Workplace Diversity in American Countries Research Paper

Introduction

Diversity in the workplace is a major issue that many companies face as they try to promote unity and teamwork in their operations. According to Scott and Sims (2016), successful companies have realized that diversity is a strength that enables them to understand varying needs of customers in the market. However, studies have shown that ensuring that these people work as a unit towards a common organizational goal may be a challenge.

The varying views and interests of employees may create a situation where they encounter constant disagreements, which may slow their performance. Some employees have learnt how to solve their differences amicably while others still view race, religion, gender, and many other demographical factors as traits that make them different. I conducted a research on how workplace diversity affects a firm’s performance and how companies can use it as strength instead of allowing it to become a factor that limits their performance. The report provides findings I made from the investigations I made.

Discussion

In the current global society, it is impossible for a firm to avoid diversity in the workplace. According to Gröschl and Bendl (2016), one of the most common forms of diversity in modern organization is gender. Aquino and Robertson (2018) explains that the time when women were expected not to play any significant role in the corporate world is long gone. During the First and the Second World War, men were forced to spend most of their time in the battlefields. Women had to take over their work in various companies to provide for their families. When the war ended, women remained active in the corporate world.

It is almost impossible to find a large corporation that only hires men in the modern society (Bendl, Bleijenbergh, Henttonen, & Mills, 2015). It is unfortunate that women have always been subject of molestation in these workplace environments for years. Sexual molestation is common in many large corporation, and the main problem is that most of them are rarely reported, making it difficult to fight the vice effectively. Figure 1 below shows the percentage of gender representation of workers in the global corporate world. It is evident that men still dominate these workplaces at 61% while women occupy 39% of the workplace. It is important to note that the population of women has been growing consistently over the years.

Race is another aspect of diversity that is common in the modern society. During the era of slavery and slave trade, Africans were brought to North, Central, and South America to work as slaves. Indians and Chinese also came to the region over the years in search of better employment opportunities. The United States has one of the most diversified populations in the world because of the continued immigration (Villesèche, Muhr, & Holck, 2018).

Other American countries such as Brazil and Chile also have a highly diversified population. The problem is that sometimes it is difficult for people to work together as a unit when they focus on the differences that they have. Köllen (2016) observes that racism is a common issue that many firms face. When employees spend most of their time to defend their race or fighting people of the other race because of the perceived superiority their performance drops. They lose focus and instead of supporting one another to realize a common goal, they end up trying to find ways of bringing down their colleagues. The problem is that when their colleagues fail to perform, the company ends up bearing the loss.

Figure 1 below shows the percentage representation of employees in the United States in terms of their race in high-paying jobs. The statistics show that Whites dominate the American workplace environment, at 53%. Asians come second at 38% in the best paying jobs in the country. Hispanics come in the third place at 4% while Blacks are fourth at 2%. It is evident that African Americans find it difficult finding a job in some of the best paying companies in the country because of the persistent problem of racism. Prescott (2016) observes that one of the major stereotypes that limit career growth of blacks is that they are violent and less likely to abide by the rule of law. As such, finding a decent job even if they have the right qualifications may be a challenge.

Religion has emerged as another factor that divided employees instead of uniting them towards a common course. According to Rozkwitalska, Sułkowski, and Magala (2017), activities of Islamic extremist groups such as Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Al Shabab have created an impression that Muslims are terrorists. As such, there is a general mistrust between Muslims and people belonging to other faiths.

The problem got worse after the September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda attack in the United States that left over three thousand people dead and thousands more injured (Prescott, 2016). There have been cases where Muslims are openly branded as terrorists without any proper justification. Such incidences breed hatred and desire to revenge instead of creating team spirit. The situation can be worse to the extent that it may possibly lead to physical altercation is the management fails to act appropriately to fight such problem. Age and sexual orientation are also other areas of diversity but they have become less emotive in the modern society.

Workplace diversity is a factor that modern organizations cannot avoid. Even if a firm makes a decision to hire individuals from a specific race, it must deal with the age difference, which is a form of diversity that may create a rift within an organization if it is not handled properly. Tinuke (2016) explains that different scholars have varying views on how to address the problem of diversity. A section of scholars argues that the management should allow employees with significant similarities to work together in specific departments to avoid disagreements and time wastage (Cletus, Mahmood, Umar, & Ibrahim, 2018).

It is common to find cases where people of the race, religion, gender or age getting close in a school or workplace environment. The fact that they are of the same race or religion makes them comfortable with one another.

As such, companies should take advantage of the natural attraction to group these employees accordingly. The proponents of this approach of dealing with diversity argue that allowing employees to choose their preferred groupings based on these factors helps to eliminate unnecessary in-fights within the firm. They get to work as a unit to prove a point to the rest of the people in the firm that they should not be undervalued because of their demographical classifications. The bonding will be natural and the firm will spend less time and resources trying to convince them to work as a unit.

The opponent of the above approach to dealing with diversity believe that it is not advisable to further disenfranchise workers based on their race, religion, gender, or any other factors that make them different. Köllen (2016) explains that it is not possible to have young employees working together in one unit while the elderly workers working on a different unit. People of the same age may have little to learn from one another.

