Globalization involves an increased openness in the international business relations, an integration of markets on a worldwide basis, and a movement toward a borderless world. The sources of globalization are varied and include the technological advances, liberalization of trade policies brought into force over the past decades. Of all the sources, the chief source of globalization is the technological advances that have significantly lowered the costs of transportation and communication and dramatically lowered the costs of data processing and information storage and retrieval. Electronic mail, the Internet, and the World Wide Web are some of the manifestations of this new technology. While these are the evident aspect of globalization, the meeting of minds across the constraints of culture and language has also become a reality.

HR managers often opine that diversity in the work place is a double-edged sword because on the one hand it can provide a lot of beneficial conditions for the employees while on the other, it may also cause a lot of problems. The positive factor is that diversity would cause better interaction among people and increase their vision towards life. On the other hand, diversity can also cause a lot of rift between people who may find it very difficult to cope with each other. Such conditions in which people fight among themselves for dominance can be a very tricky situation for the HR manager, who will have to use knack and authority to mitigate the effects of such negative interactions.

Analysis

Different ethnicities in the workplace and how it is affecting the workforce

The modern workforce is no longer local in its composition. As companies grow and branch out into other countries, people from different backgrounds are in fact, forced to interact with each other. In today’s world it is not difficult to see people of different nationalities working in the same office. This is also a prescription for trouble because there is all possibility that these people would drag their personal differences into the office atmosphere. For example in the United states color and ethnic conflicts is a very big concern that forces managers to think twice before making an effort to create a multi-ethnic team. Ethnic differences in the work place can often cause people to form sub-groups within the larger team thus derailing the very rationale behind setting up such teams. Ethnic issues are widely influenced by the political and cultural environment of a country and so it is not always easy for HR managers to create a team that is devoid of race feelings. In Florida for example, it was found from a recent survey that a majority of the people were conscious and supportive of ethnic prejudices. In a society with such high rates of racial hatred, it is difficult to nurture a corporate team that stresses on human diversity [Trigaux, 2003]

Language problems at the workplace

Not knowing the nuances of the language is a very grave issue that affects the morale of workers at the work place. Other than the fact that a person who does not have a command of good language will make himself patheticlaly conspicuous at the workplace, it will also zap the employee’s confidence and will affect the other duties in which they may be good at. Language problems exist for employees who belong to different countries or ethnicities. For example in the United States, blacks, Hispanics and American Indians are quite conspicuous by the way they talk. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that their language is a bit different from what others speak at the office. This is largely because of their upbringing and exposure to their peculiar surroundings. Similarly, the slang with which they speak also can affect their interaction with other people in the office. Since communication is a two way process, bad language can mean that the minorities who are not able to convey their ideas, also do not understand what others would be trying to speak to them. This can often cause them to be branded as inefficient and lacking man-management skills, which could be far away from the truth [Gancel and Hills, 1997]

Corporate experts have come up with many solutions to integrate people who do not talk good English and hence converse poorly with the rest of the team. The trick is to reduce direct communication and concentrate on the objectives until the non-English speaking employees are confident of speaking with others. Similarly, employees who do not know English have to be trained within the premises of the company in good language skills. More exposure to recreational activities and ensuring mutual respect and interest for each other’s culture are other factors that can enhance language comprehension within the company.

Generation gap and ethnicities

Often more than ethnic differences it is the generation gap that creates many problems within the firm. People identify themselves with their age to such an extent that they do not find it possible to mingle with their younger-aged peers. Such a lack in initiative to make friends with everyone irrespective of age is partly due to one’s upbringing. For example, people from a conservative background will not find it easy to mingle with younger people. Similarly people who consider themselves as responsible and mature cannot get themselves to interact with the younger employees in a light-hearted manner. People also have difficulties interacting with their peers, vendors or other colleagues who may be younger to oneself.

Strangely it may be seen that older people are more prone to this syndrome than their younger counterparts. This is because the conditioning by the society makes youngsters obey authority at least to a certain extent. On the contrary, older people expect themselves to be treated in a befitting manner, the definition of which could be quite arbitrary. In short, it may be seen that attitude is a very important factor that creates a wedge between people of different ages and leads to the generation gap [Sago,2000] Similar is the case with ethnicity. Cultural and other stereotypes affect the way people perceive themselves and so it will affect the way in which they interact with other people. Hence people of similar culture are very comfortable with each other while people belonging to different cultures take a long time to be comfortable with each other.

The future also does not seem to be devoid of problems because the same factors that are important today will cause rift in future also. One of the problems with communicating across any generation-gap is that the two generations have different issues to deal with. What works for the older generation may not even apply to the younger; what is unthinkable to the older generation may be a necessity for the younger. This impregnability to new thoughts could be attributed to the human nature to view his/her concerns more seriously, than anything else. The common refrain from youngsters and elders alike when confronted with a generation gap problem is that they have grown up in a different world with different problems and issues, as a result of which, their thought process is also different. It would be appropriate to recall the famous words of Alexis de Tocqueville, that "Among democratic nations each generation is a new people." It means that every generation has a different role in our society's growth and development. Hence generation gap issues will be alive in the future.

Moses (2000) believes that there is nothing like a single class of employees who share the same vision.

In fact, diversity of employees has been increasing through the years and it is difficult to maintain employees based on a few good age-old practices that would have been practical so many years before.

The trick that needs to be adopted in the modern work place is to adopt a strategy that is flexible and effective.

We can prepare for the future only be learning from our experiences and ensuring that we do not commit mistakes that we have already committed. For example it would be a good management practice to reduce interaction between the old and the young in important decisive projects. On the other hand, they could be brought together in projects where team work is not that important. Similarly they may be put together in community building projects where the ego has a small role to play [White, 2001]

The need to integrate different sections of the society in future however becomes important because the social composition of our society is changing. Today’s minorities will become a sizeable population tomorrow and then the social balance will be turned upside down causing more problems and vexations.

Similarly, today’s youngsters will become middle aged tomorrow and they cannot afford to commit the same mistakes that their seniors committed in their time with regard to bridging the gap between ethnicities and age. Hence, it is very important that they apply the lessons learnt to create a cordial working environment. The companies would do well to demarcate functional areas for certain age groups.

Applicants to these positions have to be interviewed by people of that age. Similarly, the interviewer will have to find out people who are more accommodating and considerate than people who are rigid in their outlook.

References

1. Trigaux Robert, 2003, Diversity in future work place starts now, retrieved from http://www.sptimes.com/2003/05/14/Columns/Diversity_in_future_w.shtml on November 9, 2004
2. Gancel Charles, Hills Chilina, “Managing the pitfalls and challenges of intercultural communication”, Communication World, Dec, 1997
3. Sago Brad, 2000, “Uncommon Threads: Mending the Generation Gap at Work” retrieved from http://www.centeronline.org/knowledge/article.cfm?ID=841&ContentProfileID=1 22864&Action=searching on November 9, 2004
4. Moses Barbara, Six Degrees of Motivation, Black Enterprise, Nov, 2000,
5. White Jahn Eileen, Improve Your Relationship with Staff, Camping Magazine, March, 2001

Keywords : Term Paper, Business, Barriers to Diversity at the Workplace

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