Diversity Not Defined In Many Workplaces
Most employers claim to support diversity in the workplace, but fewer than one-third have formally defined what diversity means, and there is no common language to help companies in managing their diversity initiatives, according to a study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the American Institute for Managing Diversity Inc.
In the course of the year-long study, researchers surveyed more than 1,400 human resources professionals and diversity practitioners to gauge their views on the extent to which diversity practices achieve specific business objectives.
The survey found that 52% of respondents agree that, to a large extent, diversity practices create a work environment or culture that allows everyone to contribute all that they can to the organization. In addition, 49% of the professionals surveyed said they think diversity practices are largely successful in achieving appropriate representation of racial and ethnic groups, and 48% agreed that diversity practices enhance the ability of people from different backgrounds to work together effectively. Results further showed that 38% believe diversity practices eliminate or minimize prejudice.
The survey also found that public/ government organizations are more likely than private non-profit and for-profit employers to have defined diversity; also smaller companies with fewer than 99 employees are the least likely of all types of organizations to have a formal definition of diversity in place.
At the same time, however, many of the professionals surveyed told researchers that they faced a number of hurdles in managing diversity, saying that the field is not well-defined and understood, tends to focus too much on compliance, and places too much emphasis on ethnicity and/or gender.
While 75% of the professionals surveyed said they believe that from a strategic perspective, leveraging the diverse talents of the workforce was extremely important to their organization, most also said that they would like to see greater emphasis placed on the positive relationship between diversity and business results.
