Integration Of Diversity

Diversity, when referred to in business terms may mean a lot of things. An organization’s workforce may be referred to as diverse for many reasons as well. Diversity may occur because of the differences of opinion because of the differences in personality, in age, in educational attainment, in status in life and even in culture. Mostly, as observed on different business companies, the main reason of such diversity is the existence of a much distinct group of races making up a single workforce for a company.

         How could all these happen? As mentioned in the introduction, many people have already transferred from place to place and a lot of those people, the so-called immigrants, have already decided to stay and work on the foreign lands they have gone to. Hence, the main effect of this social move on achieving success on other places, the employment of the multicultural population has been the resort to supporting the lives of the said immigrants. Hence, the workforce of every company making up the business industries are at times having the same worries on how to face the challenge of dealing with and managing people who are widely different from each other.

Getting along with Diversity

            As mentioned earlier, management of a diverse workforce has been one of the biggest problems that concern the human resources department of any type of company present in the business industries. Hence, it is just reasonable to say that at some points, some management teams may find it a difficult task as well. However, the author, John riddle says otherwise. According to him, “these are all factors of management that should be considered by good managers even before entering an organization” (113). Hence, this definitely means that avoiding diversity in the workforce may be impossible but giving a resolution to it is not that impossible. After all, there is still a common ground among the working force of each company no matter how diverse they may be it is that they are humans, which makes them capable of being dealt with and managed well.

         In this regard, Gail Robinson and Kathleen Dechant have suggested several points of consideration when dealing with such business problems. In general terms, he summarized the ways by which a good manager could handle the difficulties of dealing with a diverse workforce.

         The said suggestions are as follows:

·         Concentrate on the strengths of the employees. When a manager discovers the tasks where the employees usually excel in, they should be assigned to them as they are expected to be more productive on those fields of the job.

·         Understand the abilities and the potential of each employee present in the organization. These potential assets of the employees could as well be used by the company itself in aiming for the goals that it has set up for the future.

·         Allow communication lines t be open at all times. It is very important for managers to be good listeners. The ability of hearing what the employees want form the company as well as to how they could be of bigger help to the organization could be used as a resource of ideas for the company as well.

·         Make the employees feel that they too have a sense of authority in the company. However, this type of authority should not overstep that of the administration’s. It should be clear that this authority could only be exercised at specific times and places when it is permitted. This may often refer to an ‘open door’ policy that deals with an easier type of agreement between the employees, which could give them a chance to affect how the organization is being managed. They are then allowed to give suggestions; however, no suggestions are implemented unless approved by the administration

·         Make sure that all employees understand the business goals and objectives. It should always be remembered that a well-informed employee, whether young or old, is a productive employee.

·         A manager should always remember that he is supervising people with feelings who are valuable members of the organization, hence, treating them with great respect at all times no matter what culture they come from is one of the most important virtue any manager could post as an example for his colleagues.

·         Treating everyone fairly and sensitively is the key to creating a fine working environment. It should be remembered that because of the different clutters of the people, they all have different preferences; they have different personal obligations and other more. Considering the fact that dealing with multicultural workforce also involve dealing with their differences of belief, a manager could as well consider fairness at all times to be able to set a common ground for everyone else in the organization.

·         Keep everyone else busy and going all the time. Feeling one’s worth is usually measured on the things they are able to do for the organization in a day. In this manner, it could be said that regardless of one’s difference from the others, being able to do something for the company and being of worth to the organization makes an employee feel that even though there are differences, he still belongs to the organization he is working for.

·         Keep employees informed of the ins and outs of the organization. Keeping employees in the dark when some changes within the organization arise may give them the notion that they are not given importance by the administration of the company.

·         Acknowledge the employees’ efforts, years of work, talent, creativity and good job attributes. Doing so would help everyone else strive for the best while they are working in the company.

It could be noticed that the suggestions listed in here are general. Putting these

suggestions into good use have mostly caused several companies to achieve unity beyond diversity in their own much diverse workforces. Hence, as Jones (2004) commented in his book “Contemporary Management”, “diversity is a normal part of modern management. Being globally distinct, it could not be avoided that dealing with different people everyday is a challenge to the modern managers today” (180).

Conclusion

         The certainties of dealing with diverse people in the workforce are around ninety-nine percent. Considering that we are living in a culturally diverse society, it could be argued that a diverse workforce is indeed a challenge to many business managers today. However, at first, this fact may seem a big problem, on the other hand, if the managers are able to see the common ground of everyone else, which is being human, the said managers would recognize the possibility of making diversity a source of further progress for the company. Mixing up the talents and the abilities of the employees for the goal of the organization would surely help the company reach its peak potential.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Riddle, John. (2001). Business Management. Adams Media Corporation. Avon, Massachusetts.

Adams, Bob. (2000). Managing people: Lead your staff to peak performance. Adams Media Corporation. Avon, Massachusetts.

Hiam, Alexander. (2001). Motivating and rewarding Employees: New and better ways to inspire your people. Adams Media Corporation. Avon, Massachusetts.

Martinez, Esdras. (1998). Buisness Managements theories and practice. Rex books Publishing. Manila, Philippines.

Jones, Gareth R. (2004). Contemporary Management. Irwin/McGraw-Hill; 4th edition.

Gail Robinson and Kathleen Dechant. Building A Business Case For Diversity