRM in the Workplace

Recruitment and Selection

Sometimes organizations do not intend to portray exclusiveness or even discriminate, but it is their practices that are illegal and discriminatory. For instance organizations such as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regards the publication of a job that description and shows the preference for a company of a person they wish to select and place in the organization as illegal. An organization can get an opportunity to get the person they want and still adhere to the law using methods such as four-fifths rule or 80% rule that are a qualitative method of evaluating discrimination in the practice of selection.

The rule states indicates that a rate of selection that has the race, sex or even ethnic group basis is less than four-fifths of the rate for them group with the highest rate could mean a diverse impact on the selection. Where adverse impact refers to a practice of employment that appears neutral but carries with its discriminatory effect on a group whose protection is hindered, for instance, the females, gays (Stone et al, 2007)

Testing

It is crucial for employees to get tested for the job, for instance an organization may undertake a personality test to hire, and this ensures that discrimination avoidance takes place, and the population is non-exclusion. Further, it is necessary to include a reasonable accommodation such as interpreter as long as it does not strain the organization financially it is needs granting.

It is also very crucial to determine the type of test offering and how it might leave out a certain group of people such as the non-English speakers (Stone et al, 2007).

Promotion and pay

In a multicultural and diverse situation, it is crucial for an organization to develop policies that are related to pay as well as promotions as such policies are key to fairness. Over the years, there has been a wide publication that women make 77 percent of what men earn for a similar position in an organization and the reasons for such difference in pay are

• Some hours worked- There is a belief that women due to the family responsibility such as child-care as well as expectation housework work fewer hours than men (Stone et al, 2007).
• Choice of occupation- Women tend to choose careers that pay much less as they are more concerned about balancing family and career (Stone et al, 2007).
• Stereotypes- The concept of male bias is another possible contributor to the large difference in pay between men and women where most men are perceived more competent in certain types of jobs than women.
• Maternity and family leave- In the workplace the women leaving the workplace for a period short or long affect the perception of promotion (Stone et al, 2007).
• Salary and Negotiation- Previous research indicates that men are more likely to negotiate salary than women and a possible reason for the difference in pay between them (Stone et al, 2007).

Managers need awareness of the difference between the pay of men and women when hiring and promoting. At times, it requires a set of the payment schedule for all employees regardless of their gender and promoted employees. Further an organization can introduce mentor-mentee relationships where informal mentorship programs can take effect in the organization (Stone et al, 2007).

Affirmative Action

Affirmative action is government initiated, regulated as well as legislated and is distinctly different from multiculturalism and diversity as diversity is voluntary although government agencies may pressure organizations in certain circumstances to diversify their workforce. Affirmative action is driven legally, focused on the problems at hand, integrated and very proactive. It means using individual group’s identity as a standard for selection decisions (Stone et al, 2007).

Diversity training, as well as diversity programs, are crucial need not get basis from historical workplace where there were inequalities between men and women as well as with majority of the minority programs. Such focus mostly leads to a condescending atmosphere. However, it is crucial for affirmative action and diversity to take separate ways regardless of diversity having some antecedents in affirmative action (Stone et al, 2007).

Training

It is crucial for an organization to help employees buy-in and entails enabling staff as well as managers understand d the value of a diverse workforce and the management of diversity. Such training aims at bullying reduction, harassment cases and the increase in inclusion in activities for people with language, culture as well as disability needs. The training offered includes induction, but is also ongoing and very organic, adapting over time as new employees with different diversity join the organization (Stone et al, 2007).

Retention

It is crucial for the organization to realize that employees exiting a company have nothing to lose, and it is easy for them to give openly information regarding the organization's activities. It was thus crucial to ensure diversity policies introduced in the organization create minimum resistance and thus ensure the reduction in the level of turnover (Stone et al, 2007).

References

Carr-Ruffino, N. (2008). Managing diversity: People skills for a multicultural workplace. Pearson

Fine, M. G. (2012) Cultural diversity in the workplace: The state of the field. Journal of Business Communication, 33(4), 485-502.

Gilbert, J. A., & Ivancevich, J. M. (2000) Valuing diversity: A tale of two organizations The Academy of Management Executive, 14(1), 93-105

Stone, D. L., Stone-Romero, E. F., & Lukaszewski, K. M. (2007). The impact of cultural values on the acceptance and effectiveness of human resource management policies and practices Human resource management review, 17(2), 152-165.

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