ma, 1996).
While the business community as a whole recognizes that diversity is a way of life in the workplace, particularly in the international workplace which characterizes today's business environment, there is no clear-cut agreement as to how to communicate that reality, or the ramifications of that reality, to the workforce. One way to solve this problem is through the use of diversity trainers, who come to the job site and communicate both what diversity is and how it affects the employees directly. In some organizations, diversity trainers are consultants while in other organizations, they are added to the staff and diversity is dealt with on an ongoing basis (Witherspoon & Wohlert, 1996).
While Witherspoon & Wohlert suggest using an outside trainer (1996), it may be more prudent to have internal staff members trained in diversity responsible for the training of the overall organization. This would enable the company to tailor a training program to meet its unique requirements, and would allow it to establish certain guidelines for diversity training that would enable all employees to receive the same quality of training.
The lack of empirical information available to human resource professionals faced with developing a diversity program can be a significant issue for many companies. Much of the information available is anecdotal, with the result that human resource managers are left trying to pull together the successful elements of a diversity program without strong research to support their decisions. This is the underlying problem that managers face when trying to develop a diversity program: there is little empirical research which can help guide them in setting up a program that will be worth the time and expense that the company will put into the project.
At the same time, most diversity programs do not address the underlying reasons for the programs themselves outside of the shifting demographics and wi...