Do associated management problems such as resistance and conflict make diversity too difficult to adopt by most organizations?
Two popular diversity spokespeople answer this question, stating diversity is clearly possibile, as long as leaders acquire the necessary skills for managing it.
Consider the imaginary XYZ Company -- a useful model for understanding diversity. During the last ten years XYZ has experienced at every level an increase in the number of women and people of color.
One department, previously all male, transitioned to 35 percent female. Mid-management, formerly almost entirely comprised of white males, now includes 30 percent people of color - from African American to Latinos and members of the LGBT community.
Imagine that diversity has also had an impact on XYZ's upper management. Perhaps a physically disabled woman, a financial expert, became its senior vice president of finance two years ago. Then an African American man was named head of marketing.
If XYZ was a real company, how would such diversity accomplishments affect the company?
Diversity expert, William Sonnenschein, author of "Diversity Toolkit," demonstrates such change would have its good points and bad. Some of the longer term employees, for instance, might feel "things aren't going as smoothly" as they used to. Some white males would be concerned about being passed over for promotions.
"Many people [might] worry about not having as much fun, what with sexual harassment laws and other problems created by diversity," Sonnenschein points out.
In the case of the imaginary XYZ Company, the president and CEO welcomes the challenge, seeing it as a chance for growth as a company. The CEO thinks the diversity has brought more innovation and a better understanding of the department stores' customers. The CEO says the transition has not been easy.
Yet he believes that with hard work, with properly trained management getting the most out of all the employees, XYZ will stay healthy well into the future.It is a scenario similar to what Sonnenschein imagines when writing about organizational diversity.
The demographics of the workplace are changing and will continue to change rapidly, Sonnenschein and other diversity experts, incuding R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr., a consultant and the author of "World Class Diversity Management," point out.
Almost every organization in the United State looks different today, in terms of who is employed and the position they hold - compared to even ten years ago. Workforce diversity is not a matter for debate. It is a fact that presents one of the greatest challenges facing today's organizations and only through hard work and committed leadership, can the potential for benefit be realized.
But where will the leadership come from? How many leaders are needed? What skills do they need? To answer these questions requires first understanding the current definition of diversity - and most definitions tend to be quite broad.
Most diversity experts define diversity as significant difference among people, primarily focusing on race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, age, and physical abilities. Their definitions include differences in religion, class, ethnicity, nation of origin, and even learning and communication styles or simply where people come from and their occupations.
Most definitions tend to be broad. A group of white female engineers is a diverse group, as well as a group of white male engineers. All are individuals with differences and all of these differences can affect the workplace.
By understanding diversity well enough, today's manager can get the most out of any group by appreciating and using their differences and talents. Diversity has its best potential and its biggest challenge in deeper differences, Sonnenschein advises.
Deep differences in today's workforce can cause deeper differences in styles and in ways of looking at and doing things, causing some organizations "do more than they ever dreamed possible." Specific benefits might include offering of a wide range of views to be presented, including views that challenge the status quo.
Strenghthening core values can occur with more diversity as well as organizational change. Social, economic, intellectual and emotional growth often take place as diversity deepens. Diversity also helps organizations better understand their place in the global community.
More research is showing the value of organizational diversity, supporting both Sonnenschein and Thomas. For instance, one study by the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission demonstrated that companies successfully using a diverse workforce saved millions of dollars in turnover costs and earned twice the rate of return on investment as those which did not use diversity well.
Of course there are challenges - diversity's benefits do not automatically come. Challenges come as those employees holding racist, sexist, ageist and homophobic beliefs are disrupted, sometimes halting organizations from ever achieving their missions because of disruption and resistance.
Hence, leaders must be aware of the challenges of diversity in order to rise above them and reap diversity's benefits, Sonnenschein writes. Some specific organizational challenges might require more complexity of management - it is easier to manage a group of like-minded people that a group of people who are very different from each other and from their leaders.
Fairness can draw some challenges, as different cultures define fairness in different ways. Other challenges might focus on issues such as unanimity, identity and loyalty as these often vary among cultures.
There may be a need for more frequent redefining oneself and the values of others, for example. Yet it is possible to turn many of these challenges into benefits - finding new approaches to doing tasks leads to innovation, for instance.
Achieving diversity requires well trained leaders who have excellent diversity skills and who are capable of finding new ways to make diversity work. Just watch any leading company - small or large - that is growing and thriving. Then take a look at its top leadership and you will most likely finds the signs of strong diversity management in place.
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Susan Klopfer, M.B.A., is author of "Profit From Diversity: Getting Along With Others," set for publication in mid November, during National Education Week. Visit her and learn more about diversity at http://www.susanklopfer.com.
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