Discrimination in the workplace, whether it be overt or subtle enough to elude detection can greatly harm employees’ work experiences. Not only can it hurt the work environment it can expose your company to litigation for violating federal or state laws in place to protect groups such as these. Discrimination against members of any minority group to include women, whether based on color, race or any other classification, occurs when members of a group are treated differently from other people or employees, solely because of this group affiliation (Biro, 2015). Minority discrimination can even exist in an organization with a diverse workforce. The term “glass ceiling” most often refers to female employees not able to advance beyond certain pay grades and levels, but this term also applies to ethnic minorities. This is a tough subject to tackle at times without looking like minorities are just complainers. The fact of the matter is that numbers don’t like and the facts are out there. It is the interpretation of these numbers that begin the dialogue of “what is really going on here?”
It’s a fact, women and minorities are significantly underrepresented in corporate America and in leadership positions in general. Apart from the belief that each and every race and gender deserves an opportunity, the facts are diversity impacts the bottom line.
In a report by, Senator Menendez, “Studies examining the relationship between racial or ethnic diversity, gender diversity, and financial performance have revealed that companies with more diverse teams outperform their less-diverse counterparts.” (Biro, 2015).
He cites a 2014 McKinsey report that researched hundreds of companies globally: “Companies in the top quartile of racial or ethnic diversity were 30% more likely to have financial returns above the national industry median.”(Biro, 2015).
Gallup has also done research that shows gender-diverse business units in retail have 14 percent higher comparable revenues; in the hospitality industry, that rises to 19 percent higher average quarterly profit (Biro, 2015).
So we have all heard that employee engagement leads to higher productivity and, as a result, profitability. These studies seem to also display that diversity leads to higher engagement among employees, thus profitability as well.
Reference:
Biro, M. M. (2015, October 29). The Harsh Reality of Diversity in Today’s Workplace. Retrieved July 29, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/meghan-m-biro-/the-harsh-reality-of-dive_b_8408654.html