The study focused on analyzing workplace diversity as the tool for enhancing organizational efficiency, better decision-making, and improved innovation. It analyzed a variety of articles and journals to gain a comprehensive view of the concept of workplace diversity. Based on the analysis, the proponents of heterogeneity affirm that a diverse organization is a thriving entity. It integrates people with different sets of skills, knowledge and ideas, and this creates innovation, better decision-making and competitive advantage for the firm. Companies need to cultivate a culture of diversity in order to maintain growth, increase the market share and to attract diverse portfolio of clientele, to succeed in the hostile environment.
Introduction
Since the advent of globalization, organizations around the world have seen an increase in the mix of employees working within their confines. To manage this type of workforce, the concept of diversity management came into play. As the number of qualified women and non-whites increases, companies are spending approximately $8 billion per year to attract, hire, retain and train the best employees, irrespective of color, religion, or sexual orientation, in order to reflect the diverse society (Prieto, Phipps " Osiri, 2009). According to Ozgen, Nijkamp " Poot (2017), diversity has immense benefits such as better strategic decision-making, innovation, and improved firm performance. On the negative side, it could lead to increased struggles, reduced cohesion among employees, and high rates of turnover. This essay will focus on workplace diversity as the tool for enhancing organizational efficiency, better decision-making, and improved innovation.
Article Overviews
Rajput, N., " Talan, A. (2017). Interpersonal trust as the mediator of workplace diversity and well-being of employees. Indian Journal Of Health " Wellbeing, 8(7), 668-673.
In this empirical study, Rajput " Talan center on the effects of diversity on the employees’ wellbeing. The authors’ hypothesis was that diversity has an effect on the interpersonal trust among colleagues, which subsequently influences their wellbeing. In order to prove their theory, they incorporated distinct dimensions of interpersonal trust as the link. One of the elements they identified was “competency trust.” Their study established that it has a significant connection in the well-being of workers. An organization records higher innovative capabilities when people of diverse knowledge and skillset are integrated. The concept of competency trust narrows down to each individual in the organization in that every employee has skills, knowledge, capabilities, and resources they can offer. Therefore, more diversity creates diverse skillset in the organization and this leads to the holistic well-being of each employee in the enterprise.
The other factor was “integrity trust”, which Rajput " Talan found to be positively associated with workplace diversity but had no effect on employee well-being. Therefore, it was not a significant link. Benevolence trust and predictability trust were the third elements and the researchers established that they had no association with diversity because high diversity can lead to interpersonal conflicts and communication gaps. In conclusion, it can be determined that diversity has a positive association with competence trust and integrity trust but not with benevolence trust and predictability trust. However, diversity significantly contributes to the wellbeing of employees. Strengthening interpersonal trust among employees enhances their psychological and physical health leading to lesser stress; hence stronger relations. It also improves quicker dissemination of creative and innovative ideas and this leads to higher knowledge and productivity in the organization.
Bahler, K. (2018). Workplaces Are More Segregated Than 40 Years Ago. What Gives?. Money, 47(2), 28-29.
Bahler’s research draws comparison on racial segregation at the modern-day workplace and the same a decade ago. Although organizations have strived to enhance diversity, racial discrimination at work is worse today than it was in the 70s. Employers in the US are making slow progress in terms of workplace integration than it is actually thought to be, and the problem stems from the society’s perception of diversity. Most employees assume that firms have made great strides in enhancing diversity over the years, which is a favorable hypothesis considering that the number of whites in the nation has decreased from 81% in 1975, to 61% in 2016.
Bahler affirms that the contemporary companies are poor at selecting and retaining the people of color as compared to their predecessors, which makes work environment less diverse. The lack of representation has led to the shortage of ideas, backgrounds and experiences that various firms say they desire. Shockingly, an average black man in most of the organizations earns 30% less of what the white man makes, while and average black woman gets 82% of what the white woman receives. To correct the racial issue, most Fortune 500 companies are focusing on training workers, to alter their unconscious-racial bias. However, it has been less assistive and for that reason, some organizations have resorted to tech-based hiring that uses algorithms. The selection process involves no human interaction; thus, reduced racial bias. The system can work effectively with CEOs who value racial inclusivity.
Gotsis, G., " Kortezi, Z. (2015). Different approaches to managing a diverse workforce. In Critical Studies in Diversity Management Literature (pp. 13-21). Springer, Dordrecht.
In this article, Gotsis " Kortezi focus on approaches that an organization can put in place to manage workplace diversity. The authors affirm that the issue of diversity management came into play in the 80s when criticism about equal employment opportunities (EEO) and affirmative action (AA) was intense. Companies had to establish legal policies to manage effectively a diverse workforce and in this context, it was treated as a challenge that needed to be tackled. However, Gotsis " Kortezi propose the diversity management discourse, an approach that treats diversity as a resource or an asset that can be used to create a healthy work environment, which recognizes, supports and acknowledges differences.
