Understanding Marginalization, Meeting The Needs Of Diverse Communities, And Ensuring Access For All: A Dental Practice Case Study

Describe in your own words the meaning of ‘marginalised’ when it applies to groups of people.  What do you see as potential needs of these groups?

looked at the scenario of a practice employing a dental assistant who happens to be profoundly deaf.  What types of resources are available for this person to ensure that their needs are met, and what is available for all employees of the practice to ensure that they have an awareness of those needs?

What can you see as some of the influences and changing practices in Australia and their impact on Australian society’s diverse communities?

Defining Marginalization and Its Effects on Groups

Carefully read through each question posed.  Reflect on your learning unit and your own research.  In your response, you should use terms and phrases that you defined in your previous assessment. In order to fully demonstrate your knowledge in this area of study, you should aim to present 180 words for each response.  A minimum of 150 words for each response is required.

Please note: Where the word count is not met, your submission will be returned to you for re-working.

1.Your practice has just employed a dental assistant who is profoundly deaf.  As you are the senior assistant at the practice, your manager has asked that you mentor this person to ensure their smooth transition into the business.  While you have mentored other new employees in the past, you have never experienced working with a deaf person.  What strategies will you use in order to reflect on your own beliefs and values and ensure that the new person receives all the assistance they need?

I will provide an adequate accommodation to the qualified employees with disability. This will provide the individual to have equal opportunity so that they can participate in the management operational functions and considers the job in a significant manner[ Stahl, Günter K., and Rosalie L. Tung. "Towards a more balanced treatment of culture in international business studies: The need for positive cross-cultural scholarship." Journal of International Business Studies 46.4 (2015): 391-414.
]. I would promote a cultural competency education that would help in erasing any kind of stereotype or assumptions. I would facilitate a foundational and clear understanding for all the employees what it means to be deaf. I would ensure that the deaf individual should effectively connect with people from various culture and language. This would help in collaborating with the deaf person with a diverse team[ Clifford, Anton, et al. "Interventions to improve cultural competency in health care for Indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA: a systematic review." International Journal for Quality in Health Care 27.2 (2015): 89-98.

When the deaf individual feels supported and comforted as a part of team they could easily focus on the contribution towards the organization success.

Your practice has made a commitment to embrace diversity, and management is eager to demonstrate how they are promoting and acknowledging difference.  Your supervisor has asked you to attend a diversity meeting with other team leaders and would like your input about what to include in a diversity policy.  Outline the types of inclusions that should be in that policy.

Supporting Deaf Employees in a Dental Practice: Available Resources

While attending the diversity meeting, I would to like to include certain elements within the diversity policy. These are as follows:

Effective training program- the employees especially it is the duty of managers to oversee all the diversity programs. Proper diversity training can help in conveying to the staffs at all levels to lay a major emphasis on inclusion and diversity.

Creating procedures to promote diversity- creating growth from within could help in creating employee retention as well as providing additional support for maintain the diversity effort. Diversity should be embedded within the company’s culture through code of conduct, training and performance review programs[ Ahern, Kenneth R., Daniele Daminelli, and Cesare Fracassi. "Lost in translation? The effect of cultural values on mergers around the world." Journal of Financial Economics 117.1 (2015): 165-189.

Periodic reviews- organization goals are effective if they are periodically reviewed and determined. It is important to assess at an annual level both the objectives for achieving gender diversity and also the progress required to achieve them.
It is significant to establish measurable objectives so that effective gender diversity can be achieved. Transparency of process should also be ensured besides clear reporting outcomes.

Imagine that you have been transported to a place in the world where the culture, language, traditions, values, beliefs and practices, food, dress, gender roles, religious beliefs, individual rights, family roles, and child rearing practices are completely different to your own.  You are required to live in this place for six months without any contact with your home or family.

