Diversity at work refers to a strategy that promote values, behavior and working practices which recognize the difference between people and thereby enhance staff motivation and performance and release potential, delivering improved services to customers (Thomas, 1991). Basic cultural themes that affect the workplace: Theme #1 speech patterns Global demographic patterns and trends as well as social and cultural shifts are putting increased pressure on … Diversity has become a popular topic in the 21st century all around the world. Diversity in the workplace can be identified as an employee pool that includes a mix of people from varying groups: different races, genders, ages, social and educational backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual orientation and so on. The word diversity is not contained in any report or law; instead, it grew out of academic and popular press usage. Despite this trend, many companies still struggle with racial and ethnic discrimination and policymaking. . Ignoring the class of a person will have a positive impact on diversity and inclusivity of the workplace as it will encourage recruitment of a wider range of individuals. This is why class descriptors like "lower," "working," "upper," or "high" can have social as well as economic implications for how we understand the person described. Workers must be open-minded and non-judgmental in order to truly understand how cultural diversity can impact the workplace and make it better. Technology can step in and help change the status of diversity in the workplace and help businesses achieve more. Diversity in the workplace benefits. Based on the standard diversity definition, the types of diversity in a social context are theoretically infinite: they encompass every characteristic that appears with variations among a group of people (such as hair or eye color). Diversity. Not only does this make good business sense—helping your company to better understand colleagues, clients, and customers around the world—it also makes the workplace a more interesting and personally enriching environment for everyone. The shift for many organizations to a long-term hybrid or virtual workplace necessitates new tools for collaboration and creativity, training approaches, and cultural adaptability. Diversity in the workforce With respect to the workplace, diversity refers to the co-existence of employees from various socio-cultural backgrounds. Bringing: Social Class: To the Diversity Challenge. Diversity in the workplace is important to our future business success because the world as we’ve known it has changed and will continue to do so. Given that the Government says there are economic benefits that could come from increasing socio economic diversity, why, then, has there been no serious attempt to legislate against class discrimination in the workplace? Implementing diversity in the workplace is a huge commitment, and there’s no handbook you can just “borrow” from another organization. Supporting Religious Diversity in the Workplace; Measuring for results: Three key principles; Becoming an Entrepreneur in Canada: Challenges and Opportunities [+] September. Class as a Form of Social Stratification: The influence of industry on stratification system in the wider society is most clearly seen in the phenomenon of social classes. When it comes to conversations about workplace diversity, class has long been the poor second cousin. To combat social class disadvantage, companies should add social class to diversity goals, avoid degree inflation, promote candidates from all departments, and build a cohesive organizational culture. It takes time and a commitment to celebrate diversity. Individuals of all types of diversity on this list will experience different types of bias, which can affect their ability to excel in the workplace. Embracing cultural diversity in the workplace is an important first step for businesses that want to be competitive on an international scale. diversity and social interaction in the workplace Introduction and Course Description This course is designed for upper-division students interested in working with people, in developing management skills, and in learning to manage their own interpersonal relation skills. It?s an unseen issue in my eyes or simply not perceived in the same way. Individuals who might once have faced employment challenges because of religious beliefs, ability differences, or sexual orientation now regularly join their peers in interview pools and on the job. Diversity, when talking about it from the workplace perspective, tends to focus more on a set of policies to meet government-mandated diversity compliance standards. Understanding the fine nuances of inclusion, equality and diversity in the modern workplace is challenging. As someone from a working class background, with no access to funds that would widen my perspective, it can feel like you are always working against the odds. My co-authored book Multiculturalism and Social Cohesion: Potentials and Challenges of Diversity examines some of these questions based on evidence from a unique and comprehensive source: Statistics Canada’s 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey of over 40,000 Canadians representing all cultural groups across the country. For diversity to bring strength, it should be valued in the corporate philosophy. While sociologists have examined social class within academe, the … November 2001; About Campus 6(5) DOI: 10.1177/108648220100600504. And execs know a diverse workforce (in age, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, and gender) brings diverse viewpoints and perspectives to the company; these elements can help you develop great new … Multiculturalism Looks at power and privilege differences in society. Workplace Diversity. Diversity can be defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, and valuing differences among people with respect to age, class, race, ethnicity, gender, disabilities, etc. Traditionally there have been 3 social classes in the UK: (i) working class; (ii) middle class; and (iii) upper class. Promoting inclusiveness and diversity within your workplace is one of the best ways to foster an open-minded, global company culture. Diversity simply means differences. With this perspective of economic diversity and the role it plays in individual success in our middle class organizations, business owners and leaders can better provide the support and resources employees from all classes require to thrive. In fact, in this tutorial we’re going to look at ten different dimensions of workplace diversity. Despite the varied experiences and perspectives different socioeconomic backgrounds can bring, it’s gender, race and, to a growing extent, disability … Why doesn’t class get as much airtime as race in workplace diversity discussions? The British class system is alive and well; it just continues to evolve. Diversity is any dimension that can be used to differentiate groups and people from one another. The vision is for a ... economic diversity in the workplace is just as important as all other inclusion and diversity initiatives. Optimizing Social Learning Opportunities. Best Diversity Inclusive Human Resources, Sustainability jobs site / blog This may be in relation to their ethnicity, education or regional background. Marxists believe that industrial societies are divided into two major social classes according to … Other research shows that companies with high executive and board diversity had returns on equity that were on average 53% higher than those with low levels of diversity. socio-economic diversity and social equality. This may be in relation to their ethnicity, education or regional background. 8 Social assumptions and what to do about them [+] August. More important, it must be integrated into company practices. In the US over a 10 year period, the top 50 companies for diversity outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index by 25.8% and the NASDAQ by 28%. In such a case, social class refers to the socio-cultural aspects of one's life, namely the traits, behaviors, knowledge, and lifestyle that one is socialized into by one's family. The twenty-first century workplace features much greater diversity than was common even a couple of generations ago. When you are building out a diverse and inclusive workforce, make sure to continuously educate your team on why diversity and inclusion matters so everyone is on the same page. As a reminder, this is part 2 of our series on workplace diversity. Companies need to embrace diversity and look for ways to become inclusive organizations because diversity has the In this blog post, diversity and inclusion expert (and 2019 MBE) Joanna Abeyie explores the differences between each element and how they relate to all workplaces. For those from wealth, education is a necessary tradition for making and maintaining social connections. In a nutshell, it’s about empowering people by respecting and appreciating what makes them different, in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education, and … Aligning diversity practices with unique organizational goals. Workplace diversity is defined as the inclusion of all individuals in an organization’s workforce, regardless of gender, religion, ethnicity, race, age, sexual orientation, and physical or mental fitness. 1995). The old boys club is still an acceptable phrase; universities still thrive with?the social class structure in place. Whereas perhaps 50 years ago we had a rather static view on class; in 21 st century which group one belongs to now means different things to different people. That’s a good start, but there are so many other ways to think about diversity as well. In other words, it involves hiring and retaining people of many and varied personal characteristics. Diversity and Social Impact: Top Self-Serve DEI solutions and program for D&I Professionals? From the Virgin Group to Disney and PricewaterhouseCoopers , organizations across industries are embracing the benefits of a diverse workforce. (Esty et al. The challenges of diversity in the workplace 1. Ignoring the class of a person will have a positive impact on diversity and inclusivity of the workplace as it will encourage recruitment of a wider range of individuals. In the modern workplace, companies are placing greater emphasis on diversity and inclusion initiatives to strengthen organizational adaptability, gain competitive advantage and reduce legal risks.