Changing demographics are bringing increased numbers of women into the workforce as well as increased numbers of non Caucasion workers. This is resulting in friction among workers and managers as each tries to struggle with the diversity that now is a fact of life within American organizations. The human resource department can be a critical part of a diversity program which can help a company succeed in this dynamic work environment.
Monsanto Agricultural Company, Bank of America and Gannett Company have implemented diversity programs within their organizations which have improved their internal productivity. While each program is successful, each is also unique and tailored to the needs of the individual company where it has been implemented. These companies have also been successful at overcoming some of the resistance to diversity programs which can plague other organizations.
Some of the problems associated with diversity programs is that they are relatively new to the workplace and there are no standards in place yet for diversity trainers or classes. Indeed, it can be difficult to even quantify what areas (gender, race, age, sexual orientation) should be covered by a so-called "diversity" program. Another problem is that companies may consider diversity training to be a one-time action that does not require an ongoing commitment; this lack of long-term planning may cause greater harm to the organization.
Companies which set up strong diversity programs do so by making the training part of their management training and diversity part of the corporate culture. These are the companies which will be successful in the coming century.
Managers can no longer ignore the fact that the nation's workforce is becoming increasingly diverse. Affirmative action programs are no longer enough to deal with this increased diversity; instead, companies are taking a more far-sighted approach that includes setting up departments t...