Mary Bernal

March 5, 2014
Ms. Exline
English 1200-53
Major Area Issue Investigation
Throughout the progression and growth of many major corporate companies the ongoing
question asked by all is whether or not they can benefit from incorporating diversity in the
workplace. The beginning of the 21st century seemed to spark this interest in corporate America.
As the business markets progressed and began to become increasingly competitive, many large
businesses needed to make changes in the workplace to keep up with competitors. Most
companies question and want to understand how diversity can improve the company overall as
stated in Marianne Wilsons article Diversity programs are intended to develop the talents of all
employees and create a more hospitable working environment (21). Although for a company to
say they want to diversity their office is easy, the process is quite long and money consuming.
The process involves hiring recruiting initiatives and setting up diversity programs. Overall
companies exercising the use of diversity in the workplace have shown a drastic spark in their
success economically.
For people to fully understand how diversity in the workplace can benefit the company,
they must understand what workplace diversity is first. Workplace diversity does not only mean
hiring a wide array of individuals with unique qualities, the ultimate goal is creating work
environments where employees feel comfortable and equal. By creating this environment where
employees feel safe and comfortable can ensure the employee works to their full potential and
brings all of their work ethic to the table. Work experience, race, gender, religion, and several
other qualities all come into play when determining whether that employee can bring a change to

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the office. Employees, managers, and supervisors all must become accustomed to changing and
evolving to newly found tactics and differences. Instead of trying to change your customary
ways, you must be willing to evolve with your fellow employees. Most companies nowadays
believe without the use of workplace diversity companies can fail easily due to the lack of
strength derived from diversity and talent of fellow employees. Globalization is key to
understand why diversity has become such a widespread topic in the past couples decades
(Obiomon and Sadiku 5).
Once you understand the concept of workplace diversity, you can begin the look at the
several benefits that can come from it. Workplace diversity is a hard thing to become accustomed
to, because companies dont want to hire employees and have them feel un-included or out of
place in the office, this can cause people to hide their differences so that others dont notice them
and they blend in. Thats why one of the main steps of workplace diversity is to create a safe
environment where employees feel comfortable with one another and well appreciated. When
employees feel included by others they tend to let down their barriers and let their differences
show leading to employees not focusing so hard on trying to fit in at the office, but more on their
work and how they can better the company. Respect is key if companies are planning to increase
the productivity of their employees. Also, when companies recruit different employees they have
a much wider pool of qualified workers to choose from, which means they are more likely to
recruit employees that have the highest potential in the market. By adopting a more inclusive and
diverse workforce this can allow companies to have a more creative outlook on issues, which are
brought on by workers coming from different educational backgrounds, and past work
experiences. Companies thinking on a global scale spark more innovative and creative
workforces which seem to be the main cause for their economic success. Another advantage

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would be innovation, usually when people from different ethnicities tend to think and work
differently which can lead to more original thinking causing more discoveries. This can lead to
higher profitability due to the recruitment of employees who they are intending to sell their
products to and can make the process much easier, leading to higher sales. Having employees
that range from all over can really grow your company due to the variety of workers all equipped
with different and special skills unique to them. The expenses and time it takes to diversify the
office sometimes may need to be overlooked and understand how it can benefit even more in the
future (Burns and Kerby 2-3).
Although there are copious amounts of benefits to diversity in the workplace, there are
several issues that can arise from it as well. Majority of the problems caused from workplace
diversity are derived out of lack of organization from management. Without the organization
coming from management to help employees better adjust to their new working environment it
can take longer for them to perform even simple tasks without initial adjustments. Conflict is
another topic of interest when talking about workplace diversity. Sometimes employees have a
hard time adjusting and becoming familiar with others, this cause confusion and irritation from
both employees. Everyone comes from a different background and sometimes people dont enjoy
stepping out of their comfort zone which can lead to disagreements, causing a lack in progress to
finish projects. These various disagreements can cause major delays on projects and everyday
decisions made in the workplace. Another challenge to overcome would be unproductivity due to
different approaches and views on topics, according to Lynne Bolen and Brian Kleiner, when
people lack things in common, could negatively affect the overall team spirit that is essential for
reaching high-levels of productivity (4). That being said when people lack things in common
they tend to disagree easier without simply listening to each others ideas and trying to

