DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

Diversity management



Diversity management

Introduction

Diversity is a multi faceted idea that has changed as more business move toward a global marketplace. Most people hold the belief that everyone is of equal importance, and is entitled to the same privileges and opportunities, without regard to race, gender, disability, or age. Because of this belief changes in management practices have altered in the workforce. People have grown to understand workplace diversification and employees individual behavior. "diversity management provides a climate where all employees feel that they are valued by and contributing to an organization" (Schermerhorn, Organizational Behavior Today, chapter 4 p. 2). We will examine the impact of ethnicity, gender, socioeconomics status, and geographical differences on individual behavior.

Work force Diversity:

The word diversity can be defined as a mixture of people with different group identities within the same social system ( [3]Fleury,1999)The unlimited potential sources of diversity in mankind can be divided into two categories from a work force perspective.

Role Diversity:

This includes diversity within the scope of the position that a member has within the organization. The sources of diversity include specialized training and knowledge, practicing licenses and specific job related competencies. Diversity within these dimensions is clearly defined in its scope and well accepted ( [5] Maznevski, 1994). This type of diversity within an organization is deliberate and necessary in order to do business for e.g. a hospital would employee a diverse workforce for all the clinical services it provides which includes physicians, nurses, technologists, cooks and house keeping etc.

Inherent Diversity:

This includes diversity within the scope of characteristics that are inherent to a human being and cannot be altered. The sources of this diversity include age, gender, nationality, religious affiliation, sexual orientation etc. Diversity within these dimensions is often neither obvious nor well understood or accepted ([5] Maznevski, 1994). Such diversity if not appropriately incorporated into the work place could lead to discriminatory practices and if not managed well a cause of great conflict. It is the effective management of this type of diversity that has gained immense importance in the field of human resource management in the recent years. The need to avoid any discriminatory practices towards the various elements of such diversity has led to businesses establishing checks and balances that monitor human resource practices on an ongoing basis. Legislative pressures have further ensured compliance to such human resource standards and provided protection of rights for the diverse work force.Most researchers agree on the inevitability as well as the importance of a diverse workforce in any business. It is a widely held belief in the human resources practitioners that in the 21st century , one of the most important human resource trends is that of an increasingly diverse workforce( [6]Lavaty and Kleiner,2001) .What gives effective diversity management even more importance is the increasingly believed view that valuing differences makes business sense ( [7]Iles,1995). Equally as important is the fact that companies are now serving a customer group just as diverse as their workforce , therefore workforce diversity also ...