Multicultural Issues in the Workplace

Needs, value, priorities of employees and employers fuck cancelled changed dramatically over the fit decade. On all aims of the corporate ladder, men and women are seeking advancedfangled slipway to manage the time they spend operative so they stooge spend more(prenominal) than time living. In the boardrooms, executives are seeking ways to attract and retain the best employees so they crowd out continue to carry through and thrive in a highly competitive global economy. As companies are becoming more and more various(a) it is becoming more and more important for companies to understand and manage conversion.The battalion of different background, races, faith creates diverse men. There is an importance of having diverse manpower to provide cave in performance. There are perspectives of managing the diverse workforce, which require plaque leaders and managers of universe responsible of attaining better diverse workforce. Diversity means differences, difference of age, conjure, race, religion and husbandry etc. People with different demographic differences working in the organization bring ons diverse workforce. And it is becoming more important for the organizations to know astir(predicate) these differences and how to manage it.Diversity is withal the common issue in the workforce surround, in some companies employees often get discriminated or misunderstood beca economic consumption of the diverse features. So it is important for the companies to manage the regeneration workforce to value best performance. As differences arrive at often been associated with discrimination, bias, unfair treatment and conflicts, managing mutation in workforce is an important task for managers straight off. Managing diversity in the employment refers to the ways of managers use in ensuring employees in the organizations who come from different group do not suffer discrimination.Management provoke mobilize the differences and similarities in eac h and every angiotensin-converting enzyme of the employees for the benefits of two the individuals and organizations. Ensuring fairness and equality in a diverse workplace is more than simply doing a faithful deed, it is imperative in instantlys fast moving and sophisticated melody instauration. Diversity is increase everyday in every organization in the States 1 in 4 Americans belongs to a minority or is foreign-born. Women, who currently invent up less than half the work force, are expected to fulfill 65 percent of the jobs created during this decade. Whether you are a business owner, executive, salesperson or customer- service professional, your success will increasingly depend on your dexterity to function in a culturally diverse marketplace, (Profiting in Americas Multicultural Marketplace Lexington Books). Why should companies concern themselves with diversity? galore(postnominal) managers answered this question with the statement that discrimination is wrong, b oth legally and morally. But like a shot managers are voicing a second notion as well. A more diverse workforce, they say, will increase organizational effectiveness.It will run up morale, bring greater access to new segments of the marketplace, and enhance productivity. In short, they claim, diversity will be good for business. Research stated that the Canadian companies jumper cable the way in the area of diversity oversight go ascertained that by embracing the elements of ethnic and cultural diversity in their workforce they have enhanced their ability to understand and tap new markets, both within Canada and abroad. Managing diversity There is no doubt that the American workforce has changed in dramatic ways.Twenty years ago the American workforce was preponderantly white and staminate in the 70s, non-Hispanic white males represented about(predicate) 68% of the workforce while in 2006 represented less than 40% of the workforce. (Ivancevich,p54). One of the reasons white m ales no longer dominate the workforce is that women have entered the workforce in record bouts. It is estimated that at the end of the decade, more than 60% percent of adult American workforce, or almost half of the American work force will be female(Ivancevich. 2007).Organizations have to follow the many guide bounds to get diversity stick they have to focus on getting the best talent out of the person regardless of different age, sex and former(a) demographic differences they have to develop career plans for all employees of the organization including the minorities they have to promote minorities to responsible positions in the workplace they have to carry managers responsible to obtain diversity goals by managing their employees well. Managers also have to surpass well with all the employees and listen to their problems that are of different background or cultures.Also organizations should build diversity into senior management. Improved understanding of diversity seems to b e an obvious need, yet most firms fail to invest time and resources to twist diversity-friendly. Even though there is a long way until diversity in the work force will be fully integrated, there are a few success stories about diversity management that could serve as an example. For example United Airlines experienced an increase in Spanish-speaking travelers when it installed a Spanish-speaking telephone reservation line.Avon Products had significant tax revenue growth later it hired African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American sales and marketing personnel. Another example that we can use is Pillsbury confederacy and Kraft General Foods who both recorded access to more of the African American and Hispanic American markets after increasing the number of sales and advertising professionals from these ethnic-racial groups. Lookism Lookism is the ugly prejudice that judges raft on their somatic beauty instead of their ability.This conks everywhere in the office, on the street, in the media and in virtually every aspect of our lives. The media fully perpetuates this myth that beauty is more important than anything else, that skinny women are more better-looking than overweight women, and that beautiful skin, hair and teeth make a person better than the one that is considered plain. If youre unattractive in face or body, you probably well-educated early on that you overcompensate a price. In school, you were excluded from the in group. When you treasured to date, few people were interested.On the street, people look not at you exactly past you. We all know that, after all, looks does matter. And it matters in the workplace too. As we can read in the hold Your appearance, good or bad, can affect size of your paycheck, a growing body of research supports what many suspect in the workplace, an employees physical appearance is a aright symbol