Toyota's Diversity Initiatives: Leadership, Diversity Management, And The Essay On Importance Of Diversity In Organizations.

Main Diversity Initiatives of Toyota

Discuss the main diversity initiatives of Toyota, leadership and diversity management and importance of diversity in organizations?

In an organization the managers play an extremely important role in relation to the various needs of the customers and also for the leading employees who are more culturally and ethnically diverse and are much older and greater in need for the effective functioning of the private and public sectors in the issue of diversity (Allen R et al (2008). There are many goals that an employer has so as to provide excellent customer service and also in maintaining a very competitive nature because diversity is utilized and recognized increasingly as a very important resource of an organization.

The later paragraphs highlight the philosophy of diversity of the employees in the Toyota Company which is one of the highly recognized business organizations in the world. From many years Toyota has been stable in its business as they have been making use of a systematic and organized method known as the Personnel and Labor Way. Therefore the main goal of this Personnel and Labor of Toyota Way stresses on the importance and the realization of the management diversity of the people keeping in regards their respect and also enabling them to exercise all their capabilities to utilize, be creative and the ability to think and also use their strengths to the maximum possible way by giving them different types of opportunities so as to achieve their contributions and also their self realization through their work (Bowers C., (2000). However to achieve this goal it is very important to maintain a healthy and mutual relationship of trust and also respect in which the company gives priority to make sure there will be a stable employment for all its employees and also works hard in improving all its conditions of labor and also ensure that all the employees of the company execute their responsibilities and duties for the well being and prosperity of the company. This philosophy that the Toyota company follows all around the globe also reflects and implements the various policies of diversity management. The company also believes that these policies will make sure that the company will provide the customer with utmost satisfaction and also help in the social contribution of the company. Therefore every year Toyota invites all its personnel managers from across the globe to organize many discussions as how to build a environment of work in which the employees can trust the company and also help in building a good framework which promotes voluntary and also constant improvement which also results in developing better human resources and better teamwork in the organization. Therefore all the different types of organizations are finding it very essential to embrace diversity which helps them to achieve their goals and missions and grow in terms of their sales and profits (Cavico, F. and Mujtaba, B. G., (2008).  Hence a diversity program helps largely in the recruitment and the commitment of social equity of the organization. Therefore in order to create a long term and strategic change by applying these diversity initiatives and also must develop a long tern plan that will result in giving better outcomes that are desired by the company.

Dealing with Diversity in the Workplace

 Toyota provides its employees with many opportunities so that they can achieve self actualization as well as social contribution through their work and it also aims at enabling all its employees to exercise their capabilities to be creative and use their talents and strengths to the maximum extent. They usually conduct a survey that gives the employee satisfaction in each year so as to give a brief measuring result of the efforts made by the employees and also uses the results of this analysis for further implementation and planning measures that will enable all the employees to work with a sense of commitment and security. Toyota as a company defines diversity as the differences in the various organizations in the way they train their employees to master the different skills (Esen E. (2005). Hence diversity becomes a liability or an asset to the organization if it is used in the correct manner by the company. Therefore there are four ways to deal with diversity initiatives as the functioning of the work environment would be dealt more successfully and also establish an open communication in the diverse workplace. It is also noticed that the relationships in the business environment grows stronger with compromise and discussions and lead to a more healthy environment that results in a more effective way. The first step is to understand and respect the differences in every individual and to keep an open mind towards the views of the other employees. It is also very essential to be assertive and let the people know how they want to be treated in the workplace and that they should be able to let them know if they feel uncomfortable by any of their behavior. This situation can be corrected through honest communication between the employees. They must also learn how to respect and treat others and also to address them with respect (Gassman O., (2001). This results in avoiding misunderstanding that could take place among the employees which further creates a uncomfortable atmosphere in the workplace resulting in hindering the performances of the employees. The last step is the act as a force of change because every individual is responsible for their behavior in the workplace. This means if anyone encounters a sense of discrimination or prejudice they should confront the individual and make sure he or she knows that the behavior is not appropriate. Many times it is seen that they may not be able to change one’s attitude completely but can manage to change the way they behave (Sargeant L. & Sue-Chan, C., (2001).

Diversity Awareness Training Programs

Bucher, R. D. (2000) also stated in many of his writings that in the workplace it is also important to include a diversity awareness training programs that go beyond the standard workplace diversity training sessions so as manage diversity in the workforce. Hence many classes can be held for the training topics that help the staff to refresh their minds regarding the diversity issues that are present throughout the year (Hersey, Paul (February 2008). Also apart from these single classes the responsibilities of the daily pressures of the operations can mostly lead to more issues that affect the employees therefore diversity initiatives can be a help to remind the mangers and the staffs by applying the series of inclusion and respect in the workplace as it is necessary to handle the daily business activities and also before the problems or issues arise. This also helps in maintaining a strong active position that results in acting as a reminder that they work in a global community. This work on human diversity integrates personal and organizational perspectives, research, and theories while discussing teamwork, communication, leadership, conflict, social networking, and other issues in the workplace, at school, and in the community. Bucher also said that the “work on human diversity integrates personal and organizational perspectives, research, and theories while discussing teamwork, communication, leadership, conflict, social networking, and other issues in the workplace, at school, and in the community and that Diversity Consciousness empowers students by helping them develop a "mind-set" which will enable them to be more successful in the 21st century”.

