The world is changing very first in various fronts due to the changes brought about by advancement of technology. Technological advancements have made work easier, communication faster, and movement more convenient. Industries and organizations have been heavily impacted upon by this technological improvement. According to Groschl (2011), organizations have transformed over the years due to the changes brought about by the advancing technology.
As this scholar notes, organizations have been forced to adjust their structure to reflect these changes in the external environment. This scholar emphasizes the fact that failure of an organization to implement changes may lead to serious negative consequences, including being forced out of the market. It is due to this that the services offered by organization psychologists have become very vital for the modern organizations.
The workplace has completely been transformed from what it used to be traditionally. Business environment has become increasingly competitive. More firms are getting into the market with products that already exist. This has created a very competitive environment where various firms are fighting for a few customers.
Given this fact, firms are determined to make their operation as effective and efficient as possible. As Griffin (2012) observes, one of the ways that firms currently use to improve their efficiency is to cut down costs of operation. One of
the ways of cutting down cost of operation is to downsize the workforce. Firms are under constant pressure to have a thinner workforce. Improved technology has made work easier. A task that required ten individuals to perform can now be done by a single person operating a machine.
This changing nature of work is coming as a surprise to some individuals and firms. These are individuals who have spent several years working in normal brick and moter offices where they report to work every morning and go back home in the evening. Telling such an individual to work from a remote place, and with the advanced telecommuting services, coordinate with other workers may become a difficult task. However, this is a change whose time has come, and can no longer be ignored.
The current workplace has embraced team work. Individuals must work as a team, with each team member having a specific role to play within the organization. According to Griffin (2012), the team members must not necessarily work under the same roof. With virtualization being developed, the need for a physical office is becoming less relevant.
These team members can work from different locations, but with the help of telecommunication, they can easily coordinate, and report their findings to the other team members in real time. Cases that require face to face communication can be facilitated without the need to meet physically. This can be done with the help of video-conferencing machines. These machines can help ensure that these individuals can hold a face to face conference to address issues that may be of concern.
Increasing Diversity of the Workforce
This changing nature of the workplace is bringing new complexities both to firms and to the employees. According to Groschl (2011), various organizations are headed by individuals who have advanced ages. They have conformed to the traditional way of life, and therefore are rigid to some of the changes that take place in the external environment.
However, the workforce is constantly changing. Griffin (2012 ) says that new employees who entered into the business within the last five years exhibit different adaptive features from those who have stayed within the job market for over ten years. These employees come to the job market with fresh ideas. They have skills in telecommunication and are very flexible to changes in the environment.
This scholar notes that industrial and organizational psychologists have a huge task of trying to reconcile these two contrasting personalities. While the older generation prefer status quo, and resent radical changes that may radically redefine their roles within the organization, the younger generation are vibrant are always trying new things that will make their tasks less repetitive. They are against status quo, and as Riggio, R. (2007) describes, this group are restless and very ambitious.
The two divides must be brought together to ensure that there is cohesion within an organization. The aging populace may not be able to understand these changes taking place within the workplace. The younger population may not understand the reason why the aging population prefers to maintain status quo. This may lead to serious disharmony within the firm, which can cause serious challenge to the objectives of the firm.
Diversity at workplace did not occur overnight. It is a systematic change that takes place gradually and over a long period of time. It starts with development of a special need. When there is a necessity that is not meet by the current forces within the firm, the need to create a new approach will always develop. Once one need has been met, new needs will always arise, leading to further need to develop more changes within the firm.
This is a continuous process that will ensure that change is constant. Understanding the increasing diversity in the workplace is very important. Organizational psychology is therefore, very important both to the older and the new employees within an organization. It will help in defining some of the factors that cannot be avoided within an organization. Different variables contribute differently to the evolutions of the trends in the market. Some of the variables that contribute to this evolution are as follows.
Technology is one of the leading factors that have contributed to the evolution of the workforce. Technology has redefined various roles within an organization. Communication has been improved, and with invention of sophisticated machines, it is now possible for a firm to downsize its workforce and replace it with machines. This forces the workforce to redefine their role within an organization. They have to avoid cases where their tasks can be performed by machines. Technology has also improved flexibility of the workforce. Those who have the capacity to understand the advanced technology can easily change from one task to another.
Increasing demand for skilled workers is another variable. The world population is constantly on the rise. However, this increasing population does not have a proportionate increase in the number of skilled labor that is available in the job market. According to Riggio (2007), despite the higher population in various countries around the world, firms have limited skilled labor to undertake various duties. As such, the markets for these employees have become tighter as firms struggle to recruit and retain the best workforce in the market.
The social media effect is another variable that has impacted heavily on the increasing diversity of the workforce in the current market. When it started, Groschl (2011) says that social media was considered a tool for communication for the youths. However, this has changed over the years. Social media is currently considered one of the most important tools in managing the workforce. Through social media, people are able to share their experience and this has encouraged many individuals to improve their skills.
The changing social structure of various societies. Women are finding their way into the corporate world. This is another variable because it has direct effect on the output of the workforce. Various non-governmental organizations and human rights groups have come out strongly to fight for the rights of women at the workplace. Employers are forced to ensure that a given percentage of their employees must be of the other gender. This has seen scenario where firms are forced to develop delicate balance between genders to ensure that they work within the limits of the law. To make them more appealing to employers, women have gotten into professions that were originally thought to be a preserve for men. There are women who are engineers, architectures and doctors. This may change the working environment as some stakeholders may take time to understand and appreciate this change.
Some of the changes taking place within the workplace may not easily be understandable to some stakeholders. However, they may need to understand these changes in order to work with them easily. Griffin (2012) says that change is one of the most constant factors. I/O psychology may be important in improving this understanding to various stakeholders.
The easiest ways of increasing employee efficiency
According to Riggio (2007), one of the easiest ways of increasing employee efficiency and performance is to come up with a working program that will be able to integrate all the employees. The program must be feasible and must be in line with the changes taking place within the industry. In order to ensure that this program works efficiently, the following factors should be taken into serious consideration by the concerned individuals and authorities.
Group Processes
The program should clearly state different groups that are involved in performance of various tasks. These groups should be defined by their capacity, age, role within the firm, and various other factors that make them distinct. Each group should have its own objectives that should be realized within a stipulated time. Groups will be assigned tasks depending on the skills, experience and interest in the task at hand.
Research Methods
Research is very important in managing human resource. More often, employers find themselves in very awkward position when they cannot understand needs and changes taking place among their employees. This makes it difficult to manage employees appropriately. The management should therefore, develop a clear research method that will help it understand employees within the organization. The method can take two approaches.
The first approach will be where an employee will know that a research is being conducted on him or her. The second approach will be where the research is conducted without letting the researched know that a research is being conducted on them. Whichever approach is taken, the most important factor to be considered is to ensure that the management has full information about their employees to ease the process of managing them.
Evaluating Employee Performance
Evaluation of the performance of the employees is one of the vital tasks that human resource management should conduct regularly. An organization always has its own expectations of what each individual employee should deliver to the firm within a set timeline. When this expectation is not met, it is a clear indication that the employee is not working within expectations.
Such an employee may be considered redundant, and the best cause of action may be to eliminate him or her from the firm. To determine the performance of an employee, an evaluation should be done on them regularly. This will help in determining those who shall qualify for promotions, and those who whose contract may be terminated due to poor performance.
Employee Training and Development
Employee training and development should always be conducted regularly. The word is changing, and employees need to adapt to these changes in order to be relevant in the current world market. Conducting employee training at regular intervals equips employees with technical skills that will enable them meet market demands. Employee training should be conducted regularly, especially when there is a new trend in the market brought about by technology or other variables.
Job Satisfaction and Worker Stress
Job satisfaction among employees is always a core factor in making employees more productive. There are a number of factors that may make employee feel satisfied. When an employee feels that he or she has successfully completed his or her tasks brings satisfaction. Good remuneration and support from the management also brings satisfaction. Worker stress would arise when there is lack of satisfaction at work. This may be due to wrong assignment of tasks, poor remuneration, and harassments from relevant authorities.
References
Griffin, R. (2012). Organizational behavior: Managing people and organizations. Mason: Cengage Learning.
Groschl, S. (2011). Diversity in the workplace: Multi-disciplinary and international perspectives. Farnhamrey: Gower.
Riggio, R. (2007). Introduction to Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.
A summary of the paper shows that the debate focuses on the impact of implementing a diversity training program to fight workplace discrimination.
Organisations implement diversity training programs as an afterthought when they have lost cases of employee discrimination. The paper discusses the advantages, disadvantages, and the practical implications of the diversity training program using different and practical examples.
The advantages of workplace diversity programs include the ability to transform individuals to enrich their knowledge, respond to social needs, improve intra-group and interpersonal relationships, address personal prejudice, avoid impulse management, practice personal accountability, improve problem solving abilities, become a better workforce, plan well, and attain greater levels of complexity for the organisation to achieve competitive advantage in its operations (Colquitt, Conlon, Wesson, Porter & Ng 2001).
According to DeFour, David, Diaz and Thompkins (2003, p.34), the disadvantages of the diversity training program include the peoples poor perspectives on culture and diversity, which increases stereotyping and fosters feelings of racism among employees.
