EFFECTS OF WORK-FORCE DIVERSITY Submitted To:

Maam Ammara Saleem

Submitted By:
M. Wahid Sarfaraz Hina Mehmood Ghulam Mohyuddin Anwaar.ul.Haq Numan Nazir Anwaar-ul-Haq M. Irfan MBSE-11-37 MBSE-11-34 MBS-13-38 MBS-13-61 MBS-13-54 MBS-13-37 MBS-13-56

WORK-Force Diversity
Workforce diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. That sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more. Diversity not only involves how people perceive themselves, but how they perceive others. Those perceptions affect their interactions. For a wide assortment of employees to function effectively as an organization, human resource professionals need to deal effectively with issues such as communication, adaptability and change. Diversity will increase significantly in the coming years. Successful organizations recognize the need for immediate action and are ready and willing to spend resources on managing diversity in the workforce now. The world's increasing globalization requires more interaction among people from diverse cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds than ever before. People no longer live and work in an insular marketplace, they are now part of a worldwide economy with competition coming from nearly every continent. For this reason, profit and non-profit organizations need diversity to become more creative and open to change. Maximizing and capitalizing on workforce diversity has become an important issue for management today. Supervisors and front-line managers could benefit from reading this paper. Supervisors and managers are the targeted audience because they need to recognize the ways in which the workforce is changing, evolving, and diversifying. Since managing diversity remains a significant organizational challenge, managers must learn the managerial skills needed in a multicultural work environment. Supervisors and managers must be prepared to teach themselves and others within their organizations to value multicultural differences in both associates and customers so that everyone is treated with dignity.

Diversity Defined
Diversity is generally defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status. The term diversity has a very broad connotation and includes many facets of differences, apart from disparities in race and gender. In the context of a workforce, diversity gets manifested in many forms such as age, gender, ethnicity, physical attributes, sexual orientation, educational background, income, marital status, geographical location, spiritual practice, parental status, work experience, job classification and the like. With the advent of globalization, diversity in workforce is getting increasingly pronounced. All the same, an organizations success and growth rate is also determined by its ability to welcome, understand and manage diversity in an effective manner. It is only when people of different background and beliefs work together as a team that the company can hope to progress and grow. The main key to achieve this is by working towards valuing diversity. Read on to know about the advantages of diversity in workforce and also learn about managing issues related to it. Demographic changes (women in the workforce, organizational restructurings, and equal

opportunity legislation) will require organizations to review their management practices and develop new and creative approaches to managing people. Changes will increase work performance and customer service

Benefits of Workforce Diversity

An organization's success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits. When organizations actively assess their handling of workforce diversity issues, develop and implement diversity plans, multiple benefits are reported such as: Increased adaptability: Organizations employing a diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of solutions to problems in service, sourcing, and allocation of resources. Employees from diverse backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences in suggesting ideas that are flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer demands. Broader service range: A diverse collection of skills and experiences, for example languages, cultural understanding allows a company to provide service to customers on a global basis. Variety of viewpoints: A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences. The organization can draw from that pool to meet business strategy needs and the needs of customers more effectively. More effective execution: Companies that encourage diversity in the workforce inspire all of their employees to perform to their highest ability. Company-wide strategies can then be executed. Resulting in higher productivity, profit, and return on investment Diversity is beneficial to both associates and employers. Although associates are interdependent in the workforce, respecting individual differences can increase productivity. Diversity in the workforce can reduce lawsuits and increase marketing opportunities, recruitment, creativity, and business image. In an era when flexibility and creativity are keys to competitiveness, diversity is critical for an organization's success.

Advantages Of Diversity In Workforce

When employees come from diverse backgrounds, they bring individual talents and experiences with them. This invariably contributes to an organizations overall growth. Diversities in a working environment add a unique richness to the workforce. There is a special kind of challenge - every individual within the organization feels like putting in extra effort to overcome these individual differences. Such united opinions, in fact, work for the betterment of the company or the institution. Embracing employees with different skills and cultural viewpoints helps in understanding the needs and requirements of the customers, on a global scale.

Diversity in workforce leads to a wide variety of viewpoints and business ideas. This helps an organization formulate the best business strategy, with its large pool of different ideas and solutions.

