Workplace Cultural Diversity

Workplace Cultural Diversity

 Introduction

Just like individuals have their unique personalities, each company has its distinct personality, and this unique personality displayed in the company is known as organizational culture. Even though corporate culture is an invisible force that exists in groups of individuals working together, it is also a powerful force that impacts the behavior of the group members. It seems there is a widespread understanding that organizational culture refers to a common-sense scheme established by members that separate the company from the others. Corporate culture is a set of shared perceptions, principles, and beliefs that control how people conduct themselves within organizations (Mazur, 2010).

Organizational culture involves the aspirations, perceptions, beliefs, and principles of an organization that bind it together and is reflected in its self-image, inner workings, relationships with the outer environment, and hopes of the future. One way of setting a distinct organizational culture is through cultural diversity, which involves incorporating different cultural backgrounds to compose one culture used in the firm. As much as these differences within the workplace can be both advantageous and disadvantageous to organizations, this paper examines cultural diversity in the workplace and answers the question, how variations in culture and diversity benefits and demerits organizations.

Cultural diversity

When the entire population differences are represented well in a community, cultural diversity, which comprises religion, race, socioeconomic class, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, and language, is achieved. A group is deemed to be diverse when it represents a wide range of groups, and this practice has proven to impact the workplace significantly if well instituted. Significant commitment and time are required to identify and celebrate differences in culture and diversity within the workplace because unless it is valued in the firm philosophy, it cannot bring strength in the company (Guillaume et al. 2017). In addition, the organization’s daily practices ought to integrate the diversity within its employees by being open-minded and non-judgemental about the differences in cultures and diversity among its workers.

Benefits of diversity at workplace

One characteristic of an influential culture within an organization is the art of innovativeness, and the differences in culture offer the best chances to accomplish this. This is because different perspectives are obtained from individuals with diverse backgrounds, which aids the team to analyze problems from different viewpoints. The way people view the world depends on their culture, and when this comprehensive professional and personal experiences together with a variety of perspectives are utilized in a firm, it breeds creativity among the workers and drives innovation. The company also benefits from the culturally diverse talent pool to draw from that permits it to attract and retain the most competent personnel. A survey done by Glassdoor indicates that approximately two-thirds of people looking for jobs often considered the level of diversity within the company. Considering that the marketplace is very competitive, firms need to demonstrate that the company fosters multi-culture and an environment for the inclusion of all backgrounds (Guillaume et al. 2017).

Moreover, an organization with a diverse culture earns the benefit of being more profitable and competitive because of having knowledge and insights into the local markets. This is because when firms are expanding to new marketplaces, the different culture within it offers an essential edge as it understands the local connections, customs, language skills, and competitive landscape. And when a business is conversant with the local insights and knowledge as well as being culturally sensitive, it means that its products and services are of higher quality and directed to a targeted market. Differences in culture and diversity within an organization lends cross-cultural comprehension and knowledge to the local market, which helps in the production of more effective marketing materials and techniques.

Disadvantages of workplace diversity

The company is often prone to weakness and collapse due to diversity in culture when it lacks enough commitment. Even though firms have several methods and perspectives of handling the market, without commitment to these strategies, the company will spend more money and resources but achieve fewer outcomes. Lack of responsibility can be influenced by miscommunication among the group members, which is usually as a result of differences in the interpretation of situations (Mazur, 2010). And when the firm is not keen enough to address this issue, it causes the rise of hostility and awkwardness, which can be worsened in the presence of prejudices and make individuals misinterpret behaviors and draw faulty conclusions. Besides, individuals from deferential or polite cultures such as professionals from Asian nations like Vietnam or Japan can experience particular challenges in speaking up their opinions and views. Whereas assertive people from countries that focus on flat organizational hierarchy such as western Europe or the US may be more comfortable to express their perspectives freely.

Conclusion

Every company possesses a distinct personality or culture that sets them aside from other organizations and having a culture that is composed of different cultural backgrounds and explicit diversity. Companies that embrace cultural diversity in its operations and among its employees benefit from a variety of viewpoints to tackle a problem, and this enhances innovation due to creativity (Guillaume et al. 2017). Firms also gain excellent market knowledge of different industries allowing them to expand swiftly because of having a targeted market as well as produce high-quality commodities. However, differences in culture and diversity within an organization can lead to collapse when adequate commitment is utilized. Cultural diversity also renders the firm to miscommunication because of the diverse perspectives among the employees.

References

Guillaume, Y. R., Dawson, J. F., Otaye‐Ebede, L., Woods, S. A., & West, M. A. (2017). Harnessing demographic differences in organizations: What moderates the effects of workplace diversity?. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(2), 276-303.

Mazur, B. (2010). Cultural diversity in organizational theory and practice. Journal of intercultural management, 2(2), 5-15.