Diversity in the Defence Department: Exploring Demographic and Cognitive Differences - Essay Sample

Introduction

Diversity is the degree to which there exist differences within a team, unit, or a group. In considering diversity, the Defence Department can consider diversity in the following ways; Demographic diversity, which is inclusive of the age, education, gender marital status, ethnicity economic status as well as religion (Team diversity: How differences improve performance, 2011). It can also be categorized as cognitive diversity, which revolves around personality traits, knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, and strengths. These are qualities that are inborn or gained during the growth process. Where diversity can introduce complexities in the output, it can also be an irreplaceable asset in the long run. The composition of a team, whether in a business unit, managerial unit, or military, is an essential aspect of unit performance (America's diversity is our Army's strength, 2016). Over time, teams with diversity outperform the teams without diversity. This paper will review diversity in the military and why it is essential.

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Diversity and Cohesion

Armed forces cohesion is considered one of the positive attributes in a group often. It contributes to the ability of the team to cooperate and perform exemplarily, especially under the unfriendly and stressful conditions (Sutton & Kenney, 2017). Cohesiveness can have varying definitions and largely depend on the context. In armed forces context, it can be defined as the union that develops from a unit or a team where members share a standard value or where individuals conform to group norms and characteristics to ensure success or survival. Studies have shown that cohesiveness in a diverse group is associated with job satisfaction higher retention rate and improved discipline (Team diversity: How differences improve performance, 2011). A group that has a membership drawn from diverse backgrounds and has a higher level of cohesiveness portrays better performance compared to the non-cohesive group. This is because shared experiences shared from different experiences contributes to tasks better than a group made up of a homogeneous group. Cohesion drawn from this type of experience is usually stronger, and that leads to better group performance that the one drawn from social cohesion. Social cohesion encourages homogeneity (Team diversity: How differences improve performance, 2011).

Diversity and Social Equality

The military burden of protecting the interests of a country should not be a reserve of a particular section. This means that the responsibility should not be left to a specific geographic, socioeconomic, or demographic group (Kamarck, 2016). The majority argues that the risk of service in the military should be shared among all the qualified citizens equally. Others argue that the service in the military elevates the social standing of an individual as it confers various benefits such as education, training, and opportunities that are limited to the civilians (Sutton & Kenney, 2017). Therefore, some social justice groups argue that enjoy these benefits; the diversity should be encouraged within the military.

Diversity and Talent Pool

Talent is one of the most significant distinguishing factors in the overall performance of a unit. Due to friendlier immigration policies and intermarriages, countries are becoming more diverse, and that means the talents are increasing at the same rate across the country. The Army should, therefore, understand the diversity in the citizenry and be able to recruit from all the diverse groups to fetch for the talents that the army needs (Team diversity: How differences improve performance, 2011). Diversity initiative helps the military commanders to recruit and retain talented individuals from a wider pool. The net effect of this is the teams will be more innovative and equip the armed forces with a broader scope of knowledge. Additionally, since the military is a unit that represents the image of a country when a diverse group drawn for the military accomplish tasks, the prospective delivers a positive image to the civilians, world, soldiers, and their influencers (Sutton & Kenney, 2017).

Diversity and Problem Solving

Effectiveness in the solutions and creativity occurs when individuals with varied perspectives and backgrounds work in unison. Diverse teams have a higher chance of delivering better results because their approach is guided by considering all the possibilities and attitudes of an issue and are prone to focusing on facts, evidence and come up with better solutions (America's diversity is our Army's strength, 2016). Studies from different factions and institutions found that teams that have members from different social, educational, and ethnic backgrounds bring in a mix of the diverse cognitive approach, which is susceptible to improved outcomes. These groups are better problem solvers. The Army should, therefore, concentrate on this approach as it improves their problem-solving ability in complex situations (Kamarck, 2016).

Diversity and Effectiveness

Diverse teams often work better with other groups. The net effect of this is increased collaboration, cooperation, and coordination among the distinctive units (Sutton & Kenney, 2017). Various studies on the effectiveness of small groups have found that the presence of diversity, particularly that of gender and race, are closely associated with creativity and accelerated decision making. These positive implications can be attributed to a broader range of views and knowledge. From the military perspective, the argument is, a more diverse group has the potential of being more flexible, efficient, and more capable of approaching a more extensive set of challenges (Kamarck, 2016). Additionally, individuals with the same characteristics such as age but drawn from a diverse group such as gender, ethnicity, or different educational tend to build a stronger team as their identical characteristics tend to be the driving force.

Diversity and the Civil-Military Relationship

Armed forces play a unique role in society. This a significant reason why diversity should be encouraged in the military as it will represent a facet of the military to the civilians they are serving. Civilian leadership decides to determine the deployment of the resources to the military units. In all volunteers works, and recruits are drawn from the civilian population. This strength can be attributed to the willingness of the populous democracy to hold civilians' leaders accountable for their decisions to enter into conflict and expend budgetary provisions to sustain the military (Kamarck, 2016). These civilian leaders also formulate security policies that hold the military leaders accountable. Thus, a diverse military that reflects the social distribution is in the best interest, because it is more likely to keep the national values and loyalty to the civilian government.

References

America's diversity is our Army's strength. (2016). Www.Army. Mil. https://www.army.mil/article/174964/americas_diversity_is_our_armys_strength

Kamarck, K. N. (2016). Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Opportunity in the Armed Services: Background and Issues for Congress. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R44321.pdf

Sutton, T., & Kenney, C. (2017, January 10). Diversifying and Strengthening Our National Security Workforce. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/news/2017/01/10/296300/diversifying-and-strengthening-our-national-security-workforce/

Team diversity: How differences improve performance. (2011). HPRC. https://www.hprc-online.org/social-fitness/teams-leadership/team-diversity-how-differences-improve-performance