Diversity and Culture
For any organization with the entire globe as its marketplace, the relevance of having a common understanding of culture, beliefs and values cannot be overstated. This is more so the case given that what might work in one country may not work in another. In this text, I come up with a concise definition of diversity. Further, I will amongst other things also discuss the various ways in which an organization can establish a performance culture with an aim of enhancing its chances of achieving organizational goals and objectives.
Diversity: A Concise Definition
For the last two or so decades, gender and race have according to Griffin and Moorhead (2011) been regarded the primary dimensions of diversity most particularly in the U.S. However, as the authors point out, the issues entailed in diversity are broader than this. In basic terms, diversity does not have an assigned definition. In that regard, various definitions of the same exist. At the workplace, diversity essentially "refers to all of the ways that employees are similar and different" (Griffin and Moorhead, 2011). Diversity can also be seen as all those characteristics that bring out the uniqueness in individuals. Griffin and Moorhead (2011) identify two key dimensions of diversity,...
primary and secondary diversity. While primary dimensions are largely 'inbuilt' and hence more or less permanent, the secondary dimensions of diversity are in most cases temporal. Examples of primary dimensions of diversity include but they are not limited to gender, ethnicity, and age (Griffin and Moorhead, 2011). On the other hand, secondary dimensions of ethnicity according to the authors include but they are not limited to marital status, income, geographical location, religious beliefs, etc.
Ways to Come up with a Common Definition of Diversity
It is important to note that an organization that understands and effectively manages diversity stands to benefit on several fronts. For instance, such an organization could benefit by having on board employees with unique perceptions and experiences. This could enhance not only the responsiveness of teams but also their productivity. In that regard, an organization must explore ways of coming up a common definition of diversity. To begin with, an organization must have in place an organizational policy that guarantees fair and just treatment for all. For instance, a company could choose to go past the mere recognition of standard holidays. In that regard, coming up with a standard definition of diversity would in my…
Diversity in Organizations The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) provides a tool to assess the attitudes and expectations of individuals in relation gender stereotypes and to generate a quantifiable score measuring the degree of latent gender hostility based on those scores. More specifically, there are two measures generated by this instrument: the first is a score of hostile sexism that corresponds to negative feelings toward women; the send is benevolent sexism that
Diversity in Organizations If we are to successfully change organizational members' attitudes and perceptions toward people from cultural groups other than their own, then we must start by examining how to effect that change so that it is implemented through all four layers of diversity. The approach that this paper discusses is based on the following model: Individual Behaviors -- Group Behaviors -- Organizational Behaviors This paper analyzes results of diversity training studies
Employees handle a large amount of private documentation and must uphold the law of confidentiality legally and ethically. Despite the stress on confidentiality of client information, communication flow is still important to the organization's ability to get work done. / Thus confidentiality in the service of customers, not in the service of secrecy is the organizational mantra. Additionally, communication is not simply fostered in the organizational culture's common professional dress.
Certain people are difficult to work with because they are unhappy in their lives or because they lack the necessary social skills and perceptions required to work with others. In many cases, difficult individuals can undermine morale and productivity of the working group if other members of the group react defensively or forget that it is not necessary to respond to every issue that is not directly related to
Human Resources Diversity in Organizations Workforce diversity recognizes the truth that people differ in many ways, noticeable or unseen, mainly age, gender, marital status, social status, disability, sexual orientation, religion, personality, ethnicity and culture. HRM is a set of distinct actions, tasks and procedures that are aimed at drawing in, directing and continuing an organization's human resources. The HR function has grown considerably over the past few decades and now covers the
Diversity in Organizations Globalization and the continual compression of cultures is leading to more emphasis than ever before on how to make diversity work as a competitive strength in organizations today. This is especially the case for global businesses that are making decisions on how to keep complex projects moving forward right now. This paper concentrates defining how important it is for global businesses to understand the nature of diversity,