Challenges of Cultural Diversity in the Workplace
Diversity is a prominent challenge facing businesses today. Most employers are aware that diversity in the workplace is important, yet many don’t realize that their workforce isn’t as diverse as they believe it to be – or as diverse as it could be.
To gain some insight into the specific challenges surrounding diversity and how employers can overcome them, we reached out to a panel of HR pros, consultants, and diversity experts and asked them to answer this question:
What’s the single biggest challenge employers face with diversity in the workplace (and how can they overcome it)?
Aqib Nazir
Aqib Nazir is a father to a beautiful son, husband to an amazing wife, and son to a great mom with a passion for Digital Marketing. He is a PR and Outreach Expert who helps online businesses achieve their goals.
Generation gap is one of the biggest challenge employers are facing in this era…
There are those old-school guys from 50s and 60s that value meetings and encourage teamwork. And then there are millennials from 90s and onwards who prefer to stay alone and working independent.
To create a healthy workplace, it is important that you work on eliminating generation gaps. Teamwork is something that can greatly help address this problem. Embrace diversity and let your employees work together. With time, employees will manage to understand each other and respect workplace diversity.
David Miklas
David Miklas was a Partner/Shareholder with the West Palm Beach and Ft. Pierce Florida law firm of Richeson & Coke, P.A., which was an AV Preeminent rated firm (peer ranking at the highest level of professional excellence). Mr. Miklas practices all types of labor and employment law exclusively representing management (employers), including both private employers, as well as Florida municipalities and school districts.
Employers may inadvertently be discriminating when they…
Advertise or recruit by the language in the ad, or where they choose to advertise/recruit.
Employers would never advertise for Whites only, but it is common for employers to run ads that have the result of having a disparate impact on older workers. As an example, in 2013, Facebook settled a discrimination case where they had a job listing that included the language, “Class of 2007 or 2008 preferred.”
Another recent problematic trend is for employers to require job candidates to be digital natives as opposed to digital immigrants, where a digital native grew up using technology from an early age rather than adopting technology later in life.
Another example is when an employer has a workforce that is not representative of the population. As an example, the local population may be comprised of 20% Hispanics and 12% Blacks and 50% women, but the employer may have a workforce that is 85% male, 95% white and nonhispanic. This may be a result of from where the employer recruits/advertises. The employer may be able to correct this imbalance by visiting traditionally Black colleges, or advertising in Hispanic publications.
Brian Wood
Bryan Wood is the lead attorney at The Wood Law Office, LLC in Chicago. Bryan focuses on employment law issues related to discrimination, harassment, civil rights, equal pay, and wrongful termination.
The biggest problem employers face with diversity is…
Building a culture that acknowledges we all have biases that we act on – consciously or
unconsciously – and building that culture without creating resentment. There is no shortage of talented, capable diverse candidates or workers, or accountability measures to ensure they receive fair opportunities. There is only unwillingness to invest the time necessary to change culture which admittedly is time-consuming, difficult, and requires strong leaders who listen more than they talk.
Shel Holtz
Shel Holtz is principal of Holtz Communication + Technology, counseling companies on employee communication as well as digital and social media for internal and external communication. He spent 20 years in corporate communications with Fortune 500 companies before starting his consultancy in 1996. The author of six communication-themed books, Shel is a prolific blogger and pioneer podcaster. He is a Fellow of the International Association of Business Communicators, a Founding Fellow of the Society for New Communication Research, and a Platinum Fellow of The Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media.
Diversity used to be…
One of those benign values statements employers posted on conference room walls and printed on the backs of employees’ security badges. In today’s polarized political environment, diversity is now a flashpoint.
Employers increasingly are taking sides on social issues; diversity is one of those at the top of the list. Consider, for example, the number of companies that spoke out and took action against North Carolina’s transgender bathroom law. In most of those cases (as well as cases addressing gender, race, and sexual orientation), employees had not been
informed that their employer was going to take a stand. Not every employee would support the company’s position, yet those with different beliefs had little opportunity to absorb the company’s position, ask questions, or engage in a conversation about it. A once-engaged employee came to work the next day carrying a range of emotions, from apprehension (coming to work not knowing where their co-workers stand) to hostility (over their company conveying values with which they disagree).