According to Zeidner, Matthews and Roberts (2004, p.45), the academic perspective of the debate from the side of employee is based on the heterogeneity and identity of a diverse workforce, which from a practical perspective is influenced by the behavior and interactions among organisational employees.
The underpinning factors include leadership, comparative values, demographics, organisational culture, comparative attitudes, conflicts, individual psychology, and social psychology and their impact on workplace discrimination.
Adopting the diversity training program could have an effect on the approach organisations use to retain a pool of talented employees, their recruitment and retention capabilities and the effect on innovation, strategy accomplishment, and individual complexity.
Here, the managers perspective is based on the views by Salin (2003, p.1213), Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee and Podsakoff (2003, p. 900), and Mavin and Girling (2000, p.430) who argue that the role of the manager is to implement programs to empower people with the right attitudes and knowledge at organisational, group, and individual levels to fight and overcome workplace discrimination.
According to Colquitt, Conlon, Wesson, Porter and Ng (2001, p. 435), the next perspective is anchored on the organisational response to the impact of the legal and political environment, which introduce diversity training programs when they have lost cases against discrimination.
Colquitt, Conlon, Wesson, Porter and Ng (2001, p. 435) argue that managers focus on the diversity training programs as the most reliable diversity management tool. Organisations focus on organisational function, gender, cognitive style, and personality to improve the perceptions and behavior of employee towards each other and to make them cope with workplace diversity.
However, Chiaburu and Harrison (2008, p.1090) support opponents to both perspectives by arguing that diversity training might not be very useful, but are gateways of increasing discrimination at the workplace.
Chiaburu and Harrison (2008, p.1091) support the position with practical examples by affirming that when such a program was introduced in one organisation, the number of white women promoted increased and that of black women demoted increased.
In another organisation, students showed more bias towards older people, which made more people to develop ill feelings towards their colleagues and an increase in cultural diversity and stereotyping was noted.
From the debate, it is recommended that organisations can implement workplace diversity programs as the best approach to overcome stereotyping by strategically integrating the program into the culture of the organisation.
References
Chiaburu, DS & Harrison, DA 2008, Do peers make the place? Conceptual synthesis and meta-analysis of coworker effects on perceptions, attitudes, OCBs, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 5, no. 93, pp. 1082-1098.
Colquitt, JA, Conlon, D E, Wesson, MJ, Porter, CO & Ng, KY 2001, Justice at the millennium: a meta-analytic review of 25 years of organizational justice research, Journal of applied psychology, vol. 3, no. 86, pp. 425-450
DeFour, DC, David, G, Diaz, FJ & Thompkins, S 2003, The interface of race, sex, sexual orientation, and ethnicity in understanding sexual harassment, Academic and workplace sexual harassment: A handbook of cultural, social science, management, and legal perspectives, vol. 1, no.1, pp. 31-45.
Mavin, S & Girling, G 2000, What is managing diversity and why does it matter?, Human Resource Development International, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 419-433.
Podsakoff, PM, MacKenzie, SB, Lee, JY & Podsakoff, NP 2003, Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies, Journal of applied psychology, vol. 5, no. 88, pp. 879-900
Salin, D 2003, Ways of explaining workplace bullying: A review of enabling, motivating and precipitating structures and processes in the work environment. Human relations, vol. 10, no. 56, pp. 1213-1232.
Zeidner, M, Matthews, G & Roberts, RD 2004, Emotional intelligence in the workplace: A critical review, Applied Psychology, vol. 3, no. 53, pp. 371-399.
Across the globe, and with the invention and persistent technological advancements, diversity in the workplace has become inevitable. It has become part and parcel of global expansion. In every organisation, there is a high likelihood that employees may be originating from different parts of the country or even the world and diverse walks of life. These employees may also be of different creeds, races, ethnicity, sex and disability. It is, therefore, on the prepositions mentioned above, that it can be argued that workplace diversity is no longer a luxury, but a necessity (Cole, 2002).
In the present worldwide economy, different individuals from different corners of the globe are finding themselves working in the same office environment with a shared objective, be it in the short-term or the long-term. However, since every organisational culture owes its authentic business practices, morals and beliefs, it is of great significance for every employee to comprehensively learn how best to work with others in seeing through the accomplishment of the shared mission of the organisation (Dessler, 2004). It is also notable that effective communication ought to be embraced within the modern workplace environment to have all backgrounds and cultures accommodated. It is through the unending interaction with one another that the employees get to learn the required effective communication skills. Besides becoming more tolerant of one another, the aspect of sharing cultural traditions, alternative problem-solving approaches and ideas among employees also play a central role in making these employees forgo their stereotypical notions (Santana, 2003).
There are numerous ways through which business entities reap benefits for embracing workforce that is varied in any of the earlier mentioned tenets. Firstly, workplace diversity plays the role of strengthening the organisation. This is so realised since this diversity brings onboard individuals with different skills, experiences and expertise (Cole, 2002). Undeniably, every person handles situations and circumstances confronting him or her differently. This aspect, therefore, remains to be a vital asset to any organisation, irrespective of the line of operation the organisation is engaged in.
Moreover, having employees from different backgrounds offers the organisation several different viewpoints. Workplace diversity, in addition to inclusion, leads to increased productivity of the organisation. This is so since different talents are brought to a mutual stage to work hand in hand towards realising a shared goal. Markedly, diverse sets of skills among the employees flare up their loyalty and as a result, promote their productivity in the organisation as well as their retention (Kersten, 2000).
Also, workplace diversity stimulates mutual respect among the taskforce. Regardless of whether this task force is working in various distinct teams or sets made up of co-workers with distinct styles of work or the colleagues are representatives of different generations and cultures, the ultimate result is a synergetic factory environment. More often than not, achieving an idyllic atmosphere may be quite challenging. Nevertheless, the workforce greatly appreciates the many talents and strengths offered by diversity (Dessler, 2004). Also, the employees involuntarily accord concerning the performance of their colleagues. In the work environment, conflicts are inevitable. Nonetheless, those employees who have conceptualised acknowledging their colleagues differences almost always find some similarities and more especially when a shared goal is in place. The respect mentioned above among employees is in the offing of either lessening the probabilities of conflicts arising or facilitating the process of resolving any existent conflicts (Kersten, 2000).
In conclusion, therefore, it is through the above-discussed areas that diversity in the workplace can be said to be energetically involved in preserving the quality of relationships among employees with not only their co-workers but also with their supervisors.
Since the US is the nation of immigrants, it has been a major supporter of the concept of diversity management as an efficient organisational retort to the confronts within the public and private sectors.
Many past empirical studies have found that diversified workforce is normally more advantageous to a business as it helps to maximize its revenues.
However, critics are of the view that the diversity is nonconsequential to a business or it will destabilise the business by creating chaos, destabilising the cohesion and thus, ending in the decline of productivity.
However, there have been empirical evidences that diversity is more closely associated with the enhanced sales revenues , have added more customers , created larger market share and created higher revenues.
Further, it has been proven that gender diversity has also resulted in the enhanced sales revenue and more customers to the business. (Herring 2009,p.208).
According to Hubbard (2004), diversity pays and it helps to cater the customers demands, it helps to comprehend the heartbeat of the marketplace and enhances the quality of goods and services.
According to Cox (2001), diversity enhances the workplace atmosphere by widening employee viewpoints, fortifying teamwork of employees and facilitating higher resources for finding solutions to the issues.. (Herring 2009, p.209).
According to Florida and Gates (2002), companies in the Silicon Valley having comprehending the competitive benefits of the diversity, companies started to focus more on heterogeneous employees to enhance their bottom line and earnings.
According to Xin (1999), some critics see diversity as process and lament that diversity involves a major potential costs. Skerry (2002) is of the view that ethnicity and racial diversity is associated with the conflict among co-employees.
Tsui et al. (1992) are of the view that diversity reduces group solidarity and due to this, there will be more employee turnover and absenteeism. According to Rothman et al (2003), greater diversity may result in lower quality as the engagement of unqualified employees to carry out the job. (Herring 2009, p.210).
Globalisation has facilitated many multinational companies to expand their business in almost all parts of the globe. For multinational companies, diversity plays a dominant role as they have to employ diversified workforce depending upon the culture and customs of the country in which they operate.
For instance, IBM entered into the minority market strategically by encouraging diversity in its employee fleet. The outcome is that it attained a virtuous progress and growth. (Thomas 2004, p.1).
Apple Computer core aim is to promote diversity. It has encouraged its employees to establish groups among themselves based on their cultures and customs like Apple Black Network, Apple Hispanic Association, Jewish Cultural Group, Lambada, a lesbian and gay group, Apple Professional Womens Organisation and Asians in Action.
The main benefit to be derived from such groups of Apple is that such groups act as a ventilation or promotion media and for example, Apple Black Network may organise a national seminar on how to sell and market more Apple computers to African Americans and to redress their demand to offer more promotions in jobs for Apples black employees. (Rodriguez 1991).
Purpose
The purpose of this report is to explore the diversity in Silicon Valley.
Company review
Dell is a multinational company functioning in 34 nations around the world with about 111,000 employees as of 2013 and 68,300 employees are located outside the USA and having sales of $ 56.94 billion as of February 2013.
Dell is structured its business activity in Japan, Asia-Pacific, USA and Europe, Middle East and Africa. Even though, Dell corporates head office is at Texas, it major functions are from Silicon Valley. (Dell.com 2012).
