Diversity

Diversity at Work

Questions This Chapter Will Help Managers Answer

1. | Are there business reasons I should pay attention to “managing diversity”? |

2. | What are leading companies doing in this area? |

3. | What can I do to reverse the perception among many managers that the growing diversity of the workforce is a problem? |

4. | How can I maximize the potential of a racially and ethnically diverse workforce? |

5. | What can I do to accommodate women and older workers? |

Human Resource Management in Action: Making the Business Case for Diversity *

* Sources: Bye, P. L. (2007, June). Realizing the full potential of diversity and inclusion as a core business strategy. Retrieved from www.shrm.org/hrresources/whitepapers_published/CMS_021938.asp#P-4_0; Marquis, J. P., Lim, N., Scott, L. M., Harrell, M. C., & Kavanagh, J. (2008). Managing diversity in corporate America. Santa Monica, CA: Rand. 100 Best Companies to Work For 2007. Retrieved from www.mutualfunds.us/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2007; Gunther, M. (2006, Dec. 11). Queer, Inc.: How corporate America fell in love with gays and lesbians. It’s a movement. Fortune, pp. 94–110; Kochan, T., Bezrukova, K., Ely, R., Jackson, S., Joshi, A., Jehn, K., Leonard, J., Levine, D., & Thomas, D. (2003). The effects of diversity of business performance: Report of the diversity research network. Human Resource Management, 42 (1), 3–21.

Diversity is more than just a passing blip on the corporate conscience. Over the past few years it has become a major competitive factor for many companies, and even something they are proud of. As an example, consider theFortune’s top 5 best companies to work for in 2007 and the percentage of women and minorities they employ, respectively: Google (36%, 31%); Genentech (43%, 50%); Wegmans Food Markets (15%, 54%); Container Store (30%, 63%); and Whole Foods Market (45%, 44%). Yet others remain to be convinced. They want the business justification for diversity to...