Challenges of Diversity in the Workforce

Taking full advantage of the benefits of diversity in the workforce is not without its challenges. Some of those challenges are: Communication: Perceptual, cultural and language barriers need to be overcome for diversity programs to succeed. Ineffective communication of key objectives results in confusion, lack of teamwork, and low morale. Resistance to change: There are always employees who will refuse to accept the fact that the social and cultural makeup of their workforce is changing. The "we've always done it this way" mentality silences new ideas and inhibits progress. Implementation of diversity in the workforce policies: This can be the dominant challenge to all diversity advocates. Armed with the results of employee assessments and research data, they must build and implement a customized strategy to maximize the effects of workforce diversity for their particular organization. Successful Management of Diversity in the Workforce: Diversity training alone is not sufficient for your organizations diversity management plan. A strategy must be created and implemented to create a culture of diversity that permeates every department and function of the organization. Individual versus Group Fairness: This issue is closely related to the difference in divisive versus better i.e. how far management should go in adapting HR programs to diverse employee groups. Offense: Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) was imposed by government rather than self initiated. The response to this forced change was in many cases grudging compliance. Group Cohesiveness and Interpersonal Conflict: Although employee diversity can lead to greater creativity and better problem solving; it can also lead to open conflict and chaos if there is mistrust and lack of respect among groups. This means that as organizations become more diverse, they face greater risks that employees will not work together effectively. Interpersonal friction rather than cooperation may become the norm

Criticism: Some group in the organization feels that they have to defend themselves against encroachments by those using their gender or ethnicity to lay claim to organizational resources .Thus, while women and minorities may view a firms cultural diversity policy as a commitment to improving their chances of advancement. Retention: The job satisfaction levels of women and minorities are often lower than those of majorities. Therefore it becomes difficult to retain such people in an organization.

Managing Diversity in Organizations

Incorporate Diversity Initiatives into All Aspects of the Organization Integrate diversity into all processes, core values and strategic plans. Managers and all top executives must take responsibility for diversity, not just the human resources department. Broaden Your Definition of Diversity Beyond visible differences such as race and gender, also consider geographic background, sexual orientation, language, religion, ability or disability, communication style and work function. Raise Awareness of the Value of Diversity Among Your Staff and Promote It Actively promote and celebrate the fact that you have a diverse workforce. This will illustrate to your employees that diversity is embraced and will give them a sense of comfort with their surroundings, leading to greater productivity. Raising awareness will also ensure that your employees are on board and agree that a diverse workplace is important even necessary for a business to thrive. Treat Everyone as Individuals No two people are alike. Examine employees and recognize their strengths, weaknesses, preferences and work style. This will allow you to assign tasks that play to their best abilities and give them a greater chance for success. This also allows you to limit opportunities for failure. Look for Opportunities to Learn Be observant of your employees and try to learn more about their heritages, traditions and beliefs. This knowledge will allow you to compare the differences and similarities of your staff and build on those for the benefit of your organization. Set Aside Time for Team Interaction During Regular Meetings Encourage all employees to take part in the discussion and give their thoughts on how they feel things are going. This will allow you and your staff to learn more about each other. Regularly Assess Your Work Environment On a regular basis, survey your staff regarding the current work environment and ask questions about how comfortable they are working for you and with other employees. This will identify any issues that exist and give you the opportunity to address them.

Address Concerns Immediately If a concern regarding diversity in your work environment is brought to your attention, address it as soon as possible. Carefully examine the situation to ensure you know all of the facts. If a change is necessary, take action and address the issue. This will show your staff that you take it seriously and consider it an important factor for the success of your company. Encourage Diversity Management Training If you feel your organization needs to learn more about managing a diverse workforce, seek out training for you and any other managers in your business. Many organizations, including WORKFORCE CENTRAL FLORIDA, can provide you with training and training grants to better manage your staff. Leaders who promote workplace diversity are more likely to retain quality and satisfied employees, increase customer loyalty and improve productivity and competitiveness.

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An organization should keep a check on the perceptual, cultural and language barriers related to diversity and see that they dont give way to confusion and low team spirit. While working towards managing diversities in organizations, attempts should be made to identify the similarities, instead of looking for the differences. This will help the organization set up the basis for a healthy working environment. Proper steps should be taken to involve every employee while devising and executing diversity initiatives in the workplace. Take polite and sincere interest about the well being and emotional health of the workers. For the smooth running of any institution, it is very essential to keep the human aspect in mind. It should be kept in mind that every person has his or her personal life and it is important to value that and give the person some space. Respect and value each persons contribution, overlooking their differences in opinions and beliefs. An organization should provide an atmosphere of openness and. Employees should never be dissuaded from voicing their opinions and ideas, regarding any matter. Try to create an environment within the institution wherein every person will enjoy working. An organization should always see that it promotes diversity in managerial and leading positions. Organizations can also arrange training, in order to improve policies and procedures related to diversity.