Dell computer is the global leader in the personal computer and is continuing to gain further market share and regularly reports profits in an industry where other partners are struggling with declined sales and incurring heavy losses.
Dell unique sales strategy is that it sells almost 90% of the PCs to the customers directly surpassing the reseller or distribution channel. Dell enjoys unique advantages due to its direct marketing thereby winning customer relationship as compared to indirect sales replica. (Kraemer & Dedrick 2010, p.1).
Dell is of the view that its devotion to diversity and to offer the best customer experience assists it to be the leader in the market place. Dell is extending its services to its customers with disabilities thereby offering Dell products who have auditory injury with the help of listening and light devises.
For those with physical impairment, it supplies its products with the fine-tuning hardware and with fine motor-skills hardware. (Dell.com 2012). For people affected by disabilities, it also supplies plug-and pay computers. (Dell.com 2012).
Dell management strongly believe that to have diverse workforce who will generate innovative and diverse ideas that make the Dell as the best company of choice for its customers around the world.
For building vibrant association with its Hispanic customers, Dell has developed a number of new communication channels. In 2008, Dell was named as the one of the top 10 nations for the best Supplier Diversity by DiversityInc.
Further, it is also ranked as the second top organisation for the multicultural business opportunities in the year 2008. Dell has been named to the Billion Dollar Roundtable in the year 2008 as it had allocated more than $1 billion with women-owned suppliers and minority.
Dell has been acknowledged by many multicultural groups and publications for its diversity initiatives and received major awards from Hispanic-centred organisations. (Dell.com 2012).
Dell strongly deems that so as to remain a global successful company, its business should able to leverage the differences and likeness of all of its team members.
To accomplish that, its CEO Michael Dell who chairs the Dell Global Diversity Council which drives and monitors diversity efforts throughout its organisation. (Dell.com 2012).
According to Michael Dell , Chairman and CEO of the Dell Inc , employing a diversified work force of 110,000 employees is not an easy task and is focussing more on the diverse global team and always Dell want to have its commitment to diversity and inclusion and that would continue to be a competitive advantage in Dells future business strategy.
According to Lisa Mink, ED for Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer, Dell is giving more attention to inclusion and diversity which is an integral part of its global business strategy.
Thus, Dell is aiming to establish a convinient workplace for all of its team members which will facilitate Dell to reap the whole potential of each individual, can push motivation and promote an atmosphere for its global team to offer its best services so as to cater the demands of its customers. (Dell.com 2012).
Literature Review
Diversity can be said to be one of the uniqueness of the Silicon Valley.
According to Pete Engradio, in Silicon Valley colour-blind immigrants have attained their great dreams and more than 100,000 technical experts from Europe, India, Israelis and Chinese make the Silicon Valley as the world renowned centre of Information technology.
It is estimated that about 33% of the technicians employed in Silicon Valley are immigrants. The Silicon Valley success can be attributed to a regular establishment of diverse companies that interact and support with one another.
The Major players of Silicon Valley is comprised of a cluster of knowledge workers around the globe , venture capitalists, research institutes and universities , advance service infrastructure , lead-users , customers and embracers of new technologies. (Buckley & Ghauri 2002, p.231).
According to Scott Page, the Difference connotes that growth and novelty which may reckon less on lone thinkers with massive Intelligent Quotients instead of diverse people joining together and taking advantage on their individuality.
Page demonstrates how groups that exhibit a variety of outlooks surpass groups of similar-minded specialists. Diversity capitulates better results, and Page shows it by employing his own vanguard research.
Shifting apart from the politics that blur typical discussion about diversity, he clarifies why difference edges out similarity, whether one is discussing about citizens in egalitarianism or scientists in the lab. He looks at practical means to apply diversitys logic to variety of issues. (Page 2008,p.23).
Success of firms runs by immigrants
Diversity in a business means variance in nationality, chief language, belonging to different religious practice, age and social status which may either bring more advantages or destabilise a business. Managing the diversity efficiently is the main criteria to leverage the benefits and to maximise their diversity in the workplace.
According to Kroll et al. (1998), skilled immigrants who worked in the Silicon Valley contributed to Californias economic growth. Silicon Valley is the best model that a region can become economically strong due to its technological innovation and it become as a leading export region in California due to diversity. (Cornelius 2002:57).
It is to be noted that every one in six owners of small business being immigrants even though immigrants constitute just 13% of the aggregate of the U.S population. (Koba 2012).
Further, according to FPI report, about 4.7 million U.S based employees are being engaged by the immigrant owned business in the U.S and these companies have reported about $776 billion as revenues. (Koba 2012).
According to recent report, about 141,000 business and professional service sector, 120,000 retail and construction and 100,000 social services and educational sector, hospitality and leisure sector are owned by the immigrant business owners in USA. (Koba 2012).
According to Saxenian (2002), Asian skilled immigrants have made enormous economic contribution in Silicon Valley both by way of trade facilitators and investment with their nation of origin and by way of entrepreneurs.
About one-third of Silicon Valley workforce is comprised of immigrant engineers and they later become either investors or entrepreneurs.
Further, 66% of the foreign born engineers were from Asia. Both Indian and Chinese immigrants have accounted for 74% of the aggregate of the Asian-born engineering workforce. (Saxenian 2002 , p.29).
In about 25% of Silicon Valleys technology business, Indian and Chinese engineers are working as senior executives. (Saxenian 2002 , p.29). Further, IT companies run by immigrants accounted for in excess of $26.8 billion in revenue and offered 58,282 jobs in Silicon Valley.
Silicons valleys most triumphant business owners foot upon heavily on ethnic resources while assimilating into the main stream economy. (Saxenian 2002 , p.29).
Thus , Asian immigrants in Silicon Valley can be compared with the creative class as defined by Richard Florida as such class is a major stimulator for economic growth in post industrial cities especially in the regions like Silicon Valley in the USA.
Florida enumerates the creative class as involving 40 million employees which comprises of thirty percent of the aggregate of the USAs workforce.
Thus, Florida is of the view that the creative class would be contributing velocity of development in the US economy as it is anticipated to grow more than by over 10 million jobs in the next decade. (Florida 2002, p.10).
According to Smith & Edmonston (1997), foreign born engineers and scientists are establishing new business and creating new jobs and wealth for the US economy and for Californias economy as equivalent to the native counter parts. (Putnam 2007,p.137).
The following Graph shows that the immigrants have setup about 43% of companies in software and computer related activities in the USA from 1995 to 2005. This is strong evidence that diversity plays great role in the development of US economy mainly due to concentration IT companies in Silicon Valley.
(Wadhwa et al 2007,p.19).
The following Table shows that Indians immigrants predominant in engineering and technology sector in USA.
(Wadhwa et al 2007,p.12).
Benefits of diversity
The Society for Human Resources Management and Fortune Magazine survey divulged that more than 70% of the human resources managers who were interviewed that diversity has increased their businesses recruitment initiatives and enhanced the aggregate corporate culture.
To be more triumphant, businesses are now employing employees who belong to the same cultural setting as the customer which they are initiating to reach. For instance, almost all the consultants in the McKinsey & Co in 1970s were Native Americans.
However, at the start of this century, Rajat Gupta was the chief partner of McKinsey who is from India and now, only 40% of the consultants are Americans and now, 60% of the McKinseys consultants are from 40 different nations.
For example, Accenture has more than 186,000 employees in 52 nations including 8000 Chinese employees and 35000 Indian employees. Under globalisation era, companies that do not embrace diversity would find hard time vying in a multicultural global atmosphere. (Daft et al. 2010,p.477).
According to Ted Childs, diversity director of IBM, diversity acts as a link between the marketplace and the workplace.
IBM and Verizon companies from Silicon Valley have been rated as the leaders in the corporate diversity as they have give more precedence to diversity and assumed many initiatives toward establishing a corporate culture that respects equality and mirrors contemporary multicultural base. (Daft et al. 2010,p.478).
According to Kwak (2003), racial diversity increased performance in businesses that treated diversity as a mean for learning and innovation. According to theory of cognitive resources, diversity offers varied skills, insights and perspectives which make the business more productive.
Diversity offers innovation, helps to resolve intricate issues and to make better decisions. According to theory of social capital, diversity offers large external associations, large network, and wide range of information, broad resources and unlimited opportunities. (Biga 2010,p.6).
Co-employees with varied cultural setting can bring unique understanding and knowledge to the various work teams of a business.
Breaking the communication barrier is another chief advantage of diversity in any business. For example, employing bi-lingual employees can benefit the organisation to address the customers grievances in their own language.
For instance, in Southwest USA, much number of companies chooses to employ bi-lingual customer service representatives to sort out issues of the Spanish customers in their own language. (Ingram 2012).
Diversity brings more ideas to the business as diversified workforce brings a large knowledge pool. It brings innovation to the business as diversified workforce will think in different ways. Diversity will enhance tolerance of the workforce.
Challenges of diversity
In this era of globalisation, every multinational business is witnessing confronts in enhancing its business strategy. For the success of any business in the present highly competitive business atmosphere, there is a need to align business strategy with cultural diversity.
