Management and Diversity

In order for management to make diversity work, managers must first understand the definition of diversity. Most simply explained, diversity encompasses all of the ways in which individuals are both similar and different. According to Lee Gardenswartz, “Diversity involves variations in factors we control as well as those over which we have no choice. These factors give us areas of commonality through which we can connect with others and aspects of difference from which we can learn” (24). These same factors also represent areas of trouble where conflict may develop. Today, cultural diversity is a business reality. The ability to build bridges between people from different countries, with different ethnic backgrounds, is as important as any other business function. Working in a culturally and ethically diverse organization does not mean eliminating differences in styles and approach, but celebrating those differences and revealing the many strengths that diversity brings to an organization (Henderson 229).

There is a multitude of ways in which humans are both alike and different. Some of these differences have an impressive effect on our opportunities and experienc

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Helping Employees Adjust to Change

Commitment to becoming an organization that embraces diversity requires going from a monocultural to a multicultural organization. There are changes visible today that were not there several years ago and the same goes for the future of every organization. Employees want to know that something better awaits them and it is management’s job to show them that by supporting these changes everybody will benefit. If management wants to create a more open and responsive organization, all of these barriers need to be identified, acknowledged, dealt with, and overcome.

The Human Resource Approach

The human resource approach focuses on the relationship between people and the organization, and recognizes that cultural diversity includes every employee. In this increasingly small world, Michael Welp said, “the prize will go to the most resourceful, talented, productive organization” (Arrien 107). “There is the belief that employee diversity is a competitive advantage” (12). Managers must learn to understand and accept initial rejection and resistance and refrain from pushing employees beyond their fears. Interaction between cultures is a source of knowledge, growth, and progress.

Celebrating Diversity

Managing diversity is an organizational process by which human resources are identified, allocated, and expanded in ways that make them more efficient. The fifth and final stage of this process is integration. It is in the fourth stage of coexistence that new employees find ways to exist within the dominant culture of the organization without sacrificing themselves. Nor is it always understood and appreciated by employees. Another basic objective is to create self-renewing, self-correcting systems of employees who learn to organize themselves in various ways according to the nature of their tasks and their cultural perspectives. In order to be successful, management must set clear expectations with employees from the beginning and let them know that these kinds of changes may take several years.

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