Executive Summary
With the growing demand of the competition, the companies have started taking the best skilled people from around the world. This has increased the diversity in the organization thereby adding the challenge to the managers. To enhance the effectiveness of the organization, the companies have growing tendency of increasing the diversity in their workforce. However, with this increasing diversity in the workforce, the people have started to feel the discrimination within the organization. This paper is the result of an attempt to analyze the diversity in the workforce. The paper proceeds with a candle light brightness about the need for diversity and the current views. Then, the paper further discusses about the positive aspects of diversity. The various benefits of having the diverse workforce are discussed thoroughly. Then towards the conclusion, the paper then suggests about the ways of managing diversity. Various ways of managing diversity are identified and discussed. The paper also emphasizes on the equal opportunities.
Introduction and Discussion
The concern for diversity has hit modern organizations in many ways in the recent times. It was not long ago that managers asserted discrimination to be wrong, in both legal and moral ways. However, at present, there is a second notion that has entered the scene. The argument is that a diverse workforce will add to the effectiveness of the organization. It will help boost employee morale, create higher access to marketplace segments and increase overall productivity. The bottom line of the debate is that diversity creates a favorable result for their businesses.
There are two major perspectives, which have given guidance to the diversity and equal opportunity initiatives. The first one is the paradigm of discrimination-and-fairness and the second is the paradigm of access-and-legitimacy. There is, however, the discovery of a newer approach to these overall issues of management. The new paradigm is the learning-and-effectiveness, which is an incorporation of the previous two and surpasses them by creating a connection between work approaches and the issue of diversity. The main concern that modern managers have about diversity is the decision on changes needed in their diversity initiatives and the accomplishment of that change. The discourse of diversity provides but an assurance that there will be reconciliation between some basic tensions hindering the gender equality progress.
If we define diversity in simple terms, it comprises of two essential aspects of respect and acceptance. It means that there should be understanding on how every individual has unique attributes and recognizing these differences in individual traits. The dimensions for this recognition could be race, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, physical abilities, political and religious beliefs and certain ideologies. Diversity means exploring the individual differences in an environment that are positive, nurturing and safe (Gladstone.uoregon.edu. 2016). The process of Diversity is about recognizing each other’s values and surpassing basic tolerance to embracing and celebrates the diversity components that each individual holds.
When we define workplace diversity, it is the differences and similarities that employees experience on the basis of their cultural background, age, abilities and disabilities at the physical level, religion or sexual orientation (BusinessDictionary.com. 2016).
Equal opportunity can be defined as the aggregated practices and policies of the employment sector as well as other sectors whereby there is no discrimination against people taking color, age, national origin, race or disability as the basis (Dictionary.com. 2016). In other words, equal opportunity is the individual and group right that argues for treatment devoid of discrimination, majorly on the basis of race, age or sex. Equal opportunity in the workplace is one of the hot issues in operation nowadays.
Diversity is a very broad term. The presence of absence of diversity in a workplace can play an important role in determining the favorability of workplace for increasing organizational productivity. One of the major issues of diversity in the workplace is gender discrimination. It is necessary to analyze how gender discrimination in the workplace can affect Company and employee performance, success factors, motivation level and social interactions (Galim, Campbel, and Lewis, 2016).
The impacts of discrimination can be perceived in many ways based on the social values, the type of organization and many other factors. Some of the traditional societies believe that there are advantages of gender discrimination. One such research in one of the developing economies, Pakistan suggests that discrimination need not necessarily be negative. The males had a perception that there were superior to their female counterparts. They also argued that because of discrimination women at their workplace have lenience to complete their family duties. There is leniency to women in these communities that they need not work more than nine hours in a day, there need not be any night shifts, no overtime is required, and maternity leaves are paid. Men are deprived of these facilities (Khalid, and Aroosh, 2016).
Another argued advantage of gender discrimination is that women are thoroughly respected in their workplace, whatever the designation may be. Women employees do not need to engage in tiresome field works. Even if they do, facilities of transportation are provided. These factors lead to men in the organization thinking that there is no gender discrimination at all. But, this is the thought of a regressive society. For a progressive society, there are many hurts workplace discrimination can create. The extent of impact could be crucial finance issues or litigations.
One of the impacts of gender discrimination is the increased turnover of female employees. If the gender discrimination exists at all levels of the organization, female employees may see it as a part of the corporate culture and decide to get away from it rather than fighting it. They start looking for opportunities elsewhere. A dynamic is thus created where female employee turnover is so frequent that it becomes cumbersome to manage training and hiring processes. The finances related to the same also create hassles.
The second impact would be low morale and motivation in the discriminated female employees. An atmosphere is created in the workplace where the employee feels that she is undervalued. When a female employee sees that a lesser qualified male employee moves up in positions in the organization or gets a significant pay rise, she is not motivated to perform work to her full caliber. Communication is also deterred, and coordination is diminished.