As per Gardenswartz et al. (2003), managing the global diversity is the best business strategy to enhance the goals of the organisation by balancing the employees capability as regards to their diverse local culture in the various nations around the globe. (Syed & Ozbilgin 2010,p.14).
For any diversity program to attain a success, a business should overcome cultural, perceptual and language constraints. If there is ineffective communication, it may impact morale and team work of the workforce.
In a diverse work atmosphere, many assorted ethnicities, age groups, religious practices and sexes have to be managed. (Chowdhury & Dasani 2013). Any poor communication among the diversified workforce may bring misunderstanding.
To advocate better communication, the workforce should be motivated to learn more about their co-employees and communication styles. This can be overcome by organising routine office retreats, frequent diversity seminars and diversity meetings. (Chowdhury & Dasani 2013).
It is common in any business, there will be employees who decline to acknowledge the truth that the cultural and social setting of their workplace is transforming fastly.
These negative demeanours can destabilise the morale and can slow down the positive changes and can even reduce the productivity. Chowdhury & Dasani 2013). Thus, employees resistance can be managed through regular workshops, and should make efforts to understand each other. (Chowdhury & Dasani 2013).
Diversity in Silicon Valley/IT industry
According to Saxenian (1999), Indian and Chinese tech savvies owning an increased share of Silicon Valley companies established between 1980s and 1990s and they own about 24% IT companies in Silicon Valley.
Diversity in IT industry in the US can be summarised as follows: In 25% of the IT companies established in the USA between 1995 and 2005, there have been at least one immigrant key founder.
The following is the state-wise detail of the percentage of immigrant owned IT companies viz. California (Silicon Valley ) 39% , Georgia 30%, New Jersey 38%, Massachusetts 29% , Ohio 14% , Washington 11% , Texas 18% and North Carolina 14%.
From this, we can understand Silicon Valley is in the top as immigrant prefers to start their start-ups from there. It is to be noted that US economy is more benefited due to diversity in IT industry as immigrant established IT companies earned more than $ 52 billion in revenues and offered employment to more than 450,000 individuals in 2005. Indian immigrants have established more engineering and technology companies in the USA as compared to the other nations.
Further, there is a widespread diversity found in the Silicon Valley IT companies as 52% of the start-up companies in the Silicon Valley had one or more immigrant as the chief founder. 18.7% of the start-ups in the Research Triangle Park had at least one immigrant as a major founder.
About 25% if the start-ups are established by the Indians followed by UK and Germany each with 15% in Silicon Valley.
Thus, it has become crystal clear that immigrants have made laudable contribution to the growht of intellectual property in the USA and the development of new businesses in the USA and their contribution to the US and California economy soared to heights in the recent past.
What is unique about IT/Silicon Valley?
Silicon Valley is the USAs leading hub of immigrants favorite place mainly due to its magnetism to immigrant engineers and scientist than any other technology park in the USA. As of 2000, 53% of the Silicon Valley technology workforce was immigrants.
If we compare the other technology parks in the USA like Austin and Boston, immigrant technology comprised only just 25% of the immigrant workforce.
This demonstrates that Silicon Valley is the preferred destination for immigrants to setup their IT venture and thus, Silicon Valley encourages diversity than any other region in the USA.. (Wadhwa et al 2007,p.31).
How diverse in Silicon Valley?
In a research project CNNMoney approached twenty technical companies located in Silicon Valley and asked about their sex and racial makeup of their workforce.
Fortune 500 companies like Ingram Micro, DELL and Intel were among the companies that were interviewed. The other seventeen companies were not cooperative to divulge their data on their diversity. (CNNMoney 2011).
CNNMoney data demonstrates that diversity in Silicon Valley remains a grave issue. Some Silicon Valley companies offer their comment that they employ less number of immigrants as there are inadequate diverse technical people who are graduating with technical qualifications. (CNNMoney 2011).
What role does diversity play?
Exponential growth of Asian start-ups in Silicon Valley has assisted the USA to uphold its comparative benefit as a country.
For instance, research study finds that for each and every one percent increase in the immigrants in Silicon Valley from Asian-Pacific, there is a corresponding increase in exports from Silicon Valley of 0.5%.Jerry Yang, is one of the Yahoo! Founder who is being regarded as the most successful Asian American entrepreneurs.
There are many other successful Asian successful entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley viz. K.B.Chandrashekar of Exodus Communications, Suhas Patil of Cirrus Logic Corporation, David Lam of Lam Research Corporation, Vinod Kholsa (Sun Microsystems), Frank Lin (Trident Microsystems) , and Winston Chen (Solectron Corporation.(Chen & Yoo 2010,p.113).
In the last two decades, Asian immigrant entrepreneurs have offered wealth production, enterprise and innovation to Silicon Valley and the USA. The start-up companies developed by the Asian immigrants later acquired by the large companies and thus generated a sizeable quantum of wealth.
For instance, Ascend Communication has acquired the Cascade, a start-up company formed by Desh Deshpande, a company that is specialised in carrier-packet switches for $3.7 million. Sun Microsystems acquired Cobalt Networks established by Vivek Mehra, who is immigrant from Silicon Valley for $2 billion.
Cisco Systems acquired the Redback and Broad-com founded by Rajvir Singh for a sum of $ 11.8 billion. (Chen & Yoo 2010:113). These acquisitions demonstrate that Silicon Valley start-ups owned by immigrants have created enormous wealth for the US economy.
Many of the above mentioned Asian immigrants have spend their wealth and time in developing and investing into the new commercial enterprises and this has resulted in the exponential growth of new Asian American entrepreneurs in USA.
Vinod Kholsa, founder of the Sun Microsystems later also started Kholsa Ventures, which was a venture capital firm which gave more spotlight on business promotion. Kholsa ventures offer a wide range of service for new start-up companies. Further, it helps with team building, product development and investment capital.
This is best illustration how diversity plays a vital role in wealth creation for the USA and Californias economy. (Chen & Yoo 2010,p.114).
Close network among Asian immigrants offer Asians with required capital for the business that may have been otherwise very limited or denied to Asian entrepreneurs due to discrimination in the USA. (Chen & Yoo 2010,p.114).
Firms Diversity
Some socially responsible companies support diversity programs with their suppliers. For instance, JCPenney, the retail giant has introduced partnership program which is intended to develop relationships with the minority especially women owned business.
The Coca-Cola Company tries to foster an inclusive environment thereby offering diversity training for all managers and employees and encourages regular conversation among suppliers, colleagues, shareholders and customers.
By formulating an inclusive workplace, the Coca-Cola Company tries to leverage its worldwide employees who are rich in talent, ideas and with diverse culture. It is to be remembered that for a global company like Dell, Microsoft, Apple Inc, companies operating from Silicon Valley, diversity is a crucial factor. (Boone & Kurtz 2009, p.51).
Phillip Morris Companies Inc is a minority owned company and is the globes largest consumer packaged products company that supports diversity in each and every walk of their business.
Its supplier diversity program has created many chances of thousands of minority women-owned and minority owned companies each year. (Lewis 1999, p.87).
Workforce Diversity
Workforce diversity connotes organisations that are turning to be more diverse or heterogeneous due the mix of people in relation to age, gender, race, sexual orientation and ethnicity.
A heterogeneous workforce includes Hispanics, women, Asians, Africans, Indians, the physically challenged, Colourreds, lesbians, gay and senior citizens. For todays business, managing this heterogeneous has become a global issue as they are operating in various nations.
For example, the administers of business in Australia and Canada has to fine tune with large influxes of Asian employees. In South Africa, more and more Africans are now assuming significant managerial and technical jobs.
Likewise, women who are confined to low-paid jobs earlier now started to occupy key managerial positions. Due to opening of markets in Europe due to the concept of European Union, there has been enhanced workforce diversity in nations such as Portugal, Germany, France and Italy. (Robins 2009,p.12).
It is to be noted the each and every US company which employs more than 100 persons to diverge their diversity data to the US government through a form namely EEO-1 that separates each and every employees by their sex and race.
This information is collected by an independent federal agency namely the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and employs the same for supervising their diverse practice.
The following table exhibits an atmosphere in which entrepreneurship is authenticated through ownership and investment in which minority ethnic groups and immigrants assume ownership relatively fast whether in staking claim or in economic terms on behalf of their culture or ethnic community.
The above chart corroborates the research hypothesis that diversity contributed to the success of companies in Silicon Valley.
Cultural Diversity
According to Peteraf (1993), it is widely acknowledged both in international and domestic markets that employees can be a significant source of competitive advantage for companies.
As per Boxall & Purcell (2000), it is essential that companies persue Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and policies that utilise the specific employees strength to the fullest.
According to Pfeffer (1998), through apt select and recruitment processes , through efficient compensation systems , through elaborative development and training activities ,by providing job satisfaction and to offer employment security which all impact positively on the aggregate business and performance of a company.
According to Bjorkman & Xiucheng (2002), due to the intricacies of the managing the people from varied cultural and socio-economic setting, it is recommended that the manner in which global employees are administered will also have a poignant effect on a companys economic results. (Abdullah, Boyle, and Joham. 2011,p.198).
The main reason for the success of the diverse culture in Silicon Valley is that it facilitates the individuals with heterogeneous skills who may not know each other previously freely to mix and facilitates to trust and collaborate in a style that people in other cultures normally may not prefer to do it.
