Workforce Diversity Management
Business Case for Managing Diversity
In today’s world, increasing globalisation requires more interaction between people from different and diverse cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds. People are generally no longer living and working in an insular marketplace; we are now all part of a global economy with competition coming from many corners of the world. For this reason, profit and non-profit organisations need diversity to become more creative and open to change (Greenberg, 2005). Maximizing and capitalizing on workplace diversity has become an important issue for managers around the globe today. It has become increasingly apparent that appropriate management of a diverse workforce is critical for any organisation that seeks to improve and maintain their competitive advantage (Galagan, 1999). Focusing on diversity and looking for more ways to have a truly inclusive environment is not just a nice idea; it is good business sense that offers greater productivity and a competitive edge (Nelton, 2000). This paper attempts to examine the concept of diversity itself, issues and benefits of managing diversity, and suggested steps to take in order to manage diversity effectively.
Workplace Diversity
Workplace Diversity refers to having a variety of different people working together in an organisation or place of business. Employee gender, race, religion, sexual preference, physical appearance, family or marital status, education, culture and personality are some of the major factors that establish diversity in the workplace (UCSF, 2009). Diversity is rapidly becoming a very important necessity in today’s business world. Diversity not only involves how people perceive themselves, but how they perceive o ...