"The challenge is to build corporate communities supportive of many kinds of diversity, not just race, gender, and sexual preference, age and ethnicity, but also supportive of different ways of thinking and seeing the world. ".
The Intelligent Organization; Gifford Pinchot; 1994 Berrett-Koehler .
Discrimination is a hot topic these days. Organizations and companies are all talking the language of diversity in the workforce. Nowadays many businesses realise that a diverse workforce is a better workforce. By extending equal opportunity and providing fair treatment to employess, Companies enhance business results while positively impacting the community. In an environment that is growing more and more globally oriented, upper management would do well to harness the diverse perspectives of the working population. Today more than ever, innovation is key to thriving, if not surviving. Innovation can only originate in environments where multiple perspectives are valued and considered. Understanding the differences in cultures, and the beliefs associated with these, will be integral to harnessing the creative potential found by having access to multiple perspectives. It serves to move us out of our "box" and see things in ways not based on the silent assumptions we all carry.
Too often, however, Businesses fail to realise the advantages of diversified workforce, but discriminate. Throughout the articles (see attached appendices) different sources tell us about different examples of discrimination on the workplace. On the other hand the statistics have a different impact into the issue. In USA in the next 50 years, Hispanics will comprise 24 percent of the population, African-Americans 15 percent, and Asians and Pacific Islanders 9 percent. Spanish is the most common language after English. The workforce of the future will be made up of a multi-colored, multi-generational and at least one half female population.