Corporations can view it as a strategic choice that does not focus on employees belonging to a specific identity group but workers in the entire organization. Unlike the EEO and AA that focus largely on numerical representation of certain groups of people, diversity management narrows down to the most distinctive differences in the organization such as challenges of managing such a workforce, and ensures inclusion in all aspects of the firm. On the other hand, EEO and AA have legal underpinnings but diversity management is solely strategic and linked to business growth and development. Gotsis " Kortezi affirm that, businesses, which embrace the approach have a broader view of its benefits such as, attaining the needs and preferences of a diverse customer base, improving labor relations and increase market share. The approach offers pure economic benefits to the organization.
Gotsis " Kortezi also assert that the diversity management approach has its limitations. It ignores the legitimacy of social justice problems. It disregards the issue of historical injustices and discrimination, and dominant ideologies in an organization, which renders the theory circumstantial. Diversity is only attached to monetary and economic benefits, which is an indication that it cannot be pursued if it fails to fit the profitability objectives of the organization.
Rawat, P. S., " Basergekar, P. (2016). Managing Workplace Diversity: Performance of Minority Employees. Indian Journal Of Industrial Relations, 51(3), 488-501.
Rawat " Basergekar focused on identifying “if diversity in demography of the organizations led to differences in the perceptions of supportive work environment practices, and whether the perceptions influenced employee performance in India.” Rawat " Basergekar established that minority women saw the environment as supportive in comparison to men. Companies with better and more effective diversity policies performed better because employees were highly motivated.
Prieto, L. C., Phipps, S. T., " Osiri, J. K. (2009). Linking workplace diversity to organizational performance: A conceptual framework. Journal of Diversity Management, 4(4), 13.
Prieto, Phipps " Osiri centered on creating a link between workplace diversity and performance in organizations. The authors pointed out that diversity offers creativity, better problem solving and enhanced decision-making, which creates a competitive advantage for an organization. On the other hand, it can the minority can have reduced psychological commitment and absenteeism in comparison to majority members. Prieto and co-authors examines the positive and negative effects of workplace diversity. On the positive side, heterogeneity enhances positive organization performance while on the negative end it creates irresoluble divisions among members, which lead to dysfunctional teams; hence, poor performance. Therefore, diversity is a useful tool for organizational performance but can also be complex. The authors advise proper auditing the organizational environment to determine the most appropriate diversity approach to be implemented.
Discussion Analysis
The most compelling position on the authors’ discussion is diversity leads to increased innovation in organizations, enhance decision-making, and improves overall firm performance. Prieto, Phipps " Osiri (2009) supports this view by stating that firms that embrace diversity earn a competitive advantage. For instance, an organization with a more diverse senior management is more innovative and profitable because divergent perspectives are effective in creating better ideas and solve complex issues. Hayo (2007) points out that workplace diversity has a positive correlation with the well-being of workers, which subsequently leads to better organizational performance. If diversity is viewed as a strategic tool and not an EEO or AA, Jonsen, Tatli, Özbilgin " Bell (2013) affirm that an organization will register improved economic benefits. However, the study indicated that even though work diversity has its benefits, some organizations have not embraced it fully. Most are laced with racial discrimination in their job appointments and for that reason, some, especially the Fortune 500 are training their employees in a bid to enhance inclusivity. The analysis fortifies the theory that workplace diversity is beneficial to the contemporary organizations.
Conclusions
From the analysis, it can be concluded that the topic of workplace diversity is imperative in the contemporary diversified organizations. The proponents of diversity emphasize on the positive benefits of heterogeneity on the performance of employees and the entire organization. In addition, further research needs to be done on the implications of diversity on individuals. It is also important that companies undertake diversity initiatives such as employee training to develop an employee base that is creative, innovative and focused on attaining the core organizational objectives.
References
Bahler, K. (2018). Workplaces Are More Segregated Than 40 Years Ago. What Gives?. Money, 47(2), 28-29.
Gotsis, G., " Kortezi, Z. (2015). Different approaches to managing a diverse workforce. In Critical Studies in Diversity Management Literature (pp. 13-21). Springer, Dordrecht.
Hayo, B. (2007). Happiness in transition: An empirical study on eastern Europe. Economic Systems, 31(2), 204-221
Jonsen, K., Tatli, A., Özbilgin, M. F., " Bell, M. P. (2013). The tragedy of the uncommons: Reframing workforce diversity. Human Relations, 66(2), 271–274
Ozgen, C., Nijkamp, P., " Poot, J. (2017). The elusive effects of workplace diversity on innovation. Papers In Regional Science, 96S29-S49. doi:10.1111/pirs.12176
Prieto, L. C., Phipps, S. T., " Osiri, J. K. (2009). Linking workplace diversity to organizational performance: A conceptual framework. Journal of Diversity Management,
4(4), 13.
Rajput, N., " Talan, A. (2017). Interpersonal trust as the mediator of workplace diversity and well-being of employees. Indian Journal Of Health " Wellbeing, 8(7), 668-673.
Rawat, P. S., " Basergekar, P. (2016). Managing Workplace Diversity: Performance of Minority Employees. Indian Journal Of Industrial Relations, 51(3), 488-501.
