In the mid-1980’s, the concept of diversity begun in North America and slowly spreading in the other countries. Diversity means that everyone is unique in their own ways and recognizing our differences. Diversity management, on the other hand, refers to actions in an organization which promotes inclusion of employees having different experiences into an organization’s structure through specific policies and programs.
With the help of new technologies, companies can now hire employees around the world having different time zones. There are policies and programs intended for employees coming from different cultures and it used to create a healthy working environment. There are two types of diversity management; intranational diversity management and cross-national diversity management. Intranational diversity management refers to a workplace that is composed of its own citizens within a single nation while cross-national diversity management, which is also known as international diversity management, refers to companies composed of employees from different countries. If there are different employees in a company or in an organization, then there is diversity in the workplace.
This means that there are differences in an individual depending on how they identify themselves or how others perceive them. This involves gender, religion, race, age, and other distinct differences between people. We like to stay in our comfort zones, either in our home or in our workplace because it makes us feel safe and secured and it will lead to a better performance at work. There are ways to become comfortable at work, like putting a photo of your family or pet in your table but what greatly affects an individual’s performance is their co-workers. If there is a supportive team around you, then it would be easier to do your job.
However, the problem with diversity is that it brings people out of their comfort zones. Some says that in order to have a perfect team, the members must come from the same culture, race, educational experience, or social status. In line with this, there are advantages and disadvantages when it comes to workplace diversity. One great advantage would be companies will have a larger pool of applicants to choose from which leads on increased number of job opportunities. Companies have an opportunity to choose which individual best fits the desired position because they are not limited to a specific group of individuals.
In addition, employers may have more chances to cross-train workers and teams because individuals have each own unique characteristic which then became their own strength. The skills and wisdom they have honed may be passed along to other employees so people there have high exposure to absorb information because of the different educational opportunities each individual has accomplished. Also, diversity increases creativity in a team. Each person has different perspective in life which create argument between individuals.
