Managing Diversity

Name of the student.

Managing Diversity

University affiliation.

Date of submission.

Managing Diversity 

The blending of cultures is becoming increasingly prevalent as individuals of different races or cultures intermarry. As a manager, how would you address an individual’s cultural needs that are broad-based across several different cultures? Also, how would you address integration into the organizational culture to prevent any misconceptions in the workplace?

Learning about people’s culture is by starting to be aware of your own culture. This is crucial because if you have not had an opportunity to get to know how your culture has affected you, then it is a challenge to understand how it could affect others or the importance to them. If one is comfortable talking about his/her own culture, then he/she will become better at listening to others talk about their culture. Additionally, if one understands how discrimination has affected him/her, then one may be more aware of how it has affected others. Understanding other peoples’ cultures as well as their needs means performing an active role of building relationships with them.

Therefore, in a workplace, a manager can address an individual’s cultural needs that are broad-based across several different cultures in a number of ways. Once an organization has successfully modified their recruitment and hiring practices to reach a more diverse audience, the next important step is to successfully engage and support their employees by creating an inclusive and support working environment through the following ways:

There are a number of ways a manager can build relationships with people from other culture;

• Building relationships with the individuals

When individuals feel that they cannot be themselves at work, they will not engage fully as part of the team or in assigned tasks. Organizational leaders and managers play an important role in setting the tone for the shift towards increased diversity and inclusiveness in an organization. An open and effective communication as well as clear feedback channels usually encourages discussion of issues related to inclusion and even discrimination.

• By making a conscious decision to establish friendships with people from other cultures.
  • By putting yourself in situations where you will meet people of other cultures like showing up in places where one will meet people from different culture, attending meetings and celebrations of groups whose members you wish to get to know, hanging out in restaurants where different cultural groups go.
  • By examine your biases about people from other cultures. In order to build relationships with people of different cultures, we have to become aware of the misinformation we acquired.
  • By ask individuals questions about their cultures, customs, and views, reading about their culture’s and histories, listening as they tell their stories, noticing differences in communication styles and values; do not assume that the majority’s way is the right way.
  • By risking making mistakes. If you say or do something that is insensitive, you will definitely learn something from it. Ask the affected person what bothered or offended them, apologize, and then go on in building the relationship. Mistakes will probably be made at some point, but do not let making mistakes keep you from going ahead and building relationships.
  • Through the workplace culture

  Therefore, an educational approach can help to reverse fears that workforce have when it comes to addressing diversity. Diversity and inclusion is best nurtured in an open workplace where mistakes can be used for learning but not for embarrassing or shaming individuals. Therefore, some ideas for embracing diversity in the workplace are;

  Including opportunities for workforce to interact in settings outside of work so that employees feel more comfortable.

  Ensuring all employees have the opportunity to take part in decision-making and planning for social activities.

  Organizing collective meals where employees can learn about others cultures by sharing food.

  Being aware of as well as providing time off for culturally significant events and holy days.

  Recognizing and acknowledging special days and events for staff as well as creating a multicultural calendars to avoid scheduling important meetings on major cultural holidays

  Adjusting workplace schedules for staff to observe their various religious practices and also acknowledging all faiths present in the workplace.

  An inclusive workplace environment requires individual diversity awareness skills as well as effective organizational systems that support diversity and inclusion. Diversity training is one way to develop awareness and to increase employer as well as employee knowledge and sensitivity to diversity issues. It also provides employers and workers with a set of skills that allow them to deal effectively with workplace diversity. Diversity training will focus on developing employer and employees’ cultural competence. Cultural competence is a set of attitudes, skills and behaviors that enable organizations and staff to work effectively in cross-cultural situations.

  • Through diversity training

  Listening and responding is how we understand the feelings, thoughts and needs of the other person. There is no skill more important for effective communication than taking into consideration the other person´s perspective. By trying to stand and fit in someone else´s position; it will considerably improve your communication with that person. Therefore, a manager should always listen carefully to the other person, focus on their message. By listening carefully, it is easy to respond appropriately and thus avoid misunderstandings.

  • By listening and responding

  If we are going to work harmoniously with people from diverse backgrounds, we need to be tolerant and respectful about values, beliefs and practices, which may be very different from our own. The more we learn about other cultures, the more we can put ourselves in other people’s position and respect them. When you and a co-worker do not agree, try looking at things from their perspective. This way, one will understand them properly.

  • By understand and accepting cultural differences