Diversity means having the individuals from different gender,
educational background, ethnicity, culture, languages and many
other factors, in any society or organization, the diversity of its
members can be very fruitful for its existence and survival. A
diverse workforce is always considered to be better than the
uniform workforce mainly due to the fact that when there are the
members of the organization belonging to various backgrounds, they
will come up with their own thinking process, pattern of dealing
with the situation, addressing the various concerns and even they
will provide the varied solution of a single issue due to their
cultural, and other difference. These factors can be really
fruitful in the present competitive environment.
The main advantages of workplace diversity are as below:-
- Having varied members of the team from different backgrounds
increases the creativity of the group as each member brings
something creative in the group.
- In order to deal with the issues related to the diversity,
different methods have to be employed by the organization and thus
it makes the organization more adaptable to the environment and
external world.
- Diversity also results in improved group thinking or creative
thinking as each member will have a specific way of dealing the
issues.
- By bringing new ways of doing the things, diversity helps in
improving the productivity.
The main limitations of diversity are as below:-
- Due to cultural and linguistic differences, there can be some
problems related to the free communication.
- This kinds of groups also face the lack of freedom of speech as
the members need to respect the differences in the cultures and
backgrounds.
- This can also incur an increased cost for training.
- There can be some issues related to the team integration as the
group cohesiveness can be a problem.