Diversity In The Workplace

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Global recognition for diversity in the workplace and its challenges Diversity in work place is often linked to increased productivity or outcome. Having a more diverse set of employees means the organization has a more diverse set of skills and could result in an organization that functions better. Diversity in workplace means much more than race or ethnicity. Diverse workplaces are composed of employees with wide range of characteristics and backgrounds. Workplace diversity include, but not limited to, different ethnicity, physical abilities, socioeconomic background, religions and political beliefs, and geographic locations. Homogeneous organizations may have higher level of social capital (who you know- networks, connections, friends),…show more content…
Among different diversity groups contributions of women in organizations is often overlooked. This is because still only very few women have broken through the “glass ceiling” to become company executives in large corporations (Branson, 2007). All over the world there is strong evidence on under-representation of women in leadership roles (Maginn, 2010; Tan, 2008; Mathur-Helm, 2006). Among several reasons, the major obstacle that prevent women from ascending in corporate careers is the responsibilities they take in household activities and particularly motherhood (Kargwell, 2008). Despite of all these problems, several women proved to be capable of effectively managing multi-national companies. Best examples are Indra Nooyi (CEO of PepsiCo), Ginni Rometty (CEO of IBM), Meg Whitman (CEO of Hewlett-Packard) and Mary Barra (CEO of General Motors). I work for a multi-national company for which a lady was the director for several years. She has implemented several innovative ideas at our work place to make employees more social and know each other which got greater appreciation. Studies revealed that women have better behavioral characteristics such as empathy, relation building capabilities (Appelbaum et al., 2013), and supportiveness (Chao & Dexin, 2011) than men at their work places. So there is clear evidence that, if opportunities are given, women can excel in this era of modern globalization. To encourage women, organizations have to implement some work-family programs such as flextime, childcare programs at the work site, educational assistance

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