The value of workplace diversity and organizational outcomes

Value of Diversity

Diversity in the workplace can offer unique benefits when managed effectively. It refers to the presence of people from unique ethnic and human characteristics that bring along distinctive frames of reference that allow an organization to think, learn and grow. It thus "comprises key demographic differences among members of a given workforce, including gender, race and ethnicity, age... Sometimes they also include other factors such as marital status, parental status and religion." (Hunt, p. 61) in my workplace, full spectrum diversity is a relatively new phenomenon. It was only recently that some people from Southeast Asia were hired as computer programmers. This was a new situation because even though we have had people from other backgrounds, the organization had never really believed in hiring foreign workers before. These programmers were hired because company felt a strong need for talented new minds in this department and some rivals had already turned to Southeast Asia to hire some people from Bangalore, India.

Initially it felt rather odd because company was not accustomed to having foreigners around. We had people from other backgrounds but they had all essentially Americans so there was no immediate language or cultural barriers. With these five new programmers from India, we felt rather uncomfortable in the beginning as they would hang out with each other and their strong accent often made communicating with them a problem. But they were good at what they did and organization seemed happy with their professional contributions.

May and June are particularly busy months in our organization as we build small financial software for clients at the start of the new financial year. We had been anticipating a sudden urge in demand for our software because of new financial environment where most small and medium sized organizations were looking for cheaper software that didn't cost too much in maintenance and staff training. We had specialized in cheaper software for sometime so we knew this year demand would go up by 25% or more but this year we needed to save even more in order to produce even more economic alternatives.

Our computer programmers from India proved highly useful since being their experience in India had prepared them for creating quality software at highly economical rates. They knew all about cost-cutting and low cost solutions. This was something we found surprisingly refreshing. Not only did they know their work, their lifestyle in India had taught them all about survival. They knew very well how companies could produce cheap software and pass those savings on to their clients. They helped other programmers with their scripts, informed them of alternative cheaper solutions and interestingly, it all came very naturally to them. They also knew how to fix computers without always having to call in technicians and this was in itself a major change for the organization. These people from India did not only add to the diversity of the organization, they also gave a new dimension to our thinking.

For years, we had been used to working the same way. We never really thought that there could be other less costly and relatively economic ways of doing some of the common tasks. What we admired about these new employees was that they did not even brag about their "skills." It all came very naturally to them because of their lives in India. They were used to a life where wasting money is not an option, where buying expensive things in lieu of less expensive choices is not considered a wise choice and where saving money is important to survival.

We learned some valuable lessons from our new employees. We did not only learn to save money, we also learned how people live in other countries, how some things come so naturally to them and how are able to enjoy lives within their limited means. This also taught us why assimilation had been a bad idea all along. Instead of forcing people to adopt the ways of the majority, it makes more sense to allow them to be themselves and to learn from their unique backgrounds, mindsets and experiences. Griffin & Moorhead (2009) explain why melting pot is an old and rather dated concept: "Today, instead of a melting pot, the workplace in the United States might be regarded as a "tossed salad" made up of a mosaic of different flavors, colors, and textures. Rather than trying to assimilate those who are different into a single organizational culture, the current view holds that organizations need to celebrate the differences and utilize the variety of talents, perspectives and backgrounds of all employees." (p. 38)