1. Group 6, 1
Conclusions and Discussion
Our group searched for answers on how leaders can effectively manage diversity
in the workplace. Thankfully there are a lot of experienced leaders who have written
many articles, books, created websites, and agreed to be interviewed which allowed us to
become educated and fully aware of diversity as it exists within the workplace. We all
discovered both contrasting and intersecting ideas on how diversity affects performance,
motivation, success, and/or interactions with others. Diversity turned out to be much
more complex and convoluted than we all thought going into our project. Companies
recruit a number of techniques to address diversity and diversity issues, from trainings, to
consultants, to mission statements, but most often including ignoring and stagnation of
the problems.
This is an organizations biggest mistake, as we’ve learned that diversity yields
many advantages for employees and companies as a whole. One of these includes and
economic competitive advantage, considering that diversity in some companies is still a
new aspect while others have adopted it as part of the culture for many years. Those
companies that can effectively manage the differences among employees by harnessing
those characteristics, which make people unique, ultimately make their company more
unique and desirable. We came to conclude that neither “visible” nor “nonvisible”
diversity yields more effective results than the other. Rather, we recognized a pattern
emerge where the linking between the two of them yield the most successful
organizations. Organizations with a strong, and long-standing, diversity framework are
nurturing employees’ ability to see beyond the “visible” to a more holistic appreciation
for their fellow team.

2. Group 6, 2
One of the most interesting aspects we came across was that most people are not
aware of exactly what their policy on diversity is. They do however, value that there
company has one and therefore attempt to be mindful of its importance while at work.
For some, this even extends outside of the office, impacting their treatment of family,
friends, people in their communities, and even strangers. It was astounding to learn just
how powerful and impactful an effective diversity culture in the workplace can be by
extending outside the organizational realm into personal and social justice relations.
We learned that diversity is becoming more about doing the “right thing” and less
about what that actually means. People in organizations tend to have a very general,
rather vague understanding of what diversity means. Diversity is becoming more holistic,
with a focus more on “nonvisible” characteristics such as a person’s opinions, ideas,
philosophy of life, etc. and less about the “visible” diversity of someone such as their
skin color, gender, ethnicity, disability, age, etc. But what is always involved is value. In
organizations and individuals that are effectively managing diversity, they value it, both
visible and nonvisible. This is proven more in their actions than their words, most of
them consistently finding innovative and fruitful ways to make everyone feel appreciated,
informed, and part of the team.
Overall, for a leader to effectively manage diversity in the workplace they must
truly believe in it. Understanding how it can add value to the organization is a mindset
critical to leveling the playing field and yielding the most fair work environment for all.
This is not easy and takes a leader who is truly committed to making it happen and can
serve as an example to be followed. An organization with the right mix of diversity
among the employee base, with leaders dedicated to valuing everyone, and a commitment

3. Group 6, 3
to spreading this awareness to everyone is the beginning of an organization on its way to
effective diversity management.
After completing our research and coming to these conclusions, we feel future
inquiry is necessary in several areas. Since much of our time was spent looking at how to
effectively manage diversity, mainly after diversity has already been evidenced as the
issue, how do you collect and show the data that proves it as being an issue needing
resolved? How do you express to upper level management that this is an aspect of the
business that isn’t just purely social, but imperative to business productivity, stimulus,
and overall success? Also, theories on diversity have many ideas about how to tackle
diversity challenges, but do they work for everyone? There needs to be a more detailed
account of how different techniques effect various groups of people differently. This
would help to make diversity management much more targetable, and ultimately effective
for leaders wishing to make an impact in their organizations.