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The current workplace has various demands, most of which touch on the diversity of the workforce. The current marketplace, which is driven by competition as a result of the advent of globalization, has forced organizations to redefine organizational strategies and instead focus on promoting workplace diversity (Cunningham & Green, 2007). Some of the characteristic traits that underlie workplace diversity include: employee’s mother country, race, gender, language, ethnicity, culture, religion, sexual orientation, social class and even age (Pervis, 2003). Given the importance of these organizational features towards external competition, it is essential for organizational cultures to nurture leaders that not only embrace workplace diversity but also empower employees from different backgrounds to hone their talents for both personal development and general organizational performance (Cunningham & Green, 2007). This implies that diversity leadership will be important as at some point, every organization will have to manage employees that share diverse cultural backgrounds. Since leaders have to manage both internal and external spheres of an organization, they face numerous challenges. One of the major internal challenges has been nurturing and motivating employees that subscribe to varying diversified categorizations. According to Davidson (1999), for leaders to ensure that their organizations are competing successfully in the external environment, effective management of employee diversity is indispensable. To this end, this paper will focus on the importance of organizational leadership in promoting workplace diversity: especially at the organization where I work. Managing Diversity in the Workplace At my workplace, diversity has been extensively implemented. The organization has employed individuals with varying cultural, racial, religious, sexual orientation, ethnic, social class and gender background. To promote equity and equality, the organization has also employed individuals from marginalized areas and communities as well as the disabled. This has created a workplace that is inclusive and everyone enjoys working with our organization. The organization’s leaders have managed to strike a balance between leadership and workplace diversity: an outcome that is working for the organization given the improved productivity and performance. According to Koonce (2001), it is important for organizational leaders and managers to recognize that which is required of them in order to effectively manage employee diversity. He is of the view that it is important for leaders to identify the various discriminations that exist within the workplace and how they impact employees’ relationships and performance. Of importance according to Koonce (2001) is the leaders’ identification of their own deep rooted preconceptions and other culturally prompted biases. At my organization, the management has instilled in the workforce the notion that existing differences in our workplace are not about cultural, racial or ethnic groups but rather individuals. This has motivated employees to appreciate and tolerate diversity since every one of us is exceptional and that our differences do not mean that we are representative of the various groups that we belong to. Flagg (2002) is thus of the opinion that if an organization successfully manages employee diversity within its ranks, then this can be viewed as an indicator for future success: one that is evident at my organization. While there are no tools that outline how diversity can be employed in the workplace, research has shown that effective leaders identify organizational needs and thus through teamwork, effective recruitment and the management of other organizational change dynamics steer organizations to success. This has been successfully implemented at my organization. The organizational leadership realized that decision making was an issue because the workforce was homogeneous. After recruiting from varied racial and cultural backgrounds, there has been a significant change in decision making processes: an occurrence that is propelling the organization in the right direction. Teamwork has also been promoted whereby employees are usually placed in working teams whenever there is a task to be completed. According to Roosevelt (2001), to successfully manage diversity in the workplace, leaders should ensure that they promote inclusivity. Generating a working environment that is inclusive has been found to be important as it makes every employee: regardless of their backgrounds; feel special and appreciated. To achieve this, Roosevelt (2001) adds that understanding every individual’s self-awareness becomes important as it enables every member of the organization to identify and thereafter address individual prejudices. To successfully implement this, research has shown that continuous employee trainings and workshops promote the adoption of behaviors that are constructive and thus essential to continued organizational team cohesion (Koonce, 2001). Although implementing workplace diversity is a positive change as it motivates employees to understand each other and thus work toward collective goals; like any organizational change, it should be executed gradually as there could be resistances and reservations from some employee groups (Koonce, 2001). Generating environments that promote workplace dialogues has also been found as an important avenue for enabling people to communicate their views on issues thus influencing decision making mechanisms. This also creates forums for feedback generation and constructive criticisms hence motivating everyone within the