Take a few minutes to think about diversity and what it means to you. Write down

Question

Take a few minutes to think about diversity and what it means to you.

Write down your own definition of diversity.

During the past week, in what situations have you encountered someone from a different culture, group, or background in the workplace or in school (someone whose values or beliefs differed from yours or who looked or dressed differently from you or your group)? Make a list of the diverse people you have met (e.g. where they were from, why they were different from you, and how they were similar to you) and the situations encountered. (Please omit any names of specific individuals)

Once you have created your responses, discuss the implications of providing quality service to customers who are different than you.

Explanation / Answer

Since I have worked with MNCs only in my career, I have met different people from all over the world and have felt their diversity, which was definitely an exciting experience.

To define diversity, diversity has to do with more than race or ethnicity. Diverse workplaces are composed of employees with varying characteristics including, but not limited to, religious and political beliefs, gender, ethnicity, education, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation and geographic location.

For example, when I was working with Lufthansa, I met many Germans and other european people. Their attitude was different, they were more straight forward about work culture and approach of work. But, one thing is common that every one expect to be treated good. As per my german manager, he was saying that he had different thoughts abount asian countries like China, India. But, when he lived there for long time, he came to know the cultural differences, kind of festivals, change in food habits i.e. spices and non-veg food difference.

Some of the key characteristics of workforce diversity include race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, ability, and sexual orientation. A company that embraces diversity can broaden its skill base and become more competitive and innovative. Workforce diversity also brings with it a number of issues and challenges.

To provide quality service to customers who are different from you, starts from internally. How diverse workforce you have in your organization? Are they able to work together effectively? If not, what need to be done to bridge those gaps and build a quality professional workforce to provide quality service. Businesses find ways to incorporate diversity into their workplaces without causing major changes to the way their companies operate. Incorporating diversity practices in a workplace can include recruiting from diverse talent pools to make the company open to employees from various backgrounds. Diversity may be infused into advertising practices to ensure products and services are targeted to all consumers who represent the target market, whether through print, online, television or radio.

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