INTRODUCTION Diversity is defined as a multi-dimensional mixture of people who vary by age, gender, race, religion, or life-style. Workplace diversity refers to variety and multiformity in the workplace. This multiformity can be driven in numerous ways; demographic composition of geographical location, an aging population, increasing presence of women in the workplace to mention a few. In this paper we examine how diversity can be manages using operant and social learning practices to reduce the incidence of workplace stereotypes. Diversity in the workplace With market globalization and international competition, firms have come to realise that a diverse workplace is a strong competitive advantage in today’s markets. It helps to attract …show more content…
More often than not, final opinions tend to generalise diverse individuals resulting in statements of hasty generalizations about diverse groups “Stereotypes”. Attritions and motives are assumed to explain individual distinctiveness or performance in the workplace. Successful workplace diversity requires the throwing out whatever mental stereotypes we have built and understanding the value in difference. Sexual, racial and ethnic stereotypes need to be discarded before an organization can successfully move from “tolerating diversity” to “valuing diversity”. This requires members of the organization to “unlearn” diversity tolerance and learn the value in diversity. Operant and Social learning In the context of our discussion, learning refers to a relatively permanent change in behaviour to reflect the value in diversity that can occur within an organization due to practice or experience3. Personalities and behaviours can be strongly moulded by experiences and the work environment. Intrapersonal skills such as conflict resolution, teamwork and communicating are behaviours which need to be influenced to achieve a work environment that values diversity. Individual behaviours can be influenced through observations of the prevalent behaviours in the environment. This is achieved through imitation, self efficacy and self management. Stereotyping can lead to antisocial behaviours that directly targeted at our mental stereotypes in
Workplace diversity in an organization can provide many benefits but it can also create new challenges for employees and their managers. The organization I work for is in the tech sector and we have a modern competitively driven sales force. With that comes
This paper is the first part of a training manual that will help employees to have a better understanding of diversity in the work place and how to act towards different diversity issues that may arise in the workplace. It will also give current statistics and recent trends of the demographics in the United States as well as the forecasted trends. Also included will be a rough outline of the entire contents of the manual and the table of contents for the manual.
"Most people assume that workplace diversity is about increasing racial, national, gender, or class representation - in other words, recruiting and retaining more people from traditionally underrepresented identity group." [1] This is true for both discrimination and fairness and access and legitimacy paradigms. Although these two paradigms are the most common way that companies approach diversity, they are not the most effective way for companies to manage diversity.
Canas, K., & Harris , S. (2014). Opportunities and challenges of workplace diversity : theory, cases and exercises. (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ : Pearson Education,
The method of diversity training in the workplace affects every employee at every level of the organization; it also contributes to the achievement of workplace diversity. Every person is diverse, the skin color, skill set, experiences, or religion, we all are different in some form are another. However, in nearly every workplace stereotyping remains precedency above the optimistic significance that diversity brings to the workplace environment. In order to decrease, and/or eradicate biased actions of the workplace, affective diversity teachings are necessary. Training employees to respect the dissimilarities of their colleague, consumers, and their cliental, should be the focal point for the organization, as leaders make every effort to produce
Ethnic backgrounds, race, and gender are some of the things used to explain diversity in people. The world has grown to become a global village and this has contributed to diversity in the workplace. People relocate and set up businesses away from their home countries. Such acts promote national cohesion, and allow people to engage and learn ways of life of another society. It is common that people hold certain beliefs and views about other races or ethnicities. Views which a person holds or believes concerning a particular group is known as a stereotype. It can be negative or positive but, it is not always true. In a diverse work environment, employees have stereotypes concerning other workers and
Correcting extended years of discrimination and prejudice requires active efforts, and as such these efforts to elevate the marginalized are often viewed as discriminatory themselves. Workplace diversity programs are established with generally good intentions, but their implementation is often not the best means by which to accomplish the intended goal. Current efforts, perhaps ironically, attempt to legislate “one-size-fits-all” solutions by outlining a list of acceptable and unacceptable actions, creating an environment where discipline and blame are placed at the forefront. Human psychology, particularly cognitive biases, plays a vital role in diversity roadblocks and why current programs falter or fail. One study done in Stanford had presented
The people in today’s field of work has been greatly diversified since the early 1900’s. Diversity today means far more than just one’s race or skin color, it also includes gender, religious affiliations, immigrants and more. Coco Chanel, Steve Chen, and Liz Claiborne are examples of successful immigrant entrepreneurs in the workplace today. While it’s great to have a diversified workforce, and significant process has been made over the years, there are still struggles with this changing status. Two of the more common challenges are communication and a resistance to change. Each individual communicates and expresses opinions differently. Also, it’s hard to adapt to change when something has been done the same for several years, or someone has been brought up all their life believing in one thing. One of the most important challenges in a diverse workplace is management being able to attract and motivate employees and an innovative work environment. People also tend to work well and associate with people like themselves. And while it may not be intentional, individuals have stereotyped others because as we’ve grown older we learned to interpret the world in a way based on our experiences and backgrounds. For instance, the media portraying a killing on the news can be easily distorted by our beliefs and values. While managing diversity isn’t easy, managers must confront these issues to create a successful workplace.
1. There are a number of different methods of teaching employees about the value of diversity. Elmore (1997) suggests that we undertake activities that cause us to evaluate ourselves both as individuals and as members of a group. Additionally, exercises that highlight the negativity that stereotyping and discrimination brings can be valuable. Elmore also suggests that we examine both the similarities and differences in people. Workshops can help because they encourage interaction on a human level, so that some of these lessons need not be overtly explained until the end. This strategy will allow for growth and learning both during the exercise and afterwards as well.
In this week’s integrated article, review, I am focusing on diversity at the workplace. This is a topic very relevant and important for any organizations success. Diversity at the workplace refers to any characteristic that makes people different from one another.
Diversity in the workplace is imperative even though some commentators argue that too much diversity can be negative.
In today’s society, with various changes occurring in demographics because of globaliza- tion it is important to focus on a more diverse workplace. Managing a more diverse workplace may cause challenges. However it will benefit the company
Today, more and more organizations are moving towards the analysis of how to implement diversity as a core value. For an organization to hold people accountable for diversity expectations, leaders must implement, have a clear understanding, and practice diversity policies and procedures (Williams, 2013). By outlining a foundation together with a lateral approach leaders can encourage diversity understanding (Williams, 2013). Knowledgeable leaders are able to make certain that people are being held accountable for diversity violations and ensure that organizations are doing business that reflects its core values (Williams, 2013). The changes and demands of today’s organizations require leaders to be more aware of diversity issues. Immediately addressing diversity issues allows cooperation’s to be more productive and competitive (Kotter, 1980).
The impact of diversity in the workplace is dependent upon several factors. Across companies diversified workforces are becoming ever more common. To successfully
Diversity is beyond acknowledging difference in age, gender and ethnicity. Implementation of diverse workforce involves recognizing and combating discrimination and promoting inclusiveness. Negative attitudes and behaviors are hurdles to organizational diversity. They can be harmful to working relationships and affect work productivity. Attitudes such as prejudice, stereotyping and