As businesses move into a values-driven marketplace (fully 50% of consumers say they have bought or boycotted a brand based solely on a political or social position; 75% of consumers believe companies are responsible for making the world a better place by addressing social and environmental causes, not just earning profits), companies can’t make their positions known via CEOs blurting out a statement in response to legislation or a political leader’s statement. Companies need to examine their values, reiterate them, infuse their practices, processes, and supply chains with them (bolt-on Corporate Social Responsibility will no longer be enough), and have a dialogue with employees so they know the company’s values and what their options are if they disagree. The CEO can’t unexpectedly announce that employees who disagree with his position (We stand for tolerance) should simply not come to work the next day. (That happened at Grubhub immediately following the November presidential election.)
Alina Shaffer
Alina Shaffer is the COO for livingHR.
One of the most important and challenging aspects is…
First creating an inclusive culture where diversity lives and is leveraged to foster innovation and ultimately better business outcomes. Many organizations tend to focus on tactics first…compliance training, hiring and promoting more females and underrepresented minorities, etc. Yet, if the foundation of an inclusive culture doesn’t exist – one that welcomes new ideas, experiences and points of view – the likelihood of retaining talent is slim. Start by focusing inward to discover your talent experience with the lens of inclusion and be honest about how your culture addresses multiple facets of diversity such as embracing diversity of thought, cultivating innovation and addressing biases. From there it’s critical to get the organization buy-in and executive sponsorship needed to redesign experiences and bring them to life to create the environment where everyone can do their best work.
Beth P. Zoller
Beth Zoller is an attorney and legal editor with XpertHR, specializing in topics related to discrimination and harassment, diversity, employee privacy, employee handbooks and workplace conduct.
I believe the main challenge employers face with respect to cultural diversity is…
Overcoming the deep-rooted prejudices and stereotypes that all individuals have and encouraging individuals from different backgrounds, religions, races, genders, etc. to work together. A stereotype is defined as a generalization about a person or a group of people based on preconceived judgments and thoughts that lead an individual to make an unfair judgment or assumption about that individual or situation. Similarly, a prejudice is an unfair or unfounded opinion either in favor of or against something or someone that may or may not be truthful. Such strong feelings may be difficult to
change because they are deeply rooted within an individual.
Stereotypes and prejudices can lead to various workplace challenges:
Communication issues stemming from the failure of different groups to understand one another;
Discrimination and stereotyping with regard to ability to do the job;
Increased tension and conflicts between different groups;
The tendency for individuals from similar backgrounds to stick together, hire similar individuals and choose similar individual to work on projects together; and
Discrimination and harassment and the creation of a hostile work environment.
However, employers striving to create and maintain a diverse and inclusive workforce can take some key steps to overcome this:
Revise Recruiting and Hiring Practices. Employers should aim to reach a wide variety of potential candidates by using the internet to reach beyond their geographic area. Make sure job ads and job descriptions are neutral and bias-free to attract a wide variety of candidates. Make sure candidate are interviewed by various individuals in the organization and eliminate biased questions.
Establish Mentoring Opportunities. Provide individuals with the opportunity to be mentored by individuals who are not like them in order to improve communications and foster one on one relationships. Recognize that preconceived notions may exist and change individuals’ minds by encouraging exposure to different individuals and groups.
Provide Diversity and Sensitivity Training. It is important for an employer to encourage employees to be tolerant, respectful and accepting of differences and value and support the opinions and ideas of others. An employer should instruct employees not to focus on outward characteristics (i.e., accent, dress and appearance) and avoid snap judgments about others. An employer should emphasize civility and understanding in the workplace.
Build Relationships. An employer should aim to create cross-functional teams so that individuals from different backgrounds can work together. The focus should be on each individual’s strengths and what they can bring to the table. The employer should encourage and support participation and leadership opportunities on all levels of the organization and make employees feel as if they have a voice and a seat at the table.
Make Inclusion a Priority. It is important for an employer to go beyond diversity and strive to have an inclusive workplace. An inclusive workplace is one in which all employees feel as if they are integrated into the workplace, their differences are welcome and respected, and they are valued for the different skills and ideas that they can bring to the workplace. In a diverse and inclusive workplace, all employees are focused on working together and equally contributing toward a common goal and participating in workplace projects. An employer can support inclusion by providing reasonable accommodations to individuals from different backgrounds if justified and the need exists. An employer should be committed to providing accommodations so that employees may:
Observe religious practices and worship;
Live and work in the gender they identify with regardless of their sex at birth;
Care for their families including babies and toddlers, sick children and aging parents; and
Perform the essential functions of their job even if the individual suffers from a disability.
