Management Briefing: Diversity in the Workforce
Julio López
MNO 6201
Dr. Quiñones
21 April 2016
Management Briefing: Diversity in the Workforce
Diversity in the workforce is a multi-faceted concept that continues to evolve as the United States becomes a home for people of different cultures and as more companies move towards a global marketplace. Most people hold the belief that every human being is of equal worth and entitled to the same privileges and opportunities, or this is the way it should be. Nonetheless, this belief has led to changes in management practices, primarily relating to the recruitment, training, and retention of employees who reflect in a special way the changing faces of the workforce in America.
In the article entitled “Is Blind Hiring the Best Hiring” Clair Caine Miller discusses the diversity in the workforce and its varying characteristics. Miller argues that “blind hiring”, the idea that one can be hired without any knowledge of a job seeker's ethnicity, gender, age, or educational background, levels the playing field for applicants. Miller discusses how entrepreneurs have fallen victim to implicit bias, including examples in which a person is hired based on their college education and gender/race stereotypes. With this problem in mind, Kedar Iyerthey developed software called GapJumpers. The system works in a way where they sent certain applicants a test where their technical skills suited for that specific job. Everything regarding their background, including educational background, name, race, physical, gender, is excluded in order to prevent any bias from the employer. In doing so, the software allows the employer to base their judgment solely on the candidate’s experience and not the university they attended or graduation year. Miller further establishes how these biases can cause employers to be blinded in their decision-making. Miller gives an example where a dominantly white male orchestra stated they were the most qualified. However, the “blind audition” method Examples where individuals were judged from behind a curtain similar to the reality show “The Voice,” proved that other musicians were more qualified. Miller also states that companies such as Google claim to be more diversified but statistics do not really reflect their claims. However, companies in the technological/social media field are young enough where a change will affect them a lot sooner than these well-established firms. Overall, this article provides a comprehensive look at how diversification in the workforce is necessary and there are some who are attempting to change their hiring process in order to reflect the various cultures in society.
Miller’s article does correlate with the readings for this week, specifically in how diversity plays a crucial role in ensuring equitable work practices and being a reflection of the society in which we live. In “National Culture and Management”, Rosenzweig defines culture as “a shared system of meaning, ideas, and thought” and that the changing demands of the marketplace necessitate a search for a new and more effective way to serve the needs of the diverse customers these new growing companies are dealing with (2-4). The differences in personal skills, education, geographical location and language are examples of some diversity dimensions that make a difference in how companies work together. Miller’s article similarly discusses how the workforce must be more inclusive of the skillsets that exist and be more diversified. In doing so, our workforce can become stronger because we are no longer basing hiring decisions on factors that are unrelated to the required skills for the position.
In the “Making Differences Matter” article, David Thomas and Robin Ely address a few paradigms utilized in the corporate world to work more efficiently diversity. The most widely used and perhaps not intentionally is the “discrimination-and-fairness paradigm” which is often practiced as “institute mentoring and career-development programs specifically for the women and people of color in their ranks and train other employees to respect cultural differences” (4). By targeting specific groups and starting workshops to educate employees on what it means to be diverse, employers are able to promote an inclusive environment. However, this concept arguably contradicts Miller’s more optimistic stance because of how it could lead to an undermining of minority employees. However, if managed effectively and targeted to individuals who may be less skilled, these differences broaden organizational capability to respond to a different customer base because of their cultural acceptance and diversity.
In “How Diversity Makes Us Smarter,” Katherine Phillips discusses how different people bring different things to the table and by the implementation of a diverse workforce there are different ideas that help us think outside the box. Studies have been done and prove that groups that have worked on the same assignment or company usually do better on average. This is due to the mere fact that a group with all one culture all think the same but a group with two or more cultures have differences and think of more than the one way to solve the issue or work through a situation. Miller’s concepts help support these notions with the development of GapJumpers. By ensuring that employers are keeping their hiring decisions based on skillsets and not candidate backgrounds, employers are able to embracing the elements of cultural diversity in their workforce and tap into new markets, both within the US and abroad.
Certain people have to follow the many guidelines to get ‘diversified’ by their employer. On the other hand, there are those that are fortunate enough to be born diversified, in a sense. As a first generation Mexican-American, who has attended and now works at Southern Methodist University, I now understand the impact diversification plays in the workplace. My work with students in the Business and Financial department at SMU, a significant of them being Spanish speaking or with Individualized Education Programs, I am usually the first face and/or name the students are given when they arrive at SMU themselves. Knowing this has definitely empowered me in my position, as I understand that my department understands the importance of diversity. If they had hired another person with a background of an Ivy League school or a non-Hispanic name, as Miller states is the norm for employers, the department would not be able to ensure their minority population feels welcomed at SMU (similar to my initial experience at SMU). So even though my Latino surname could have a certain prejudice tied to it, my skills and education are certainly comparable to those with a different educational background because of the culture in which I was raised.