Cultural diversity at Silicon Valley is a process of creative reassembly as the individuals prefer to join temporary jobs and then re-circulate and recombine for other project after some time. (Hawang 2012).
We can illustrate Silicon Valley as rainforest model since its many elements join together to usher a new and an unexpected fauna and flora. (Hawang 2012).
Chinese and Indian Professional Associations in Silicon Valley help to combine elements of cultural immigrant culture with distinctly high-technology practices.
Immigrant owned companies establish ethnic identities within the province and help the professional networking and information exchange that help to attain success in the Silicon Valley economy which is highly mobile in nature.
Many of the Indian and Chinese Association in Silicon Valley have become significant platform for mentoring and cross generational investment. The older generation of these immigrants now acts as financiers and mentoring the younger generations of their culture. (Saxenian 2002,p.19).
Research Design & Methods
As we have already seen, Dell is a multinational company functioning in 34 nations around the world with about 111,000 employees as of 2013 and 68,300 employees are located outside the USA.
In the year 2006, Dell Inc received the Secretary of Labors Opportunity Award which is the US government highest award acknowledging work place diversity voluntarily among federal contractors.
According Chao, US Secretary of Labor, Dell is a corporation that nurtures as its fundamental value a commitment to equal employment opportunity in its entire organisation structure.
Dell was honoured with the Department of Labors Exemplary Voluntary Efforts (EVE) Award which tributes federal contractors who have proved innovative and exemplary initiatives to enhance the employment chances of employees which includes women ,minorities ,veterans and individuals with disabilities (Dell Inc 2006).
Dell Inc supports and engages in various diversity recruiting initiatives. About 80% beneficiaries of the Dells TechKnow program are students from minority background whereas about 45% of the beneficiaries are girls.
Through its community inclusion program, Dell has established a number of associations with the major multicultural organisations which include Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, National Urban League, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, League of United Latin American Citizens and United Negro College Fund. (Dell Inc 2006).
Results
According to Kroll et al. (1998), skilled immigrants who worked in the Silicon Valley contributed to Californias economic growth. Silicon Valley is the best model that a region can become economically strong due to its technological innovation and it become as a leading export region in California due to diversity.
Further, according to FPI report, about 4.7 million U.S based employees are being engaged by the immigrant owned business in the U.S and these companies have reported about $776 billion as revenues. (Koba 2012).
According to Saxenian (2002), Asian skilled immigrants have made enormous economic contribution in Silicon Valley both by way of trade facilitators and investment with their nation of origin and by way of entrepreneurs.
Under globalisation era, companies that do not embrace diversity would find hard time vying in a multicultural global atmosphere.
IBM and Verizon companies from Silicon Valley have been rated as the leaders in the corporate diversity as they have give more precedence to diversity and assumed many initiatives toward establishing a corporate culture that respects equality and mirrors contemporary multicultural base.
According to Saxenian (1999), Indian and Chinese tech savvies owning an increased share of Silicon Valley companies established between 1980s and 1990s and they own about 24% IT companies in Silicon Valley.
It is to be noted that US economy is more benefited due to diversity in IT industry as immigrant established IT companies earned more than $ 52 billion in revenues and offered employment to more than 450,000 individuals in 2005. Indian immigrants have established more engineering and technology companies in the USA as compared to the other nations.
Further, there is a widespread diversity found in the Silicon Valley IT companies as 52% of the start-up companies in the Silicon Valley had one or more immigrant as the chief founder. 18.7% of the start-ups in the Research Triangle Park had at least one immigrant as a major founder.
About 25% if the start-ups are established by the Indians followed by UK and Germany each with 15% in Silicon Valley.
Thus, it has become crystal clear that immigrants have become an important driving force in the establishment of intellectual property and new businesses in the US and their contribution to the US and California economy increased in the recent past.
For instance, research study finds that for each and every one percent increase in the immigrants in Silicon Valley from Asian-Pacific, there is a corresponding increase in exports from Silicon Valley of 0.5%.
Dell is of the view that its devotion to diversity and to offer the best customer experience assists it to be the leader in the market place. Dell is also devoted to offer an atmosphere that value and develops individual abilities, honour its people and extends collective strengths toward the complete contentment of its stakeholders, customers and clients.
Dell management strongly believe that to have diverse workforce who will generate innovative and diverse ideas that make the Dell as the best company of choice for its customers around the world.
Dell strongly deems that so as to remain a global successful company, its business should able to leverage the differences and likeness of all of its team members.
According to Michael Dell , Chairman and CEO of the Dell Inc , employing a diversified work force of 110,000 employees is not an easy task and is focussing more on the diverse global team and always Dell want to have its commitment to diversity and inclusion and that would continue to be a competitive advantage in Dells future business strategy.
Conclusion
Silicon Valley is no doubt is the abode of start-ups , helps to integrate young IT engineers all over the world , offering of public platforms and physical facilities which is open to those who wish to share and exchange their traits and culture.
Further, there is no entry barrier for IT experts for open up their start-ups in the Silicon Valley.
Further, Silicon Valley offers diversity both in the sizes and types of the enterprises which include both informal and formal structures, with a range of expressive styles and forms and a variety of ethnic and cultural communities offering and partaking.
Thus, Silicon Valley becomes a very good breeding ground for Asian immigrants to place their start-ups as it has been well demonstrated that these immigrants are deriving maximum advantage due to the existence of diverse culture in the Silicon Valley.
List of References
Abdullah, A., Boyle, Stephen & Joham, Carmen. 2011, Cultural factors in workforce management: the case of multinational companies operating in Bangladesh, International Review of Business Research Papers,Vol 7, no.2, pp.196-211.
Biga, A. 2007. Measuring Diversity Management Skill: Development and Validation, ProQuest, New York.
Boone, L. E. & Kurtz, D. L., 2009, Contemporary Business 2010: Update, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Buckley, P. J. & Ghauri, P. N., 2002, International Mergers and Acquisitions, Cengage Learning , New York.
Chen, E. W. & Yoo G. 2010, Encyclopaedia of Asian American Issues Today, ABC-CLIO, New York.
Chowdhury, S. & Dasani, L. 2013, Diversity Management A Need of the Hour. Web.
Kraemer K. L. & Dedrick J. 2010, Dell Computer: Organisation of a Global Production Network, University of California, Irvine.
Lewis, B. E. 1999 , Diversity Opportunity, Black Enterprise, Vol. 29, no 5, pp. 87.
Page, Scott E. 2008, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools and Societies, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Putnam, Robert D. 2007, E pluribus Unum: Diversity and community in the twentyfirst century the 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture Scandinavian political studies , Vol 30 no 2, pp. 137-174.
Robins, S. R. 2009 Organisational Behaviour in Southern Africa Pearson South Africa, Johannesburg.
It is important to note the fact that diversity in the workplace can be defined as an organizations tendency to hire and promote a diverse set of individuals who are multicultural in regards to background, education, language, sexuality, age, ethnicity, race, or gender. It is not highly challenging to assess whether a workplace is diverse or not because one needs to categorize the present people in accordance with the measurement metrics listed previously. If the workplace is primarily and predominantly occupied by individuals of one specific group, then there might be a lack of diversity. The key advantage of workplace diversity is a better representation, improved decision making, and an expanded talent pool, whereas the disadvantages can be performance, social integration, and other negative outcomes (Guillaume et al., 2017). In other words, diversity can be a certain form of a double-edged sword.
It should also be noted that the positive impacts of culture in the workplace in regards to the subject at hand revolve around a higher degree of equality and multiculturalism. The negative ones might be focused on more challenges of ensuring teamwork and cooperation. As a leader, one should encourage diversity in the workplace because the shift in paradigm needs to be initiated from the top to the bottom, which means it is the leaders responsibility to ensure the change takes place. In order to accomplish the goal of diversity and inclusivity, the national CLAS standards can be utilized through strict and strong adherence to the key points. One needs to be highly aware of vast cultural and linguistic differences among patients, which can be more easily overcome through a presentation of a diverse set of workers in the workplace.
Tennessee and New Yorks legislation state. LGBTQ+ persons and inclusiveness. The importance of social and cultural intelligence. Gender identity. HIV criminalization laws. Non-discrimination in employment.
The Challenges of Employing a Diverse Workforce
Deceleration of making significant decisions. Decreased objectivity in hiring new employees. The possibility of escalating team conflicts.
The Benefits of Using a Diverse Workforce
Improves existing relationships within the team. Creates a positive organizations reputation. Provides a better understanding of customers.
Benefits and Challenges of LGBTQ inclusions
Discrimination can sometimes be hidden. The ability to appreciate differences. Raising awareness and stimulating changes. Zero tolerance principle towards discrimination. Establishing friendly relations within the team. Workplaces should become more inclusive.
Global Business and Employee Management Strategies
Attract qualified personnel to work remotely. Creation of ways of individual employees development. Social responsibility is a critical factor.
The Role of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Organizations
Fairness and equity are impossible without inclusiveness. The introduction of inclusiveness carries certain risks. Potential performance deterioration (can be avoided).
The Value of Diversity Management for the Future
Creativity and innovation as positive effects. Diversity is an essential indicator of equity rights. It signals the degree of societys development.
