Workplace Diversity ( Comparative Report Outline)
Professionally, diversity in a workplace refers to the heterogeneity among the employees in regard of race, ethnicity, religion and gender. There are always instances that a particular group is differed from the dominant group of employees. Nevertheless, labor law does not allow the differences in race, ethnicity, religion and gender hinder the compliance of the companies to inhibit equal employment policies and opportunities to the workforce. For instance, in the United States, the federal and state laws prohibit US employers to give any consideration of hiring or assigning employees on the basis of his or her race and ethnicity. Furthermore, the US law also protects the social rights of every employee to be respected by other employees and the management regardless of race, religion, age, sexual preference and physical ability. The people of minority group still have the right to be hired because they are qualified and fit to the job. The diversities in the workplace is already a globalized phenomenon; it reflects on the globalized industry and economy that almost companies are practicing nowadays. The multicultural work force where value is placed on diversity of thought, and the perspectives shared from individual standpoints are seen to benefit organizations that are savvy enough to capitalize on them. The business case for diversity theorizes that, in a global marketplace, a company that employs a diverse workforce, is better able to understand the demographics of the workplace.
Besides, there are other diversities in the business like the global consumer market, as well as their diversities in perceptions about the products and services of the company. The customers satisfaction really diverted by their personal and business preferences, experiences, budget and performances. On the other hand, the employees in the organization have a strong diversity inclusion culture in terms of employee performance, productivity, higher absenteeism, and higher turnover which all result in higher costs to the part of the company. While a company that chooses to foster an inclusive environment for increased productivity, has better problem solving capabilities, and increases its market share through applying the investment theories and concepts to diversity inclusion strategies. Keep in mind that every diversity concept requires an intentional implementation by top management in the company in order to really achieve inclusion and acceptance among the majority of the workforce. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversity_(business)
According to Taylor Cox Jr., there are three types of organizations that mainly focus on the employees' development and cultural diversities. First, the monolithic organization, in here, the presence of persons from different cultural groups in a single organization is shown. And, the male employees' privileges and opportunities are in main importance. This type of organization does not allow women and the marginalized members to lead and have control within the organization. Second, the plural organization is a more heterogeneous membership as to compare to the monolithic organization. It is more inclusive of persons from cultural backgrounds that differ from the dominant group. This type of organization allows women and the marginalized group to be empowered within the organization. Thirdly is the multicultural organization which composed of many different cultural groups, but it gives values and respect to the diversity, at the same time, it promotes healthy competition among the various groups. Moreover, good leadership is very essential in managing diverse group of employees in the organization. It is obvious that diversities in the workplace is a true challenge for the top leaders and managers. The success of multicultural organization can be achieve through good leadership that evolves over time. And, the trait leadership theory implies that leadership is dependent on physical and social attributes of any individual. Additionally, theories the use of power and authority in the business place is autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles. These are all associated with management skills and good subordinate relationship to distributing and sharing power. Sometimes, these powers may overlap and lead to situational leadership; it greatly depends on the level of relationship between the people's behavior and the responsibilities that are assigned to the employees. http://ezinearticles.com/?Diversity-in-the-Workplace:-Benefits,-Challenges-and-Solutions&id=11053
In addition, there are two types of leadership in the multicultural organization, the transformational and discursive leadership. Foremost, the transformational leadership focuses on change agents together with the performance and competencies of the workforce. By this way, the company may see the mission, vision and goals of the company, as well as they will have the opportunity to share it with their clients, so as they can share it with other people in the community. In the contrary, discursive leadership takes a closer examination of a leaders ability to shape the organizational talk, meaning and resulting interpretations from all discursive acts, symbols and vocabulary. As a matter of fact, the combination of these two kinds of leadership leads , allows and encourages mid-level managers to shine out in the organization.