Diversity in the workplace can be a great strength for an organization if managed effectively if management make good use of each individual’s values. In order for diversity to be managed effectively and used to the organizations advantage, people-management strategies need to be put in place in order to allow for these differences and allow for people to grow upon them in the organizations favor. Being open to each individuals differences, allows for new ideas to come to light and to be welcoming of different ways of going about tasks.
There can however, be issues that arise such as legal Implications in regards to discrimination. Discrimination can occur via both indirect and direct means. This Is corrected Vela legislations against the Illegal mistreatment and discrimination of employees. Equal Employment Opportunities (EYE) legislations were introduced in order to free all workplaces of discrimination and harassment. Equality and diversity can be thought of in terms of legal aspects, ethical aspects and business aspects (Nicks, 2009, peg. 1 15).
Within an organization there can be quite a large amount of conflict – this Is normal. However, conflicts need to be dealt with as soon as possible, in an effective and professional manner or the organization Is going to suffer dire consequences In regards to employee morale. Diversity can benefit both the organization and its employees. These benefits include the ease that comes with decision making as the organization has access to a vast range of knowledge and experiences in order to aide their decisions via an in-depth understanding of all of their options.
Other benefits include; a broader range of Ideas In Insights, good communication with Its community, ability to attract and retain employees, and a wider variety of language skills are on offer to the organization and its community. This is exceptionally important in the service industry as it deals with people from all sorts of backgrounds in life, therefore, an organization with effective diversity in place, will serve their customers more effectively than one that doesn’t.
This is due to the employees having a wider and deeper understanding of all sorts of different people, rather than Just one stereotype or a few different factors. If employees have a wider range of diversity within their team, they are more accepting, understanding and are able to provide their customers with exactly what they need in a better manner and faster, leaving their customers satisfied with their service. Conflict resolution is the process where individuals resolve disputes or conflicts, formally or Informally (Pearson, 2008).
The success of resolving the conflict lies In the they are both happy with the outcome. Conflict is normal part of any Job, especially in an organization that has a large diversity of employees. Each employee has different values and comes from a different background; therefore, they can find it hard to relate or to understand someone else’s opinions, ideas, or values. This is a normal occurrence and this is why conflict resolution is so important as it helps people to see hinges from another person’s perspective and understand each other even more.
Not everyone has to agree on everything, but they at least have to have respect for another person’s difference in opinion, ideas and values, Just as they would expect for themselves. If a conflict is not resolved quickly and professionally, this can be potentially harmful to the organization as a whole as it can affect employee morale quite negatively. Organizations without conflict are stagnant and the earlier a conflict is brought to light the easier it is managed.
Conflict resolution can have both positive ND negative impacts depending on the outcomes. Organizations can benefit from managed conflict as it “strengthens relationships and builds teamwork, encourages open communication and cooperative problem-solving, resolves disagreements quickly and increases productivity, deals with real issues and concentrates on a win- win resolution, diffuses anger, airs all sides of the issue, and focuses towards results” (Pearson, 2008).
Organizations can suffer from unmanaged conflict as it “damages relationships and discourages cooperation, results in defensiveness and dined agendas, wastes time, money and human resources, focuses on fault-finding and blaming, creates enemies and hard feelings, is frustrating, stress producing and energy draining, and is often loud, hostile and chaotic” (Pearson, 2008). Conflicts can be resolved via mediation. Any conflict should be brought to the supervisor’s attention as soon as possible in order for a resolution to occur as quickly as possible.
The mediation session is strictly confidential, and the employee is entitled to have a witness present at the time of the meeting. A transcript of the conversation must be oaken down at the time of the meeting, including details such as dates and people involved. The employee is entitled to a copy of this at the end of the meeting if they wish to have one. This is critical to the service industry as a negative morale among employees will spill over to their customers quite quickly, and decrease the organizations satisfaction rate. EYE legislation was introduced to ensure that Australian workplaces are free from all forms of discrimination and harassment to provide programs assisting EYE groups to overcome past or present disadvantages” (Study Guide, 2011, peg. 57). There re some groups that are likely to not gain employment or gain low-wage employment. The groups that are represented via EYE groups in regards to this include; women, Aboriginal people and Tortes Strait Islanders, members of racial, ethnic and religious groups, and people with a disability.
Organizations employee a number of strategies in order to ensure that discrimination against these groups does not occur. These include; exposing all employees to training and development, having flexible working arrangements to meet the employees needs, recruitment practices are made to be open, competitive and based on merit, having grievance middling procedures accessible to all staff, having respect for social and cultural be no unlawful discrimination within the workplace (Study Guide, 2011, peg. 58).
In Australia, discrimination against religion, race, sexuality, language, gender, disabilities, family structure and age, is against the law. Any form of unfair treatment or harassment because of any of these factors can result in legal implications for the person’s participating in such acts. Discrimination can occur via both direct and indirect means. Direct means include acts of obvious mistreatment such as only employing male applicants. Whereas, an example of indirect means includes only employing people with Australian qualifications, even though qualifications from overseas are recognized here also.
There are a number of specific legislations to combat these types of discrimination. They are the, Age Discrimination Act 2004, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Act 1984, and the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1991 (Study Guide, 2011, peg. 56-57). It is important for the service industry to have these legislations and EYE groups in place.
Organizations will benefit from providing equal employment opportunities to everyone, not only because it’s illegal not to, but because the organization will have a positive reputation and the more diversity they employ, the larger the network and community that they have access to through their employees. This gives them a better understanding of how best to provide the range of groups with their individual needs/wants. The service industry requires all of these aspects in order to function effectively. Without them, the entire industry would fall apart.
Employees need to be kept happy and satisfied within their work place in order for the organization to run effectively. In order for the service industry to succeed, it needs to employee a large diversity of people from all different backgrounds. This gives them an advantage over organizations that don’t possess diversity, as they are accessible to vast amounts of knowledge, ideas, opinions, values, morals and backgrounds. Without Equal Employment Opportunities diversity within a workplace may not be present.
People re Judged by their lifestyles, values and backgrounds; therefore, an organization may turn away applicants whom possess these qualities that they are not familiar with. Legislations counteract these Judgments and punish any individual or organization that discriminates or treats someone unfairly. The service industry employee’s qualified people from all different backgrounds, giving them an advantage in reaching a wider range of customers and communicating effectively with them. Customers who feel that they can relate to the employees of an organization are more likely to return.
