In the modern world, the workplace has become an important area of focus in management. According to business experts, the workplace is important in influencing productivity of an organization. In this respect, many of the business organizations have ensured that the workplace is well organized and managed.
In turn, this ensures an optimal use of human resource. On the same note, it is important to remember that in most organizations, there is diversity. The diversity exists in various forms; race, sexual orientation, religion, sex or sometimes age (Barak, 2010). Some analysts’ believe that physical ability and disability are a form of diversity in a workplace. With all these diversity, it is important to harness all the potentiality among the people to ensure there is equality.
According to Williams (n. d), modern business organizations are embracing diversity as one of the contemporary business practices. In most cases, organizations ensure that there are policies that in turn ensure employees are treated with dignity. From this perspective, businesses are able to outsource various experts free of bias. According to Williams (n. d), there is a general belief that employees tend to be more productive when their employers accommodate them socially and treat them fairly.
However, for employers and organizations to promote diversity within working environments, various issues are considered. First, it is essential for employees to be honest with specific information. For example, information regarding religion, race or sexual orientation requires due submission to the human resource managers during the recruitment process. This submission of information is mandatory during the initial recruitment phase.
The next step is to ensure that the organization has an already formulated policy on diversity. Employees should then be aware of this policy in form of duties and responsibilities as well as code of conduct (Paludi, 2012). In addition, the policy should be clear on what it hopes to achieve from the diversity policy. The author is very categorical on the diversity issue. For example, the author explains that promoting diversity requires a systematic approach, where all staff members, including managers, require training on diversity.
For diversity to work and be effective within an organization, all staff members are required to accommodate other people. In this respect, a bit of flexibility among employees is required. For example, employees are required to accommodate and respect of other people’s cultures. An example of this flexibility is where an employee is morally obliged to help a disable workmate.
According to Jackson (1992), some of the benefits derived from promoting diversity are that the organization is able to harness various potentials. Employees also tend to work harmoniously. This is because issues such as prejudice are forgotten easily, reducing tension among employees.
One of the long-term benefits for prompting diversity is that it improves an organization’s public image. Therefore, many business organizations tend to benefit from positive businesses partnerships with organizations that prefer diversity. Most of the potential employees prefer organizations that can accommodate their diversity. In the long-term, organizations are able to get skilled labor from such employees.
In conclusion, diversity is one of the contemporary concepts that many businesses cannot ignore. With the emergence of the globalization phenomenon, it would be inevitable to ignore diversity with an organization that intends to thrive in a highly competitive business world.
References
Barak, M., M. (2010). Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Thousands Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Jackson, S., E. (1992). Diversity in the workplace: human resources initiatives. Guilford, Ct: Guilford Press.
Paludi, M., A. (2012). Managing diversity in today’s workplace: Strategies for employees and employers. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Williams, R. (n. d). Promoting diversity in the work place. Ezine Articles. Web.