Diversity, in a business context, is hiring and promoting employees from a variety of different backgrounds and identities. Those characteristics may include various legally protected groups, such as people of different religions or races, or backgrounds that are not legally protected, such as people from different social classes or educational levels. A business or group with people from a variety of backgrounds is called diverse; a business or group with people who are very similar to each other is not diverse.
Proponents argue that businesses benefit by having diversity in the work force. [1] [2] [3] The business case for diversity stems from the progression of the models of diversity within the workplace since the 1960s. In the United States, the original model for diversity was situated around affirmative action drawing from equal opportunity employment objectives implemented in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Equal employment opportunity was centered around the idea that any individual academically or physically qualified for a specific job could strive for (and possibly succeed) at obtaining the said job without being discriminated against based on identity. These initiatives were met with accusations that tokenism was the reason an individual was hired into a company when they differed from the dominant group. Dissatisfaction from minority groups eventually altered and/or raised the desire to achieve perfect employment opportunities in every job.
The social justice model evolved next and extended the idea that diverse workers should be given disproportionate opportunities within the workplace, not only because it was instituted as a law, but considering it to be a moral good. Kevin Sullivan an ex-vice president of Apple Inc. said that "diversity initiatives must be sold as business, not social work." [4]
In the deficit model, it is believed that organizations that do not have a strong diversity inclusion culture will invite lower productivity, higher absenteeism, and higher turnover which will result in higher costs to the company. [5] Establishments with more diversity are less likely to have successful unionization attempts. [6]
In a journal article entitled "The Multicultural Organization", Taylor Cox Jr. talks about three organization types that focus on the development of cultural diversity. The three types are:
In the monolithic organization, the amount of structural integration (the presence of persons from different cultural groups in a single organization) is minimal. This type of organization may have minority members within the workforce, but not in positions of leadership and power. [7] Even though Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are three interconnected concepts represented by the abbreviation DE&I, they are not interchangeable. Diversity without equity and inclusion is often perceived as "tokenism". [8]
The plural organization has a more heterogeneous membership than the monolithic organization and takes steps to be more inclusive of persons from cultural backgrounds that differ from the dominant group. This type of organization seeks to empower those from a marginalized standpoint to encourage opportunities for promotion and positions of leadership. [7]
The workplace diversity can be categorized into single-gender and mixed genders. [9] It focuses on mostly "identity-based differences among and between two or more people". The multicultural organization not only contains many different cultural groups or different genders, but it values this diversity. It encourages healthy conflict as a source of avoiding groupthink. [10]
Diversity is believed by some to bring substantial benefits such as better decision making and improved problem solving, [11] greater creativity and innovation, which leads to enhanced product development, and more successful marketing to different types of customers. [7] [12] Diversity is also claimed to enhance organizations' abilities to compete in global markets. [13] Simply recognizing diversity in a corporation helps link the variety of talents within the organization. [14] [15] Despite this, until recently, there has been no conclusive evidence for competitive advantage derived as a result of diversity. [16] [17] [18] [19] In 2024, however, new research showed that there is a plausibly causal link (not only a correlation) between workforce gender diversity and financial performance in major firms, [20] according to a study that measured financial performance using stock returns (which are a very common measure of firm performance in finance, economics, accounting, and management research). [21] [22] Mathematical modeling research of team work by Scott Page reflects this view. Page's models demonstrated that heterogeneous teams consistently out-performed homogeneous teams on a variety of tasks.
Page points out, however, that diversity in teamwork is not always simple and that there are many challenges to fostering an inclusive environment in the workplace for diversity of thought and ideas. For example: "If we look at the evidence on whether identity diverse collections of people perform better than more homogeneous collections, we see mixed results at every level. At the country level, we find that in advanced economies, ethnic diversity proves beneficial. In poorer countries, it causes problems. In cities, we see similar effects. Diversity has the same pluses and minuses. Cognitive diversity increases innovation. Preference diversity leads to squabbles" (p. 14). Also, "We have no logical reason to think that identity diverse groups would perform better than more homogenous groups – unless we believe that mysterious collective cognitive capability emerges from the interactions of people with diverse identities" (p. 326).
