Name : Stephani Andriani

ID No : 014 2009 00148

Date :October 22, 2010
Subject : Cultural Diversity
Lecture : Mr.Hendra Manurung

CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE

Today, cultural diversity issue has been becoming an important role in the wokplace.
The diversity is no longer just a black/white, male/female, old/young issue. It is much more
complicated and interesting than that. In The Future of Diversity and the Work Ahead of Us,
Harris Sussman says, "Diversity is about our relatedness, our connectedness, our interactions,
where the lines cross. Diversity is many things - a bridge between organizational life and the
reality of people’s lives, building corporate capability, the framework for interrelationships
between people, a learning exchange, a strategic lens on the world." Therfore, cultural
diversity in the workplace is very important, benificial, and also challenging in some way.
Leveraging workplace diversity is increasingly seen as a vital strategic resource for
competitive advantage. More companies are linking workplace diversity to their strategic
goals and objectives--and holding management accountable for results. Thus, HR plays a key
role in diversity management and leadership to create and empower an organizational culture
that fosters a respectful, inclusive, knowledge-based environment where each employee has
the opportunity to learn, grow and meaningfully contribute to the organization's success.
A benefit of a diverse workforce is the ability to tap into the many talents which
employees from different backgrounds, perspectives, abilities and disabilities bring to the
workplace. An impressive example of this is found on the business cards of employees at one
Fortune 100 technology company. Employees at this company have business cards that
appear normal at first glance. On closer inspection, the raised Braille characters of employee
information are evident. It shows how the company do respect to the the employee with
certain disability including blindness.
Many companies, however, still face challenges around building a diverse
environment. Part of the reason is the tendency to pigeonhole employees, placing them in a
different silo based on their diversity profile. If an employee is male, over 50, English, and an
atheist, under what diversity category does this employee fall? Is it gender, generational,
global or religious? In the real world, diversity cannot be easily categorized and those
organizations that respond to human complexity by leveraging the talents of a broad
workforce will be the most effective in growing their businesses and their customer base.

Reference
1. Judith, L., & Marian, S.-L. (n.d.). Diversity in the Workplace. Retrieved 10 20, 2010, from
ZeroMillion.com: http://www.zeromillion.com/econ/workplace-diversity.html

2. Lockwood, N. R. (2005, June). Workplace Diversity: Leveraging the Power of Difference for
Competitive Advantage. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from BNET:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_6_50/ai_n14702678/