Cultural Diversity Assignment (ANSWERED)

QUESTION

Watch the “What Baby Boomers Can Learn from Millennials at Work – and Vice Versa” TED Talks by Chip Conley available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/chip_conley_what_baby_boomers_can_learn_from_millennials_at_wo rk_and_vice_versa (https://www.ted.com/talks/chip_conley_what_baby_boomers_can_learn_from_millennials_at_work_and_vi

ce_versa)

Research Cultural Diversity in the workplace from at least 3 additional professional references. Use the library to find access professional references (see the DeVry Library – Professional References document under the Cultural Diversity folder in Files). Write a paper examining the positive impact it has on the workplace. Conversely, identify any negative effects on organizations who have resisted implementation. Consider your response from the legal, liability, and ethical perspectives.

Your paper must include:

1. An introduction
2. Summarize the Ted Talk in your own words
3. Examine the importance of cultural diversity in the workplace
4. Cite specific research/evidence on the benefits of cultural diversity for the organization and employees
5. Recommend one solution (team-building exercise, training, etc.) to help an organization embrace cultural diversity. Your solution must be detailed and specific.
6. A summary of your paper

Guidelines for Submission: Your short paper should be a submitted as a Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and sources properly cited. Be sure to address all steps listed above.

ANSWER

Importance of Cultural Diversity in a Workplace with Age as the Focus

Unlike in the past, where the most considered aspects of cultural diversity were ethnicity, gender, race, language, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, and physical capacity, modern times have evolved to include the age factor, where the young generation is majorly contributing to this change. Generational differences in the workplace have brought more advantages, such that it is no longer about wisdom but a combination of both knowledge and wisdom. Therefore, having a culturally diverse workplace mediates all aspects that have existed before to revolutionize growth in the corporate world.

Conley (2018) talks about his experience in a tech company where he felt left out due to the generational gap between him and his colleagues. Although he was a seasoned expert in his field, he felt like he was a newbie because his colleagues seemed to be wizards in their work. Recalling how he braced his new workplace, Conley says, “…after my first week, I realized that the brave new-home sharing world didn’t need much of my old-school bricks-and-mortar hotel insights.” Perhaps this statement reflects his overall view of having young people as leaders in the workplace, considering their ability to correlate with the older and share their respective wisdom.

Conley notes that the US has grown to have almost 40% of the younger generation leading in their respective workplace. This change, he notes, is important because the younger generation employees embody relationship wisdom that older workers take decades to learn. Therefore, the emotionally intelligent society he expects should be based on ethnic and gender balance topped by age to expand the diversity. Conley concludes that the world is changing, and wisdom should be valued, as does disruption. A mutual mentorship relationship created by age diversity will motivate the intergeneration flow of wisdom (Jones, Murray, and Tapp, 2018).

A culturally diverse workplace will empower people in its organization to develop their existing talents and skills and discover their full potential. Given an environment with new ideas, wisdom, and expertise, a workplace will enable its workers to have a more diverse relationship with their colleagues (Vito and Sethi, 2020). As noted in Conley’s ted talk, having a workplace environment with diverse people with regard to age, gender, ethnicity, and so on will boost problem-solving capabilities and contribute to happiness and productivity.

Cultural diversity has significant impacts not only on the organization but also on the individuals within the organization. For instance, employees from different cultures will have different ways of thinking, influencing how a matter is handled. If they think differently, a problem can be handled from various perspectives (Martin, 2014). The other way round is also possible, but it creates unnecessary tension as employees from the same culture analyzing the same matter will face a block given their almost similar perspectives.

In this age where diversity is a part of everyday life, ignoring it can bring problems to society and the business world. Still, some organizations ignore upholding cultural diversity, and the negative impacts are imminent. According to Hoch, Pearce, and Welzel (2010), the consequences of ignoring diversity include increased conflicts online, offline, and interpersonal. Such a business may fail to attract real talents, face legal complaints in the form of endless lawsuits, and a loss in investment in recruitment and training.

In summary, the workplace is a diverse environment and needs to accommodate everyone. Wisdom, knowledge, and relationships can be shared when leaders learn to have everyone on board without noticing how different they are from the bigger employee register. As a recommendation, workplaces can embrace diversity by managing career development across all life stages. As Roberts and Mayo (2019) write, creating a sizeable pipeline for young talent can help workplaces embrace cultural diversity. If people rise through the ranks despite their culture, age, gender, and other cultural aspect, workplaces can enter cultural diversity fully.

References

Conley, C. (Nov 1, 2018). [TED]. What Baby Boomers can Learn from Millennials at Work — and Vice Versa. [Video] YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p1nCRQCiUM

Hoch, J. E., Pearce, C. L., & Welzel, L. (2010). Is the Most Effective Team Leadership Shared? The Impact of Shared Leadership, Age Diversity, and Coordination on Team Performance. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 9(3), 105. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1027/1866-5888/a000020

Jones, J. S., Murray, S. R., & Tapp, S. R. (2018). Generational Differences in the Workplace. The Journal of Business Diversity, 18(2), 88-97.

Martin, G. C. (2014). The Effects of Cultural Diversity In The Workplace. Journal of Diversity Management (JDM), 9(2), 89–92. https://doi.org/10.19030/jdm.v9i2.8974

Roberts, L. M., & Mayo, A. J. (2019). Toward a Racially Just Workplace. Harvard Business Review, 1-10.

Vito, R., & Sethi, B. (2020). Managing Change: Role of Leadership and Diversity Management. Journal of Organizational Change Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-04-2019-0116

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