AISHWARYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND IT

CROSS CUTTING ISSUE

MBA I SEM

SUB: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

TOPIC: WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

 WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

According to a recent demographic analysis conducted by the Pew Research Center, by 2055,

the U.S. will no longer have a single racial or ethnic majority. This shift towards a more
diverse population will have major impacts on the workforce and how organizations address
diversity in the workplace.

In the coming years, organizations that understand how to manage diversity in the workplace
effectively will hold a distinct advantage when it comes to recruiting and hiring talent. This
post outlines how organizations can best approach and manage diversity in the workplace
with actionable tips and advice.

What is Diversity in the Workplace?

For an organization looking to cultivate a more diverse and inclusive workplace, it is
important to understand what constitutes workplace diversity.

Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between individuals in an

organization. Diversity not only includes how individuals identify themselves but also how
others perceive them. Diversity within a workplace encompasses race, gender, ethnic groups,
age, religion, sexual orientation, citizenship status, military service and mental and physical
conditions, as well as other distinct differences between people.

What are the Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace?

There are many benefits to having a diverse workplace. For starters, organizations that
commit to recruiting a diverse workforce have a larger pool of applicants to choose from,
which can lead to finding more qualified candidates and reducing the time it takes to fill
vacant positions. Businesses that do not recruit from diverse talent pools run the risk of
missing out on qualified candidates and may have a more difficult time filling key roles,
which increases recruitment costs.

According to a survey conducted by Glassdoor, 67 percent of job seekers said a diverse

workforce is important when considering job offers and 57 percent of employees think their
companies should be more diverse. These numbers are telling. Not only can organizations fill
positions with qualified candidates more quickly by recruiting from different talent pools, but
a diverse workforce also benefits their employer brand which is crucial when it comes to
getting the right talent.

Having a diverse workforce with multi-lingual employees and employees from varying ethnic
backgrounds can also be helpful for organizations who want to expand or improve operations
in international, national, regional and local markets.

MORE BENEFITS TO HAVING DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE:

 Employees from diverse backgrounds imbue organizations with creative new ideas
and perspectives informed by their cultural experiences
 A diverse workplace will help organizations better understand target demographics
and what moves them
 A diverse workplace can better align an organization’s culture with the demographic
make-up of America
 Increased customer satisfaction by improving how employees interact with a more
diverse clientele and public.
 How to Manage Diversity in the Workplace
Managing diversity in the workplace presents a set of unique challenges for HR
professionals. These challenges can be mitigated if an organization makes a concerted effort
to encourage a more heterogeneous environment through promoting a culture of tolerance,
open communication and creating conflict management strategies to address issues that may
arise.

For leadership to effectively manage diversity in the workplace, they need to understand their
backgrounds and how their behavior and beliefs can affect their decision-making within a
diverse environment.

Tips for managing workplace diversity:

PRIORITIZE COMMUNICATION
To manage a diverse workplace, organizations need to ensure that they effectively
communicate with employees. Policies, procedures, safety rules and other important
information should be designed to overcome language and cultural barriers by translating
materials and using pictures and symbols whenever applicable.

TREAT EACH EMPLOYEE AS AN INDIVIDUAL

Avoid making assumptions about employees from different backgrounds. Instead, look at
each employee as an individual and judge successes and failures on the individual’s merit
rather than attributing actions to their background.

ENCOURAGE EMPLOYEES TO WORK IN DIVERSE GROUPS

Diverse work teams let employees get to know and value one another on an individual basis
and can help break down preconceived notions and cultural misunderstandings.

BASE STANDARDS ON OBJECTIVE CRITERIA

Set one standard of rules for all groups of employees regardless of background. Ensure that
all employment actions, including discipline, follow this standardized criteria to make sure
each employee is treated the same.

BE OPEN-MINDED
Recognize, and encourage employees to recognize, that one’s own experience, background,
and culture are not the only with value to the organization. Look for ways to incorporate a
diverse range of perspectives and talents into efforts to achieve organizational goals.
HIRING
To build a diverse workplace, it is crucial to recruit and hire talent from a variety of
backgrounds. This requires leadership and others who make hiring decisions to overcome
bias in interviewing and assessing talent. If organizations can break through bias and hire the
most qualified people, those with the right education, credentials, experience and skill sets, a
diverse workplace should be the natural result.

