Diversity in the workplace

Diversity in the Workplace Diversity in the Workplace Many employers and HR professionals face a new challengeof managing diversity at work. It is common situation when people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds need to work together. They can have different values, religions and attitudes and organization should treat them all with respect (McMahon, 2011). At the same time, all these diverse features need to be organically included in organizational culture.
Effectiveness of team work and its productivity always depends on communication and cooperation. When people with different mentalities work together, cases of misunderstanding can appear more frequently. All these cases negatively influence group performance and personal relationships between employees. According to Roberge et al. (2011), strong organizational culture, focus on team work, cross-cultural couching and fairness in HR practices are proved to be effective in coping with diversity-related issues.
Value-based organizational culture creates a special field where people from different backgrounds share the same aims and values. HR team should implement practices which do not conflict with personal values and traditions of employees. For instance, there are some religious holidays which require influence working schedule of employees. Even if the company is neutral to religion in its internal practices, employees should have a right to have a day off when such a holiday takes place. In order to regulate relationships between employees, organizations pay great attention to codes of conduct. Usually, these codes consist of universal values which can be accepted by all employees. Good code of conduct helps them to develop a shared vision and understand each other better.
In summary, it is a hard task to manage diversity in the organization; at the same time, it is a rewarding one. When different people work together, they can create new innovative solutions which consider different points of view. Diversity is a strong value; if people feel that their values and needs are considered by the organization, they become more loyal and productive. Finally, training for employees can help them to understand each other better if their diversity causes miscommunication.
References
McMahon, A. M. (2011). Does workplace diversity matter? A survey of empirical studies on diversity and firm performance, 2000-09. Journal of Diversity Management (JDM), 5(2).
Roberge, M. I., Lewicki, R. J., Hietapelto, A., Abdyldaeva, A. (2011). From theory to practice: Recommending supportive diversity practices. Journal of Diversity Management (JDM), 6 (2).