The third impact could be explained as conflicts within the organization. Gender discrimination in the workplace can create jealousy among colleagues, which is more common in women. There is an untold enmity between employees if they are not treated solely on the basis of their performance merit (Woman.thenest.com. 2016). The intra-component trust in the organization is diminished, and the trust in leadership is reduced.
The fourth impact could result in litigations for the Company. In case, an employee proves to the Court that she has been discriminated, the Company may suffer from legal obligations. It is illegal to treat an employee unfair based on her gender or background, and the same would apply to any company in case such cases are found (Woman.thenest.com. 2016).
Modern organizations and nations are trying their best to preserve the corporate environment from the ill effects of gender discrimination. The major initiative taken is to involve men in the march towards maintaining gender equality in the workplace. Gender inequality has been known as an organizational problem throughout decades. It is in this light that organizations today are inclined towards maintaining an equal opportunity culture where men and women exercise their capabilities to the full.
Examples of gender equality efforts can be extracted from all around the world. Many world-renowned organizations like Toyota and Microsoft have adopted policies which support that discriminatory activities towards women are legally not allowed. At the state level, countries like the UK have passed bills and regulations specifically for protecting gender equality in the workplace. Countries are passing common resolutions so that their female workforce can be optimally utilized.
There are many principles, which explain the process of social justice functioning in society. One such model is the Miller’s model of social justice (Gjs.appstate.edu. 2016). The three elements included in this model are desert, equality and need. The focus of Miller’s theory is on three major concepts of need, equality, and desert. Need is defined as the claim which says that an individual lacks primary necessities and also has some harm or danger of harm and because of the necessity’s absence the capacity to optimally function is deterred. Desert is another claim that performance is the driving force for the reward that one receives; the one who performs superior will be recognized as superior. Equality can be defined as the ideal of the society that there is equal treatment of all the citizens in the society and that certain rights and benefits are to be given equally to all citizens.
There is another principle that defines the three primary modes of human relationships. The first one is a solidaristic community. This is the process in which people have a common identity sharing in the form of affiliates of a larger stable group that have a common ethos. Inside this community, the need is taken as the basis for distribution of resources. All the members are required to contribute their share in impeding the needs of the other members, and there is a certain sense of liability on each individual. The general ethos defines what needs are. There is the embodiment of consciousness regarding standards in implicit or explicit manner, and these matters are what define justice and distinction between needs and wants. The differentiation between needs and wants is clear, and because these needs are more community-specific in contrast to individual-specific, the definitions may vary. The other two modes of human relationships are instrumental associations and citizenship.
It is the most basic fact that a society that is well functioning will have justice at its center. The sole question, however, is the definition of justice and its implementation part. One of such guidelines to the question could be the principles of justice and fairness, the argument of which is that fair treatment and fair play should be the governing force for all social interactions and exchanges.
There are some dimensions and aspects of social justice associated with its definition and being. One of such factors is the distribution part. Many people describe social justice to be generic, which is confined to its book definition. Social justice is very remotely related to distribution, as per the experts of social justice. In fact, it has been overstated that an invisible hand manages all the distribution of the state.
Equality is another factor. Advantages and disadvantages are measured to identify who is lagging in which part. Common good is another notion that social justice carries. However, it is debatable as to who decides what should be common good. A strategically sound person will be able to create an environment where community life is good and better decisions are made.
Social justice is also supposed to include progressive agenda. This agenda allows societies to move towards a system, which is better suited for them. The final part is that of compassion. Compassion is related to loving and cherishing the presence of the other without judgment. Equality, common good, and compassion are all taken as the associates of social justice.
There are many factors that people involved in social justice need to consider. The individuals who are involved in social justice practice are necessarily moving upwards whereas others are going down (Safeguarding Student Learning. 2012). Unless there is a seriousness about the direction was taken and choices made regarding the social justice moves that one takes, there cannot be a successful continuation of social justice efforts. Teamwork and renewal are the essential components that need to be considered. The main requirement for those involved in social justice is never to give up. The major effort should be in structuring relationships and lives in a way that there is recognition of time when directions are lost, and there can be prompt reorientation.
The major suggestion that needs to be introduced is that the definition of diversity is much beyond adding varied identity of individuals in the list of employees so that recognition of diversity efforts can be claimed by the Company, for its enhanced benefits. The understanding of diversity should be on varied perspective levels, and the work approach should be that the skills brought about by the different groups are cordially respected and integrated.
The diversity that exists at a workplace is a source of perspectives and knowledge; on how to perform work in a precise and competitive manner. They enhance the processes of designing, reaching goals, creation of effectively functioning teams, ideas for communication and leading. The diversified members of the society can help Companies in growth and improvement of basic assumptions related to organizational strategies, functions, practices, and operations. When these efforts are respected, this diversified workforce is able to dedicate their full resources to the Company and create an effective performing circle. It is quite certain that there is individual performance when familiarity is high with the niche markets. However, when Companies have a holistic approach towards diversity, organizational processes will start reaping the maximum benefits for the staffs as well as for the overall organization.
References
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