Tips for hiring a diverse workforce:

 Incorporate a diverse interview panel to ensure candidates are chosen solely based on
suitability for the position.
 Managers should be trained on what can and cannot be asked in an interview. For
example, questions about an applicant’s personal life, such as which church they
attend, their romantic life and political beliefs, are off-limits.
 Get creative when recruiting. For example, if an organization would like to hire more
women in the engineering department, they could reach out to professional groups
that cater to women in engineering and ask to advertise open positions in their
newsletter or member communications.

Policies and Practices

Organizations that embrace diversity also need to ensure that there are policies and practices
in place to protect employees’ rights and stay compliant with government regulations.

It is essential for an organization to think about the impact that company policies and
practices have on a diverse group of employees. Companies should create a way for
employees to give feedback with surveys and suggestion boxes to gain a better understanding
of how employees feel about diversity policies. Any feedback received, both positive and
negative, is valuable. Companies need to be ready to adapt and change policies that may be
interpreted as obstructions or not helpful for employees.

In addition to the written policies, it is also essential to ensure that the non-official “rules” of
an organization are thoroughly explained to all employees to communicate company values
and culture to all workers effectively.
DOCUMENTATION OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Properly documenting diversity policies is an effective means of communicating an
organization’s stances on diversity. Once concrete plans are ready to be implemented,
documents that outline each policy should be included in the employee handbook. Diversity
policies should be reviewed with every new hire, and when updates to policies are made, they
should be shared with current employees as well.

Employee handbooks should cover diversity in the following sections:

 Code of conduct should outline the company’s policy toward diversity

 Non-discrimination policy lets employees know about diversity
 Compensation and benefits policy
 Employment conditions and termination

ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICY
Having a diverse workplace means that off-color jokes about ethnicity, gender, sexual
orientation or religion need to be met with zero-tolerance enforcement. Slurs, name-calling
and bullying employees for any reason has no place in today’s workplace. Policies should be
put in place to handle misconduct and communicate to employees that this type of behavior
will not be tolerated.

Organizations will also need to make sure employees feel safe reporting any instances of
inappropriate behavior by co-workers by establishing a formal complaint policy,  so
employees know how to report misconduct to the proper authority within an organization.

SENSITIVITY TRAINING 
Employees need to be aware of how to coexist with a diverse range of people, as well as be
cognizant of cultural sensitivity, to achieve harmony within a diverse workplace. Sensitivity
training can help an organization manage diversity in the workplace by helping employees
become more self-aware, which plays a vital role in helping employees understand their own
cultural biases and prejudices.

Benefits of sensitivities training:

 Helps employees examine and adjust their perspectives about people from different
backgrounds
  Employees can learn to better appreciate the views of others
 Shows employees what actions are offensive and why they are perceived as such
 Teaches employees how to calmly communicate that a co-worker has offended them
and how to resolve the conflict properly
 Explains to employees how to apologize to a co-worker if they have indeed offended
them unknowingly
 All employees should be included in sensitivity training; adding specific training for
managers makes it even more impactful. Some companies also offer sensitivity
training online.

STAY ABREAST OF DIVERSITY LAWS  

Managing diversity in the workplace means that businesses need to keep abreast of changing
employer-related laws and trends, especially diversity-related changes. Organizations should
regularly review internal policies, especially those around harassment and equal opportunity,
and make sure they reflect the most current laws and regulations.

If an organization has an international or multi-state presence, it is necessary to track regional

changes to laws and regulations as they vary from country to county and state to state.

Diversity law resources:

 Society of Human Resources Management

 Bloomberg BNA (Bureau of National Affairs)

Conclusion
Encouraging diversity is the way forward for organizations. In a global talent market,
businesses that can successfully manage diversity in the workplace will have a definite
competitive advantage over others in terms of differentiation, innovation, and employer
branding.
Feedback:-
1. Workforce diversity  accommodating to diverse groups of people by addressing
their different lifestyles, family needs, and work styles, it will be very useful in
organization. It explained by examples that clear the concept very well.
- Sonali Khatri

2. The easy explanation of topic and gained extra knowledge beyond syllabus.

- Monika Dodiya

- MBA III SEM

S.N NAME
1. Sonali Khatri
2. Monika Dodiya