Samir Gupte
Samir Gupte is the President and Chief Engagement Officer of Pope and Associates. For over 41 years, Pope has partnered with organizations to eliminate barriers to inclusion, that enable individuals, organizations, and communities to thrive.
The single biggest challenge employers face with diversity in the workplace is…
Evolving from representation to inclusion. When an organization can achieve this step in their journey, only then can they fully realize the benefits of a diverse workforce.
Over the last 40 years, companies and other organizations have made progress in increasing representation of women and minorities in their workforce. Some of this has been driven by their concerted actions, while some has been forced by demographic changes and the available talent pool, especially in these low, unemployment rate cycles.
While opportunities remain to increase the representation of women and minorities in leadership roles, creating inclusive cultures and work environments, where everyone can bring their true selves to work, are inspired to be all-in, and their ideas and contributions are sought after by leadership, remains elusive for most employers.
Training leadership on unconscious bias, assessing inclusion through the right measures, and implementing specific strategies to improve inclusive cultures is the path forward to solve this challenge.
Steven Benson
After receiving his MBA from Stanford, Steve worked in Sales at IBM, HP and Google where he was Google Enterprise’s Top Sales Executive in 2009. In 2012, he founded Badger Maps, the #1 Sales App in the Apple App Store, which helps Field Sales People be more successful.
I believe that the biggest challenge that employers face with cultural diversity in the workplace is…
Creating a culture that makes people of many diverse backgrounds comfortable from the beginning of the company’s life. If an organization starts out lopsided on gender and diversity and develops a dominant culture, it can be hard to unwind that and become a place where everyone is comfortable.
A lot of organizations look around after they’ve already grown fairly large and realize that they are massively over-represented in some demographics and massively under-represented in others. It takes a lot of effort at that point to right the ship, whereas if managers were cognizant of diversity from the beginning, they would not only have enjoyed the benefits of diversity throughout the companies entire life-cycle, but also would have a diverse organization at scale organically.
Humphrey Ho
Born to Chinese parents, Humphrey Ho established his reputation as a business leader early in life when he founded and sold the social network enterprise Speechbobble at age 23. Now, Humphrey has joined Hylink as Managing Director of their new US office, located in Los Angeles, CA, becoming an integral part of the company’s strategic partnerships, business development, talent deployment, internalization, and globalization processes – helping brands both in China and in the US better navigate each market.
In a diversified workplace, the biggest challenge employers face is…
Integration. To overcome this obstacle, it is essential that an employer makes an effort to understand who each employee is beyond what is apparent, and takes into account the varying experiences employees have had throughout their lives. If employers remain hyper-aware of the differences that make up their respective workplaces, they will be better able to find a middle ground and build a strong community based on shared concerns and interests.
Amy Zimmerman
Amy Zimmerman is the Head of People Operations for Kabbage.
The single biggest challenge that we face at Kabbage with regards to diversity is…
That there doesn’t seem to be enough women or African American candidates in engineering. Our total diversity percentage company-wide is high, which is something we’re incredibly proud of, but as we drill in to the departments, it’s obvious that we are anything but diverse in engineering. A couple of the things that we’re doing to address this include a targeted recruiting focus both digitally and at career fairs, and we’re including unconscious bias/hiring training for all members of our interviewing team. Diversity of experience and perspective enriches culture, drives innovation, and creates value in every conceivable way.
Joyce Wilson-Sanford
Joyce Wilson-Sanford has worked in the field of Strategic Organizational Development for 25 years. Joyce’s last position was as Executive Vice-President of Strategic Organizational Development for the Delhaize Group, a global food retailer. She now works as a global executive coach. She is known for the depth, insight and practicality of her coaching.
The single biggest challenge employers face with diversity in the workplace is…
Not having an articulated business case for creating a culture of inclusion and not showing that this kind of culture is good for everyone – the messy, the gay, the introvert, the African American, the white make, the wildly creative, the excruciatingly pragmatic, women, blind – the only person to exclude is one with a lack of commitment or skill for the work. Every company needs every bit of strong talent it can find in whatever package it comes.