Cultural and Social Intelligence in Comparison
There are similarities between cultural and social intelligence. Social intelligence implies interpersonal skills. Cultural intelligence focuses on other cultures. Diversity by itself is ineffective. Increased SQ benefits organizations. Raising employees CQ is necessary.
The Importance of Managing a Diverse Workforce
Exploring the peculiarities and ongoing changes. Adapting to changes in the business climate. Implementing management programs for diverse personnel.
The Intersection of Diversity Aspects (Tennessee and New York)
The importance of a non-discrimination policy. Lack of laws protecting LGBT people. Negative indicators regarding gender identity policy. Employee discrimination is prohibited in New York. Overcoming intergenerational conflicts among employees. Inequality and prejudice persist in practice.
Five Components of the Corporate Equality Index
Providing mentoring programs to new employees. Top management participating in training programs. Remembering the essence of inclusiveness.
How Does DEI Affect the Organization in Tennessee and New York
Non-discriminatory environment for HIVpositive people. Provide workers and their families with privacy. Mandatory HIV testing is unacceptable. Overcoming the existing gender stereotypes. Tennessee lags far behind on gender issues. Dissemination of the DIE policy is needed. New York employee non-discrimination. Equality is maintained at a high level. Implementing initiatives is energy-consuming. State achievement of high performance. Building on the New York state experience. Tennessees gender issue needs attention.
Conclusion
Inclusiveness and diversity mean embracing differences. Cultural intelligence should not be underestimated. Ensuring LGBTQ+ rights is a top priority.
References
Adenaike, D. (2019). The power of inclusive marketing in brand communications. ODwyer. Web.
Asare, J. G. (2020). What do you do when your diversity efforts lead to greater conflict? Forbes. Web.
Felstead, A., & Henseke, G. (2017). Assessing the growth of remote working and its consequences for effort, well-being and work-life balance. New Technology, Work and Employment, 32, 1-18. Web.
Mojica, A. (2019). Christian ministers say gay marriage not protected in Tennessee Constitution. FOX17. Web.
Diversity the inclusion of different types of people (such as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization (Diversity, n.d., para. 2).
Cultural Diversity co-existence of different behavior, traditions, beliefs, and values in the settings of a community (UNESCO, n.d.).
Cultural diversity in the workplace has become a central question for HR specialists in recent years due to the increase of globalization in the world.
Before introducing the training series that would help employees to recognize the impact of diversity in the workplace, it is crucial to define diversity. The two definitions given on this slide can both be used to address the matter; however, it would be more beneficial to use the definition of cultural diversity by UNESCO (n.d.). It should also be stated that recent research also includes the presence of different sexual orientations in a group of people into the definition (Martin, 2014).
Effects of Cultural Diversity in the Workplace
Adverse effects according to Martin (2014):
A difference in opinions may lead to an increased count of interpersonal conflict;
Contrasting views on matters can hinder the development of unity.
Benefits according to Martin (2014):
Different ways of thinking help to analyze a matter from a variety of perspectives;
Acquaintance with various traditions helps to overcome cultural shock if the business expands in other countries;
Culturally diverse workers can become experts in a foreign country and consult concerned employees.
The effects of diversity in the workplace given on this slide help to realize the importance of the matter. The training series offered in the presentation will assist in overcoming the negative side of the cultural differences and increase all the positive effects.
Expected Outcomes
Increased appreciation of the different perspectives induced by cultural diversity.
Further development of the sense of corporate unity.
Decreased number of conflicts in the workplace.
Facilitation of expanding the business in foreign countries.
The expected outcomes listed on this slide are closely connected to the effects of diversity in the workplace discussed previously. It is also worth mentioning that according to Lambert (2016), appreciation of cultural differences can become a driving force for innovation and creativity. Therefore, one of the outcomes that may be expected is a gradual shift in the corporate trend from perceived security to innovation. The matter was not included in the slide because it is not an objective of the training series.
Strategy
Diversity perspective can be more explicit through the behavior of leaders and learning rather than through formal policies (Lambert, 2016)
The proposed plan aims at modeling behavior of the employees through:
Lectures;
Movie discussions;
Inter-personal activities.
The plan is developed for 4 weeks, 3-4 hours a week.
Recent studies show that integration and learning is a more effective tool for achieving the inclusion of minorities in the workplace (Lambert, 2016). Therefore, rather than creating formal policies, the present project aims at modeling the behavior of the employees through educational activities. The workers will be offered 1.5-hour classes two times a week, during which they will acquire knowledge about the effects of cultural diversity and develop skills to overcome the subconscious bias. While it would be more beneficial to have longer sessions, the plan takes into consideration the busy schedule of the employees. The training sessions will take place after the regular working hours.
Issues Covered
The training series covers cultural issues studied by Hofstede (2009):
Power distance;
Individualism;
Masculinity;
Uncertainty avoidance;
Long-term orientation.
Additionally, activities will help to overcome bias due to:
Sexual orientation;
Religion;
Political views.
The effects of cultural diversity at the workplace will also be in focus.
By the end of the intervention, employees will acknowledge both broad and narrow differences in culture. The training series will provide an in-depth analysis of moral norms and values rooted in the history of minority groups that will support inclusion in the community. The minority group members will be offered to make a presentation of what they think is important to know about their culture and the insights will be compared to the information provided by the trainer and discussed.
Action Plan
Session 1. Introduction to the course. Getting to know each other:
A short lecture on the definition of diversity and training objectives;
Introduction games.
Session 2. Effects of diversity in the workplace:
Lecture on the topic;
Discussion of the movie Life of Pi.
Session 3. Religious differences:
Lecture on the history of Christianity, Islam, and Hindu;
Discussion of parallel motives in different beliefs.
Session 4. Sexual orientation:
Lecture and discussion questions;
Session 5. Politics:
A brief history of the forms of government;
Discussion of the pros and cons of the different political structures.
Session 6. Hofstedes cultural dimensions (part 1):
A lecture and discussions of power distance, individualism, and masculinity.
Session 7. Hofstedes cultural dimensions (part 2):
A debate about uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation;
The drawbacks of applying the Hofstedes model.
Session 8. Concluding statements. Reflections on the training series.
It is worth mentioning that the movie directed by Lee (2012) Life of Pi was chosen for two reasons. First, it provides a vivid example of how cultural diversity can help a man to survive in unusual circumstances. The main character of the movie can be associated with an enterprise and comparison can help to draw conclusions on the matter. Second, the film is an excellent example of religious tolerance, as Pi Patel practiced three religions at the same without internal contradictions. The movie helps to realize that while there may be certain cultural differences, all people share a common goal.
During the last meeting, all the trainees will be asked to provide feedback about the seminars to the group orally. They will be encouraged to tell everyone about what they have learned and how the insights will influence their future behavior. Moreover, every employee will be free to evaluate if the intervention was a success and give advice on how it should be changed.
Conclusion
The central goal of the program is to encourage the inclusion of minorities into community development.
The strategy includes providing education rather than forcing formal policies.
The issues covered range from apparent cultural differences to subtle controversies induced by diversity.
The time needed for the intervention is about a month.
The expected results include enhanced communication among minority groups and a decrease in inter-personal conflicts.
The project can be easily implemented, as it does not require considerable financial investments or help from outside parties. The timeframe was designed to fit the schedule of the majority of organizations, as it takes into consideration the standard timetable of employees. If an organization does not have a designated trainer for the proposed intervention, the budget would include only the spending on hiring a specialist in the matter.
Diversity. (n.d.). In Merriam-Websters online dictionary (11th ed.). Web.
Hofstede, G. (2009). Geert Hofstede cultural dimensions. Web.
Lambert, J. (2016). Cultural diversity as a mechanism for innovation: Workplace diversity and the absorptive capacity framework. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict, 20(1), 68-77.
Lee, A. (Producer), & Netter, G. (Director). (2012). Life of Pi [Motion Picture]. USA: 20th Century Fox.
Modern society focuses on providing equal opportunities for all people, as well as being socially inclusive. This process involves the promotion of workforce diversity, which is aimed at integrating representatives of various ethnic, age, and gender groups into the process of operating and managing organizations. From the perspective of the four general education lenses, including history, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, one can identify the specific impact of a given event on modern society. In particular, workplace diversity identifies historical changes that drive the introduction of systematic promotion of social inclusion. Additionally, the event is associated with the transformation of the culture of modern society towards the values of personal characteristics and skills. Workplace diversity is also positively associated with promoting environmental protection initiatives. Finally, there is a transformation in the structure of society as more diverse groups gain greater economic opportunities. Thus, the focus on workplace diversity as a global social event influences the emergence of significant changes in modern society.
Lens Connection
History
Considering an event through the lens of history allows one to analyze how the situation in the present has changed in comparison with the past, as well as to trace this process. With regard to workplace diversity, from a historical perspective, there have been minor actual positive changes, although the development of relevant initiatives has been observed. Flory et al. (2018) identify that the proportion of Black men in management barely increased from 3 percent in 1985 to 3.3 percent in 2014 (p. 74). At the same time, the number of white women remained unchanged, staying at less than 30 percent (Flory et al., 2018, p. 74). At the same time, both in the policies of companies and in whole countries, initiatives are being actively implemented to promote diversity in the workplace and in managerial positions. Beji et al. (2021) provide the example of a quota law passed in 2011 in France, which obliges large companies to have at least 40 percent of women directors by 2017 (p. 136). Thus, in the historical lens, there is a shift towards the systematic promotion of diversity in the workplace.
