Workplace Diversity Challenges

Some believe that diversity in the workplace is as simple as meeting the required quotas for
employee race and gender, it’s much, much more than that. However, as the workplace
becomes more diverse, more issues arise accordingly. HR personnel and recruitment
professionals need to be aware of the various challenges associated with diversity so that it can
be prevented and addressed.
A fundamental value that contributes to a successfully diversified workplace is respect among
workers and employees. When there is a lack of acceptance of the diverse culture and beliefs
among employees, conflicts may arise. Sometimes, this conflict turns to animosity and may
even effectuate situations of violence. When employees accept the differences between each
other, it results in a sharing of ideas and effective collaboration. Acceptance fosters mutual
respect and prevents conflicts from arising.
Hood (2019) also said that diversity in cultural, spiritual, and political beliefs can sometimes
pose a challenge in a diverse workplace. Employees need to be reminded that they shouldn’t
impose their beliefs on others to prevent spats and disputes.
According to Dhuppar (2015), some individuals harbor unfair prejudices against people of
different colors, cultures, ethnicity or religion than their own. Such prejudice should not be
tolerated in the workplace – much less anywhere – and should be dealt with in a firm and
prompt manner. Firm company policies and appropriate training help build acceptance and
respect among a well-diversified employee body. Cultural sensitivities training and diversity
awareness programs in the workplace can help address this issue.
Workers who are mentally or physically handicapped sometimes encounter discriminatory
behavior from insensitive coworkers. In some cases, employers innocently overlook
handicapped workers’ needs, such as ramps or special needs equipment. Often, disabled
employees have a difficult time navigating through their workplace because proper
accommodations as simple as wheelchair ramps are not available. Some special needs
employees also have service dogs, and some office buildings don’t allow them inside. Make
arrangements for service dogs to be permitted in your place of work. Creating a fair and
comfortable work environment for disabled employees is important in a diversified workplace.
One the oldest and most common diversity issues in the workplace is the "men vs. women"
topic. Over the years, a new element in the disputes over equal pay and opportunity is the
transgender employee. Some corporations have trouble dealing with the fact that a man in
women's clothing or a woman in the stages of "becoming a man" may perform equally as well
on the job done as those in traditional gender roles.
Harassment can sometimes be an issue in a diversified work environment, but should
absolutely never be tolerated. Recognizing harassment is key in preventing and eliminating
discrimination from the workplace. Even the slightest comment made in jest can be considered
harassment if any – even remotely vague – any racial, sexual or discriminatory connotation is
made. For example, "I love Asian women" or "We should have hired a man."
Workplace Harassment:
There are so many types of workplace harassment and so many interpretations that even the
most diligent HR professional could miss the signs.With a more thorough understanding of
workplace harassment, one can be better equipped to help a victim deal with their experiences,
file (or help file) a harassment complaint and implement office training. Following are the 11
most common types of workplace harassment and explanation of how they might intersect.
1. Discriminatory Harassment
All unlawful workplace harassment is discriminatory in nature. But, unlike verbal or physical
harassment, discriminatory harassment is defined by its intentions instead of how it’s carried
out.Harassing a worker based on his or her protected characteristics that may be their race,
gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, age e.t.c
Examples: racial or religious slurs / jokes, intolerance, gendered advertisement.
2. Personal Harassment
Personal harassment is a form of workplace harassment that’s not based on one of the
protected classes (such as race, gender or religion).
Simply, it’s bullying in its most basic form and it’s not illegal but can be damaging nevertheless
and can still lead to low morale, lost productivity, and increased turnover rates.
Examples: Humiliation, inappropriate comments, constant criticism, intimidation, cursing.
3. Physical Harassment
Physical harassment, also often called workplace violence, refers to a type of workplace
harassment that involves physical attacks or threats. In extreme cases, physical harassment may
be classified as assault.Physical gestures such as playful shoving can blur the line between
appropriate or not since it’s the person on the receiving end who decides whether the behavior
makes them uncomfortable.
Examples: Direct threats of intent to inflict harm, physical attacks (hitting, shoving, kicking),
threatening behavior, destroying property to intimidate.

