Elfa, Verlyn B.

July 5, 2020
Assignment: Diversity in the Workplace BS in
Accountancy

Part One:
A diverse workforce is a goal that many companies must achieve to increase innovation and
manifest better results. It employs people from different walks of life – individuals that differ in
age, race, gender, religion, beliefs, abilities and social statuses. Having this kind of workforce
will truly benefit an organization.
If diversity is present in the organization, there will be a variety when it comes to their
perspectives. They will be able to fill in the gaps for each others weaknesses through their
individual strengths. Their different approaches to the job will offer a lot of help to everyone.
Not only will this diversity shoe the different perspectives each of the employees possess, but
will also help in giving a better insight of the consumers.
Workplace diversity can also increase the creativity of the members. Because of being
diverse, the employees can share their traditions and cultures, the way they handle situations and
thus, it will make them think outside the box to achieve new possibilities.
It can also be said that with the presence of creativity, there will also be the presence of
productivity. The more creative the environment surrounding the employees, it will eventually
make them productive as well. Because of the diversity in the composition of the organization,
the employees will feel that they are able to accomplish more than what they initially can,
driving their spirits up.
A diverse workforce can also help in reducing fear and improving the performance of the
employees. By being able to meet different types of people, they can go a long way towards
helping the employees to feel included. Thus, it breaks the barriers of exclusiveness and lowers
the fear of rejection, not only for the employees, but also for their ideas that they want to voice
out.
This diversity in the workplace can also boost the company's reputation. Gathering individuals
from different walk of life can appease to the consumers and potential investors because it can
show no kind of isolation to everyone in the community. It will eventually lead to a path of good
reputation.
To sum all these benefits up, the employees with different abilities, experiences and strengths,
they can make a difference together. Through them the management will have a greater chance
of communicating and expanding to more diverse markets. This diversity is the chance to
successfully develop a business in a global market.
Although idealistically, diversity among the workforce is beneficial in many aspects, in
reality it can also pose as a major challenge to the company. For an instance, when there is a lack
of acceptance and respect towards their colleagues, conflicts are bound to happen. At worst,
these conflicts may result to animosity or may even end up in violence.
Differences in cultural, spiritual and political beliefs can also pose as a challenge in the
workplace. It is due to the fact that the stronger you oppose the belief of others and impose your
own beliefs onto them, disputes will surely arise. It is also the same for ethnic and cultural
differences that brings discrimination. Even nowadays, a lot of employees still suffer from
discrimination because of their racial, ethnic, and spiritual backgrounds.
Another issue that poses as a challenge to the diverse workforce is the discrimination against
women. According to a recent survey, 40% of people believe that bath men and women will hire
men over women. This is supported by another study that shows that men are 30% more likely to
be promoted to a managerial position than women.
Physical and mental disabilities for some employees also pose as challenges because
oftentimes, they have a difficulty in navigating through the workplace because their special
needs are not available. On the contrary, if their special needs were given, regular employees will
see these special treatments, making a conflict out of it.
Generation gaps bring the majority of conflicts in the workplace because employees from
different generations tend to have difficulties in adapting to the changes in the workplace. This
results to forming social circles and other members may be isolated from the team. These
groupings may bring disagreements on how things should be done because of the differences in
their views and perspectives.
Lastly, language and communication barriers are always present in companies with diverse
workforce. For example, when foreign-owned companies hire non-native English speakers,
employees and managers may have difficulties in getting their messages across, creating
miscommunication and productivity loss.
If I am to be frank, although diversity in the workforce is good, realistically speaking, this is
hard to implement. Most specially in work places where they tend to complete in vying for
promotions or higher positions. But even though I think that way, it is not impossible to achieve.

Part Two:
As a member of the management, there are several steps I need to take to foster an inclusive
organization. I firmly believe that by gradually doing these steps, diversity in the workforce will
be maintained and enhance the employees.
The following are the steps that I will take to counteract the challenges that pose threat to the
harmony of the diverse workforce:
1. Defining the Issues That Exist Within the Work
 By doing this first step, the management must identify the challenges and difference
that exist among employees. They need to examine specific diversity issues to determine
what changes are needed to be made to address them.

2. Developing, Communicating, and Adhering to Organizational Policies

One way to deal with those issues that stem from diversity in the workplace is review
existing company policies and training, and develop and implement new ones that are
relevant to the specific issues at hand, if needed. This can help the leaders instill the
culture of acceptance within the organization.

3. Providing Employee Diversity Training

Under this step, a diversity training will be implemented. It may be done through team
building exercises that will help employees understand, accept and respect each other's
difference. When they accept and respect these difference, it will result in a sharing of
ideas and collaborative work. They will also need to make sure to keep their personal
beliefs independent of their work responsibilities and duties. They must understand that
not everyone will need to agree to their beliefs but can still respect those belief.

4. Holding People Accountable for Their Actions

Under this final step, non – compliance to the policies must be addressed quickly and
efficiently. This can give the impression that justice and fairness to all are both present.
Through this, those who will become potential victims will not be scared of reporting
their experiences to the management. Everyone will be treated fairly and just. And those
who will show inappropriate behaviors must bear the consequences of the actions. This
will showcase the integrity the company possesses.

If these steps were meticulously followed, I am sure that little by little, diversity will be
within our reach. Inclusiveness is indeed hard to achieve, but it is not impossible.

References:
 https://www.bigthinkedge.com/diversity-in-the-workplace-4-common-challenges-and-
solutions/
 https://thiswayglobal.com/blog/2017/07/14/top-diversity-issues-in-the-workplace/
 https://www.wonolo.com/blog/6-benefits-of-having-a-diverse-workforce