{"id":8821,"date":"2016-11-30T22:03:28","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T22:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/masterybusiness2xngcxmasterspring2016\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=8821"},"modified":"2019-01-16T23:44:48","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T23:44:48","slug":"reading-diversity-in-human-resources","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/chapter\/reading-diversity-in-human-resources\/","title":{"raw":"Reading: Diversity in Human Resources","rendered":"Reading: Diversity in Human Resources"},"content":{"raw":"<a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/143\/2017\/01\/10185247\/nuts-1384729_640.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9246\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/143\/2017\/01\/10185247\/nuts-1384729_640-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of thirty or so walnuts in their shells. One walnut is bright blue.\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a>\r\n<h2><strong>What Is Diversity?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\">The term <em>diversity<\/em> often generates\u00a0controversy, confusion, and tension. What does it mean? Is it the same as affirmative action?\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\">When people refer\u00a0to diversity, they may be thinking first of ethnicity and race, and then, of gender; however, diversity is much broader than that. The following definition, from <em>Workforce America! Managing Employee Diversity As a Vital Resource<\/em>, does a good job of capturing the subjective nature of the term: Diversity is \u201cotherness or those human qualities that are different from our own and outside the groups to which we belong, yet present in other individuals and groups.\u201d In other words, diversity can apply to anyone you perceive to be different from yourself. Dimensions of diversity include, but are not limited to age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities\/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience.[footnote]Loden, M., Rosener, J.B., 1991. Workforce America! Managing Employee Diversity as a Vital Resource. Illinois: Business One Irwin[\/footnote]<\/span>\r\n<h2>How Businesses Benefit from Diversity<\/h2>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\">There are many arguments for fostering diversity in business, including the availability of talent, the enhancement\u00a0of interpersonal innovation, risk avoidance, and appealing to a global customer base. The business case for diversity is driven by the view that diversity brings substantial potential benefits, such as better decision making, improved problem solving, and greater creativity and innovation, which lead to enhanced product development and more successful marketing to different types of customers.\r\n<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Innovation.\u00a0<\/strong>It is widely noted that diverse teams lead to more innovative and effective ideas and implementations. The logic behind this is relatively simple. Innovative thinking requires individuals to go outside of the normal paradigms of operation, using\u00a0diverse perspectives to reach\u00a0new and creative thinking. A group of similar individuals with similar skills is\u00a0much less likely to stumble across or generate new ideas that lead to innovation. Similarity can cause\u00a0groupthink, which diminishes creativity.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Localization.<\/strong> Some theorize that, in a global marketplace, a company that employs a diverse workforce is better able to understand the demographics of the global consumer marketplace it serves, and is therefore better equipped to thrive in that marketplace than a company that has a more limited range of employee demographics. With the emerging markets around\u00a0the world\u00a0demonstrating substantial GDP growth, organizations need local talent to enter the marketplace and to communicate effectively. Individuals from a certain region will have a deep awareness of the needs in that region, as well as a similar culture, enabling them to add considerable value.\r\n<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Adaptability. <\/strong>Finally, organizations must be technologically and culturally adaptable in the modern economy. This is crucial to reacting to competitive dynamics quickly and staying ahead of industry trends. Diversity fosters creative thinking and improved decision making through a deeper and more comprehensive worldview. A company willing to diversify draws from a larger talent pool and hires individuals with diverse skill sets. The value of this, particularly at the managerial level, is enormous.\r\n<\/span>\r\n<h2>The Role of Human Resource Management<\/h2>\r\n<div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nWhen it comes to the workplace, the human resource department has a great deal of responsibility in managing the overall diversity of the organization. Human resources should consider diversity within the following areas:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Hiring<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Promotion<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Compensation equality<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Training<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Employee policies<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Legal regulations<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Ensuring accessibility of important documents (e.g., translating human resource materials into other languages so all staff can read them)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe role of human resources is to ensure that all employee concerns are being met and that employee problems are solved when they arise. Human resource professionals must also pursue corporate strategy and adhere to legal concerns when hiring, firing, paying, and regulating employees. This requires careful and meticulous understanding of both the legal and organizational contexts as they pertain to diversity management.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Challenges to Diversity<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\">There are various challenges to achieving diversity in the workplace, ranging from the difficulties of defining the term to the individual, interpersonal, and organizational challenges involved in implementing diversity practices. Though the advantages of diversity are well established, establishing a more diverse workforce brings with it obstacles, in both the assimilation of new cultures into the majority and wage-equality and upper-level opportunities across the minority spectrum. Some of the most common challenges to building a diverse workforce are the following:\r\n<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Stereotypes.