Training Diversity Challenges

Increased Diversity in the Workplace

One of the major obstacles that management face today is the increased degree of diversity in the workplace. Because of the various interests of each organization, each has its own structure and aims, resulting in varying levels of diversity in terms of race, gender, and level of education. Diverse management practices, such as diversity preparation, have been used to improve efficiency. The wellness center at the organization I worked with, as well as the number of women and clients of various ages and genders, necessitated preparation. Women, men, and people of color, as well as whites, were among those in the training community who worked at the fitness center. The challenges came when the instructor was talking to a mixed group of people (Wildermuth & Gray, 2005). The diverse group of people presented language difficulties as some terms in the language may be offensive to one group compared.

Communication Challenges in a Mixed Group

The mixed group presented a lot more challenges in communication media and preferences such as direct eye contact preferred by females as opposed to the male groups. Other forms of communication problems such as language barrier could be a problem in the workplace. Some terms seem derogatory to African Americans while there could be a problem with a sexist joke during the training which can offend a female co-worker. This problem meant that the training officer needs to outline what people are allowed to say and what is not allowed to say. In some cases, it forced the trainer to divide people into groups depending on gender, age, and ethnicity (Myers & Lambert, 2016). This became the almost impossible task as the administration was not aware of the exact criteria. There are other additional categories such as experience, likes, dislikes, and religious beliefs.

References

Diversity Training Doesn’t Work. (2017). Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 4 November 2017, from https://hbr.org/2012/03/diversity-training-doesnt-work

Myers, S., & Lambert, J. (2016). Diversity icebreakers. Amherst, MA: Amherst Educational Pub.

Wildermuth, C., & Gray, S. (2005). Diversity training. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.