Diversity

The advent of equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws and affirmative action programs created new employment opportunities for members of protected groups that had previously been victimized by employment discrimination. The demographic mix within the twenty-first century workplace has consequently become much more diverse, a result not only of these laws but also due to the globalization of business. Furthermore, the changing demographics of the United States have affected worker diversity. The aging population has created what some refer to as the “sandwich generation”: the group of the population who are charged with caring for both their parents and their children.

In today's world, fewer workers support Medicare and Social Security. To provide opportunities for the new population of workers, businesses are allowing more flextime, telecommuting, and sabbaticals. They are also training line managers to respond to the cultural, lingual, generational, and technological differences that the new workforce introduces. Finally, more retirees are returning to the workforce.

All these new realities add up to a different-looking workplace. No longer are the majority of workers white, male, and English-speaking. People of color continue to increase their shares of the labor force as these groups grow more rapidly than whites. In fact, white non-Hispanics are projected to continue to decline as a percentage of the labor force.

The Hispanic population growth will be a key and growing portion of a more diverse workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Hispanic labor force will grow by 30 percent by 2015, reaching nearly 27 million. By 2025, Hispanics are predicted to make up 17 percent of the total labor force. This group gained a greater share of the market than African Americans in 2000. At that time, Hispanics made up 13 percent, and African Americans, 12.7 percent. Finally, it is estimated that Asians and other people of color will make up about 8 percent of the labor force in 2025.

In the United States, the average age of the workforce is getting older, mirroring the age demographics of the population. The number of workers 55 and older is expected to reach about 23 million by 2016. This represents a growth rate of 46.7 percent, which is almost 5.5 times the projection for the overall labor force.

The workforce is also experiencing a dramatic increase in the number of dual-income families (many of whom have young children); in 2005, women made up 46 percent of the workforce, but in 1975, they made up less than 40 percent of the total. The workforce is also reacting to an increase in single-parent families and families facing the demands of elder care. The labor market will continue to be significantly impacted by the aging of the baby-boom generation.

In the past, organizations ignored the impact that diversity had on the attitudes and behavior of employees. However, years of political, social, and legal change brought new groups of employees into the workplace. At first, organizations attempted to handle these new groups through assimilation; simply put, people were expected to fit in. Equal treatment at the workplace meant the same treatment for each employee; individual differences were ignored. Consequently, assimilation often resulted in pressure to conform, exclusion and isolation, and reinforcement of the dominant group values. The problem became compounded as the number of diverse groups within the organization increased and the number of white males declined.

The failure to deal effectively with the diversity issue can hinder competitive advantages. For instance, firms choosing to do business as usual have been plagued with a high turnover among nontraditional employees, low morale within the organization, under-utilization of employee skills, numerous intergroup conflicts, low productivity, and an inability to attract new workers. On the other hand, if diversity is dealt with effectively, competitive advantage can be enhanced. For instance, companies that value diversity can attract a larger and better pool of applicants than companies that limit themselves to a traditional workforce.

Accommodating the needs of the diverse workforce is more important to organizations now than ever before. When properly managed, such cultural diversity can represent a key strategic advantage. Diversity in age, gender, race, and viewpoint can offer organizations a number of benefits including additional knowledge, creative ideas and insights to aid in problem solving, enhanced product positioning, better development of strategic plans and objectives, and fresh opinions. These diverse workers can bring original ideas and approaches to the workplace that can help a firm target its products and services to a marketplace that is becoming more and more diverse. This adds economic importance to the issue of diversity since, in 2007, the combined African-American, Hispanic-American, and Asian-American buying power was more than $750 billion.

MINORITIES IN THE WORKPLACE

Although minorities have been entering the workforce in record numbers, their quests to reach the top of the corporate ladder have been thwarted. Many have topped out at entry- or mid-level management positions. Minorities have failed to reach the highest levels of management partly because many have only recently entered the managerial ranks; it takes time to climb the corporate ladder. However, this explanation does not account for the magnitude of the problem. For years minorities have faced invisible, subtle, yet very real institutional barriers to promotions into higher level executive positions. The belief that minority groups reach organizational plateaus consisting of artificial barriers that derail them from senior management opportunities has been alternately termed “the glass ceiling” or “the brick wall.” These barriers found in the structure of many organizations have often stymied the advancement of these select employee groups.

How can the glass ceilings be cracked or the brick walls broken down? Effective diversity training that helps decision makers overcome their biases would certainly help. But diversity training, by itself, is not enough, and

diversity management must not be confused with affirmative action. The Society for Human Resource Management recommends the following components for a successful diversity initiative:

1. Get executive commitment. Enlisting the visible support and commitment of your organization's CEO is fundamental to a successful diversity initiative.
2. Articulate the desired outcomes. Be explicit about how support and commitment are to be shown and from whom it is expected.
3. Assess the climate, needs, and issues at your organization. The use of focus groups can help clarify the obstacles. It will prove helpful to determine where your organization currently is on the diversity continuum before determining what interventions need to be taken.
4. Create and maintain open channels of communication with employees at the launch of your diversity initiative and throughout the process. Communication is crucial to the success of your diversity plan and should occur not only at the beginning of a diversity initiative, but also throughout the process.
5. Consider forming a diversity taskforce to widen your support base. This group can help analyze assessment data and make recommendations to top management.
6. Develop a mechanism for dealing with systemic changes and procedural problems. Once identified, obstacles and problems must be addressed. For example, your company may be committed to hiring persons outside of the dominant culture, but has difficulty promoting those same persons once they are with the organization.
7. Design relevant, interactive, applicable training. The purpose of good training is to not just increase awareness and understanding about diversity, but to also develop concrete skills that employees can use to deal with workplace diversity, its implications, and its effects.
8. Evaluate and measure each component of your diversity initiative (training, taskforce, mentoring initiative, employee networks, etc.). Set measurable criteria and determine what you would like to accomplish and how you will gather data.
9. Ensure integration and accountability. Integrate the concepts, skills and results of your diversity efforts into the fabric of the organization and hold management accountable for encouraging diversity throughout the organization.

Inclusive companies have similar characteristics. They usually support local diversity groups, have clear, written anti-discrimination policies, and allow and support diversity-employee-affinity groups to support the networking and mentoring needs of their employees. They also incorporate companywide diversity training as a standard part of their business.

Dealing with diversity is a continuing process that enhances an organization's ability to adapt and capitalize on today's increasingly complex world and global marketplace. In an online survey of more than 2,500 senior human resources executives in the United States and Canada, employers say that globalization has prompted them to enhance their diversity efforts or their inclusion programs.

Changes in American society have brought unprecedented social diversity into the workforce. Immigrants from all over the world and societal segments that have been excluded or poorly represented in the past are entering new professions and attaining management and leadership roles. Corporate cultures, employment policies, and networks of influence have been forced to change. The principal challenge for American employers today lies less in finding diverse talent but in developing it and creating an environment that supports social cohesion amid the diversity. A well-managed diverse workforce can give companies the competitive advantage necessary to compete in a global economy.

SEE ALSO Employment Law and Compliance; Mentoring; Organizational Culture

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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