The younger employees need to learn from the more experienced workers on how to undertake their duties. Similarly, the elder workers have a lot to learn from the younger employees, especially when it comes to the use of emerging technologies. When people of varying ages are assigned to work in the same unit, there will be mutual learning and development of everyone involved (Prescott, 2016). The performance of such a group will improve, and as such, there will be a general improvement in the performance of the firm.

Racial diversity is another factor that firms struggle to deal with. Köllen (2016) argues that instead of promoting the racial differences further by allowing them to work in separate units, it is necessary for managers to ensure that these people work together. They will learn to appreciate their differences and how it can be exploited for the benefit of the company. When blacks work alongside whites and Hispanics, they get to appreciate the fact that the differences in skin color do not define who they are in the society. They will realize that they have more in common than what divided them.

According to Prescott (2016), the approach of integration may be challenging at first. When two people of different races, religion, and varying views are made to work together, cases of disagreements will be common. Verbal attacks would be common and sometimes it may degenerate into physical fights. However, the more these people interact, the more they get to appreciate the richness of diversity. They get to understand the value of working as a unit towards a common goal. In long term, such employees will forget about the physical or religious differences and focus on what matters to the firm.

Large corporations around the world have learned how to deal with the issue of diversity to ensure that they transform it from being a factor that causes division to one that enables them to understand varying market needs. Different factors of diversity may require varying levels of attention. Figure 2 below shows the level of effort that a specific company puts in addressing the issue. The company has given gender the priority.

Tinuke (2016) explains that women still face varying forms of abuses in the workplace. They also find it difficult climbing the career ladder because of the wrong perception that some men have about women’s ability to deliver good results when faced with numerous challenges. There is also the problem where some men and even a few women believe that the only way that women can get a promotion is to offer sexual favors to senior managers (Scott & Sims, 2016).

When employees embrace such beliefs, they may fail to appreciate the value that such a woman would offer upon promotion. They will not respect her because they feel she did not deserve to get the promotion. Large corporations are spending time and resources to fight these negative perceptions and to ensure that women are offered the same platform as men to enable them succeed at work.

Racial and ethnic diversity is another factor that companies are investing resources and time to address. According to Köllen (2016), it has taken years to appreciate the fact that race is not a factor that defines a person’s capabilities. Although major improvements have been witnessed over the years, Prescott (2016) explains that racism is still a problem in many countries in North, Central, and South America. Racial may affect the performance of employees.

Awareness campaigns and strict company policies that forbid any form of racism may help address the problem. The study also shows that age or generational gap is another area of diversity that also needs attention. It may not be easy for young employees to work with their elderly colleagues. However, this cannot be avoided as they need to learn from one another, as discussed above. Other factors such as educational background, religion, and disability should also be considered when planning on how to eliminate negative forces related to diversity.

Conclusion

Workplace diversity is a factor that a firm cannot ignore in the current society. I have learned about the value of making employees work as a unit even if they belong to different races, religion, gender, age, or any other demographical groups. The study demonstrates the significance of working as a team towards achieving common goals. Instead of focusing on personal differences, employees should learn to focus on the common interest of the company to help combat negativities associated with workplace diversity. The findings mean that the society must learn to live together to help solve common problems instead of focusing on demographical differences. It is the only way of improving life in the society.

Recommendations

The study has identified the significance of diversity and the need for organizations to find ways of addressing negative forces associated with it. The following are the recommendations that I feel local organizations should embrace:

• Companies need to enact policies that prohibit any form of discrimination at workplace. Appropriate punishment should be used against those who break such policies.
• Local firms should spend time and resources on creating awareness about the significance of diversity and the need to embrace it.
• Organization should have policies that discourage people from forming groups based on their demographical classes such as gender, race, or religion.

References

Aquino, C. T., & Robertson, R. (2018). Diversity and inclusion in the global workplace: Aligning initiatives with strategic business goals. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

Bendl, R., Bleijenbergh, I., Henttonen, E., & Mills, A. J. (2015). The Oxford handbook of diversity in organizations. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Cletus, H. E., Mahmood, N. S., Umar, A., & Ibrahim, D. A. (2018). Prospects and challenges of workplace diversity in modern day organizations: A critical review. Holistica, l 9(2), 35-52.

Gröschl, S., & Bendl, R. (2016). Managing religious diversity in the workplace: examples from around the world. London, United Kingdom: Taylor and Francis.

Köllen, T. (2016). Sexual orientation and transgender issues in organizations: Global perspectives on lgbt workforce diversity. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

Prescott, J. (2016). Handbook of research on race, gender, and the fight for equality. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Rozkwitalska, M., Sułkowski, Ł., & Magala, S. (2017). Intercultural interactions in the multicultural workplace: Traditional and positive organizational scholarship. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Scott, C. L., & Sims, J. D. (2016). Developing workforce diversity programs, curriculum, and degrees in higher education. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Tinuke, F. M. (2016). Workplace diversity management: A corporate performance driver. International Journal for Research in Business, Management, and Accounting, 2(4), 43-54.

Villesèche, F., Muhr, S. L., & Holck, L. (2018). Diversity and identity in the workplace: Connections and perspectives. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Pivot.