Humanities
The humanities lens primarily examines the changes that an event has brought to the culture of a society. Kim et al. (2021) explore how workforce diversity can enhance an organizations resilience in the face of constant leadership turnover. They conclude that the factor of diversity, among other positive effects, makes the company more socially inclusive, which leads to better long-term exchange relationships (Kim et al., 2021). This find identifies cultural changes occurring in society, where the interaction between people and their characteristics becomes a value and a tool. At the same time, Beji et al. (2021) emphasize that diversity boards, especially gender and age, are positively associated with corporate social responsibility policies. Thus, promoting diversity in the workplace over the long term increases the focus of companies on the social mission, which also identifies cultural change. In general, diversity in the workplace is associated with the perception of people and their interactions within society as a greater value.
Natural Science
Consideration of an event through the lens of natural sciences allows one to identify its impact on the natural and physical world. Beji et al. (2021) give an example of how improved social responsibility policies as a result of diversity stimulate the implementation of programs to protect the environment. They note that the French government passed a law that aims to increase biodiversity by establishing the Green and Blue Framework and regional ecological coherence schemes (Beji et al., 2021, p. 144). Thus, increasing diversity in the workplace, in particular in managerial positions, enables initiatives to promote increased social responsibility and care for the environment. Kim et al. (2021) also note that workforce diversity can be a factor in increasing the stability of the company regardless of structural changes. Thus, from a natural science perspective, an increase in workplace diversity can potentially lead to a transformation of the structures of organizations in the future towards those that are more based on indicators of diversity. This factor indicates possible changes in the structure of markets and entire organizational patterns.
Social Sciences
The lens of social science allows you to determine the impact of an event on ongoing social changes and the transformation of the structure of society. Flory et al. (2018) emphasize that the diversity message attracts a large number of applicants from under-represented groups, in particular Hispanic and Black community members. In this case, the focus on workforce diversity allows different groups in society to expand their employment and economic opportunities, which identifies long-term changes in the structure of society. Beji et al. (2021) note that a variety of different types, including gender, age, and educational level, have different impacts on the performance of a companys social responsibility policy. Thus, not only different ethnic, but also other social groups acquire great opportunities to change their economic status. In particular, the focus on workplace diversity allows more people who previously had limited employment opportunities to expand them significantly. In this situation, the structure of society and the relationship between classes can potentially be transformed due to economic factors.
References
Beji, R., Yousfi, N., Loukil, N., & Omri, A. (2021). Board diversity and corporate social responsibility: Empirical evidence from France. Journal of Business Ethics, 173, 133-155. Web.
Flory, J., Leibbrandt, A., Rott, C., & Stoddard, O. (2018). Increasing workplace diversity: Evidence from a recruiting experiment at a Fortune 500 company. The Journal of Human Resources, 56(1), 73-92.
Kim, Y., Jeong, S. S., Yiu, D. W., & Moon, J. (2021). Frequent CEO turnover and firm performance: The resilience effect of workforce diversity. Journal of Business Ethics, 173, 185-203. Web.
Diversity in the workplace is one of the issues that leadership of an institution should understand and effectively manage. The United States is one of the most diversified nations in the world, a fact that can be attributed to several decades of immigration (Hughes, 2019). As the American society become increasingly diversified, it is expected that education workplace will be diversified as well. According to Siu (2021), a diversified workplace environment is beneficial to the institution. It enables it to understand the varying needs of different clients. The problem is that sometimes diversity may become a divisive factor in an organization that cripples operations instead of facilitating the desired growth. When it becomes a problem instead of a benefit to a learning institution, the leadership of that school should find ways of introducing change. That change can only be sustainable if it is supported by all the stakeholders and it addresses a specific problem that is of concern to the institution. In this paper, the researcher seeks to investigate diversity in secondary education workplace, determine the ideal way to change it, and assess if the change will be sustainable
Literature Review
The concept of diversity in the workplace has attracted the attention of many scholars over the past several years. In this section of the report, it is necessary to start by providing the definition of the term. According to Griffen (2021), diversity in workplace refers to the existence of people of people from different races, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, or any other demographical classification. In a highly diversified society such as that in the United States, it is common to have a highly diversified workplace environment. In a research, it is possible for a scholar to focus on any of the demographical classification (race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, or social class) when assessing the impact of diversity on the normal functioning of an institution. In this study, the researcher narrowed down to race, which remains one of the most sensitive issues in the United States. The study will assess the current state of diversity in the country and changes that should be implemented to ensure that these learning institutions are successful in achieving their mandate.
Diversity in the Secondary Education Workplace
When assessing the level of workplace diversity in secondary schools in the United States, it is necessary to start by investigating the level of diversity of clients, which are the students. The level of diversity of teachers and the non-teaching staff should reflect the diversity of students in the school. Figure 1 below shows the level of diversity in secondary schools by race over a different period. It is evident that in the year 2000, the percentage of whites in the country was 62%, but it reduced to 51% in 2017. Similarly, the population of black students was 15% in 2000 but it has since dropped to 14%. On the other hand, the percentage population of the other races are on the rise. The population of the Hispanics in the country was 16% in 2000, but it increased to 25% in 2017. The Asian population increased from 3% to 5%, while those of mixed races increased from 2% to 4% within the same period. The population of American Indians/Alaska Natives and Pacific Islanders did not change within the same period.
Figure 1. Percentage distribution of the U.S. resident population ages 517, by race/ethnicity: 2000 and 2017
It is necessary to ensure that the changes witnessed in student population is reflected in the teaching and non-teaching staff in these learning institutions. Figure 2 below shows the changes in the population of teachers in public elementary and secondary school by race. In 2003-2004, white teachers represented 83% of the total population of teachers at this level of education. The number dropped to 80% in the years 2015-2016. The number of black teachers was 8% of the total population of teachers in 2003-2004 but it dropped to 7% in 2015-2016. The Hispanic teachers represented 6% of the entire population of teachers, but it increased to 9%. The population of those of Asian race increased from 1% to 2% over the same period, while those of mixed races remained unchanged within the same period. The population of American Indians or Alaska Natives has dropped, relative to the population of other races, while the number of Pacific Islanders remain negligible in the teaching industry.
Figure 2. Percentage distribution of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools, by race 200304 and 201516
The statistics above shows that there is a need for change to address the issue of diversity in the workplace. The percentage of students in secondary school should be reflected in the teaching and non-teaching staff. There is an indication that some races are not effectively represented in the teaching fraternity. For instance, the population of white students has dropped from 62% to about 50%. However, the population of white teachers remain significantly high, changing from 83% to 80%. The other remaining races are disenfranchised in terms of their representation among the teaching staff. As of 2016, the population of black teachers was established to be 7% while the population of black students was 14%. It means that the ratio is misrepresented by 50%. For the Hispanics, the population of students was established to be 25% of the entire population, while that of teachers is only 9%. The percentage of Asian teachers in 2016 was 2% while that of the students of the same race is 5%. The mixed race, Pacific Islanders, and Alaska Natives are all affected by the misrepresentation in the teaching staff.
The Needed Change
Statistics discussed above have pointed out to a major problem that needs to be addressed. The change that is needed is equal represent of teachers to reflect the actual population of students. As the American society become increasingly diversified, there is a need to ensure that the workplace environment represent the same change. Zukof (2021) argues that the problem that is often witnessed is that the diversity in the country is sometimes misrepresented because of illegal immigration. For instance, when a Hispanic family comes to the United States illegally, the child will be documented if they start going to school, but the parent will remain undocumented because of the fear of a possible deportation (Short, 2021). In such a case, even if the Hispanic had the qualifications to work as a teacher, they would prefer non-formal jobs where their illegal status will remain undetected. It explains why whites still hold a disproportionately high percentage of the teaching staff positions. They are not affected by the problem of illegal immigration as much as Hispanics and blacks are.
The Ideal Way It Should Be Changed
Introducing change in an organization can be a major challenge if it is not done in the right way. Siu (2021) suggests that there should be a systematic way of introducing change that is based on a specific method. The biggest challenge when introducing change is the resistance that can come from the stakeholders expected to support it. When some people feel that the proposed change targets them negatively, they may be opposed to it. Others may oppose change primarily because of the fear of the unknown. It is important to ensure that all these concerns are addressed to eliminate any possibility that the relevant stakeholders will oppose it. One can use various models of change management depending on the goal that should be realized and circumstances that an organization faces, as McDonald (2021) suggests. In this case, Kurt Lewins change model, shown in figure 3 below, was considered the most desirable. The model identifies three stages that should be followed to successfully introduce change within an organization.
Unfreeze
The first stage is to unfreeze, where all the relevant stakeholders are to be prepared for the change process. The stage starts by determining what needs to be changed in the organization. In this case, the expected change is to have racial balance among the teaching staff in the local secondary schools. Griffen (2021) explains that the need for change should be communicated in a way that does not instill fear among a section of the community. In this case, there should be a clear message that whites will not be fired from their jobs. Instead, additional teachers of other races will be hired to create the racial balance in these institutions.
