Introduction
Cultural diversity is a community in which the team has its own identity, and the organization respects the values and differences of people from different cultures. Organizations that want to create unique communities that are non-discriminatory and accommodating of diverse cultures must pay attention to diversity management. Diversity management focuses on assessing the environment, culture, and organizational structure and finding ways to make a difference in favor of cultural diversity. Organizational culture is a vital element of the management system, which may not encompass the full range of actions required to manage diversity.
Current Challenges
Organizational culture is the norms and values that companies use as a guideline to build their work. Culture reflects how the company positions itself in the marketplace, what requirements it places on candidates, and what environmental integration mechanisms it offers its employees. Diversity issues arise if an organization does not have a strong culture and does not adhere to its own principles. For organizations that do not create the conditions for diversity, there is a risk that they will soon cease to have a place in the marketplace. With this in mind, there are several obstacles to managing diversity.
First, a significant barrier is the culture itself, which does not include all the diversity of values and life orientations. Even if staff already work in the organization, they may feel uncomfortable because the organizational culture does not include their needs. Needs may be the need for special work and rest patterns due to religious reasons or physiology (such as menstrual leave for women or religious reasons) that companies are unwilling to comply with (Ajiri & Odor, 2018). The organization does not consider these parameters as essential or critical, and although they directly affect work comfort and productivity, the culture does not include people with special requests. Culture and its general perception within the organization are one of the engines of development, and the lack of attention to respecting the company’s values violates the principles of diversity.
Secondly, the organization’s culture goes along with the company’s structure, in which not all elements can comply with the culture code or diversity requirements. A special place is occupied by the HR department, which deals with recruiting, selecting personnel, and adapting them (Li et al., 2021). HR professionals may have their own beliefs that internally discourage them from interviewing candidates who differ from them in gender, age, culture, religion, and other characteristics. Maybe unknowingly, but HR may not allow such candidates into further interviewing and, as a result, already in the early stages of the company, do not provide diversity. HR does not follow the culture’s precepts and does not work according to the rules, so attracting potential candidates can be restrictive (Hussain et al., 2021). Since HR is also responsible for further holding candidates and getting them approved for a position, the next problem arises.
A third significant limitation is the lack of theoretical training for personnel responsible for onboarding new people. Key demographics remain lacking in diversity due to managers’ lack of understanding of the fundamental theoretical relationship between communication and performance (Yadav & Lenka, 2020). Managers do not know how to work with a different culture, even if a candidate fits and has a complete set of professional and personal qualities. Communication within the organization is weak and does not meet the new hires’ demand to fit in and become part of the team because the host does not make them feel welcome (Goswami & Rangaswamy, 2019). This problem is also the result of underdeveloped cultural competence, which could mitigate the harmful effects of lack of training.
Possible Decisions
Organizations must strengthen their diversity management and address challenges to ensure an appropriate employee culture. First and foremost, organizations must change their diversity strategy. It could be a change in strategy, organizational culture, the implementation of information days, and a collaborative review of the current cultural code. Secondly, the organization should thoroughly audit its recruiters and the HR segment (Li et al., 2021). For example, conducting an audit will reveal the causes of understaffing and the incompetence of existing professionals. Finally, it is necessary to change the organization’s structure and improve the management of the opportunities for new personnel who are just starting their way in a particular organization. Implementing new adaptation strategies and processes will facilitate diversity by both attracting people and retaining older employees. The problems and barriers explored must be investigated, and processed, and based on the results; unified solutions that will genuinely change the unfavorable environment must be derived.
Conclusion
Thus, the key obstacles to effective diversity management are an inherently inadequate organizational culture, a weak HR sector, and a lack of staff training in communications. Consequently, candidates experience permanent discomfort due to the lack of conditions for adaptation and free expression of their cultural and demographic specificities. Possible solutions are to change the organization’s tactics in ensuring diversity, strengthen the HR sector and its thorough check, and integrate new ways of adaptation of the personnel.
References
Ajiri, P. S., & Odor, H. (2018). Managing diversity at work: Key to organisational survival. European Journal of International Management, 20(16). Web.
Goswami, S., & Rangaswamy, E. (2019). Managing cultural diversity at workplace: the hr challenge and its impact on organizational performance – a study of Singapore. International Journal on Recent Trends in Business and Tourism (IJRTBT), 3(2), 96-105. Web.
Hussain, A., Farooquie, J. A., & Taqa, A. R. (2021). A critical review on Workforce Diversity Management. International Journal of Enhanced Research in Management & Computer Applications, 10(9). Web.
Li, Z., Oljaca, M., Firdousi, S. F., & Akram, U. (2021). Managing diversity in the Chinese organizational context: The impact of workforce diversity management on employee job performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. Web.
Yadav, S., & Lenka, U. (2020). Diversity management: A systematic review. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 39(8), 901-929. Web.