that affects job success. Reading more we discover that , Looking good on the job is an intangible asset that can be important, just as sharp technology skills or the ability to be a team player can give certain workers an edge.We have to admit that there are industries that solely judge people by their looks such as the entertainment industry and modeling. In those industries, a persons looks is his/her commodity because the public want to see attractive gods and goddesses, not average-looking people. As a conclusion I can say that even though people are protesting the fact that lookism is deemed as discrimination, there is a slim detect that the concept of judging people based upon looks will change overnight.In recount for this to change, we all have to change. We, as people, we need to stop judging by the look. We should judge by the qualities that a person has. Organizational Culture An organizations culture varies as widely as the nature of work itself. Oftentimes a unique different mix of values and norms govern the cultural environment of an organization. In todays fas t changing business environment, the cultural make-up of an organizations plays a critical fiber in the success of the firm to achieve its strategic objectives.Culture is not an easily defined concept, but generally it is the values, beliefs, and norms expressed in work practices and behavior. An organizations culture is not necessarily an articulated list of values found in an appendix in an annual report. Rather, culture is created by the organization itself. Many corporations have recognized that diversity contributes to the bottom line by making it easier to retain good employees, lowering costs by developing skill in-house and developing a reputation that helps attract new employees.As Swanson states in the article Diversity Creating an Environment of comprehensiveness, It has been suggested that one of the keys to integrating diversity is developing the ability to hold multiple perspectives without judgment. A statement easier write than accomplished Although this is a chal lenge, there are several strategies that we can use to develop this skill staying in the present, working to increase our comfort level with ambiguity, striving to decrease distortion, and choosing actions that support our desired outcomes. We can see that organizations have created specific recruiting programs that target traditional minority universities and trade schools. They have also tied the recruiting programs into a reporting relationship with the diversity council and other lead initiatives. In tandem with recruiting programs, retention programs have been formed to address brisk employees. Almost all organizations have started diversity programs. As a forget high quality minority candidates are universe recruited by other companies. This has created a highly competitive market for the very best minority employees.Gender In early societies, women bore children, cared for the home, and helped maintain the familys economic production. Men hunted, make war, and, in settled societies, assumed primary responsibility for field discerp production. Womens perspective is a complex issue and a hard-to-define subject. Around the world, womens status in each society and culture varies in different ways. In some societies, womens status improved gradually, while in other, it declined or remained unchanged. As it is mentioned in the article Why Arent We There Yet? An couple Pay Day 2009 Primer on the Wage Gap. , Unfair pay is not simply the result of women choosing the wrong college major or career. Women serve similar kinds of colleges as men, outperform men academically, and are more credibly to work a professional license or certificate. Yet women earn less than men even within majors. These wage gaps start upon immersion the workforce just one year after college, female graduates working full time earn only about 80 percent as more as male graduates earn. Ten years after graduation, women fall farther behind, earning only 69 percent as much as men e arn.And college educated women still earn less than their male peers when controlling for hours, occupation, parenthood, and other factors normally associated with pay. However, women have made positively get on with towards equality and their role in the society has been changed dramatically since the last century. The number of working women with children has more than doubled in the past 50 years. As my own opinion, I can say that even with all the changes that happen around the world regarding womens place in the workforce, the stereotypical role of housewife is still present.Even when women break out from this role, they still not had condition an equal opportunity. Men tend to hold administrative positions, while women usually have the positions that support the administrator. Religion The business world has gone global, and our diverse workplace could be the key to connecting with potential customers here and abroad. In my opinion, promote dialog and sharing of religious and cultural norms in the working place, not only will help decrease misunderstanding and misinformation among the employees, but fundamental interaction with clients and vendors from other cultures and religions will become second nature.Knowing when (or when not to) shake hands, circumstances a meal, or offer a glass of wine can give your company a good advantage in todays global market. Based on this problem, a paragraph from the article Religious groups and employers try a new approach to faith at work. got my attention The idea of addressing religion in the secular business world often causes even seasoned human resources executives to pause and see how it complements their people-management strategies.At Texas Instruments, widely distributed diversity director Terry Howard remembers his reaction when approached by 10 Christian employees about forming a company-sanctioned religious group. The questions that I raised were What does this mean to TI? How would recognizing you a s a group help TI meet its business objectives and targets? How is it going to make TI serve customers better? How is it going to make TI a good place to work for everyone and be inclusive? he says.They made it quite clear that they saw themselves as being in the position to help us recruit and retain people of faith-based backgrounds. In my opinion, having companies that respect employees religious background (allowing employees to take days off based on their religious beliefs), can attract top candidates for the company. In my opinion, each feels honored and respected and it is a win-win for the company and for the employee as well. By showing employees that you respect their beliefs and customs, you will be building a hearty relation and in the same time creates employee loyalty.