diversity

The Workforce Today A lack of understanding and acceptance in any industry causes prejudice and ethnocentric thinking to occur. The American workforce is not only made up of those who may be from a single minority, but from multiple minority groups. Harvey and Allard (2011) give the example of not only a black male, but a black, gay male. This is something that both employees (professionals) and managers must take into consideration. As noted in the text, although we like to say we believe that all people are created equal, the social groups that we may identify ourselves under most likely do affect our professional lives (Harvey & Allard, 2011). In order to accept diversity in the workplace, an effort must be put forth from both professionals and managers. Even if a company’s employees are open to diversity, it will not benefit the company if the “higher-ups” discriminate against certain populations because of their prejudice.

Diversity in Business Diversity is good for business. As AT&T’s chief diversity officer Cindy Brinkley noted, their customer population is quite diverse as well (Harvey & Allard, 2011). Having employees from several different backgrounds will certainly help customer relations. As an example of diversity improving business, I recall the last time that I visited Home Depot, there was a large sign advertising which employees to ask for who would be able to speak a foreign language, such as Spanish, Arabic and Russian. This caters to individuals who otherwise would not be able to communicate with employees at the store. Maintaining diversity in the workforce can promote growth in a company by employing individuals with different ways of thinking and problem solving. Agreement is not always beneficial and it can hinder the opportunity to improve an idea. According to Harvey and Allard (2011) management may try to use avoidance and repression to manage differences. This type of setting brings together people that are too similar