Managing diversity has assumed a matter of immense proportion today. For some time now, companies are coming around to the view that the differences in age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, and so on can be capitalized by the organizations to leapfrog the competition and shore up its advantage. The benefits of workplace diversity to the business are humongous and the import of the message is not lost on the leading companies. This article traces the origin of workplace diversity, its benefit and potential problems and possible steps companies can take to strengthen their diversity initiatives.

Managing diversity has assumed stratospheric level of challenge for companies in the last few decades or so. In the last 20 years, companies are enveloped by a sense of greater understanding that differences in age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, sexual orientation and so on can be capitalized by the organizations to turbocharge its capabilities and gain competitive advantage. The civil right movement in USA in 1960s led to a flurry of anti-discrimination laws which resulted in a huge pool of heterogeneous employees. In the recent decade, companies have traversed beyond their strict conformity to the non-discrimination requirements laid down by the law and have tried to utilize the differences among the people working in the organization to attract, develop and retain top-notch talent in spite of the total imperviousness to the purported differences that exist from within. A growing body of research in recent times point to bountiful economic gains that organizations stand to accrue if it embraces, nurtures, and celebrates diversity. The natural fallout of this development suggests that the organizational discourse has changed irreversibly. Organizations standing on high moral grounds have understood the compelling business rationale behind diversity issues. The ever-burgeoning diversity in the workplace, owing to immigration and demographic changes has made workplace diversity a matter of immense necessity today. For its part, globalization has also added a ring of complexity to managing employees today and has nudged diversity to the foreground of challenges confronting companies all over the world. In today's context, multicultural team abounds. Cross-cultural communication has become a necessity. Companies are increasingly expected to abide by multitudinous local labor laws. In the light of this situation, HR professionals are dealing more and more with the issue that comes within the sweep of global diversity. Global diversity is still in its infancy. Global diversity, per se is a new mumbo-jumbo for many companies. For multinational companies, the allure of workplace diversity is becoming way too irresistible to ignore. Consider this factoid. A survey commissioned by ORC in 2003 covering a staggered 100 diversity professionals working in Fortune 500 companies. The 10% of the respondents opined that global diversity is an area that is of greater interest to them. Two years down the line, when a survey of diversity professionals working in the same companies was commissioned in 2005, 25% expressed opinion that global diversity has assumed a matter of immense criticality for them.

HRM Review Magazine, Workplace Diversity, Multicultural Teams, Cross-cultural Communication, Globalization, Global Diversity, Demographic Factors, Succession Planning, Niche Markets, Human Resource Management, Fiscal Management, Multicultural Marketing Strategy, Diversity Training Programs, Racial Discriminations, Traditional Organizations.