Academia is already daunting on its own, but when you factor in ableism, the conversation often comes to a halt. Many individuals of authority are afraid of uncomfortable discussions, the ones that spill over into unventured topics, and, likely, the same ones they are not educated enough upon. The hesitancy to tackle subjects like ableism, Indigenous rights, antisemitism, racism, and most other ‘isms’ you can name, gives permission to the world to continue as it were and suppresses the needs, concerns, and valid criticism of those willing to take a stand.
Tag: productivity
Diversity for Productivity
According to the University of Florida, people are living longer and the world’s globalization will require further interaction from people who are more diversified and come from an array of backgrounds. Typically, they work in diverse and varied environments and this raises questions about tracking this trend and adapting to it. Companies want to perform better in the business world and many would like to advance diversity as well.
The importance of a diverse work and business environment is to be able to maximize and capitalize on workplace productivity and effective management. This places a lot of responsibility on supervisors and managers. We see that the workplace environment is continuing to evolve with the times and that the culture and workplace will follow suit. Based on the report, Diversity in the Workplace from the University of Florida, companies looking to embrace diversity and have inclusive organizational structures will likely gain greater productivity and competitive advantages. Thus, those workplaces that do not choose to evolve will potentially lose productivity.
There are some questions that arise from companies planning or thinking about evolving. How do you do it? What forms will it take? To do it is simply to build a structure from which to onboard people from diverse backgrounds. The forms that it will take will be much more diverse and inclusive from the managerial side all the way down to interns. Of course, as noted in the research, “there is no single recipe for success.” The manager’s ability to be able to understand teamwork and the dynamics of the team in the workplace is very important. A manager or supervisor wants to look into things such as equal employment opportunities in order to capitalize on the larger talent pool, especially when looking at a broader base of the variables for potential employees.
In addition, the manager or supervisor may want to look into the means through which those throughout the hierarchy of the organization can find advancement. If an intern, they can potentially be promoted to part-time or full-time employment. If a full-time employee, they may be able to be promoted to some sub-managerial or supervisory role. As the article summarizes, a diverse set of teams can bring a higher value to organizations in addition to respecting individual differences that can provide an organization or business with a “competitive edge” and increase in “work productivity.”
Many workplaces in the modern era have diverse backgrounds, people, educational experiences and certifications, and so on. If this comes into play, then it will eventually result in a higher productivity of the organization as a whole towards its stated mission, mandate, and goals.
References
Green, K. et al. (2002, June). Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges, and the Required Managerial Tools. Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/HR/HR02200.pdf.
This article was written by volunteer blogger Scott Jacobsen and edited by volunteer editor Erin Murphy.