4. Power Harassment
Power harassment is a common form of workplace harassment that’s characterized by a power
disparity between the harasser and the harassed.
The harasser exercises their power by bullying a victim who is lower on the office hierarchy.
Example: Excessive demands that are impossible to meet, Demeaning demands far below the
employee’s capability, Intrusion into the employee’s personal life.
5. Psychological Harassment
Psychological harassment has a negative impact on a person’s psychological well-being.Victims
of psychological harassment often feel put down and belittled on a personal level, a
professional level or both.The damage to a victim’s psychological well-being often creates a
domino effect, impacting their physical health, social life and work life.
Psychological harassment is somewhat similar to verbal harassment, but it is more covert and
consists of tactics like withholding information. Victims who face such harassment are more
likely to suffer mental breakdowns, low self-esteem, and tend to undermine themselves.

Examples: taking credits for others’ achievements, discrediting orspreading rumors about the
victim, forcing someone to work outside their job scope, Isolating or denying the
victim’s presence,opposing or challenging everything the victim says

6. Cyberbullying

Digital harassment or cyberbullying is the newest form of harassment. Even though it happens
online, it is as derogatory as physical bullying.Usage of social media has become a norm in any
workplace. Hence in the name of free speech, anyone can harass anyone digitally. People can
make fake personas to demean or bully their colleagues.

Examples: Share humiliating things about the victim, by mass email or mass chat, spread lies or
gossip about the victim on social media, send harassing instant messages or text messages
directly to the victim.

7. Retaliation

Retaliatory harassment is a subtle form of reaction and an often-overlooked type of workplace

harassment. Retaliation harassment occurs when a person harasses someone else to get
revenge and to prevent the victim from behaving in such a way again.

Example: Employee A files a complaint about Employee B.Employee B finds out about the
complaint and who made it.Employee B harasses Employee A to get revenge and deter them
from filing further complaints.Employee B, in this case, would be harassing Employee A as
retaliation.

8. Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is, simply, harassment that is sexual in nature and generally includes
unwanted sexual advances, conduct or behavior.Sexual harassment is when the perpetrator
behaves in a romantic or sexual way towards the victim who is clearly uncomfortable and does
not want attention of this nature. There is also something known as Quid Pro Quo sexual
harassment where the superior makes a sexual request to the victim and if not taken up, a
threat of something negative happening is made, such as losing their job or not getting a
promotion.

Examples: Sharing sexual photos/posters/posts, Sexual comments/jokes/questions,

Inappropriate touching or gestures, Invading personal space in a sexual manner.

9. Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment

Quid pro quo, translated to “this for that”, is a type of exchange-based sexual harassment.If job
benefits are offered to an employee on the condition that they partake in some form of sexual
conduct, it’s typically referred to as quid pro quo sexual harassment.In this situation, the
harasser, who is often a manager or senior-level employee, may offer something of value for a
sexual favor. It can also be a form of blackmail.

Examples: Receive a promotion/raise, Avoid a demotion or scrutiny, threat to demotion if not

complacent with the harasser’s demands.

10. Verbal Harassment

Verbal harassment can be the result of personality conflicts in the workplace that have
escalated beyond the casual eye roll or something more serious.Unlike discriminatory types of
harassment (such as sexual), verbal abuse is often not illegal. Instead, verbal harassment can be
someone who’s consistently mean or unpleasant.For this reason, a lot of verbal harassment can
be particularly damaging since it goes unnoticed and unresolved.Verbal harassment consists of
demeaning slurs, offensive gestures, and unwarranted criticisms.

Since this is a non-physical form of violence, it includes insults like fat-shaming/body shaming
jokes, hurtful comments, and unwanted taunting, thus, often challenging to recognize.

Examples: Threatening, yelling, insulting or cursing at a victim in public or in private.

Prevention and Elimination of Workplace Harassment

The prevention and elimination of harassment in the workplace are not easy and it will take a
lot of effort on all ends to make it happen. Following are the most important takeaways to
prevent harassment:

1. Create a clear and easy to understand anti-harassment policy (for tips on creating an
effective anti-harassment policy, read the EEOC's tips)
2. Make sure employees at all levels receive proper training about workplace harassment

3. Your complaint process should be clear to all employees and fairly established

4. Build a positive and respectful work environment by leading with example

5. Investigation of all harassment complaints in a fair, professional, and timely manner

6. Don't take any action that can be seen as harming the person making the complaint. For
example, don't transfer the complaining party to a worse location in order to separate
the parties.

7. Restore any benefits that were lost due to the harassment.

8. Discipline the person who committed the harassment. If disciplinary action of the
harasser is not considered appropriate, document the reasons why.

9. Take action to correct past discrimination based on the harassing conduct, if

appropriate.
10. Painstakingly document the investigation and the steps you took to remedy the
situation.

11. Provide protection against probable retaliation.