In order to benefit from diversity, keep organizations competitive, and drive business success, comprehensive strategies are required that encompass all dimensions of diversity (race, gender, cognitive styles, beliefs, experience etc.). [23]
One of the greatest challenges an organization has when trying to adopt a more inclusive environment is assimilation for any member outside the dominant group. The interplay between power, ideology, and discursive acts which reinforce the hegemonic structure of organizations is the subject of much study. [24] Everything from organizational symbols, rituals, and stories serve to maintain the position of power held by the dominant group. [24]
When organizations hire or promote individuals that are not part of this dominant group into management positions, a tension develops between the socially constructed organizational norm and acceptance of cultural diversity.[ citation needed ] Some have claimed that cultural diversity in the workplace will increase interpersonal conflicts.[ citation needed ] Often these individuals are mentored and coached to adopt the necessary traits for inclusion into the privileged group as opposed to being embraced for their differences. [12] [25] According to the journal article "Cultural Diversity in the Workplace: The State of the Field", Marlene G. Fine explains that "those who assimilate are denied the ability to express their genuine selves in the workplace; they are forced to repress significant parts of their lives within a social context that frames a large part of their daily encounters with other people". Fine goes on to mention that "People who spend significant amounts of energy coping with an alien environment have less energy left to do their jobs. Assimilation does not just create a situation in which people who are different are likely to fail, it also decreases the productivity of organizations". [13] That is, with a diverse workforce, management may have to work harder to reach the same level of productivity as with a less diverse workforce.
Another challenge faced by organizations striving to foster a more diverse workforce is the management of a diverse population. Managing diversity is more than simply acknowledging differences in people. [26] A number of organizational theorists have suggested that work-teams which are highly diverse can be difficult to motivate and manage for a variety of reasons. A major challenge is miscommunication within an organization. Fine reported a study of "work groups that were culturally diverse and found that cross-cultural differences led to miscommunication". [27] That is, a diverse workforce led to challenges for management. The meaning of a message can never be completely shared because no two individuals experience events in exactly the same way. Even when native and non-native speakers are exposed to the same messages, they may interpret the information differently. [28] There are competencies, however, which help to develop effective communication in diverse organizational environments. These skills include self-monitoring, empathy, and strategic decision-making. Impromptu speaking is also considered a key allyship skill to communicate with authenticity in everyday words and reactions. [29]
Maintaining a culture which supports the idea of employee voice (especially for marginalized group members) is another challenge for diverse organisation. When the organizational environment is not supportive of dissenting viewpoints, employees may choose to remain silent for fear of repercussions, [30] or they may seek alternative safe avenues to express their concerns and frustrations such as on-line forums and affinity group meetings. [31] By finding opportunities such as these to express dissent, individuals can begin to gather collective support and generate collective sense-making which creates a voice for the marginalized members so they can have a collective voice to trigger change. [30]
Three approaches towards corporate diversity management can be distinguished: Liberal Change, Radical Change, and Transformational Change. [32]
The liberal concept recognizes equality of opportunity in practice when all individuals are enabled freely and equally to compete for social rewards. The aim of the liberal change model is to have a fair labor market from which the best person is chosen for a job based solely on performance. To support this concept, a framework of formal rules has been created and policymakers are responsible for ensuring that these rules are enforced on all so none shall be discriminated against. The liberal-change approach centers on law, compliance, and legal penalties for non-compliance.
One weakness of the liberal view is that the formal rules cannot cover every aspect of work life, as there is almost always an informal aspect to work such as affinity groups, hidden transcripts, and alternative informal communication channels. [33] [34]
In contrast to the liberal approach, radical change seeks to intervene directly in the workplace practices in order to achieve workforces with less White people. The radical approach is thus more outcome focused than focused on the forming the rules to ensure less White people. [34] One major tool of radical change is quotas which are set by companies or national institutions with the aim to decrease the number of White people employed.
Arguments for and against quota systems in companies or public institutions include contrasting ideas such as quotas
A quota system was introduced at the Swedish parliament with the aim of ensuring that women constitute at least a 'critical minority' of 30 or 40 percent of all parliament seats. Since the introduction of the system, women representation in parliament has risen dramatically even above the defined quota. Today, 47% of parliamentary representatives are women, a number which stands out compared to the global average of 19%.[ citation needed ]
Transformational change covers an equal opportunity agenda for both the immediate need as well as long-term solutions. [37] For the short term it implements new measures to minimize bias in procedures such as recruitment, promotion, and communication. The long term, however, is seen as a project of transformation for organizations. This approach acknowledges the existence of power systems and seeks to challenge the existing hegemony through implementation of equality values.
One illustrative case for transformational change is ageing management; [38] Younger employees are seen as more innovative and flexible, while older employees are associated with higher costs of salary, benefits, and healthcare needs. [39] Therefore, companies may prefer young workers to older staff. Through application of the transformational concept an immediate intervention provides needed relief while a longer-term culture shift occurs.
