ETHNIC DIVERSITY

Ethnic Diversity

Ethnic Diversity

Background of the Scenario

Maria, a person of Latino ancestry has filed a complaint that she was unfairly eliminated for consideration for a promotion because of her distinctive accent. She is a second generation native born American citizen with a graduate degree, has been with the company for ten years and in her current position for seven. Alex, the person who received the promotion is an Anglo, also has a graduate degree, but has less time either with the company or in the position. He is, however, considered to be an "up and comer" and has better job evaluations than Maria. Maria points out that she are not only the only Latino, she is the only person of color and the only woman in the department and that her lower evaluations reflect a built-in bias on the part of her White male supervisors. She also states that she was told by her supervisor that she was not being promoted because he feared that their clients would have trouble understanding her accent. She alleges that the company is engaging in discriminatory practices." (Johnstone, 2006, 18)

Introduction

I have been working with my current employer for just over a month. In that short time, I have observed a great deal about new work environment. This particular organization has been the leading, original electronics manufacturer in the Northwest for the last few years, but considering that the majority of its staff is comprised of new hires, I would say there is still plenty of room in which to improve organizationally. Although I may not be the most content with where I am at in my career at this point in time, I am still quite blessed to work for an organization that strives to communicate effectively, promotes diversity, and has processes and strategies in place for managing conflict. (NHS Confederation, 2008, 69)

Communication

In observing the flow of communication in the workplace, I have found that employees in my organization prefer to communicate in person rather than to follow the trend many other companies follow these days - communication via email, instant messenger, and voicemail. The organization I work for fits in the small-to-medium business bracket, with 75% of its staff working on the production floor. The other 25% are office staff. Because we are in such small quarters, it is much easier and effective to communicate face-to-face with one another. Of course, we still use email to follow-up with a paper trail, as many times it is advisable to have a written record on file to keep oneself and others accountable for important items and information. Consequently, most of our production people have no need for computers in their work environment and are often not granted access to the internet or to email. In a scenario where a production employee needs to speak with office personnel, the employee is advised to either call or walk over to that individual and communicate the message verbally.

The other side of communication in my company is the need to ...