Cultural diversity in the workplace not only benefits
organizations, but the professionals who build them. With the ever-changing demographics of the country,
increased cultural diversity in the workplace can have a substantial effect on
the workplace and on the individual professionals within it. Individuals can
learn new ways of thinking, understand different points of view and create innovative
solutions that may not have otherwise come to fruition. The same can be said of
both managers and employees.
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| DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT IN THE OFFICE OR WORKPLACE |
NEW LANGUAGES
In the American workforce, the dominant language
spoken is generally English. However, shifting demographics have encouraged the
need for cultural diversity in the workplace, increasing the value of speaking
more than one language. Working with other professionals from different
cultural backgrounds can provide motivation for both managers and employees to
embrace learning new languages such as Spanish or Mandarin in order to better
communicate with both co-workers, direct reports and clients.
INCREASED PROBLEM SOLVING
According to the Stanford Graduate School of Business,
workplaces that boast a more culturally diverse environment are better at
innovating and brainstorming new ideas. In fact, when an organization or
department becomes so homogeneous that there is little to no diversity, the
more likely employees are to only see one perspective or method of solving a
problem. With increased diversity comes different life and career experiences
that can provide the necessary insight to improving processes, products and
services.
BETTER CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Many workplaces experience conflict, but a more
culturally diverse workplace may actually be better equipped to handle
inter-office spats. When team members seemingly come from similar backgrounds,
there can be an unintentional expectation that everyone will always get along
or think the same. This can cause quite a jolt to team harmony when
disagreements on how to approach an issue or problem arise. However, in groups
with a stronger mix of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, there can be a
heightened awareness of the possibility of disagreements. An employee or
manager in the more diverse team will be more apt to recognize potential
conflicts and more quickly identify solutions that will benefit the team and
its members.
TALENTED COLLEAGUES
When professionals are immersed in a culturally
diverse work team, they are more likely to be surrounded by peers of equal or
great caliber, which improves the team's success rate. When teams are more
homogeneous, the talent pool shrinks, meaning that employees and managers who
may have heightened abilities are forced to work with individuals who may not
be on their professional level. This can slow down team performance and
decrease individual employee engagement. With a wider net cast, employers have
a larger number of talented professionals to help grow their teams, which not
only benefits the organization, but its individual team members as well.