Essay on Affirmative Action and Diversity

Submitted By Fasnacht1
Words: 1696
Pages: 7

Diversity In the work place… Friend or Foe…

Daniel Fasnacht

BUS332.01SEMINAR IN HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Dr. Buhr
26 April 2010

While researching for this report I had to think of an issue that would hold my attention and also related to the course content we have covered over the year. I thought about this for aweek or two, I even changed my mind from Human resource develpomaent and different traing teqniqes. Then I began to rethink this idea and try to be more focused on an issue a member in HR would have to deal with. This is when I thought of diversity in the work placeI had an automatic interest in this since I am going to become a manger in Human Resource someday. First I’ll give a simple definition on diversity, then, I will be giving you the reasons why Diversity is important to companies, and the factors that are related to the different tasks companies run into when they are lacking diversity in the group. I will also compare the differences between Affirmative Action programs and Diversity management programs and how each one handles different situations. I will be wrapping up the paper with companies that are well known for their ability in having a diverse work force and my own thoughts on this topic. We talked about the importances of a diverse organization during this course and how the behavior of a group of people can be so beneficial to a company understand a group of individuals across the world. Diversity is one of many areas that we covered this year, however, I believe gaining a better understanding of this topic will make me understand my peers thoughts and actions with greater accuracy. Try to “Imagine an entire company of people who think exactly alike. The narrow scope of ideas will ultimately lead to an unsuccessful business venture that will coast both time and money for all” (Diversity, 2001). This issue has been a concern to companies for years and having a diverse work team is more essential than ever. “Workplace diversity is a people issue, focused on the differences and similarities that people bring to an organization. It is usually defined broadly to include dimensions beyond those specified legally in equal opportunity and affirmative action non-discrimination statutes”(Woods, 2010). The main focus in this report is the ability to understand diversity and its importance in having a successful business. Once an Hr manger understands this and is able to implement this and find these employees the better off the company is going to be in the long run. What is workplace diversity and is it helpful? Everything depends on who you are asking this question to because there are usually people that agree with this. Those who have a narrow state of mind and have grown up in an area with no diversity sounded by ignorant people usually don’t understand the benefits from a diverse group of people. The definition of workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. That sounds simple, but “diversity encompasses race, gender ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education background and more” (Greenberg, 2005). Over the years companies have been catching on to this trend and Josh Greenberg even goes to say that “diversity will increase significantly in the coming years. Successful organizations recognize the need for immediate action and are ready and willing to spend resources on managing diversity in the workplace now” (Greenberg, 2005). The cooperate level managers have started to realize for a company to work coherent and flow well together, they need to employ a wide range of people that matches their customers backgrounds. In order for a company to enjoy success and be competitive there needs to be some kind of diversity and mangers need to be able to handle different situations that can pop up on any given day? When companies do not act on these issues, problems will arise in the company.