Describe how you might feel and what would you miss most.  What assistance would you like from your new community to help you settle in and feel safe?  Describe how you might translate this self-reflection to your work with customers and colleagues from a culture other than your own.

Adapting to a new or innovative culture is quite difficult. While living in different place with diversified culture, language and religion can be very frustrated initially. Later on living in a different place also made me independent and adjusted to the new culture without the help or support of any family and friends. Every culture and country is different and I must learn to work with the country’s culture and environment. Through inclusive and diverse workforce, new ideas is generated and created that can help the business to reap maximum benefits. Moreover, understanding the local regulations, customs and local laws would also help the business to thrive. Cultural understanding, local connections and native language skills can further boost the development of the business.

A new trainee has begun working at your practice.  He has only recently arrived in Australia from a country that expects women to behave very differently to the way women behave here.  He holds those attitudes, and this has resulted in a number of incidents where there has been friction between him, other staff, and customers.  When his manager has a discussion with him, he responds positively and understands that he needs to modify his behaviour in order to continue working at the centre.  Outline at least six qualities that the trainee could embrace in order to achieve success.

The new trainee coming from a different culture and working in the cultural environment of Australia needs to consider the following major elements:

Influences and Changing Practices in Australia: Impact on Diverse Communities

He should be given proper training to avoid any pitfalls related to cultural confusion and misunderstanding. Various misconceptions related to the workplace should e avoided so that rules are defined and effectively observed during interview.

Practicing effective communication- the new trainees should practice open- door communications so that the communication gap is reduced[ Guerin, Cally, and Ian Green. "Cultural diversity and the imagined community of the global academy." Asia Pacific Journal of Education 36.1 (2016): 1-12.

Promoting employee relations- lack of cultural diversity and the perception of disrespect for various cultures can proved to be detrimental for global partnership.

Prevention and education- clear understanding for the cultural diversity is  highly imperative for effective business operations[ Huey Jr, Stanley J., et al. "The contribution of cultural competence to evidence-based care for ethnically diverse populations." Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 10 (2014): 305-338.

Adaptability: the trainee should be adaptable enough to adjust to the new lifestyle, traditions and beliefs.

Equal respect and opportunities for women- the new trainee should pay equal respect and attention to their female colleagues[ Klettner, Alice, Thomas Clarke, and Martijn Boersma. "Strategic and regulatory approaches to increasing women in leadership: Multilevel targets and mandatory quotas as levers for cultural change." Journal of Business Ethics 133.3 (2016): 395-419.

To succeed in different organizational culture, he needs to integrate his beliefs in the better working environment.

Your manager recognises the value of inclusion and mentoring and has asked you to become a mentor to the new trainee from the scenario in Q.4.  The manager believes that you are a hard worker with excellent interpersonal skills.  What are the positive effects that the manager believes will result from this pairing, and how will you go about mentoring the trainee?

Mentoring the new trainee in different cultural and diverse environment would prove to be beneficial for both the new trainee and the organization. Cross-cultural training is highly essential to maximize the profits of the business. I would train the new employee during the orientation session and in the ongoing training I would make the employees understand about the company’s culture and expectations. Mentoring is useful, I would use peer groups and with one experienced employee would mentor a new employees from diverse cultural background. I would train the new employee effectively the existing requirements needed to achieve the missions and visions of the organization. 

She enjoys sharing her culture with customers and colleagues and feels proud that she has contributed to a better understanding of her people.  She is an active member of her community and both contributes to and participates in a range of social and cultural activities.  Allira has been granted a week of special leave to assist in planning activities for Sorry Day.  The practice manager becomes extremely concerned when he hears two employees discussing the unfairness of Allira being granted special leave for Sorry Day.  “I don’t know why they have Sorry Day anyway.  It’s time they moved on!”

Why should the practice manager be concerned about this discussion from a business, legal, and ethical perspective?  What would be a more positive and worthwhile response to Allira attending Sorry Day activities?  What information could the practice manager provide?