\u00a0<\/strong>One challenge of creating diversity is the biases individuals in the organization may have about others similar to or different from them. This is essentially a tendency to stereotype, which significantly narrows the worldview of the individuals within the organization.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Culture.\u00a0<\/strong> Managers must understand the customs and cultural norms of employees and ensure that they don't\u00a0violate important\u00a0cultural rules. It is the role of the managers to change the existing organizational culture to one of diversity and inclusion.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Communication. <\/strong>Whether via\u00a0language or cultural signals, communication\u00a0can be especially challenging in the interpersonal\u00a0arena. Ensuring that all professionals (human resources, management, etc.) have access to resources for localizing or translating issues is a significant challenge in many situations. Poor cross-cultural communication can\u00a0lead to\u00a0employee misunderstandings or workplace inefficiencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\">While diversity has clear benefits from an organizational perspective, an additional challenge with diversity comes from mismanagement. Due to the legal framework surrounding diversity in the workplace, there is a potential threat involving the\u00a0neglect of relevant rules and regulations. Fair, ethical, and nondiscriminatory hiring practices and pay equity for all employees are absolutely essential for managers and human resource professionals to understand and uphold. The legal ramifications of missteps in this particular arena can have high fiscal, branding, and reputation costs.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/143\/2017\/01\/10185247\/nuts-1384729_640.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9246\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/143\/2017\/01\/10185247\/nuts-1384729_640-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of thirty or so walnuts in their shells. One walnut is bright blue.\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>What Is Diversity?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">The term <em>diversity<\/em> often generates\u00a0controversy, confusion, and tension. What does it mean? Is it the same as affirmative action?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">When people refer\u00a0to diversity, they may be thinking first of ethnicity and race, and then, of gender; however, diversity is much broader than that. The following definition, from <em>Workforce America! Managing Employee Diversity As a Vital Resource<\/em>, does a good job of capturing the subjective nature of the term: Diversity is \u201cotherness or those human qualities that are different from our own and outside the groups to which we belong, yet present in other individuals and groups.\u201d In other words, diversity can apply to anyone you perceive to be different from yourself. Dimensions of diversity include, but are not limited to age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities\/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Loden, M., Rosener, J.B., 1991. Workforce America! Managing Employee Diversity as a Vital Resource. Illinois: Business One Irwin\" id=\"return-footnote-8821-1\" href=\"#footnote-8821-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2>How Businesses Benefit from Diversity<\/h2>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">There are many arguments for fostering diversity in business, including the availability of talent, the enhancement\u00a0of interpersonal innovation, risk avoidance, and appealing to a global customer base. The business case for diversity is driven by the view that diversity brings substantial potential benefits, such as better decision making, improved problem solving, and greater creativity and innovation, which lead to enhanced product development and more successful marketing to different types of customers.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Innovation.\u00a0<\/strong>It is widely noted that diverse teams lead to more innovative and effective ideas and implementations. The logic behind this is relatively simple. Innovative thinking requires individuals to go outside of the normal paradigms of operation, using\u00a0diverse perspectives to reach\u00a0new and creative thinking. A group of similar individuals with similar skills is\u00a0much less likely to stumble across or generate new ideas that lead to innovation. Similarity can cause\u00a0groupthink, which diminishes creativity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Localization.<\/strong> Some theorize that, in a global marketplace, a company that employs a diverse workforce is better able to understand the demographics of the global consumer marketplace it serves, and is therefore better equipped to thrive in that marketplace than a company that has a more limited range of employee demographics. With the emerging markets around\u00a0the world\u00a0demonstrating substantial GDP growth, organizations need local talent to enter the marketplace and to communicate effectively. Individuals from a certain region will have a deep awareness of the needs in that region, as well as a similar culture, enabling them to add considerable value.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Adaptability. <\/strong>Finally, organizations must be technologically and culturally adaptable in the modern economy. This is crucial to reacting to competitive dynamics quickly and staying ahead of industry trends. Diversity fosters creative thinking and improved decision making through a deeper and more comprehensive worldview. A company willing to diversify draws from a larger talent pool and hires individuals with diverse skill sets. The value of this, particularly at the managerial level, is enormous.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>The Role of Human Resource Management<\/h2>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>When it comes to the workplace, the human resource department has a great deal of responsibility in managing the overall diversity of the organization. Human resources should consider diversity within the following areas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hiring<\/li>\n<li>Promotion<\/li>\n<li>Compensation equality<\/li>\n<li>Training<\/li>\n<li>Employee policies<\/li>\n<li>Legal regulations<\/li>\n<li>Ensuring accessibility of important documents (e.g., translating human resource materials into other languages so all staff can read them)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The role of human resources is to ensure that all employee concerns are being met and that employee problems are solved when they arise. Human resource professionals must also pursue corporate strategy and adhere to legal concerns when hiring, firing, paying, and regulating employees. This requires careful and meticulous understanding of both the legal and organizational contexts as they pertain to diversity management.