For the short-term, an organization can set up legislation preventing discrimination based on age (e.g., Age Discrimination in Employment Act). However, for the long-term solution, negative stereotypes of older employees needs to be replaced with the positive realization that older employees can add value to the workplace through their experience and knowledge base. [40] To balance this idea with the benefit of innovation and flexibility that comes with youth, a mixture of ages in the workforce is ideal. [41] Through transformational change, the short-term solution affords the organization the time necessary to enact deep rooted culture changes leading to a more inclusive environment.
In 2017, PwC's U.S. chairman, Tim Ryan, amassed more than 175 c-suite executives (some belonging to the Fortune 500 ) to sign their CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ pledge. The pledge is a business commitment to advance diversity in the workplace and is made by executives from notable companies such as Walmart, Staples, Dow Chemical, Cisco and Morgan Stanley. [42] As of 2021, more than 2,000 CEOs have signed the pledge including James Murdoch, Tom Buttgenbach, Jeanne Crain, M. Patrick Carroll, James C. Foster and Wayne A.I. Frederic. [43] [44]
Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, many companies made substantial commitments to racial equity by establishing dedicated diversity, equity, and inclusion teams. In early 2024 the Washington Post reported that there is a trend in corporate America to reduce in-house DEI positions (e.g., an employee in the human resources department who works to promote DEI principles across the organization) and delegate the work to external consultants. The number of DEI jobs reached its highest point in early 2023, but subsequently decreased by 5 percent that year and has further shrunk by 8 percent in 2024. The attrition rate for DEI roles has been approximately twice as high as that of non-DEI positions. The scaling back of DEI initiatives has aligned with a rise in legal challenges and political opposition to systematic endeavors aimed at enhancing racial equity. [45]
Intentional "diversity programs" can assist organizations facing rapid demographic changes in their local consumer market and labor pool by helping people work and understand one another better. [12]
Diversity inclusion initiatives must start with the commitment from the top. With a commitment from top leaders in an organization to change the existing culture to one of diversity inclusion, the diversity change management process can succeed. This process includes analyzing where the organization is currently at through a diversity audit, creating an action plan aligned with a diversity inclusion strategy, gaining support by seeking stakeholder input, and holding individuals accountable through measurable results. [12] [46]
Within the realm of communication studies, organizational communication is a field of study surrounding all areas of communication and information flow that contribute to the functioning of an organization. Organizational communication is constantly evolving and as a result, the scope of organizations included in this field of research have also shifted over time. Now both traditionally profitable companies, as well as NGO's and non-profit organizations, are points of interest for scholars focused on the field of organizational communication. Organizations are formed and sustained through continuous communication between members of the organization and both internal and external sub-groups who possess shared objectives for the organization. The flow of communication encompasses internal and external stakeholders and can be formal or informal.
Diversity training is a type of corporate training designed to facilitate positive intergroup interaction, reduce prejudice and discrimination, and teach different individuals how to work together effectively.
A glass ceiling is a metaphor usually applied to women, used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents a given demographic from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy. The metaphor was first used by feminists in reference to barriers in the careers of high-achieving women. It was coined by Marilyn Loden during a speech in 1978.
Workforce management (WFM) is an institutional process that maximizes performance levels and competency for an organization. The process includes all the activities needed to maintain a productive workforce, such as field service management, human resource management, performance and training management, data collection, recruiting, budgeting, forecasting, scheduling and analytics.
The Corporate Equality Index is a report published by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation as a tool to rate American businesses on their treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. Its primary source of data are surveys but researchers cross-check business policy and their implications for LGBT workers and public records independently. The index has been published annually since 2002. Additionally, the CEI focuses on the positive associations of equality promoting policies and LGBT supporting businesses which has developed to reflect a positive correlation between the promotion of LGBT equality and successful organizations. Following the top 100 corporations that are publicly ranked under the CEI, participating organizations remain anonymous. For businesses looking to enforce and expand LGBT diverse and inclusive policies, the CEI provides a framework that allows businesses to recognize and address issues and policies that restrict equality for LGBT people in the workplace.
Workforce productivity is the amount of goods and services that a group of workers produce in a given amount of time. It is one of several types of productivity that economists measure. Workforce productivity, often referred to as labor productivity, is a measure for an organisation or company, a process, an industry, or a country.
Occupational inequality is the unequal treatment of people based on gender, sexuality, age, disability, socioeconomic status, religion, height, weight, accent, or ethnicity in the workplace. When researchers study trends in occupational inequality they usually focus on distribution or allocation pattern of groups across occupations, for example, the distribution of men compared to women in a certain occupation. Secondly, they focus on the link between occupation and income, for example, comparing the income of whites with blacks in the same occupation.
