Unit 3: Diversity in the Workplace
Organizations that encourage their employees to share new and creative ideas to get a competitive edge. Practices that foster diversity and inclusion increase employee satisfaction by making everyone feel like a valuable member of a team working together toward a common goal. Bringing people who have different ideas and experiences together creates a diverse community that can harness the talents of each individual for the good of the whole. While many companies have a diverse workforce, it takes effort and understanding to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels like they are valuable and appreciated. In this unit, we explore diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 1 hour.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- describe the concepts of diversity, inclusion and equity in the workplace;
- explain how cultural diversity affects the workplace;
- describe intercultural communication competence;
- describe cross-cultural competence; and
- explain the challenges facing leaders who are committed to serving diverse communities.
3.1: Diversity and Cultural Awareness
Businesses frequently address issues related to employees' gender, race, religion, physical disabilities, age, and sexual orientations. In addition to guaranteeing legal protections for employees, successful employers ensure a top-to-bottom company culture that encourages every employee to respect others. Fostering an inclusive work environment creates an attractive workplace that will attract the best talent.
Read this section on the benefits and challenges of effective diversity management. You may find the scenarios and strategies presented here to be helpful.
3.2: Intercultural Communication Competence
Engaging in intercultural communication competence helps you become mindful of your own communication and ability to tolerate uncertain situations. Brenda J. Allen coined the phrase "thinking under the influence" (TUI). This term refers to our reflexive thoughts and feelings that can lead to prejudging and stereotyping.
Cross-cultural competence describes a set of cognitive, behavioral, and motivational components that help us adapt to intercultural environments. Cross-cultural competence, language proficiency, and regional expertise are three critical building blocks of intercultural competence. Today's firms must attract, train, and retain a diverse workforce to be able to compete. Managing the overall diversity of the organization often falls to human resource professionals. The role of HR professionals has changed to meet these new demands.
Read this chapter to learn why intercultural communication competence can help you in academic, professional, personal, and civic contexts. The section on getting competent gives more information on "thinking under the influence" (TUI). How do the three questions at the end of the article relate to you?
Read this chapter to learn why managers must understand the varying backgrounds of their workforce to optimize collaboration and minimize the friction that can arise from differences. This chapter describes many of the benefits of creating a diverse workforce.
This article addresses the need to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into everyday operations. The author observes a growing racial and ethnic anxiety and a corresponding lack of equity in our nation that calls for cultural transformation. She cites three challenges leaders committed to serving diverse communities face: creating a culture of inclusion, setting clear expectations, and aligning their missions to advance equity. The article also recommends several steps for fostering inclusive leadership.
Unit 3 Assessment
- Receive a grade
Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.
- This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
- You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
- You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.