Diversity in the Workplace
When Brenda Thompson, the director of diversity and leadership education at MGM Resorts International, steps into one of the company’s hotel lobbies, she closes her eyes and listens. “It’s amazing all the different languages I can hear just standing in the lobbies of any of our hotels,” she says. “Our guests come from all over the world, and it really makes us realize the importance of reflecting that diversity in our workplace.”5 The diversity Thompson notices in the lobbies of the MGM Mirage hotels is a small reflection of the cultural diversity in the larger domestic and global workplaces.

Diversity in Corporate America
Faced with fewer resources, a slow economy, and increased domestic and global competi- tion, managers are searching for ways to set their organizations apart from the competition and create breakthrough innovations. Managers who cultivate a diversified workforce have been shown to improve their organization’s chances of success. Diverse teams that perform efficiently add value by combining individuals’ strengths, making the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
In the past, when managers thought of diversity, they focused on the “problems” associated with diversity, such as discrimination, bias, affirmative action, and tokenism. Now managers recognize that the differences that people bring to the workplace are valuable.8 Rather than expecting all employees to adopt similar attitudes and values, managers are learning that these differences enable their companies to compete globally and tap into rich sources of new talent. Although diversity in North America has been a reality for some time, genuine efforts to accept and manage diverse people began only in recent years. Exhibit 13.2 lists some interesting milestones in the history of corporate diversity. Diversity in corporate America has become a key topic in part because of the vast changes occurring in today’s workplace. The following statistics illustrate how the work- place is changing and challenging frontline managers who are trying to build cohesive teams:
● Unprecedented generational diversity. Today’s workforce is in a state of flux as a blend of four generations presents new management challenges, with people staying healthy and working longer not only in the United States, but in China, Brazil, Russia, and elsewhere. Although most people from the World War II generation have retired, there are still a few members in their late 80s and even 90s in the workplace. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for example, this generation represented about 5 percent of the labor force in the United States, and nearly 7 percent in Canada in 2011. These employees, and the rapidly aging baby boomers, share a “corporate
memory” that is invaluable to organizations, but as they stay in the workforce longer, there is little room for Generation X managers wanting to move up the hierarchy. As Gen-X workers move into middle age, they are struggling with reduced guarantees about their financial futures and job security. Meanwhile, Gen-Yers, sometimes called Millennials, are characterized as ambitious, lacking loyalty to one organization, and eager for quick success. Unlike different generations working together in the past, there are strong value differences among employees from different eras today.
● Aging workers. Baby boomers continue to affect the workplace as this massive group of workers progresses through its life stages. Baby boomers are continuously bumping up the average age of the workforce. While the number of workers between 25 and 45 years old is expected to decline from 66.9 percent to 63.7 percent by 2020, the number of workers age 55 years and older will leap from 19.5 percent to 25.2 percent in the same period.
● Increased diversity. Today’s workplace is becoming more diverse as the number of foreign-born workers increases. Foreign-born workers make up 16 percent of the U.S. workforce and are most likely employed in service industries, such as food preparation, cleaning, and maintenance. Of the total number of foreign-born workers, nearly half are Hispanic and 23 percent are Asian. Looking ahead, the number of Hispanic employees will grow the most, increasing 18.6 percent by 2020.13 Exhibit 13.3 shows the projected changes in employment among different racial and ethnic groups in the United States.

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