Dilibe Aneke's view on Problems Associated with Diversity Management
A work force diverse in gender, culture, ethnicity, and age has a potential to create conflicts in the workplace. Some possible problems are communication difficulties, including language, and literacy issues. Orientation and integration into the culture of an organization can be a problem. For instance, in one organization, it was noticed that women and minorities were hesitant to ask questions because they felt their colleagues would question their competence for not knowing the answer.
Stereotypes related to an employee's age, gender, or race may also be encountered. For example, the situation of a younger person managing an older individual could arouse generalizations on both sides. The younger manager may feel that the older individuals ideas and work style are obsolete and old fashioned and, therefore, not effective. Also the younger worker may find it difficult to tell the older individual what to do. As a result, older workers may have difficulty accepting the younger individual telling them what to do (Epting, Glover, and Boyd. 1994).
Here is a more detailed case showing why diversity management approaches are needed. Diversity management should combine cultural sensitivity with the philosophy of "different strokes for the same folks in different aspects of their life" and not "different strokes for different folks" (Fiddler. 2003). Cultural disparity between some people from various places in the world illustrates this point. For instance, it would be a serious fault to hold regular staff meetings on Friday afternoon in a workplace shared by Muslims whose religious commitment obliged them to attend sabbath services at that day. People elsewhere are often taught to respect ...