Diversity in the Workforce

Diversity in the Workforce

When someone uses the term diversity it can mean an array of things such as race, religion, color, gender, national origin, disabilities, sexual orientation, age, education, geographic origin, and skill characteristics. I believe the concept of diversity is just someone who is different than the person you see when you look into the mirror. There are some big advantages in the world today when a group of diverse people work together for a common goal, because different people bring different things to the table such as skills and ideas. That is why today’s workforce is looking to improve their diversity levels to achieve that advantage over their competitor which is called the “competitive advantage”. Because of America’s History of discrimination, there are laws and organizations that help protect minorities from discrimination such as Affirmative Action and (EEOC) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Department). There are many controversial issues going on today suggesting that these laws and organizations are causing reverse discrimination in the workforce. I believe America is the strongest and most powerful country on the planet and it’s not because of our leaders or technology, it’s because we are diverse.

Diversity in the workforce has become a major concern in today’s society. Because of its advantages, many businesses are looking to diversify their workforce. There are seven major reasons why large and small businesses are looking to diversify their company. Those reasons are social responsibility, economic payback, resource imperative, legal requirement, marketing strategy, business communications strategy, and capacity-building strategy (Diversity). Being socially responsible and diverse gives back to communities in a big way, because businesses are providing jobs for minorities and helping them fulfill their dreams. Diversity in the workforce has its economic payback, by giving minorities jobs and taking them off programs such as welfare. Then the people who were using taxes to aid them are now paying taxes because they can help themselves (Diversity).

White males are no longer dominant in the workforce because of resource imperative. Resource imperative is when companies have the ability to pick and choose from a variety of talents, backgrounds, and experiences. When companies are opened minded about their workers they attract better talent to their employment (Diversity).

Companies are now bound by legal requirement to diversify their workforce. If companies don’t comply with the Affirmative Action Legislation and (EEOC) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission they are subjected to fines and they can lose contracts with government agencies as a result (Diversity).

There are major marketing strategies that can come to an advantage because a company has added diversity to their workforce. Companies have a big market with a wide variety of diversity and because of this diversity products and services need to appeal to all races. So, if businesses have a diverse workforce they are able to figure out what all races want to see in a product then they are able to market that product in a way that would be appealing to a particular country or race. Business communication strategy is a great advantage because a company is able to communicate better with alien companies thus causing more business for the company (Diversity). Capacity-building strategy is a great advantage when it comes to diversity in the workforce. Companies who use this strategy are able to solve problems effectively, quickly change to new situations, and quickly identify new opportunities then rapidly take advantage of them. These are some of the many ways a diverse workforce can improve the way a company conducts business. A person in the business field that strongly agrees with the advantages in a diverse workforce is Dr. Santiago Rodriguez who is the Director of Diversity for Microsoft. He said, “True diversity is exemplified by companies that hire people who are different – knowing and valuing that they will change the way you do business” (Diversity). These are the many reasons why businesses are now looking to diversify their workforce, so they are able to gain that competitive advantage over their competitors.

Diversity in the workplace does have its advantages but it also has its disadvantages. Affirmative Action Legislation has helped minorities get into higher paying jobs in the workforce, but there is discrimination toward well qualified white males which is called reverse discrimination. Discrimination was a big problem in American history dating back to the birth of our country. Then again it still exists but you can never get rid of it completely or maybe we