Managing Diversity

Essay by Brenda307College, Undergraduate September 2014

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Introduction

The concept of diversity is often mistakenly limited to be the differences in physical

characteristics between individuals; however that is not the case. In fact diversity has several

categories, in addition to physical characteristics such as gender, race and age, diversity is

present in a psychological aspect being values and beliefs, as well as in an organisational

category such as education and occupation. For this essay however, the focus will be on

mainly cultural and demographic diversity. The major change in characteristics of our present

day's population today in terms of gender, age, culture and ethnicity has resulted in an

increasingly diverse workplace today. In order to respond to these changes in trends, it is

necessary for organisations to adopt 'a vision of inclusion' and take into account individual

and intergroup differences (Childs Jr, 2005).

The reasons behind why diversity is important and its benefits to organisations will be

analysed in the first part of this essay by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of a

diverse workforce. The second part of the essay will focus on the methods of attracting,

selecting and retaining diverse employees. This will include a brief mention of aspects of job

analysis and design, various recruitment methods as well as methods of retaining culturally

and demographically diverse employees, which all organisations should consider when

embracing diversity.

Importance of diversity in the workforce

This section will evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of having a diverse workforce,

discuss the importance and benefits of diversity in organisations and, to address the question,

explain why organisations should attract, select and retain culturally and demographically

diverse employees.

i) Advantages of diversity

Childs Jr (2005), stated that any business that intends to be successful must have a

borderless view, and an unyielding commitment in ensuring that workforce diversity is

part of...