Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions

Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. That sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more.

Diversity not only involves how people perceive themselves, but how they perceive others. Those perceptions affect their interactions. For a wide assortment of employees to function effectively as an organization, human resource professionals need to deal effectively with issues such as communication, adaptability and change. Diversity will increase significantly in the coming years. Successful organizations recognize the need for immediate action and are ready and willing to spend resources on managing diversity in the workplace now.

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Benefits of Workplace Diversity

An organization's success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits. When organizations actively assess their handling of workplace diversity issues, develop and implement diversity plans, multiple benefits are reported such as:

Increased adaptability

Organizations employing a diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of solutions to problems in service, sourcing, and allocation of resources. Employees from diverse backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences in suggesting ideas that are flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer demands.

Broader service range

A diverse collection of skills and experiences (e.g. languages, cultural understanding) allows a company to provide service to customers on a global basis.

Variety of viewpoints

A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences. The organization can draw from that pool to meet business strategy needs and the needs of customers more effectively.

More effective execution

Companies that encourage diversity in the workplace inspire all of their employees to perform to their highest ability. Company-wide strategies can then be executed; resulting in higher productivity, profit, and return on investment.

Challenges of Diversity in the Workplace

Taking full advantage of the benefits of diversity in the workplace is not without its challenges. Some of those challenges are:

Communication - Perceptual, cultural and language barriers need to be overcome for diversity programs to succeed. Ineffective communication of key objectives results in confusion, lack of teamwork, and low morale.

Resistance to change - There are always employees who will refuse to accept the fact that the social and cultural makeup of their workplace is changing. The "we've always done it this way" mentality silences new ideas and inhibits progress.

Implementation of diversity in the workplace policies - This can be the overriding challenge to all diversity advocates. Armed with the results of employee assessments and research data, they must build and implement a customized strategy to maximize the effects of diversity in the workplace for their particular organization.

Successful Management of Diversity in the Workplace - Diversity training alone is not sufficient for your organization's diversity management plan. A strategy must be created and implemented to create a culture of diversity that permeates every department and function of the organization.

Recommended steps that have been proven successful in world-class organizations are:

Assessment of diversity in the workplace - Top companies make assessing and evaluating their diversity process an integral part of their management system. A customizable employee satisfaction survey can accomplish this assessment for your company efficiently and conveniently. It can help your management team determine which challenges and obstacles to diversity are present in your workplace and which policies need to be added or eliminated. Reassessment can then determine the success of you diversity in the workplace plan implementation.

Development of diversity in the workplace plan - Choosing a survey provider that provides comprehensive reporting is a key decision. That report will be the beginning structure of your diversity in the workplace plan. The plan must be comprehensive, attainable and measurable. An organization must decide what changes need to be made and a timeline for that change to be attained.

Implementation of diversity in the workplace plan - The personal commitment of executive and managerial teams is a must. Leaders and managers within organizations must incorporate diversity policies into every aspect of the organization's function and purpose. Attitudes toward diversity originate at the top and filter downward. Management cooperation and participation is required to create a culture conducive to the success of your organization's plan.

Recommended diversity in the workplace solutions include:

Ward off change resistance with inclusion. - Involve every employee possible in formulating and executing diversity initiatives in your workplace.

Foster an attitude of openness in your organization. - Encourage employees to express their ideas and opinions and attribute a sense of equal value to all.

Promote diversity in leadership positions. - This practice provides visibility and realizes the benefits of diversity in the workplace.

Utilize diversity training. - Use it as a tool to shape your diversity policy.

Launch a customizable employee satisfaction survey that provides comprehensive reporting. - Use the results to build and implement successful diversity in the workplace policies.

As the economy becomes increasingly global, our workforce becomes increasingly diverse. Organizational success and competitiveness will depend on the ability to manage diversity in the workplace effectively. Evaluate your organization's diversity policies and plan for the future, starting today.

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Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions

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The Challenges of the African Context on Biblical Interpretation

Introduction

The existing response to the modern scholarly approach to biblical interpretation in Africa cannot precisely be assessed. Some widespread research has to be done to gawk what African Christians make of the historical needful approach to biblical interpretation.

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What is evident any way is the clamour for a unique African Christianity and inclusive is the desire for a particular guide to interpretation of scriptures in the African mode. It should be noted that while this may be a possibility, there are any challenges to be countenanced. The African context poses these challenges to be discussed due to some reasons. Osadolor Imasogie suggests that the mean African's commitment to Christ is superficial, he often reverts to primary practices. `

If there is no commitment to biblical scholarship then biblical interpretation would continue to be what it is. John Parrat mentions Dickson and Fashole Luke as Africans who "see biblical scholarship as an urgent task" in African Christianity today, which has been too much neglected by the African church2

The Challenge of African Tradition

African tradition as a challenge in biblical interpretation takes into cognizance: The Language model and The ancestor factor. Other primary factors may come into focus from other dimensions but these two by far may outweigh any others.

