Different Scenarios Showing Diversity at the Workplace

Running head: WORKPLACE DIVERSITY 1
DIFFERENT SCENARIOS SHOWING DIVERSITY AT THE
WORKPLACE
Name
Institutional Affiliation

WORKPLACE DIVERSITY 2
Brief Introduction
Workplace diversity refers to the different characteristics and behaviors possessed by people in a
place of work. The attributes may be age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status,
disability, pregnancy, religion, cultural beliefs, and race among others. The diversity policy aims
at enabling people of different characteristics to coexist in a working environment. I plan to
collect feedback and ideas from various sources to ensure currency and efficacy of a diversity
policy by using interviews of the people involved. The trainings need in the team are to enhance
communication skills and improve coordination of the team members.
The First Scenario
Sara is extremely possessive of her religion, making her hate to work with Kelly in the same
project because of his gay nature. Here, Sara is violating the policy of diversity which calls for
respect and understanding for colleagues with different characteristics. She is openly
discriminating against Kelly on the basis of his sexual orientation. As much as it is in line with
her religious beliefs, she should learn to accommodate him for the success of the IT project team
(Ahlam, Marzouqi & Nick, 2011).
The diversity policy is aimed at giving guidelines to workmates on the way they are supposed to
treat each other. It instructs them to respect each other regardless of their sexual orientation,
religion and cultural beliefs. This policy is aimed at Sara, who prefers not to work on a team
project then be in the same group with Kelly. On the other hand, Kelly also breaks this policy by
displaying his gay nature in public, yet in the same group with Sara, a staunch religious believer
(Ashcraft & Breitzman, 2012).
In this scenario, both parties are responsible for implementing the diversity policy which bars
them from discriminating others basing on their religious beliefs and sexual orientation. First,
Sara should understand that as much as Kelly is openly gay, he is an important member of the
team and the team cannot operate without him. On the other hand, Kelly should understand that
he can still be gay and not expose it to annoy his workmates. He should know that Sara does not

WORKPLACE DIVERSITY 3
like him publicly exposing himself and that she is also needed in the IT team for the sake of the
project.
Consistent with and Cooke (2015) considering equality for both parties, Kelly and Sara should
be addressed separately. Each should be explained by the diversity policy which requires them to
accommodate each other despite their differences in beliefs. Sara should not be allowed to leave
the team; rather, she should understand that she cannot be fully comfortable because of diversity.
For this reason, she should accept her colleague’s sexual orientation. Kelly should also be
informed that being gay is not a mistake. However, he should know where and when to display
this nature and avoid making his colleague uncomfortable.
The Second Scenario
Irene did not bother to inquire from IT team members if they had any special dietary
requirements. She went ahead and prepared lunch that could not be eaten by Alvin, a vegan,
forcing him to temporarily leave the event. In this case, Irene did not ensure equal treatment and
she also did not consider the different needs of the members in terms of dietary issues.
Obviously, Alvin must have felt out of place until he decided to look for alternative food from
somewhere else. Being a team, leaving created a bad impression on Irene, who organized the
catering services (Hewlett et al, 2008).
The diversity policy requires equal treatment of all members of the group despite their
characteristics. People have different needs and beliefs. Irene, being the lunch organizer, should
have asked the members in case there was any special requirement as far as diet is concerned.
The policy calls for Irene to ensure equal treatment and equal considerations in terms of
diversity. She is solely responsible for ensuring that all members are comfortable and are equally
catered for. In this case, Irene should be approached separately and be reminded of the privacy
policy just in case she had forgotten. On the other hand, Alvin, the vegan, should also be talked
to in a polite way. He should be apologized to so that he can continue feeling free as part of the
team.