Advantages And Disadvantages Of Diversity Policy In A Workplace

Advantages

Discuss about the Diversity Policy In A Work Place.

Diversity in an organization creates a diverse experience.  Fellow employees with different cultural backgrounds come up with a new set of experiences to share with other members in their departments. An employer should take an advantage of such knowledge by putting them collectively to boost production (Hndlaechner 2008, p. 152). If these new ideas they bring up with them are used accordingly, it will have a positive impact on all employees within the organization and hence bringing the best out of them.

Diversity in an organization promotes learning and growth. Both the employer and employees will learn a lot from each other when working in an organization which practice diversity policy (Jager, B, and Cleland, A. 2016, p. 153). This will help them grow professionally in their respective field of work and once employees have grown it means the organization has also grown. This is a big asset to the organization. Spending time with culturally diverse co-workers also reduce ethnicity and make employees be well-rounded citizens in the society.

Diversity also increases adaptability in an organization. To address problems of workplace diversity, an organization has to develop a variety of solutions, forcing them to adapt to a diverse workforce (Konrad 2006, p. 67). It might be a long and tire full process, but in the long run, an employer will realize that it is necessary. Employees who have worked in organizations which practice diversity policy can share ideas which help in dealing with the changing customer needs and fluctuating markets. It will increase the volume of sales as a result of wide customer rich. An organization has to develop a new process which brings together employees with diverse policy experience as this will without a doubt create good interaction among employees which is very healthy for the organization (Karmann, Flatten, &Brettel 2016, p. 223)

Another great advantage of diversity policy is that it increases productivity. Globalization and internalization are two of the gifts that workforce diversity brings to the table, this is why foreign executives are very successful in the corporate world in America, while citizens from Europe find their place in high-level jobs (Peters 2008, p. 22). When they combine their skills, experience believe and individual strength they can do wonders in the field of production. There is even that completion among employees that the other employees who are from another race or cultural background cannot defeat him or her in performing a particular task which in the long run leads to high level of production. As a result of high level of production the company makes big profits and return on investment.

Disadvantages

Diversity also increases a range of services offered by a company. A diverse collection of people with different experiences, skills, cultural understanding, languages and other differences enables a company to provide customers services on a global basis (Bendl&Henttonen 2015, p. 71). It is because language barrier and cultural differences are avoided. These employees from the same race with clients will interact freely with them as they understand them much better. The customers will also be impressed finding out that the organization is not specific to the kind of people they employ hence making them like the place more. Once the management has an in-depth knowledge about a particular race, they will be in a good position of providing services that specifically suits them.

 A systematic study has shown that that diversity policy in a workplace is a source of organizations’ ideas. No two people will ever think alike in everything. An employer who knows how to exploit different technicalities from employees creates a large pool of ideas and experiences from them (Karmann, Flatten, &Brettel 2016, p. 234). From these ideas, the company can then come up with strategies which deal with business concerns and customer needs (Hendrix & Jackson 2016, p. 246).

Even though diversity has many positive effects on an organization, it will not be right to omit its demerits as they will also help an organization to decide whether to practice it or not. It will make those organization practicing it also to be on the alert about the challenges it might also bring abroad with it.  One of the challenges of diversity in a workplace is the language barrier. Effective communication within an organization is one of the steps leading to success. Unfortunately, diversity policy can block it, and it can directly reduce productivity due to lack of cohesiveness (Peters 2008, p. 55). You will realize that most companies who provide services to international customers have to employ those who can speak multiple languages to help them serve their customers well. Lack of lingua franca reduces confidentiality, therefore, making employees not to execute their duties appropriately.

Diversity also minimizes freedom of speech. In a diverse workplace, employers and employees must be sensitive to race, cultural background, beliefs, and other issues (Danowitz, Hanappi, &Mensi-Klarbach 2012, p. 102). So you do not just crack jokes about others who are not from your race because it may not be as acceptable. Employees cannot share their ideas with each other or with their employers openly because they will not understand each other effectively (Golembiewski, 2003, p. 188). They cannot seat together during lunch break or any other free time to even socialize, it will not be a workplace which many people would like to be associated with.

Findings

Another disadvantage of diversity policy in a workplace is that it leads to high cost of training. Instead of the normal training, organizations are forced to invest more income in seminars, programs, and lectures in order to train them adopting with diversity policy (Bendl, R. and Henttonen, E. 2015, p. 132). Such training is essential as they teach employees how to accept thoughts, ideas, and personalities of others in the workplace. It also provides information on how to deal with prejudice and conflict in a civilized and professional manner (Bell 2012, p. 192).  Since companies will always hire, it means it will continue to spend on training.

With these advantages of diversity in an organization, it can be concluded that it is a good policy which an organization should practice, it is a pool of ideas, it increases productivity, it makes the employees grow individually, and it increases a range of services and more so creates adaptability. This is something which all companies yarn for, and if they can be achieved through diversity, then it is something worth practicing.

From the analysis, it is evident that diversity can lead to integration. Even in an environment where diversity policy is not practiced, exclusive social groups always come up but it is common in organizations practicing diversity policy. With such groups in an organization, informal division among employees always occurs thereby promoting social integration (Hndlaechner 2008, p. 164). It will also lead to a working environment characterized by culturally different employees who avoid each other. It hinders sharing of ideas, skills, and experience thereby leading to low production and lack of growth.

Recommendations and Conclusion

By looking at both disadvantages and advantages of diversity in a workplace, It is highly recommended that organizations should practice it as it will lead to high profits and return on investment. The disadvantages can be worked on by training employees on how to relate to each other and avoid unnecessary competition which may lead to low quality and reduction in productivity. Training might be expensive, but it will be a long-term benefit to the company. When an organization adopts diversity policy it can perform better in terms of productivity. It is important for the companies to have knowledge on diversity, how to handle challenges relating to it in order to experience its benefits. The need for the diverse workforce is getting more not only because there are different people but also because they can produce better results with having different types of people working together (Jager, B, and Cleland, A. 2016, p. 153). It is therefore recommended that diversity policy is one of the best a company should adopt in order to achieve its objectives.

References

Bendl, R., Bleijenbergh, I., &Henttonen, E. 2015. The Oxford handbook of diversity in organizations. Oxford, Oxford Brookes University.

BELL, M. P. 2012. Diversity in organizations. Mason, Ohio, South-Western College.

Danowitz, M. A., Hanappi-Egger, E., &Mensi-Klarbach, H. 2012. Diversity in organizations: concepts and practices. New York, Palgrave Macmillan.

Golembiewski, R. T. 2003. Managing diversity in organizations. Tuscaloosa, Al, University of Alabama Press.

Hendrix, K, & Jackson, R 2016, ‘The Contours of Progress: Parsing Diversity and Difference Studies’, Communication Education, 65, 2, pp. 245-249

Hndlaechner, M. (2008). Managing cultural diversity and how to manage it within an organisation. Munich, GRIN Verlag GmbH.

Jager, B, & Cleland, A 2016, ‘Polysemy Advantage with Abstract But Not Concrete Words’, Journal Of Psycholinguistic Research, 45, 1, pp. 143-156, Communication & Mass Media Complete.

KONRAD, A. M. (2006). Cases in gender and diversity in organizations. Thousand Oaks, California, Sage.

Karmann, T, Mauer, R, Flatten, T, &Brettel, M 2016, ‘Entrepreneurial Orientation and Corruption’, Journal Of Business Ethics, 133, 2, pp. 223-234

Peters, B. A. (2008). Managing diversity in intergovernmental organisations. Wiesbaden, VS, Verlagfu?rSozialwissenschaften.