o assist employees in handling complaints and personal insults from customers, and to setting up workplace environments that foster harmonious and productive relationships among all employees. This research examines various diversity programs which have been implemented at companies in the United States, and considers the reasons behind their success.
According to analysts, 47.5 percent of the work force will be women by the year 2000, and 29 percent of the net additions to the work force will be non-whites (Flynn, 1995, p. 72). This means that managers and executives will be under increasing pressure to establish diversity programs which recognize that the American work force is no longer a homogeneous group of white males, but rather a diverse combination of gender and ethnicities. Employees who find companies which foster diversity are more likely to remain in those organizations than in companies which do not recognize the importance that diversity plays in the work place. Similarly, as word spreads that a particular organization has a strong diversity program, it is likely to find it easier to attract and retain high quality workers with diverse backgrounds. In other words, diversity programs can give companies a competitive edge in the marketplace (Rynes & Rosen, 1994, p. 68).
Because of this, it is up to the human resource department to find ways to attract and retain high quality workers. This can be done through traditional human resource responsibilities such as salary surveys and benefits programs, but can also involve creating a work environment which answers some of the different needs that today's workers have. For example, some human resources departments have worked within their organizations to create flex-time, which allows workers to come in at times which better suit their personal situation. In other instances, companies have created work environments where child care is provided on-site, or where empl...