Challenges in Managing Employee Diversity in Organizations

Diversity offers challenges as well as opportunities. The challenges include the following:

Challenges in Managing Employee Diversity

1. Resistance to Change:

   
   The dominant groups in organizations are still made up of white men, although employee diversity is a fact of life.

2. Segmented Communication Networks:

   
   It is found from research that within organizations most communication happens between members of the same race and sex. Therefore, the challenge of segmented communication networks is faced by diverse workforce organizations.

3. Resentment:

   
   Fairness of employment that is free from all kinds of discrimination in many organizations is referred to as equal employment opportunity, and it was a compelled alteration rather than a voluntary one.

4. Backlash:

   
   While minorities and women may consider a “cultural diversity policy” of an organization as a commitment to enhancing their opportunities for advancement, it may be seen as a threat by white men.

5. Retention:

   
   Mostly, job satisfaction levels of white men are higher than those of women and minorities.

6. Competition for Opportunities:

   
   Competition for jobs and opportunities increases as the minority population grows in the United States.

7. Lower Cohesiveness:

   
   A lack of cohesiveness can be created by diversity. Cohesiveness refers to how tightly the group is knit and the extent to which members of a group interpret, perceive, and act on their environment in mutually agreed-upon manners. A diverse workforce is typically less cohesive than homogeneous groups because of differences in culture, language, and experience.

8. Communication Problems:

   
   Communication problems are perhaps the most common negative influence of diversity. These problems include inaccuracies, misunderstandings, and delays. Speed is lost when additional time is needed to explain things or when not all group members are fluent in the same language.

9. Diversity Also Increases Errors and Misunderstandings:

   
   Members of a group do not interpret things in the same way, but they assume that others interpret things similarly. Because of their different frames of reference, they disagree.

10. Mistrust and Tension:

    
    People prefer to link with others who are similar to themselves. Because of a lack of contact and low familiarity, this tendency mostly leads to misunderstanding and mistrust of those who are different. Tension and distrust can also be caused by this, and reaching agreement on issues may not be easy.

11. Stereotyping:

    
    We learn to view the world in a particular manner based on our experiences and backgrounds. What we see and hear is blocked, distorted, and selected by filters of our values, interests, and cultures. Rather than correctly evaluating and perceiving individuals’ capabilities, contributions, motivations, and aspirations, group members often stereotype their “different” colleagues.