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understand how that can better the company. Employees who are put onto a team together to
complete a task are designed to work as one unit, but different opinions of things can lead to
disunity caused in the group. Failure to comply with each other can cause delays on projects, and
always the possibility of an incomplete project. Another major down side of workplace diversity
is the issue of communication. The language barrier has always been a major issue in expanding
companies and having other employees understand each others motives. One final disadvantage
to workplace diversity would be the expenses it takes to fully diversify the office. When a
company decides to properly add diversity their office they have to hire manager authority, and
employees have to go through mandatory training. Hiring diversity managers is a definite
necessity to recruit well qualified candidates that would benefit the company. Once they hire
employees they have to set up training for them to adjust to the work environment and their
fellow employees (Bolen and Kleiner 3-5). The last major disadvantage of workplace diversity is
evidence; only one third of businesses show solid evidence of a successful change in profits.
(Bolen and Kleiner 7).
After understand the pros and cons of workplace diversity the next step is to understand
how to manage it in the office. In this day and age of companies a diversified workforce is
becoming necessary for the obtaining any type of success in your business. This all begins with
companies laying out a business plan that shows the strategies of how they plan on making it
work, according to Lynne Bolen and Brian Kleiner, Companies that manage the changes today
will be the winners tomorrow (4). While managing diversity its essential to understand the
goals you and your company are trying to achieve, it is stated in the article Managing Diversity
in the Workplace The goal of diversity management is to utilize everybody at the company to
their fullest potential. All we have to do is find out what is keeping that from happening (5).

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Corporate diversity is not an easy thing to obtain do use to its fullest potential, it takes great
sacrifice and understanding of how things will work differently in the office. Its easy enough to
say you want to diversify your workforce then to actually make a difference and make the
changes necessary. Building a diverse workforce can take a large amount of time and effort from
both the employers and the employees. When a manager is hired to regulate the diversity and
recruit there are four main to take into consideration. Commitment, Strategic Context, Process,
and Evaluation are essentially when understand diversity training. The diversity manager has to
understand and go by these terms to fully develop the team he/she is trying to develop. One of
the critical areas in the main focus is process; because once the manager decides to hire someone
the main goal for them is the have them drop their prejudices and expand their outlook on
diversity (Bolen and Kleiner 6).
Once companies over time have changed and adapted to the incorporation of diversity in
the workplace, another challenge is understand how to retain it. Layoffs are essential for
companies to stay committed to using diversity to its full potential. Managers make layoffs for
the sole purpose to bring in new recruits who can spark new ideas and promote a stronger
workforce. To achieve success in diversity programs takes large amount of effort coming from
the company and the employees themselves. Diversity programs are a never ending process and
for them to be used their full potential require great amounts of continued focus (Alboher 2).
Based off the amount of research collected and applied on diversity in the workplace, it
seems to have both negative and positive outcomes. It seems that companies who have
incorporated diversity into their workplace and made it a part of their daily routine to continue
diversifying the office have shown greater economic success in the business world. The
incorporation of difference races and ethnicities can spark wider varieties of ideas on projects,

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and also have a wider pool of employees to recruit into your company. Although the amount of
benefits seems to be endless, there are also countless amounts of disadvantages to diversity in the
workplace. With the decision to diversify the office comes with much responsibility on the
corporation to hire specific managers and bring in employees from all over. One of the main
disadvantages would be cost, the expenses to hire diversity management and also train
employees to work with each other as well. Also, with bringing in employees from different
ethnic backgrounds and work experience can sometimes cause turmoil among each other.
Disagreeing can lead to huge disadvantages when employees are put on teams to work together.
When management is considering taking diversity in the workplace more seriously they must
step better and understand both sides of the issue. Understanding how to work with diversity can
help eliminate future problems that can be caused directly from it.

Works Cited

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(2008): 70-71.ProQuest. Web. 19 Feb 2014.
Griswold, Alison. "Why Thought Diversity Is The Future Of The Workplace." Business Insider.
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Kerby, Sophia and Crosby Burns. "The Top 10 Economic Facts of Diversity in the
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Lisowska, Ewa. "Gender Diversity in the Workplace."Warsaw School of Economics 1.1-4 (2009):
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Lynne Bolen, Brian H. Kleiner, (1996) "Managing Diversity in the Workplace", Cross Cultural
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Morgan , John, and Felix Vardy. Diversity in the Workplace. 1st ed. 99. American Economic
Association , 2009. 472-485. Print.
Sadiku, Matthew. Essay: Diversity in the Workplace. 5. 26. Texas: IEEE Potentials, 2007. 5-6.
Print.
Wilson, Marianne. "Diversity in the Workplace." Opportunity For All 71.6 (1995): 2123. ProQuest. Web. 19 Feb 2014.