Successful Management of Diverse Workforce

Essay by pluryouUniversity, Bachelor'sA-, October 2007

download word file, 5 pages 3.0

On the issue of equality and diversity in corporate communities, Gifford Pinchot had this to say, "The challenge is to build corporate communities supportive of many kinds of diversity, not just race, gender, and sexual preference, age and ethnicity, but also supportive of different ways of thinking and seeing the world." Understanding what makes a workforce diverse, designing and implementing diversity programs, and sustaining commitment can all lead to a successful workforce. Diversity is a reality in the changing corporate culture. Diversity can provide companies with such benefits as improved decision-making and new ideas. Even if the job is accomplishment there could be room for improvement. Success comes from interaction between different groups working towards the same goal. Numerous programs are set up, such as the Ogletree Deakins management program, to help employers effectively run their companies. Once these programs are in place the next step is to sustain commitment among the employees through various functions that initiate cohesion.

What makes a workforce diverse? Many people base diversity on gender and ethnic background alone. All people are different in some way, which makes working with each individual a new and challenging experience. Diversity is generally defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status (Esty, et al., 1995). Diversity can involve the way people dress, the language they speak, and where they come from. The United States is full of varying cultures. Many people have different beliefs and values. When people become accepting and open-minded to these differences they can successfully work together and be productive in the workplace.

Many companies still face challenges around building a diverse environment, so they need to ask themselves, "How do you...