Therefore Bucher also mentioned that there were seven key factors that influence the role of diversity consciousness; they were focus on personal growth and empowerment, grounded form of research and studies, it must be success oriented, it should be learner oriented and towards the value of diversity, basis of the definition of diversity inclusion and lastly is very versatile in nature.

However these diversity awareness training sessions cover a wide range of topics that include all the challenges that are faced daily by the diverse workers, helping one to eradicate biases that are present and also help in competing in the welfare of the global economy (Hofmeister, J., (2006). The diversity training programs in the workplace also include various areas such as;

• Managing a Multi-generational Workforce
   
• Building of teams across Cultures
   
• Diverse candidates Hiring
   
• The Power of Respectful Language
   
• Gender Transition

However the training also makes the employees to bring a feeling of self awareness and also the way to deal with diversity in the workplace which helps in the understanding of the behaviors of the diverse groups and further helps in developing the skills of communication so as to receive a good relationship among the employees (Horwitz S. & Horwitz I. (2007). The employees will also develop better skills so as to create more teams in the diverse groups to have a better organized company which is for the well being of both the customers and the employees and also have an impact on the productivity, commitment, creativity and finally the profitability of the organization.

The Importance of Diversity in Organizations

According to Mooney, H.(2005) “Diversity and inclusion have been core values of the firm since its founding and continue to form a central part of the firm’s culture.” Mooney also explained that leaders and mangers have always been an integral part of the society who deal with all the opportunities and challenges of diversity that are taken place every day. The managers and leaders who are ready to deal and face these challenges and also take maximum advantage of the opportunities and their offers are likely to be very successful and effective in coaching in the diverse workplace. There is also a lot of discriminatory acts that are widely practiced in the society many times and this leads to many major problems and can become very challenging for the leaders and managers. Therefore many of these unfair aspects of discrimination can often be the main cause of misinformation and a biased society. Hence to avoid these societal biases and unfair treatment of the employees the managers can use situational leadership practices so as to concentrate on each associates performance and also help them to develop progressively on the basis of their confidence levels to take on new initiatives and responsibilities (Kochan, T et al (2003). It is also seen that diversity management deals with different topics of issues like sadness, privilege, culture, religion, justice, tolerance, hatred etc. these challenges have a great impact on the nations around the globe to a large extent as they are concerned with the issues of cultural identification, racial supremacy, religious protection and also the unfair compensation that is given to them based on their status and gender.

Another research that was conducted stated that the there are four challenges that a CEO of the company faces in regards to diversity management, these are in the field of innovation, excellence in operations, relationship of the customers and also in human capital. These played a very important role in identifying the different strategies that are needed to address the human capital challenge and also include a focus on the improvement of all the leadership development programs (Konrad A et al (2006). They also said that it was essential to enhance the effectiveness of the senior mangemnet teams as well as the supervisors and the managers so as to improve planning and development of the organization. This could be met by providing the employees with training and also by increasing the employee engagement as a result to improve the overall performance of the accountability and the processes of management. These strategies also suggested that the leaders and managers of the company should be able to recognize that the organizations will not be able to develop and be highly engaged with productive employees if there is no effective leadership as well as good leadership development programs (Kossek, E et al (2006).

Many scholars say that diversity is very important in any organization as the leaders in the global firms in the present manage their workforces in a more diverse way than they used too few years back (Myaskovsky, L et al (2005).  Therefore global firms recognize the importance of all the diverse talents that are present in order to increase the engagements of the employees to help them reach out to their clients and also in achieving growth in the business field. Many researches which were conducted abroad showed many benefits in the diverse teams that included an increase in the profitability and the innovation of the organization. Therefore to achieve these benefits, organizations employ and support a diverse workforce and also extract the best from their team through leadership behavior and this act has always been a success factor of organizational diversity and engagement strategies. Hence diversity brings experience and understanding to help global firms in providing education to their leaders and also in the successful implementation of the strategies (Pitts D., (2005).

Conclusion:

Therefore in conclusion it can be said that a diverse workforce is a method to change the workplace of the employees and also bring higher value of these diverse teams of the organization. It also respects the differences of the individual that benefits the workplace individual by creating a very competitive edge that further results in the productivity of work in the organizations (Richard O., (2000). Also when there is trouble in the normal functioning of the performance of the organization then the forms of diversity and the nature of the tasks that are to be performed are considered by the employees and this has a significant amount of evidence that diversity can help in increasing the overall performance of the organization. Diversity management also gives a lot benefits to the associates by creating a safe and fair environment where all are accessible to face different opportunities and also challenges. Therefore diversity if managed correctly can increase creativity and also innovation in an organization as well as improve the process of making decisions by providing various challenges and problems faced by the organization (Saji B., (2004).

Reference

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