Importance Of Workforce Diversity

Workforce diversity is one of the most challenging issue an organization face.In the era of globalization it is very much important for the organization manage the diverse work force. Diversity exists in an organization when its members differ from one another along one or more important dimensions (Thomas and Ely, 2001).Diversity should be explained in a continuous scale.If you take the whole of work force,we can say that they are unique in their own ways but in there exist certain levels of similarities. Therefore, diversity should be thought of in terms of degree or level of diversity along relevant dimensions (Dora and Keith, 1998). In business terms, diversity can be defined as a set of differences of individual traits including socio

Few studies have looked at the experience of inclusion from the point of view of the privileged in the equation (Geiger,Jordan 2014).Fewer have examined inclusion from the point of view of other less common demographics of interest in the diversity literature, such as that of migrants (Ortileb,sieben 2014).

2.2 HOW DIVERSITY IS ADVANTAGEOUS TO ORGANIZATION

Organizations implementing diversity has many advantages. On one level it helps organizations to reach out to diverse customer groups and markets, and on another level by allowing for a variety of perspectives, it promotes innovativeness and superior work outcomes and performance.(Nisha and Neharika,2015)

In one study of Fortune 500 companies, it was found that the top 25% of the firms in terms of women in senior management, actually yielded returns to their stockholders that were more than 30% higher than those of their peers (Catalyst,2004). Based on empirical evidence it is argued that diversity does in fact pay(Herring,2009).

A survey in the United States found racial diversity to be associated with increased sales revenue, more number of customers, greater market share, and greater relative profits(Catalyst,2004). Gender diversity was associated with increased sales revenue and customers, and greater relative

There are very few studies that have done studies on other nationalities.

Several researchers also call for a shift in emphasis from workforce diversity to workplace inclusion (Geiger,Jordan 2014).

2.4 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Diversity give importance to the demographic profile of the organization, inclusion focuses on asking the employees to actively participate in day to day activities.

Diversity focuses on the demographic profile of the employees whereas inclusion focus on how accepted and valued employees feel. Review of literature on the topic of inclusion is still under construct and hence only limited data is available on the topic.

2.5 DEFINITION OF INCLUSION In one of the early descriptions of the term it is described as the extent to which individuals are allowed to participate and are enabled to contribute fully (Nisha and Neharika,2015).

It is also seen as „the degree to which an employee is accepted and treated as an insider by others in a work system‟(Nisha and