organization to participate fully (Flagg, 2002). At my organization, employees initially rejected the implementation of workplace diversity as they felt that their positions were under threat. To address this issue, the management opened up communication channels that provided information and feedback to the employees concerning the change and its benefits. Through employee forums and other joint sessions, the change was finally implemented and that has made all the difference. Research has shown that workplace diversity has numerous benefits to organizations that successfully implement it. According to Ongori and Agolla (2007), workplace diversity not only gives an organization competitive advantage but also improves organizational decision making mechanisms. Moreover, it improves creativity as employees from varying backgrounds and experiences share their inputs. At my organization, the uptake of diversity has improved our marketing approach as it has introduced it to the wider globalized society. As noted by Wentling and Palma-Rivas (2000), this has made our workplace more collaborative and performance oriented and the employees are now more accommodative and outgoing. Further, my organization is currently customer-oriented since the group understands market needs and how they can be addressed for the benefit of the consumers. Donald Trump and Diversity Leadership Personally, I think that Donald lacks diversity leadership qualities since some of his utterances can be considered divisive. His view that Islam or those that subscribe to this religion can be perceived as terrorist is contentious both on cultural and religious grounds. According to the Economist (2015), Trump requires lessons in numerous leadership traits since his approach has been infringing on numerous principles that inform good leadership. Some of the traits that the article quoted as being broken by the Republican Presidential candidate included: teamwork, diversity, objectivity and humility. Given that leaders are expected to motivate, accommodate and accept diversity, Trump has been considered a misogynist since his comments about Megyn Kelly, a Fox News’ journalist. The Economist (2015) also questioned his language towards women as he was quoted as having referred to them as ‘pieces of ass’. Further, his earlier stance concerning the issue of immigration also pointed to a leader that was not ready to acknowledge diversity as an important part of a progressive nation and workplace. To sum up Trump’s leadership approach, Ulrich (2015) was of the view that while he has been prosperous in managing businesses, Trump has been a mean leader. Conclusion Although workplace diversity is important, considering Donald Trump’s approach, it can be argued that it has not been given the seriousness that it deserves. Throughout this paper, researches have shown that diverse workplaces are more productive than homogenous setups as this approach promotes relationships that not only promote human innovativeness but also improved decision making processes. This is evident at my organization as diversifying the workforce has had more successes than setbacks. Through this and with the readily available assistance of the management, employees have been able to share ideas thus not only improving working relationships but also the general productivity and performance of the firm in the market. Prior to the implementation of workplace diversity, the organization was not as successful as it currently is. As much as this process seems manageable, it faces various challenges since people are resistant to change as they fear what comes with changes in prevailing statuses. Through effective leadership, this has been successfully managed. To sum up, despite the challenges, organizations should implement diversity as it is representative of a growing globalized society and workplace. References Aronson, D. (2002). Managing the diversity revolution: Best practices for 21st century business. Civil Rights Journal, Vol. 6, pp. 46-66. Cunningham, D. & Green, D. (2007). Diversity as a competitive strategy in the workplace. Journal of Practical Consulting, Vol. 1, Issue 2, pp. 51-55 Davidson, M. (1999). The value of being included: An examination of diversity change initiatives in organizations. Performance Improvement Quarterly, Vol. 12, Issue 1 Flagg, A. (2002). Managing diverse workgroups successfully. United Behavioral Health Koonce, R. (2001). Redefining diversity: It’s not just the right thing to do; it also makes good business sense. Training and Development Ongori, H. & Agolla, E. (2007). Critical review of literature on workforce diversity. African Journal of Business Management, pp. 72-76 Parvis, L. (2003). Diversity and effective leadership in multicultural workplaces. Journal of Environmental Health, Vol. 65, No. 7 Roosevelt, T. (2001). Elements of a successful diversity process. The American Institute for Managing Diversity The Economist (2015, September 5).The Trump in every leader. The Economist. Accessed 7/9/16 at http://www.economist.com/news/business/21663220-bosses-must-learn-how-deal-egomania-comes-power-trump-every-leader Ulrich, D. (2015). Rating Donald Trump as a leader. Michigan Ross. Accessed 7/9/16 at https://michiganross.umich.edu/rtia-articles/rating-donald-trump-leader Wentling, M. & Palma-Rivas, N. (2000). Current status of diversity initiatives in selected multinational corporations. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 11 (1), pp. 35-60 Zane, N. (2002). The glass ceiling is the floor my boss walks on: Leadership challenges in managing diversity. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 38, pp. 334-354.
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