Workplace Diversity Issues

Diversity is a huge and important topic, impacting everything from laws to relationships to careers. But building a diverse and welcoming workforce isn’t a PR move. It’s something that will reap serious rewards for your business.

While diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity, and age is healthy for any workplace, cognitive diversity — differences in people’s perspectives or the ways they process information — can play an even bigger role in your team’s success.

People with different backgrounds and experiences think differently, and bring different values to the table that help companies do a better job of coming up with ideas, solving problems, creating products, and driving overall success. Despite these benefits, only 57% of recruiters say they focus on attracting diverse candidates.

Diversity Types

Conflict Among Employees – When prejudice, racism, discrimination and a lack of respect creep into a work environment, conflict among employees becomes inevitable. If not distinguished, such animosity in the workplace can turn explosive or even violent. Businesses that provide a diversified work environment and provide sufficient diversity training often reduce or eliminate such occurrences.

Alternative Lifestyle Acceptance – Though one’s personal life should typically not affect their job performance, lifestyle acceptance is sometimes an issue in the workplace. Unfortunately, even though many employers now provide extended benefits to “alternative lifestyle partners,” sometimes gay and lesbian workers experience disrespect and discrimination from coworkers. Such behavior leads to an uncomfortable working atmosphere and poor productivity.

Ethnic And Cultural Differences – Sadly, some individuals harbor unfair prejudices against people of different colors, cultures, ethnicity or religion than their own. Such prejudice should not be tolerated in the workplace – much less anywhere – and should be dealt with in a firm and prompt manner. Firm company policies and appropriate training help build acceptance and respect among a well-diversified employee body.

Gender Diversity in the Workplace – One the oldest and most common diversity issues in the workplace is the “men vs. women” topic. Over the years, a new element in the disputes over equal pay and opportunity is the transgender employee. Some corporations have trouble dealing with the fact that a man in women’s clothing or a woman in the stages of “becoming a man” may perform equally as well on the job done as those in traditional gender roles.

Preventing Harassment and Eliminating Discrimination – Harassment can sometimes be an issue in a diversified work environment, but should absolutely never be tolerated. Recognizing harassment is key in preventing and eliminating discrimination from the workplace. Even the slightest comment made in jest can be considered harassment if any – even remotely vague – any racial, sexual or discriminatory connotation is made. For example, “I love Asian women” or “We should have hired a man.”

Communication Among Employees – Even when no prejudice exits among employees, a diversified workplace can bring about certain communication issues. Hiring immigrants who speak little or no English can reduce productivity by creating a communication barrier among team members. Employing some form of communication training and hiring sufficiently bilingual workers helps encourage and improve staff interaction.

Age Ranges and Generation Gaps – In larger diversified corporations, staffs are often made up of workers who range in age from teenagers to senior citizens. Inevitably, generation gaps can become an issue and the age differences can trigger “cliques” and separation of the company as a unit. Bridging the gap between multiple generations of workers can sometimes become an issue for employers attempting to establish teamwork.

Disabilities and Worker Needs – Unfortunately, workers who are mentally or physically handicapped sometimes encounter discriminatory behavior from insensitive coworkers. In some cases, employers innocently overlook handicapped workers needs, such as ramps or special needs equipment. Creating a fair and comfortable work environment for disabled employees is important in a diversified workplace.

Strategies to Manage Diversity

If your company could be doing more for inclusivity and diversity, share these strategies with your team:

For HR

Make your recruiting and hiring processes transparent. Encourage current employees to recommend diverse applicants, and make sure all applicants know that your company places a premium on specific skills and experience.

The selection process is the same for every candidate, regardless of any hiring quotas.

For Managers

Train your managers on the importance of viewing inclusivity and diversity as a core competency, and hold them accountable to your standards.

Form a group of managers and other leaders who meet regularly to set goals for hiring, retaining, and promoting a diverse workforce, and who address any engagement barriers among underrepresented employees.

Diversity should not come at the expense of needed skills or experience.

For Employees

Nearly one-third of workers say they’ve left jobs because they didn’t feel comfortable being themselves. When employees who are different from their colleagues are allowed to flourish, your company will benefit from their input, talent, and engagement.

Openly promote — via company-wide meetings, internal communications, and other materials — the merits of an office culture where all employees feel safe to voice their ideas and concerns.

Place an emphasis on recruiting candidates with diverse views and different behavior types during the hiring process, and create strategic opportunities for your employees to brainstorm and collaborate with team members with different backgrounds and perspectives.