Human Resources: Diversity Discipline

Introduction

Human resource generally demonstrates the strategic methods that are necessary in the management of an organization and its important values. The discipline of diversity in human resources is concerned with values, experiences, qualities and the styles of work that

individuals have that makes them to be unique in their workplaces for instance, their race, religion, age, ethnicity among others (Susan, 1992). In addition, it is concerned with how an organization can incorporate these qualities in order for them to be of great support to the objectives set by the organization. The diversity discipline is known to be wide thus, it deals with issues that are related to diversity in terms of careers, communications, legal and regulatory matters as well as efficient diversity activities and international diversity issues. According to research, employees, employers and organizations that possess high standard of diversity normally contain quality ideas, perspectives, concepts and strategies that can help in the enhancement of an organization or a business.

A Theoretical Basis for the Diversity Discipline in Organizations

Theoretically, diversity discipline focuses on the assumption that workers or managers have different qualities and goals. Therefore, they should not be taken for granted since they mean a lot in an organization with their diverse qualities. Diversity discipline aims at creating an environment that suits all the workers. It motivates managers to create, strengthen and influence workers to achieve their intended goals. It takes into consideration that all workers are benefiting from the systems, policies, and activities that are set by the organization. The concept of inclusive is the main factor in the diversity discipline and it deals with workplace issues such as understanding of the differences of the people while basing on the culture and climate of an organization. Therefore, encouraging diversity in an organization improves on how customers are attended to according to their desires.

Statistics Related to the use of the Diversity Discipline in an Organization

Currently, there has been a high rate of demographic changes in the international world as more emphasis continues to grow in workplace diversity in an organization. There has been also expansion in the diversity definition. According to studies, “diversity involves everyone and it is does not deal with lifestyle, and geographic origin alone, but it comprises of education, personality, age among others” (Carr-Ruffino, 2005). With the ever-increasing business cases for diversity management, human resource managers are putting their focus more on the ways in which they use to maximize the differences within its setting for the competition benefits. Many human resource managers are employing new strategies in the organizations to support the management of diversity. For instance, they define diversity, create business cases, and establish diversity vision in order to organize for effective diversity management and initiatives.

According to Thomas (1991), organizations that have workers of both gender and different racial backgrounds most of the time produce positive business results. He emphasizes further that “organizations comprising a more diverse workforce continuously reported higher numbers than those that have less diversity among its staff” (Thomas, 1991). On the other hand, organizations that have high rates of racial differences lead in the acquisition of an average of 37,000 customers compared to those with less rates of racial diversity, which have an average of 20,000 customers. In terms of gender diversity, the differences are greater. For instance, high rates of customers of an average of 16,000 are experienced in organizations with more numbers of gender diversity. Studies revealed that any little increase in the levels of racial or gender leads to more than 500 and 300 additional consumers, respectively. An increase in racial and gender diversity levels in an organization’s workforce, leads to an increase in its profits just as those of its counterpart competing organizations.

The Benefits of the Diversity Discipline in Human Resources

A good number of organizations worldwide have noted that there are significant benefits brought about by creating a discipline of diversity in the workplace. This is because incorporating people from different cultures makes the company to be strong. Diversity in the workplace increases creativity because people from different backgrounds have different means of finding a solution to a problem. The more solutions provided by different people, the better results of a certain difficult. Other people can provide a significant alternative the organization may not have realized; therefore, diversity in an organization is very necessary.

Another benefit of diversity discipline in an organization is that it increases productivity. This occurs especially when different groups of people from different cultures come together to work towards a common set goal by the company. For instance, different countries may pull their resources together and work towards a common goal. This will increase productivity because of a variety of resources being introduced and utilized for the betterment of the society. Countries like China and India provide benefits to the United States of America with their stellar quantitative skills. On the other hand, people from countries in Europe benefit the lower class countries in the high-level jobs. With this integration, extra knowledge and skills are enhanced leading to an increase in productivity.

Diversity in the workplace also creates new attitudes in that different cultures bring in new ideas concerning how they view a certain perspective and others may wish to adapt it for their own use. For instance, the concept of “time” means differently to different cultures, some believe that “time is money” and “a achieving a goal is paramount in business” (Edward, 2004), while others view time as for building relationships with others whether for business purpose or personal reasons (Edward, 2004). Therefore, developing diversity in an organization leads to acquiring new ideas, skills and knowledge, which are very significant in the expansion of the company.

Human resource managers should consider adding the discipline of diversity in their organization because it helps in building better perspectives on the ways in which different cultures work and encounter higher success in international business market as an outcome (Susan, 1992). There are new processes brought in because when different people with different perspectives join hands and collaborate, new processes are likely to be experienced. Therefore, diversity in the workplace can enable organizations to be more productive and profitable than before. In addition, the differences brought in must be understood and embraced in order to enjoy the benefits.

Real-world Examples from Organizations

NC State business organization in the United States of America is an example of companies that considers diversity discipline in human resources as the major approach that can make an organization to prosper and grow to greater heights. NC State values diversity because it brings in groups of individuals from different backgrounds and demographic areas. Therefore, the organization motivates, accepts and promotes a diversity of individuals and the new concepts. It aims at promoting an environment where equality, understanding and honor represent the culture in the workplace (Loysk, 1996). The organization further aims at developing employees who are effective in all sectors even when they leave the company after retirement or transfer.

Professional Certification

Managers seeking to achieve diversity benefits in their organizations are required to understand the availability of discrimination and its impacts and note their own cultural biases. This is because diversity is the difference between people and not groups. Therefore, for professional certification in the discipline of diversity, leaders should be ready and willing to make necessary changes in the organization if need be.

Other Information Relevant to Senior Leaders Understanding the Discipline

The senior leaders in organizations need to understand that, for achieving those benefits of diversity in the workplace, they need to educate and train their employees on the value of accepting and working together as a team. The leaders need to understand that having individuals from varied cultures is not enough; therefore, a good training program would be extremely significant because it assist people to work together and utilize each others skills and knowledge for the growth of the company. To achieve this goal, it is better to establish a diversity council depending on the size of the company. The purpose for this council is to champion the initiatives set by the organization, attend to issues occurring and develop a very powerful team.

The senior leaders can also organize social events to enable strengthen the bond between employees and the managers. This leads to creating an environment that is conducive to share ideas and opinions that can later be beneficial to the organization.

Conclusion

Discipline of diversity in human resource of any organization demonstrates a changing economy worldwide. Diversity in the work places develops and brings in the organization many benefits. Showing respect to one another despite the cultural differences leads to creation of a competitive environment and improves productivity. Diversity in the work place also encourages equal access to opportunities and challenges in an organization. Therefore, it is up to organizational managers to understand the approaches to use in adapting diversity because most companies are comprised of diverse cultures.

References

Carr-Ruffino, N. (2005). Making diversity work.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Edward, E. (2004). The diversity scorecard: evaluating the impact of diversity on organizational performance. New York, NY: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Loysk, B. (1996). Managing a changing workforce: Achieving outstanding service with today’s employees. Davie, FL: Workplace Trends Publishing.

Susan, J. (1992). Diversity in the workplace: human resources initiatives. New York, NY:
Guilford Press.

Thomas, R. R. (1991). Beyond race and gender: Unleashing the power of your total work force by managing diversity. New York, NY: American Management Association.