Managing Diversity in the Workplace

400 Gradi is an Italian restaurant located in the Eastland Shopping Centre in the locality of
Ringwood. This restaurant was created by Chef and V.P.N. Principal Johnny Di Francesco.
He is the first Australian who was Naples according to the rules and regulations of
Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana and currently he is the Australasian Principal for the
association (Eastland, 2017).
In this restaurant, the majority of the employees are Italian and only 6-7 are from other places
on the globe. However, if one examines the diversity in a work environment, this is not the
ideal situation. The authorities of this restaurant need to understand the concept of managing
within the scope of diversity, which shall provide a global flavour to the workplace.
Diversity provides the organization with a diverse range of talent and these talents doesn’t get
restricted to a particular part of the world but provides with a multicultural facet. Diversity
also helps in understanding the needs and motivations of the customer base, which in effect
makes the organization more successful and profitable. However, achieving a balanced
diversity is not as easy as it sounds. Diversity should be aligned to the organizational goals to
be effective. Implementation of diversity policies should be matched to the design of policies
(Janssens & Zanoni, 2014).
Different forms of diversity in a workplace that one can face are:
Ethnicity and Race – Race is described as a quality which is inherited by a person through
biological hereditary. For example, type of hair, colour of skin. However, ethnicity is more
related to the person’s cultural background rather than biological. It is to some extent related
to the race since people from the same race usually belong to the same ethnicity. According
to a study by McKinsey, organizations having a varied ethnicity or race have 35% more
probability of bringing in strong financial returns.
Generation and Age – In today’s world, age is categorized more by the generation, and hence
come the terms, baby boomers, Generation X, Y, Z, and ultimately the millenials. Usually, it
is seen that people from the same generation have similar experiences on a broader aspect.
Also, their way of thinking is possibly similar. Some companies discriminate on the basis of
age, which again rules out certain possibilities of better talents in the form of experience or
learning.
Gender – In order to have a proper representation of the population, the women should be
allowed equal opportunity based on their skill sets and at the same time address issues like