Effects of Workplace Diversity Programs on Firms and Employees

Workplace Diversity
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Workplace Diversity
Introduction
Workplaces host various people whose primary goals are often to achieve the objectives of the company they work for. This is the anchor f workplace diversity. Diversity involves having people from different social and ethnic backgrounds who belong to different genders and social orientations. The diversity in workplaces is evident because companies hire people from different backgrounds. However, achieving workplace diversity can be challenging because of human judgement during human resource hiring. This necessitates interventions in workplace diversity programs. According to Leslie (2020), workplace diversity refers to practices and policies to improve target groups' workplace experiences and outcomes. These programs mostly target vulnerable and underrepresented groups like women, youths, racial and ethnic minorities, and other groups that may be disadvantaged.
Workplace diversity programs can take various forms. The first is non-discriminatory policies like training employees in implicit bias and emphasizing merit as the basis for pay and promotions. The second is initiatives that support target groups, like diversity mentoring. The third workplace diversity program that companies can implement involves accountability programs like reporting systems for discrimination or hiring chief diversity personnel (Leslie, 2020). These programs work together to ensure workplace inclusivity and diversity by bringing together people from different backgrounds to work together.
However, the greatest concern is why companies have developed an increasing urge for workplace diversity. It is a trend worth researching to determine the dynamism in business that has necessitated workplace diversity. Therefore this article investigates this trend. It explores the reasons for the increase in company adoption of workplace diversity programs, their pros and cons and how to enhance workplace diversity. It narrows down the findings to the impact of workplace diversity on employees and firms. This article reviews past literature, records the findings and uses it to make an informed argument on the impact of workplace diversity for firms and employees, the limitation of the findings and practical implications. The research question for the study is, "What are the effects of workplace diversity programs on firms and employees?"
Literature Review and Findings
Workplace diversity is a relatively new scenario in the business sector. However, scholars have researched it extensively; others covered it positively, while others approached it negatively. Dover et al. (2020) investigated the unintended effects of workplace diversity initiatives. They reviewed the social psychological evidence indicating that diversity programs sometimes lead to unintended impacts through the communication of fairness, inclusion and competence signals. According to Dover et al. (2020), workplace diversity initiatives favor the under-represented population and expose the overrepresented groups to discrimination. Discrimination, in this case, happens when they are restricted or denied opportunities to give way to under-represented groups. As a result, the under-represented groups get attracted by the company when they implement workplace diversity programs, but the over-represented groups may avoid it. Therefore, workplace diversity programs only satisfy one section. The under-represented population is treated fairly, while the over-represented group is unfairly treated. They are also included and taken even when they are less qualified than the over-represented population, which is excluded despite being qualified for the tasks and more competent.
These cons are similar to Leslie (2020), who adds three more crucial cons of workplace diversity programs; backfiring, false progress and negative spillover. Backfiring happens when a program produces unintended results, thus failing to meet the objectives. For example, a program may lead to discrimination and under-representation contrary to its initial goal. This may lead to a company's negative performance because the program is supposed to bring every stakeholder on board and make them feel included. This is the case because these diversity programs target minority groups who may not succeed on their own, a factor that may lead to their stereotyping by the majority groups.
Secondly, Leslie (2020) argues that workplace initiatives lead to false organizational progress. False progress is witnessed when a workplace diversity program achieves the intended objective, but the achievement is not reflected tangibly in the company. For example, a company can upgrade a certain position held by a minority member into a managerial position. Still, the functions and impact on the overall development remain stagnant. It may be seen that the position and the holder of the position have gone up, but nothing has changed in the real sense. Such a program creates a false impression on the stakeholders, the public and the employees. They believe that the minority has been represented. The reality is that the manager intends to create a positive public image and not to help minority groups.
Lastly, Leslie (2020) notes that workplace diversity initiatives may lead to negative spillovers. This happens when the program leads to a negative effect on an unintended object in the company. For instance, the program may lead to increased hate from the non-targeted groups. The hate can be directed at the target group or the organization's management. This may be because the other groups feel the target groups will succeed in the company. The intended purpose of any workplace diversity program is to have the majority help the minority groups into significant positions where they can contribute tangible value to the company. Despite this, management should always factor in the probability of these programs backfiring.
However, Dover et al. (2020) acknowledge the significance of workplace diversity programs for a company and its employees. Their article discusses three significant pros of workplace diversity; creating fearer workplaces, enhancing more effective and efficient workplaces, and communicating pro-diversity values to stakeholders. First, workplace diversity programs achieve fairness by reducing discrimination against minority groups, facilitating reporting discriminatory activities and ensuring compliance with anti-discrimination laws. Secondly, workplace diversity initiatives lead to more effective and efficient workplaces by capitalizing on diverse perspectives and cultural knowledge and removing inefficiencies like tension and interpersonal conflict caused by prejudice and discrimination. Thirdly workplace diversity programs can communicate pro-diversity programs to stakeholders. This happens through attracting candidates from minority groups, encouraging pro-diversity behaviors and values among employees, and demonstrating a commitment to justice for job candidates, employees, investors and the general public.
Generally, Dover et al. (2020) acknowledge th...