The practice manger should be concerned about the discussion as the employees do not respect the  cultural diversity within the workplace. There are various gaps within the organization related to the diversity and should be adequately fulfilled. Allowing Allira for promoting Sorry Day activities would be from both the ethical and legal perspectives. Manager needs to ensure among the employees that Allira is helping in making the workplace more cohesive by promoting her culture. The practice manger should encourage workplace diversity and inform the employees that the company is not against any culture and its tradition but with it.

Marginalization is the process in which someone is pushed to a group’s edge and given lesser importance. In this process, a sub-group or minority is excluded and their desires or needs are highly ignored. Marginalized groups in a workplace are considered unequally due to their varied cultural practices and beliefs. In the recent times, Marginalized groups are created to promote and enhance cultural diversity within the workplace. The members not taking active parts should be excluded from the group. This helps in creating a positive work culture within the organization. Though the process is unfair but to create diversity and promote effective work culture , marginalization is highly relevant.

Working with a deaf employee is not an easy task, moreover assisting and guiding such employees is also very difficult. Firstly I would discuss with supervisors and managers about the best techniques that is needed to facilitate integration. I would ask the deaf employee about their preferences regarding making the communication such as in sign or voicing. If necessary, I would also like to retain an interpreter to make the smooth flow of communication. I would  use visual signalling equipments while making the incoming calls. Moreover applying hands-on demonstrations to assist the new employee while carrying the operational activities would be helpful[ Alesina, Alberto, Johann Harnoss, and Hillel Rapoport. "Birthplace diversity and economic prosperity." Journal of Economic Growth 21.2 (2016): 101-138.

Other employees in the organization with various cultures should also learn to communicate with the deaf employee to promote better working condition.

In the recent times Australian society is considerably progressing to promote diversity within the workplace. The changing practices mostly include acknowledging diversity in the workplace to create an inclusive work environment. Promoting diversity has helped the individuals, companies and society at large to achieve maximum profits and success. Australia is currently regarded as the most linguistically and culturally diverse population throughout the world[ Rajendran, Diana, Karen Farquharson, and Chandana Hewege. "Workplace integration: the lived experiences of highly skilled migrants in Australia." Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal 36.5 (2017): 437-456.

The Government is also overcoming all the existing challenges by encouraging continuing dialogue with various community groups. The country share their traditions and beliefs within the law and is also free from any kind of discriminations.

References:

Ahern, Kenneth R., Daniele Daminelli, and Cesare Fracassi. "Lost in translation? The effect of cultural values on mergers around the world." Journal of Financial Economics 117.1 (2015): 165-189.

Alesina, Alberto, Johann Harnoss, and Hillel Rapoport. "Birthplace diversity and economic prosperity." Journal of Economic Growth 21.2 (2016): 101-138.

Clifford, Anton, et al. "Interventions to improve cultural competency in health care for Indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA: a systematic review." International Journal for Quality in Health Care 27.2 (2015): 89-98.

Guerin, Cally, and Ian Green. "Cultural diversity and the imagined community of the global academy." Asia Pacific Journal of Education 36.1 (2016): 1-12.
Huey Jr, Stanley J., et al. "The contribution of cultural competence to evidence-based care for ethnically diverse populations." Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 10 (2014): 305-338.

Klettner, Alice, Thomas Clarke, and Martijn Boersma. "Strategic and regulatory approaches to increasing women in leadership: Multilevel targets and mandatory quotas as levers for cultural change." Journal of Business Ethics 133.3 (2016): 395-419.

Rajendran, Diana, Karen Farquharson, and Chandana Hewege. "Workplace integration: the lived experiences of highly skilled migrants in Australia." Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal 36.5 (2017): 437-456.

 Stahl, Günter K., and Rosalie L. Tung. "Towards a more balanced treatment of culture in international business studies: The need for positive cross-cultural scholarship." Journal of International Business Studies 46.4 (2015): 391-414.