Question

Write an essay about the differences in Culture and Diversity at the workplace. with all characteristics of strong culture in the organization. Please refer to textbook chapter-15. Use APA style, examples, peer-reviewed journals to support your answer. This essay must be at least 1000-word in length.

Answer 1

Culture is the building block of an organization. It is what every stakeholder including employees and customers look up to. A great culture means employees are happy and they serve the customers better, hence directly impacts the company’s success. All big companies have a huge work force who come from various diverse cultures and backgrounds. For a team to be successful, there must be a way in which all its members comprehend the differences and learn to work closely.

It’s the duty of the top management to understand these diversities of the work force and manage it in such a way that it increases the productivity of the work force. Types of diversity can be multiple. Gender ratio is one of them. Having a proper mix of women and men in the work force is very important for a company. This brings in new perspectives into the team. This also has a huge impact in workplace behavior. Age differences is also very much seen in large organizations. Multi age group work forces have a generation gap and could impact the way teams operate on. The company culture should encourage younger generation to contribute at the same time value the opinion and learn from the different age group work force. We can also talk about religion here. People follow different faith and it’s a personal choice. So, for people to be comfortable at workplace an organization culture should not interfere in their personal choices and aid them in doing so. For example, setting up prayer rooms, honoring the important festivals etc. becomes a part of a culture which promotes diversity.

A culture which promotes diversity has a lot of advantages

a) It boosts productivity – When people from multiple background work together in a place where everyone feels respected and accepted, it gives them a comfortable and happy workplace. This results in boosting the productivity and teamwork.

b) Different Perspective – For companies who believe in innovation, need to people to challenge the way things are already being done. If the workforce is diverse, then it brings in a lot of new perspective. This can result in new ways of doing things and hence is regarded as the essence of innovation.

c) Low attrition – Large attrition is a huge cost to the company. It must invest a lot of money in hiring, knowledge transfer and getting back up to speed. If the reason of high attrition is the culture, then the situation will not change even after the new resource comes in. So, an inclusive workplace which accepts diverse culture will always be a good place to work. This can hugely impact the attrition rate. Employee even values culture and are willing to accept lower salaries for companies with better culture.

d) Brand Value – A company who treats the employees well regardless of differences will also treat its customers well. Customers also read news about how well the company’s culture is. This gives a long-lasting impact in the mind of customers. This affects the brand equity and results in loyal customer base.

To have a culture which promotes diversity has a lot of difficulties as well.

a) Management challenge – To ensure that the culture is being followed is a major challenge. To ensure proper following of culture, company should create regular sessions on values and what company stands for. It also needs to keep in place proper ways of reporting or complaint portals with quick action so that people don’t take policies for granted. Human resource team should reach out to employees regularly to understand any concerns.

b) Communication Gap – Having a diverse workforce leads to lot of communication and understanding issues. This leads to team productivity and confusion

Characteristics of a Strong Culture

a) Focus – An organization must be focused on achieving goals. This needs to be followed down the ladder to employees as well. Sense of achieving goals makes work more challenging and helps in bringing out the best in the employees. Just like the company, employee should also have long term and short-term goals. People managers should guide them and ensure if they are on track with their goals.

b) Feedback Seeking – People need to understand their strengths and weaknesses. This helps them understand what they are good at and what are their improvement areas. A culture which promotes feedback needs the workforce to be positive towards receiving feedback. This helps them in their own improvement and better output for the company.

c) Employee Engagement – Making workplace happy is one of the main objectives of an organization. Employees needs to feel that they part of an organization and not just doing their work and going home. Employee engagement programs like events, shows, occasional fun outings etc. are good ways in which employer can engage the workforce and keep them happy and part of the organization.

d) Personal & Professional Growth – Culture should promote growth of the employees. Nobody wants to do same job for a long time, they want to learn new things and move up the ladder. Organization should be open to people changing roles to find their interest areas.

e) Diversity – Diversity brings in a culture of innovation and change. It makes an organization well equipped to grow globally and understanding the local need of its employees and customers.

f) Promoting Good Work – A good culture should identify top performers and giving them proper recognition. This motivates the employee to stay in the organization and deliver more. It also motivates other employees to improve on their work and push for more success. This in turn benefits the organization productivity.

g) People friendly – this point focuses on the trust of a company on its employees. This brings in lot of independent responsibilities on the employees. The company expects them to deal with the responsibilities and places its trust on them. This has a positive impact on the employee as well, they feel they are contributing a lot to company’s success and at the same time company values their contribution