The Business Case for Diversity Paper Example

Introduction

Over the last few decades, the workstations have undergone a significant transformation to incorporate and harmonize the diverse set of employees. In an organization setting, diversity and inclusion aim to address concerns that may arise from differences caused by gender, age, culture, social-economic classes, educational backgrounds, physical capabilities and professional variances among other factors. Diversity largely focuses on the full spectrum of similarities and differences between individuals to ensure that every employee feels valued and supported as a member of the labor force (Barak, 2016). However, forming a diverse and inclusive workplace demands energy, commitment, and resources on behalf of the employer. In fact, securing diversity requires a compelling business case to demonstrate that business objectives are of greater importance as compared to other resources needed to invest in any initiative. Therefore, this paper will discuss the business case for diversity and its essence in human resource management.

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The Concept and Phrase Business Case for Diversity

The theory of the business case for diversity holds for-profit and non-profit organizations as well as in government and educational enterprises. It entails actions and strategies aimed at moving beyond the legal compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and affirmative employees' action laws (Wittenberg, 2017). Due to an increased rate of globalization, the contemporary global economy demands intensive interaction between people from diverse cultural, religious and social backgrounds. Effective management of labor force diversity has been linked to improved organizational performance, market share, team collaboration, and profitability in various institutions and businesses. Consequently, cases on the importance of business diversity have been critical to flourishing businesses who have continuously advanced their diversity and inclusion strategies. However, unless executive leaders find value to their organizational diversity the phrase 'business case for diversity' will remain to be meaningless and stale.

Benefits of a Business Case for Diversity

Although in some cases people have common similarities, they are special instances when an individual brings and holds diverse ideas and concepts, which makes inclusivity an important aspect in a team. Mostly, when institutions hire people with different personalities they tend to foster creativity and innovation. For instance, working among people with a wide range of experience, occupational styles, professionalism, and cultural backgrounds forms a pool of ideas and talents for organizations to exploit (Hunt et.al 2018). One of the team members may be excellent in the generation of concepts while the other might have acquired the necessary experience for execution. Therefore, it is important to encourage cooperation within a team to yield maximum benefits from individual members.

Likewise, employees feel contented and exultant working in an environment where inclusivity is a priority. Equality and fairness in a workstation promote confidence among workers and develops high team morale. According to a survey conducted by Mckinsey Company in 2014, businesses in the top quartile for gender diversity were 15 percent more likely to achieve above-average profits as compared to firms in the fourth quartile. In a similar survey in 2017, the company found that ethnic and cultural diversity was an essential strategy successful company used to outperform their competitors (Rickover, 2013). Diversity and inclusivity, therefore, are correlated with productivity and profitability.

Having a diverse labor force also enables businesses to provide higher satisfactory services and products to their customers. Marketing intelligence has continued to become important especially because of globalization. Diversity in the workforce is considered as one of the strategies global businesses have embarked on to expand their market share in different regions. Likewise, effective diversity management has led to a reduction of industrial conflicts arising from among employees or between employees and customers.

Means of Attaining Diversity in Organizations

In order to appeal and sustain the desired quality of employees, every firm ought to work diligently to incorporate an operative diversity scheme into their workplace. The following are some of the approaches that would help an organization to develop and sustain effective diversity programs

Aligning Diversity Programs with Strategic Plans

Alignment of diversity plans with overall business goals is a key development to the long-term success of workforce inclusivity. Strategic plans around diversity should entail measurable goals along with realistic and specific timelines to guide the actions of every employee (Rickover, 2013). By having a well-defined strategy business are in a position to provide satisfactory services to all clients, recruit and retain talented employees, create an inclusive workplace culture and implement programs that will attract and promote their reputation.

Change the Workplace Norms

Organizations have different approaches and philosophies for their diversity and inclusivity programs. Some of these beliefs have greater impact and values than others. For instance, some companies act as if diversity is a trend that will fade away with time. On the other hand, several firms take up diversity as a game of statistics won by having the right number of minority workers in key positions. However, they are those companies that work hard to create a culture that values its workforce and eliminates barriers restricting performance and corporation within the labor force. For businesses to succeed and compete favorably in the market they ought to discard traditional norms restricting them from fetching talented employees on cultural, gender, age or political lines.

Advancement in Technology

Advanced technology has also changed the way businesses carry out their activities. Due to global connection, an organization can outsource talented workers to add value to their management panel and labor force (Rickover, 2013). Likewise, some firm's intranet has a diversity page where they post updates and information about employees' inclusivity. The pages are also used to communicate imminent community events and other programs relative to the organization diversity standpoint.

Evaluation of Talent without Bias

Growing a diverse labor force does not happen naturally but it requires intentional and deliberate conduct. In fact, whenever the pool of hired and new applicants does not reflect the demography of the region and clients the firm serve there is always a need to expand hiring beyond traditional sources (Hunt et.al 2018). In other cases, humans are drawn closer to people who reason and behave like themselves. Mostly, this form of attraction commonly referred to as unconscious bias can be a hindrance in hiring, retaining and promoting the right talent.

Challenges of Building a Diverse Workplace

Creating an open and inclusive workplace where every team member feels empowered and respected can be challenging. Mainly, cultural differences and language barriers act as an obstacle for organizations targeting to expound their operation beyond cultural, gender and ethnicity barriers (McCormick, 2017). For instance, negative cultural stereotypes can be detrimental to a company's morale and productivity. Likewise, integrating multicultural teams can be difficult in the face of prejudice or adverse cultural ideologies. In other cases, the management team might incidentally leave out one group in the integration process, which might cause misunderstanding and undermine the purpose of diversity programs (McCormick, 2017). Also, some managers find it difficult to analyze and understand the unique strength and value of every employee leading to unintentional personal bias.

Conclusion

In conclusion, even though most organization are yet to include diversity and inclusivity programs in their organizational strategies, the practice is widely used by well-heeled firms to attain competitive advantage. Employers have also been taken legal obligation to promote equality and discourage any form of discrimination, harassment or victimization against their employees. As a result, developing a diverse workforce has become an integral channel to improve other aspects of the business model and building robust customer relationships. Therefore, managers should internalize the concept of workforce diversity and use it to make executive decisions.

References

Barak, M. E. M. (2016). Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage Publications.

Hunt, V., Yee, L., Prince, S., & Dixon-Fyle, S. (2018). Delivering through diversity. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/delivering-through-diversity

McCormick, M. L. (2017). Limitations on the Business Case for Diversity. Jot well: J. Things We Like, 1.

Rickover, S. (2013). The Business Case for Diversity: What Does It Mean To Your Organization? Retrieved from https://sararickover.wordpress.com the-business-case-for-diversity-what-does-it-mean-to-your-organization/

Wittenberg, A. (2017). The Business Case for Diversity. Retrieved from https://www.digitalistmag.com/future-of-work business-case-for-diversity-05185224