Ethnic Diversity in the Workplace

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Ethnic diversity in the workplace is a key issue that affects many companies. The article from Understanding and Managing Diversity that I chose to read and discuss is Redefining Diversity by R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr. This article was intriguing in that it included interesting definitions of diversity and diversity management. The author discusses how diversity is a buzzword that has taken on a symbolic meaning. This simply means that because it has a symbolic meaning, people are no long sure what the actual definition of diversity is. In today’s business world, diversity means that its business culture is multiracial, multicultural, and multiethnic. This word also comes preloaded with an individual’s own perception and biases. The author also goes on to discuss how diversity is over generalized and used to refer to workforce demographics and that it is time to look at diversity in a new light. I work for ABC Company (ABC), a very large corporation that takes diversity very seriously. ABC has policies and practices in place to address diversity. The organizational culture embraces a diverse workforce that is evident in the ABC offices throughout the world. The environment in office that I work out is ethnically diverse giving all the employees the opportunity to work with many different people. It has taught us how to appreciate the different cultures and customs of our coworkers without biases. ABC has been able to achieve diversity in the work place through communication, commitment, and recruitment. A strong diversity program in place is good business but not always perfect. Many businesses across the country still have diversity problems. Although ABC, to my knowledge, does not have negative practices involving diversity, they still have some issues. The diversity initiatives at ABC are good at bringing different ethnicities together but seem

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