Training and development involves improving the effectiveness of organizations and the individuals and teams within them. Training may be viewed as being related to immediate changes in effectiveness via organized instruction, while development is related to the progress of longer-term organizational and employee goals. While training and development technically have differing definitions, the terms are often used interchangeably. Training and development have historically been topics within adult education and applied psychology, but have within the last two decades become closely associated with human resources management, talent management, human resources development, instructional design, human factors, and knowledge management.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal is a peer-reviewed academic journal publishing research on 'equality, diversity, and inclusion' (EDI), also called 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI), an organizational frameworks which seek to promote "the fair treatment and full participation of all people", particularly groups "who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination" on the basis of identity or disability. The journal published articles about racial, sexual, religious, disability, and age discrimination; equal opportunities; and affirmative action.
Social equity is concerned with justice and fairness of social policy based on the principle of substantive equality. Social equity within a society is different from social equality based on formal equality of opportunity. For example, person A may have no difficulty walking, person B may be able to walk but with some difficulty, while person C may be unable to walk at all. Equality would be providing each of those three people with the same opportunities or aids. For an example of this, see the image on the right. Since the 1960s, the concept of social equity has been used in a variety of institutional contexts, including education and public administration.
Cultural sensitivity, also referred to as cross-cultural sensitivity or cultural awareness, is the knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of other cultures and others' cultural identities. It is related to cultural competence, and is sometimes regarded as the precursor to the achievement of cultural competence, but is a more commonly used term. On the individual level, cultural sensitivity is a state of mind regarding interactions with those different from oneself. Cultural sensitivity enables travelers, workers, and others to successfully navigate interactions with a culture other than their own.
Employee retention is the ability of an organization to retain its employees and ensure sustainability. Employee retention can be represented by a simple statistic. Employee retention is also the strategies employers use to try to retain the employees in their workforce.
Employee resource groups are groups of employees who join in their workplace based on shared characteristics or life experiences. ERGs are generally based on providing support, enhancing career development, and contributing to personal development in the work environment. In the past, ERGs have traditionally been focused on personality traits or characteristics for underrepresented groups, for example women, sexual orientation, gender, etc. With the resurgence of ERGs in the workplace, ERGs are expanding to "interest-based" groups gathered around particular activities. Some of these include job responsibility, environmental advocacy, community service and volunteerism, and workplace wellness. Further, as an emerging facet of human resources and employee engagement in the business world, the existence of ERGs is important for reference and understanding in the world of business. Exploring the topic of employee resource groups can provide insightful information for business employees and young professionals seeking to understand a new business.
UKG is an American multinational technology company with dual headquarters in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Weston, Florida. It provides workforce management and human resource management services.
Saundarya Rajesh is an Indian entrepreneur who is the founder and president of Avtar Group. She is known for her efforts in promoting second career opportunities for women in the corporate sector in India. She runs Project Puthri, an initiative to empower underprivileged girls to secure employment. She was awarded the ‘100 Women Achievers of India’ in 2016 by the Minister of Women and Child Development for her work. She received the Women Transforming India Award from the NITI Aayog and the United Nations in 2016.
Marc Bendick, Jr. is a United States economist and interdisciplinary social scientist who conducts and applies research concerning public policy issues of employment, discrimination, poverty, and social and economic inequality.
Resistance to diversity efforts in organizations is a well-established and ubiquitous phenomenon that may be characterized by thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that undermine the success of diversity-related organizational change initiatives to recruit or retain diverse personnel. The use of such initiatives may be referred to as diversity management. Scholars note the presence of resistance to diversity before and after the civil rights movement; as pressures for diversity and social change increased in the 1960s, dominant group members faced workplace concerns over displacement by minorities.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are organizational frameworks which seek to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people, particularly groups who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination on the basis of identity or disability. These three notions together represent "three closely linked values" which organizations seek to institutionalize through DEI frameworks. The concepts predate this terminology and other variations sometimes include terms such as belonging, justice, and accessibility. As such, frameworks such as inclusion and diversity (I&D), diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB), justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, or diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility exist.
A diversity charter is a document that outlines an organization's effort to create an inclusive and diverse workplace. It includes a set of principles or commitments involving organizational leadership, executives, and employees. These principles may encompass fostering an inclusive culture, promoting equal opportunities, combating discrimination, and supporting diversity in all its forms, including aspects such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, and sexual orientation. Diversity Charters can vary in different regions or industries, as they may have their own versions with specific goals and commitments.
Melonie Parker is the Chief Diversity Officer at Google in Silicon Valley where she leads diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts within the technology sector. Prior to Google, she has held professional careers at Lockheed Martin and Sandia National Laboratories.
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