The Importance of Diverse and Multicultural Work Teams in Heath Care Delivery
Today, work teams are a crucial management tool used mainly to manage performance through maximization of flexibility, creativity and output. Cultural diversity is a mainstay characteristic of our society and is a critical factor in the health care sector. In this context, Roper (2011) defined diversity as encompassing such individual or group dimensions as race, gender, sexual orientation, and physical ability. For better performance of a diverse team, Roper argued that the members involved should be able to develop competence in working with others from different cultural backgrounds; a concept known as multiculturalism (2011, p. 71). Gerteis and Hartmann (2005) defined multiculturalism as a set of responses to diversity that can be developed or acquired through gaining an understanding of and developing appropriate behaviors that reflect knowledge of another culture. Therefore the difference between diversity and multiculturalism is that whereas diversity involves embracing dimensions such as age, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, multiculturalism refers to one’s capability of managing interactions with individuals from different cultures as a result of his or her understanding of the respective practices. It would be important to have both diverse and multicultural work team units in the healthcare project because it enhances performance, and the organization would be able to serve a diverse client base effectively.
Diversity, as earlier outlined, brings creativity and flexibility to a work team and would increase the team’s overall performance. A healthcare organization requires these unique elements in order to serve the increasing diverse client base in modern societies (Roper, 2011). According to Cockrell, Placier, Cockrell and Middleton (1999) pooling of a diverse work team’s knowledge and skills empowers the team to achieve higher productivity and performance. Team members can expand their knowledge through interactions. The wider knowledge base derived from a diverse work team can enable the healthcare organization to handle a wider range of cases effectively.
A multicultural work team would be as necessary as a diverse work team for the program to be successful. Having a diverse work team would not be sufficient to succeed in the health care industry. Gerteis and Hartmann (2005) argued that understanding the cultural practices of the clients has become a critical necessity in health care. A team that can respond effectively to client diversity is important to achieving multicultural competency. In addition, multiculturalism provides mobility to the organization, which would enable the health care program to serve an even wider market (Salisbury, Salisbury Consulting & Byrd, 2006, p.92). A diverse work team would require a multicultural supervisor for effective leadership. Such an individual would, having knowledge of the diverse cultures, be able to effectively steer the team to prosperity. According to Roper (2011, p. 68), managing a diverse work team calls for competency of the supervisor with regard to understanding and ability to act and behave in resonance with the various cultural practices.
One might argue that diversity and multiculturalism in the work team might bring some unexpected mishaps to the organization. Such drawbacks, according to Gerteis and Hartmann (2005), include problems in communicating and in other forms of interactions which might result in discrimination. Roper (2011) argued that such instances will only outweigh the benefits of the diverse work team if the diverse work force is not taken through various team building practices that will help them develop tolerance for other cultures and reduce the related complexities. A competent manager would establish means to mitigate the negative effects and build on the strengths to ensure the program succeed.
Diverse and multicultural work teams have become an important practice in management due to their effectiveness and high productivity. The health care organization would benefit from these practices as a result of the pooled knowledge, better performance and mobility. Effective management of diverse work teams and multicultural work teams will reduce the negative effects of associated with these practices and ensure that the program succeeds.
References
Cockrell, S. K., Placier, L. P., Cockell, H. D. & Middleton, N. J. (1999). Coming to Terms with
‘Diversity’ and “Multiculturalism” in Teacher Education: Learning About Our Students,
Changing Our Practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 15 pp. 351-366.
Gerteis, J. & Hartmann, D. (2005). Dealing with Diversity: Mapping Multiculturalism in
Sociological Terms. Sociological Theory, 23(2) pp. 218-240. Retrieved from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0735-2751.2005.00251.x/pdf
Roper, D. L. (2011) Supervising Across Cultures: Navigating Diversity and Multiculturalism.
New Directions for Student Services, 2011(136) p. 69-79. Retrieved from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.proxyau.wrlc.org/doi/10.1002/ss.415/pdf
Salisbury, J., Salisbury Consulting, & Byrd, S. (2006) Why Diversity Matters in Health Care.
CSA Bulletin, pp. 90-93 Retrieved from
http://www.csahq.org/pdf/bulletin/issue_12/Diversity.pdf