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Challenges to Diversity<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">There are various challenges to achieving diversity in the workplace, ranging from the difficulties of defining the term to the individual, interpersonal, and organizational challenges involved in implementing diversity practices. Though the advantages of diversity are well established, establishing a more diverse workforce brings with it obstacles, in both the assimilation of new cultures into the majority and wage-equality and upper-level opportunities across the minority spectrum. Some of the most common challenges to building a diverse workforce are the following:<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Stereotypes.\u00a0<\/strong>One challenge of creating diversity is the biases individuals in the organization may have about others similar to or different from them. This is essentially a tendency to stereotype, which significantly narrows the worldview of the individuals within the organization.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Culture.\u00a0<\/strong> Managers must understand the customs and cultural norms of employees and ensure that they don&#8217;t\u00a0violate important\u00a0cultural rules. It is the role of the managers to change the existing organizational culture to one of diversity and inclusion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Communication. <\/strong>Whether via\u00a0language or cultural signals, communication\u00a0can be especially challenging in the interpersonal\u00a0arena. Ensuring that all professionals (human resources, management, etc.) have access to resources for localizing or translating issues is a significant challenge in many situations. Poor cross-cultural communication can\u00a0lead to\u00a0employee misunderstandings or workplace inefficiencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">While diversity has clear benefits from an organizational perspective, an additional challenge with diversity comes from mismanagement. Due to the legal framework surrounding diversity in the workplace, there is a potential threat involving the\u00a0neglect of relevant rules and regulations. Fair, ethical, and nondiscriminatory hiring practices and pay equity for all employees are absolutely essential for managers and human resource professionals to understand and uphold. The legal ramifications of missteps in this particular arena can have high fiscal, branding, and reputation costs.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-8821\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Revision and adaptation. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Linda Williams and Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Diversity in Human Resources from Boundless Business. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Boundless. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.com\/business\/textbooks\/boundless-business-textbook\/human-resource-management-12\/diversity-in-human-resources-84\/\">https:\/\/www.boundless.com\/business\/textbooks\/boundless-business-textbook\/human-resource-management-12\/diversity-in-human-resources-84\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Challenges to Achieving Diversity from Boundless Management. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Boundless. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.com\/management\/textbooks\/boundless-management-textbook\/diversity-in-a-global-business-world-15\/challenges-to-achieving-diversity-110\/challenges-to-achieving-organizational-diversity-503-10580\/\">https:\/\/www.boundless.com\/management\/textbooks\/boundless-management-textbook\/diversity-in-a-global-business-world-15\/challenges-to-achieving-diversity-110\/challenges-to-achieving-organizational-diversity-503-10580\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Walnuts. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Pixabay. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/nuts-blue-turquoise-diversity-1384729\/\">https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/nuts-blue-turquoise-diversity-1384729\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/cc0\">CC0: No Rights Reserved<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-8821-1\">Loden, M., Rosener, J.B., 1991. Workforce America! Managing Employee Diversity as a Vital Resource. Illinois: Business One Irwin <a href=\"#return-footnote-8821-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":26,"menu_order":7,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Diversity in Human Resources from Boundless Business\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Boundless\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.com\/business\/textbooks\/boundless-business-textbook\/human-resource-management-12\/diversity-in-human-resources-84\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Revision and adaptation\",\"author\":\"Linda Williams and Lumen Learning\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Challenges to Achieving Diversity from Boundless Management\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Boundless\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.com\/management\/textbooks\/boundless-management-textbook\/diversity-in-a-global-business-world-15\/challenges-to-achieving-diversity-110\/challenges-to-achieving-organizational-diversity-503-10580\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Walnuts\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Pixabay\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/nuts-blue-turquoise-diversity-1384729\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-8821","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":93,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/8821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/8821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9946,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/8821\/revisions\/9946"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/93"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/8821\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=8821"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=8821"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wmintrobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=8821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}