There is a need to ensure that the leadership of the institutions support the proposed change. The heads of these secondary schools are expected to implement the proposed change. They can only do so if they understand its relevance and significance in facilitating growth and development (Zukof, 2021). The school administrators should understand that the diversity will enable their institutions to serve their students better. It means that any concerns that these administrators have should be addressed to ensure that they support the course.
The team should then create a need for change. It involves making everyone to understand the current weaknesses and how the proposed changes will address them. In this case, all the teachers, parents, and students should understand the benefit that the diversity will bring and the current problems that it will solve. Doubts, concerns, and unrealistic expectations should be addressed effectively at this stage. Hughes (2019) states that effective communication is essential at this stage. As the team is prepared for change, messages should be made as clear as possible and questions raised should be answered effectively.
Change
The second stage in this model is the actual introduction of change. The assumption at this stage is that the previous stage had fully prepared stakeholders for change, and that all their major concerns were effectively addressed (Griffen, 2021). The team responsible for introducing the change is expected to communicate often. In this case, change will be introduced by hiring a higher number of minorities in these school. The administrators responsible for the hiring process should inform all the other stakeholders of the planned activities, when it will start, the approach it will take, and how roles and responsibilities of the current teachers will be affected.
The stage also require the administrators to dispel rumors that may negatively affect the implementation process. For instance, there may be a rumor that the strategy is meant to eliminate or disenfranchise white teachers. Once the recruitment of additional teachers begin, such rumors should be addressed to ensure that the current teachers feel comfortable with the change. They should be reminded that the move will help lessen their workload. It will also make it possible for the teaching staff to have a better understanding of challenges affecting individual students within the institution. Unique challenges of a Pacific Islander student can be understood more effectively by a teacher who is of the same race.
When introducing the change, this model emphasizes the need to involve all the relevant stakeholders in the process. If possible, they should be actively be involved in implementing the change (Smith et al., 2020). The responsibility of hiring new teachers rests on the shoulders of the administrators of a school. However, the administration can involve the teaching staff in the process of recruitment. The teachers will be asked to stake specific areas where there are a shortage of teachers. They can also suggest the level of experience that should be prioritized when recruiting additional teachers.
Refreeze
The last stage when using this change model is to refreeze. Gallagher (2019) explains that it is at this stage where one is expected to anchor the changes made into the culture of an organization. It involves making the new environment to become a standard practice within the organization. The institutions of learning should embrace the new culture of racial diversity and equal representation. There may be a need to offer some training and support to ensure that the new policy is entrenched. The team should celebrate the change as a positive occurrence that will improve lives of all stakeholders. This stage also require the team to develop ways to sustain the change, as discussed in the next section below.
Figure 3. Kurt Lewins change model
Sustainability of the Change
Achieving a sustainable change can be a major challenge when addressing a systemic problem in the society. Racial segregation and racism are major issues in the country that pose serious challenges in the workplace environment (Daim, 2019). The genesis of the problem is the American community, not the school. It is only manifested in the schools because they represent society. It means that the best way of addressing the problem would be to promote racial equality and proportionate representation in society in general. However, that is not the focus of this study. The best way of dealing with the problem is to address it at different social institutions, and school is one of them.
Sustainability can be achieved in this context if all the stakeholders understand the significance of the intended goal. As discussed in the model above, the first step of achieving sustainability in the proposed change is to fully prepare all the stakeholders for the intended change. They should feel the need for the change and specific problems that it intends to address. When they are adequately involved, they will feel that they own the change process. In such cases, they will be willing to support the change because they understand the significance of the new environment.
Sustainability can also be achieved by constantly fighting misinformation that may spread unnecessary fear among the stakeholders. According to Gallagher (2019), sometimes change is rejected after it is introduced because of rumors spread by those keen on maintaining status quo. The only way of fighting such a problem is to ensure that all the stakeholders are adequately informed about the new system. Regular reminders will also be essential to fight misinformation. The team should remain vigilant enough to understand how the new system is misrepresented. They should then focus on addressing such misrepresentations to ensure that the support for the new system is maintained.
Conclusion
Diversity in the secondary education workplace has become an issue of concern. The report shows that although major milestones have been made, there is still a race misrepresentation of the teaching staff when compared to the student population. The percentage of white teachers is disproportionately high compared with other races when the race composition of students is taken into account. As such, the proposed change was that there is a need to proportionately increase the number of teachers of the minority races in these schools. Introducing such a change can be countered by massive resistance, especially from those who feel that they are targeted. In this case, whites may feel that the proposed change is meant to deny them teaching opportunities in the country. Managing such concerns is critical in ensuring that diversity is achieved but in a way that is supported by every stakeholder.
The study suggests using Kurt Lewins change model that identifies three stages of change. The different stages are meant to ensure that the stakeholders are fully prepared and understand the significance of change. When followed properly, it will help in ensuring that the concentration of minority teachers is increased without causing concern among the white teachers. Constant communication and engagement with all the relevant stakeholders in the education sector will help in fighting miscommunication and enhancing sustainability of the new system.
Takeaways
The report has addressed the issue of diversity in secondary education workplace and changes that are needed to achieve equal representation in terms of race. The following are the takeaways from the research that has been conducted in this project:
Having a diversified workplace environment is the best way of ensuring that students get the best service delivery. It helps in ensuring that unique challenges that a student face, which may be attributed to their race, can be easily understood by the teaching staff;
The current problem of race misrepresentation is a systemic problem that requires the involvement of different stakeholders to achieve the desired goals;
Relative to the population of students, Hispanics are the most misrepresented race in the local schools. The problem is largely caused by the fact that a significant population of Hispanics are illegal immigrants;
Although the problem of race misrepresentation in the teaching fraternity in the country still persists, the statistics show that the population of the minorities is increasing.
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Gallagher, P. F. (2019). Leadership of change volume 3: Change management handbook. PFG Publishing.
Geada, N., & Fernandes, A. (2021). Reviving businesses with new organizational change management strategies. Business Science Reference.
Griffen, J. (2021). Challenges to integrating diversity equity and inclusion programs in organizations. IGI Global.
Hughes, C. (2019). Workforce inter-personnel diversity: The power to influence human productivity and career development. Palgrave Macmillan.
McDonald, K. (2021). It is time to talk about race at work: Every leaders guide to making progress on diversity equity and inclusion. John Wiley & Sons.
Short, L. (2021). Expand beyond your current culture: Diversity and inclusion for CEOS and leadership. Maven House.
Siu, B. (2021). Opening doors to diversity in leadership. University of Toronto Press.
Smith, A., Skinner, J., & Read, D. (2020). Philosophies of organizational change: Perspectives models and theories for managing change. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Zukof, K. (2021). The hard and soft sides of change management: Tools for managing process and people. Association for Talent Development.
The world has turned into one big global village where people from all parts of the world interact freely in different forums to exchange ideas, views, goods, and services. Globalization has also led to emergence of global corporations that operate and hire workforce from different parts of the globe. Thus, workplace has become a diverse environment where managers, especially human resource managers, need to use multidisciplinary approaches that will suite different cultures in their workforce.
According to Lyon, Dunn, and Sinn (2011), it is important to develop a strong and a diverse workforce to increase the performance of any organization (p.231). In my view, I think understanding and managing a diverse workforce is paramount to the success of any organization. When the manager understands the diversity of his or her workforce, he/she will know how to use the diverse workforce to maximize the benefits of the organization rather than to let it divide the workers.
Diversity in workplace is inevitable given that people have different values, attitudes, and cultures simply because they come from different religions, races, national origins, genders, and economic statuses. For an organization to optimize on these types of diversity, I think it is important to come up with policy guideline that will help to create a good environment in the workplace, which prevents any form of discrimination.
Historical and legal context of work place diversity
Diversity in the work place has evolved for years as the composition of employees in different organization changes. For instance, in American about two-thirds of new employees were women and approximately twenty nine percent were non-whites in the year 2000.
This scenario shows a drastic shift from the previous year’s trend where majority of new employees in the American workforce were men and whites. Understanding how this trend has changed over the years will enable managers to know the appropriate strategy employable in dealing with the changing composition of workforce. Traditionally, women and non-white workers were discriminated in workplace and at times mistreated just because of being different.
In my view, I think understanding historical trend in workplace will help managers to adjust accordingly. The department of labor also provides legal requirements that should be followed in all organizations to prevent discrimination of any form especially to the minority groups’ employees. I think it is important therefore for the human resources managers to know what the law demands concerning treatment of diverse workforce.
Diversity problems
Stereotypes – these are myths, falsehood, or misconceptions about someone or something. In the workplace, stereotypes show up when a person is mistreated because of a given damaging misconception/stereotypes; for instance, non-whites cannot make good managers.
Prejudices – These assumptions or prejudgments are made about someone or something before getting accurate information about the person or thing. For instance, women are denied some positions in the work place based on the assumption that they are not competent enough.
Discrimination – it is the ability to view a clear distinction between people, objects or anything else. In the workplace, people are discriminated in terms of wages, promotion, hiring, termination, and job assignment due to their diversity.
Privilege – this occurs when one person is treated better than another is just because s/he is different. In the workplace, some people are treated better than others are because they come from a given race, gender, region, color, nationality among other differences.
Reference
Lyon, B., Dunn, K., & Sinn, S. (2011).Leveraging Partnerships to Develop a Strong and Diverse Workforce. Journal of Library Administration, 51(2), 231-241.