David Kosmayer
David Kosmayer is the Founder of Bookmark Website Builder.
I believe a diverse staff can greatly benefit a company that embraces its differences…
It starts for us with a plan of action and a manager’s willingness to spearhead the initiative. A diverse workplace brings multiple perspectives to the table. A diverse workplace also promotes a company’s ability to adapt to any situation. The benefits have been great for us.
Dr. Aviva Legatt
Dr. Aviva Legatt is the College and Graduate Admissions Coach and Owner of VivED Consulting LLC. She is also an Affiliated Faculty member of the University of Pennsylvania Organizational Dynamics Program. She is also a High-Performance Team Observer at the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania.
The biggest challenge employers face with implementing practices that enhance diversity and inclusion is…
Promoting diversity beyond meeting Affirmative Action requirements. Research shows that diversity makes workplaces more effective and efficient – productive conflict around a task is more likely to occur in diverse teams, and diverse companies tend to be more profitable. It is not enough, though, to simply hire diverse people and assume that the environment will also be inclusive toward people of color, women, people with disabilities, LGBT individuals, and so forth. Inclusion is a key, but often overlooked, element to creating a successful work culture that embraces diversity.
The way to overcome this challenge is to educate hiring managers and employees on the financial, creative, and cultural benefits to creating inclusive environments. In addition, companies must implement training on unconscious bias. Companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Nike are implementing this training so that staff members can learn about their natural preferences toward or against certain groups of people. These preferences are not necessarily bad, but awareness helps people to understand one another and work through difference more effectively. Facing these biases is a necessary but difficult step in promoting a positive, authentic, and inclusive work environment.
Jennifer Ward
Recently named AZ President of MSEC, Jennifer Ward joined the team in 2014 as an employment law attorney. After receiving her law degree from the University of Southern California, Jennifer practiced law with a prominent regional Phoenix firm, and was a member with the Labor and Employment Practice Group. In 2015, she obtained her certifications as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and as a Society for Human Resources Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).
Most employers understand the importance of diversity but don’t realize that one of the biggest obstacles to achieving it is itself a lack of realization…
Unconscious bias is a phenomenon that affects almost everyone’s decision-making processes. Our past experiences affect the decisions we make and our brains create “shortcuts” to help us process information. The majority of hiring managers would say that they have an unbiased hiring process, but don’t see how these “shortcuts” affect the process. We tend to prefer people who are just like us, which undercuts diversity efforts. We also make assumptions based on stereotypes, which may lead us to turn away a qualified candidate who might increase our diversity. By examining and acknowledging their reasons for not hiring a particular candidate, hiring managers may be able to combat the effect of unconscious bias.
Tim Toterhi
@TimToterhi
Tim Toterhi is an ICF certified executive coach and the founder of Plotline Leadership, a company that helps people craft their success stories. He is the author of The Introvert’s Guide to Job Hunting and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) with over 15 years of management experience in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
The single biggest challenge employers face with diversity in the workplace is…
They are looking for the wrong thing. Somewhere along the way the concept of corporate diversity, or “inclusion” as it is now known, got cheapened. It got boiled down to a marketing effort where every website and annual report features a smattering of just the “right” amount of male and female, old and young, black and white… you get the idea. Some large companies even have special “leadership” programs, sidebars in talent reviews, or quota-based hiring processes to ensure “everyone” is represented. Such efforts are well-intentioned, but they just don’t work. Worse, they actually contradict what advocates hope to accomplish.
What employers should be looking for – in hiring, promotion, team composition, project leadership etc. (beyond skills and experience) – is diversity of THOUGHT (i.e., how you approach the work and what you – as an INDIVIDUAL – bring to the role). The assumption that, for example, a young, white, female brings a different point of view simply because she is young, white, and female is in itself a stereotyped / biased view that flies in the face of diversity.
Employers need to stop hyper-focusing on the external qualities and spend the time, money, and energy to look past their assumptions and strive to understand a person’s actual experience, abilities, and soft skills such as decision-making, communication, conflict management, etc. There are a variety of unbiased pre- and post-hire assessment tools that can help them do it. Training on behavior-based interviewing can also help them uncover these strengths and development areas.
The ultimate answer to diversity is individuality. It’s more relevant than culture and more revealing than sex or age. And, more meaningful than any other label. In the end you are hiring a person, not a representative of any group.