The language Model

To teach sound biblical interpretation means to gift the scripture to Africans in their own precisely understood language forms. To the greater African audience, the English Bible has been the major source of translations into indigenous African languages. N. Onwu observes this qoute in his essay "The Dilemma of the African Theologian. He cites some words in the New Testament which he says cannot precisely find equivalents in the Igbo language. He says language is a great qoute in hermeneutics precisely because hermeneutics to a large extent is bound to be linguistic and therefore contextual. Language is the soul of the people, the incommunicable into people's culture, philosophy of life and thought; meaning patterns. It is through languages that reality is distorted. The biblical languages have their own characteristic language models and sometimes do not find easily, indigenous equivalents in some African languages.

To stress this point a comparison of the wording in the English Bible of Ephesians 6:12, with that of the Krio(Sierra Leone) bible would enable anyone to see the challenge of the language model in African biblical interpretation.

The Ancestor Factor

Most of the annotation levied on African tradition is centered on the African world view of ancestors. Western Christianity in particular has incessantly pounded African Religion for its refusal to let go this aspect of ancestors. Some Africans on their part being so devoted to this cultural trait have defended the ancestor mode steadfastly.

Charles Nyamiti, a Tanzanian Roman Catholic theologian, says Christ may be regarded as Ancestor because just as the human ancestor establishes a link in the middle of the spirit world and the living, so Jesus by His crucifixion and resurrection establishes a mystical link in the middle of God and the Christian community. Nyamiti believes that in Africa the association in the middle of God and Jesus is more understandable if regarded as one in the middle of ancestor and descendant than in primary Christian imagery of father and son. Someone else African Benezet Buju agrees that Jesus is best understood as the first ancestor; by which he means Jesus fulfilled all the characteristics of the ideal ancestor but at the same time transcend them.

With the primary Christian teaching of Christ as the divine word of God, it becomes explicit that ancestorship in teaching a biblical hermeneutic is the challenge to encounter. There are many other primary challenges to be encountered but these are discussed in a proposed guide to doing theology in Africa. For instance, questions such as how to teach the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts to indigenous Africans, without them mental of the many spirits inhabiting their natural environments.

The Challenge of Contextualization

It is widely standard that the modern car for production the gospel relevant is contextualization. Indigenization as could be seen, has not worked since it only led to some forms of religious syncretism. The rigid conservative choice has also not done much inspecting the view that its application leads to viewing Christianity as a foreign religion and one for middle and upper class people.

The need for contextualization has been a consensus among many theologians. Learned conferences exemplified by one organized by the W.A.T.I. In 1984 in Nigeria on the theme "Contextualization of Christianity in Nigeria", bears eloquent testimony to this trend.

Contextualization may be an standard choice to indigenization or conservatism in modern Christianity. But in teaching biblical interpretation questions of what to contextualize, how, by whom and when are all challenges to be faced if we are to overcome over-contextualization or under-contextualization.

The Challenge of the Interpreter

With all the above challenges nearly overcome, the biggest and perhaps most important is the attitude of the proposed interpreter. From the historical report we have noted that most population come to scripture with their presuppositions and frames of reference. The meaning deduced from a particular text may be influenced by the interpreter's presuppositions. Even if the examiner confronts a scriptural text with a 'tabular rasa' mind he still has sufficient questions which may either leave him frustrated and empty; which in that instance he may want to abandon the process. perhaps he may want to appeal to Someone else source which in this case may be a subjective source that may never supply the needed answer. On the whole it is the attitude of the examiner that will bring out the answers. A pragmatic examiner may for instance not find anyone spirited in the Songs of Solomon or the great part of the gospel of Saint John. A naturalist will see very itsybitsy significance in the teaching of the miracles of Jesus. An existentialist may never find anyone of significance in the narrative of the Exodus.

Socio-economic factors are also challenges within the wider perspective of the interpreter. An examiner who is mental more about the socio-political problems of the continent will no doubt appeal to the liberation theologian for his paradigm of interpretation. A feminist will right on want to quarrel with texts of scripture that express the submission of wives to their husbands etc. On the whole the attitude, mental and status of the examiner are challenges to be faced in the hermeneutical task.

Conclusion

Biblical interpretation is as profound as it is important and interesting. As an African theologian my interest is focused on the permissible comprehension of scripture based on sound interpretation principles with a view to production the scriptures contextually relevant to the African mind. This is the task we now have to face and squarely address. Exegesis and not eisegesis should be our tool.

The Challenges of the African Context on Biblical Interpretation

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