Emulating Change Through Self awareness

Diversity has become an essential element among today's global workforce and organizations that effectively manage diversity will be the ones that will hold a competitive advantage.

- Sandhya Mathur

Globalization, mergers and joint ventures have led to an upward trend with respect to diversity at the workplace.It is a major shift from the homogenous workforce seen some years ago. Today, diversity encompasses ethnicity, age, cognitive style, gender, education, background and a lot more.

Managing diversity involves a complete understanding of the benefits that come with diversity and the challenges it presents. It is about the mindset and how you choose to view the world, because diversity is not only about how people perceive themselves, but also about how they perceive others. These perceptions form the basis for determining and affecting their interactions.

Looking at today's scenario, we can confidently assume that diversity in the workplace will only increase in the coming years. Therefore, it is imperative that organizations acknowledge the need to be in readiness to manage diversity in an effective manner. This would involve planning of resources along with developing and implementing.

Recognising the benefits

Most organizations now recognize the benefits of embracing diversity. There is increased adaptability as a direct consequence of employing a diverse work force. The employees bring individual skills and experiences that enhance flexibility in adapting. A diverse set of talents and skills with languages and cultural understanding allows business in the global scenario. This ensures viewpoints of a larger pool and inspires employees to perform at their highest potential and ability. There is also better and a more effective execution.