DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY

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DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY 6

Introduction

Dimensions of diversity are the different traits, backgrounds, and abilities of the employees at the workplace. Diversity is one of the critical phenomena to focus on in the workplace since it can work at an advantage or a disadvantage if not well addressed. In a company, diversity can increase the potential to perform better and increase workflow. When hiring the next human resource, companies should ensure that they consider the aspect of diversity as it has been tested and proven to yield incredible benefits. However, the failure to incorporate diversity in the form of affirmative action plans can cause friction with the law. Employment laws encourage the implementation of diversity in terms of race, religion, personality, gender, sexual orientation among others. This paper seeks to describe in-depth the issue of diversity by dissecting the four main dimensions of diversity.

Personality Dimensions

Personality is the first layer in the diversity wheel (Curado, Tai, Oliveira, & Sarmento, 2021). It encompasses the likes and dislikes, beliefs, and values that make a person who they are. Besides, innate characteristics such as introversion or extroversion fall under this category. The first element is likes and dislikes. A person’s likes and dislikes are shaped early in life and are influenced solely by the environment. For that reason, it is hard to change what are the likes and dislikes of an adult. What a person likes or dislikes is likely to shape the other three layers of the diversity wheel. Secondly, beliefs are another personality factor that shapes the personality of a person. A belief is a confidence that something is true and impactful to one’s life even without proof (Moore, et.al, 2020). The values of a person are likely to impact how the person thinks acts and interacts with other people.

Internal Dimensions

The internal dimensions encompass the aspects of diversity that we have no control over. These aspects include age, race, and gender. This is the layer in which major division in human beings occurs. Race for example is the community in which one comes from and is majorly determined by the color of the skin, eyes, or hair (Curado, Tai, Oliveira, & Sarmento, 2021). No one can control these characteristics and therefore it is a strong element of diversity. Age is another characteristic that is determined by time (Moore, et.al, 2020). No one has control over time and for that reason, age becomes a factor of consideration when diversity is mentioned. Some jobs require certain age groups. For instance, a college teaching job would require a person that is above thirty years of age since a majority of the students are above the legal age and they would only handle their older with respect.

Lastly, gender was initially the characteristic of being a female or male. With the changes in several factors, transgender people were also recognized as a separate gender since they do not fall in either male or female (Mousa, Massoud, & Ayoubi, 2020). Certain jobs require specific gender. A good example is the job position of a receptionist. Most female workers in that position perform better than their male counterparts.

External Dimensions

External dimensions are the life aspects that we can control (Mousa, Massoud, & Ayoubi, 2020). These include religion, level of education among others. These factors determine who we interact with at the workplace. Religion, for example, is the aspect that guides the practice of faith and how to practice it. At the workplace, religion is very important since the knowledge of it attracts respect to that person and their beliefs (Curado, Tai, Oliveira, & Sarmento, 2021). Without anyone revealing their religion, other people may not know the boundaries of their interactions and the probability of stepping on the wrong side is high. The level of education is another external factor that affects the manner in which people interact at the workplace. People who are highly educated tend to interact with people who are also at the same level as them (Mousa, Massoud, & Ayoubi, 2020). For this reason, education is a critical factor in the establishment of a diversity framework in an organization.

Organizational Dimensions

The last layer in the diversity wheel is the organizational dimension. Here, the aspect of culture that is present in the workplace is the main building block of this layer. This layer looks into the opportunities for development as well as the issues of preferential treatment and promotion. The field of work is one of the aspects that people tend to apply when interacting at the workplace (Moore, et.al, 2020). There are diverse fields of expertise in one workplace. For example in the banking setup, there are tellers, accountants, human resource managers, technical engineers, and IT experts. These diverse fields tend to influence how people operate in the workplace. Seniority is another factor of diversity found in the organizational layer. The rank of employees is a factor of consideration when interacting at the workplace (Mousa, Massoud, & Ayoubi, 2020). Managers who are on the same level tend to be free when interacting with each other. When a person who is not in their level gets to their circle, it seems abnormal and prone to doubt of the relationship.

Conclusion

In nutshell, the dimensions of diversity discussed are personality, internal, external, and organizational dimensions. The personality layer discusses the innate traits that a person has such as likes and dislikes. On the other hand, internal dimensions regard the factors that individuals have no control over such as age, race, and gender. Besides, external dimensions encompass the factors that individuals can change such as level of education and religious affiliation. Lastly, organizational dimensions regard the issues with opportunities for growth in the workplace such as the field of work and seniority. Diversity is critical in every organization and should be addressed from time to time to ensure that the company implements it to its advantage.

References

Curado, C., Tai, S. H., Oliveira, M., & Sarmento, J. M. (2021). Levels and dimensions of diversity in small businesses: contributions for performance. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management.

Moore, K. J., Xiong, S., Bhattacharya, M., Bustamante, G., & Calvert, C. (2020). Beyond diversity: focusing on and enhancing inclusion in the Society for Epidemiologic Research. American journal of epidemiology, 189(10), 1042-1046.

Mousa, M., Massoud, H. K., & Ayoubi, R. M. (2020). Gender, diversity management perceptions, workplace happiness and organisational citizenship behaviour. Employee Relations: The International Journal.