A diverse workforce is better equipped to understand and capture a greater share of the consumer market. With diversity also comes an understanding of different cultures creating a greater global perspective to the organization. Gone are the days where the focus of diversity is on fairness for a legally protected population. Organizations now understand that through diversity, they have the ability harness positive change through diversity of thought. A diverse workforce guards against groupthink helping to create new inspirations. A successful leader must not only understands this value, they also recognize the significant role that diversity plays outside the organizations with external customers and even in the communities in which they conduct business (Diaz-Uda, Medina, & Schill, 2013). Taking a business perspective on diversity by aligning Diversity & Inclusion with corporate strategy is a must for today’s organizations. This will help to not only create a more unified and versatile workforce, but it will help you understand the needs of the market and how the customer is changing (Mitchell and Creary, 2009, p. 10).
We categorically group people together based on things like external, societal, and racial factors on a daily basis. Diversity encompasses these unique factors in that they delineate what set us apart from others in a group. These differences, or cultural diversity, are “learned beliefs, values, rules, symbols, and traditions” associated with a culture (Northouse, 2013, p. 384). Culture, across groups can share similarities but is generally quite varied form peoples to peoples, depending on their customs, courtesies, and traditions and also even on a more personal level, by ones gender, race or age.
The later, along with hair or skin color, weight and height, are all indicators of surface-level diversity, or differences we can easily distinguish. Internally, factors such as religious beliefs and cultural values are indicators of deep-level diversity. Religion, values, and political views are all ways of thinking that are formed though learning, and unlike surface-level indicators, can be changed or influenced. Although surface-level diversity does not cause an individual to behave or think in a certain way, it can have an effect in the way an individual experiences life compared to others. Many experiments that evaluate this come to mind; a white person experiencing life as a black person, a pretty and skinny girl as an ugly and overweight girl, man/woman exchanging roles.
Today’s leaders are working with a diverse multicultural employee and customer base. The differences in this workforce now consist of not only men and women and African American or Hispanic, but also veterans and people with disabilities. Minorities in today’s workforce are in roles today that used to be primarily, if not entirely, filled by white males. Census data suggests that by the year 2050 there will be not racial or ethnic majority in the United States, and that 83 percent of the working-age population growth will be from new immigrants and their children (Kirby & Burns, 2012). Any organization that has not yet implemented a D&I strategy is behind the curve. Leveraging the diverse talent pool in the United States now is going to play a big role on who is more innovative, has less turnover, and ultimately affect the bottom line depending on your investment in diversity.
References
Diaz-Uda, A., Medina, C., & Schill, B. (2013, July 23). Diversity’s new frontier. Retrieved from http://dupress.com/articles/diversitys-new-frontier/
Kirby, S., & Burns, C. (2012, July 12). The Top 10 Economic Facts of Diversity in the Workplace. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/labor/news/2012/07/12/11900/the-top-10-economic-facts-of-diversity-in-the-workplace/
Mitchell, C., & Creary, S. (2009). Diversity & inclusion: global challenges and opportunities. Retrieved from Council Perspectives website: http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/nv/information/equal_employment_opportunity.Par.28411.File.dat/global_diversity.pdf
Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., & Moran, S. V. (2011). Global leaders and communications. In Managing cultural differences: Global leadership strategies for cross-cultural business success (8th ed., pp. 2-34). Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
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