Finger Lakes' Diversity Management

Introduction

Diversity management is a designed approach to ensure that new adopted ways are implemented smoothly and long-term advantages of transformation are achieved. Therefore, various diversity managers are expected to adopt new schemes and administrative practices such as conferencing and collaboration in their management toolkit. This analysis focuses on the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired-Goodwill of the Finger Lakes’ diversity management.

Diversity Management Practices

In the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired-Goodwill of the Finger Lakes, current diversity management practices include empowering parents in their individual limitations and facilitating the use of new working methods which require a set of toolkits to facilitate system transformation. Administrative practices such as fair employment, rehabilitation, training, and provision of other social amenities without discrimination help the company in its diversity management strategies (“Goodwill of the Finger Lakes”, 2011). It is advisable that the practices would include various concepts such as assessing individual differences and abilities to make sure that specific talents are not wasted. In addition, it would limit conflicts in the organization.

Important Aspects of Diversity Management

The focus of diversity management should be set on its impact, especially on people and on the ways they perform from one situation to another while acting either as teams or individually. Diversity management in an organization ranges from a simple alteration of a process to a major transformation of a strategy or policy required to drive the organization to its highest potential through conferencing and collaboration (Bell, 2011).

The Organization’s Management Practices

Currently, conferencing and collaboration are used in promoting the organization. In this regard, diversity managers are guaranteed better solutions with maximum involvement of the organizations’ stakeholders. Therefore, conferencing enables stakeholders and managers to focus on diversity so that a manager can succeed. It is evident that due to the involvement of all participants in conferencing, the diversity management options which the organization intends to implement can be examined effectively (Bell, 2011).

Advantages of Conferencing and Collaboration

Stakeholders will be more confident that they are diversity agents or initiators when they are allowed to participate in the whole process of diversity management (Roosevelt, 2010). In this regard, conferencing becomes an effective tool in managing diversity. Technological diversities, which are essential in a conferencing and collaboration toolkit, increase productivity and boost the organizations’ understanding of its external and internal environment.

A collaborative approach in an organization’s diversity toolkit helps in solving problems by finding beneficial solutions (Roosevelt, 2010). It also aims at building a shared vision of a better future for an organization. During collaboration, management should inform everyone that the organization has accepted diversity of workers and stakeholders, and they have to work collectively to succeed despite the challenges. It would make earlier employed schemes less appropriate than they initially used to be.

Disadvantages of Conferencing and Collaboration

On the other hand, conferencing and collaboration might be time-consuming because they ensure that participants are empowered to play a role in defining diversity methodologies. In order to reach consensus, people might disagree during the process of collaboration thus wasting organizational resources (Bell, 2011). Even though practices such as conferencing and collaboration would promote agreement in decision making, the effect is that organizations might not have the exclusive power in dictating the nature and the course of transformation occurring in such entity. It means that all decisions should originate from dialogue and consensus, but such goals may not be reached.

Conclusion

In summary, it is evident that conferencing and collaboration applications are useful in diversity management for improving organizational decisions and development, increasing knowledge, and planning cycles. For example, communication, collaboration, and sharing of information among group members on different issues affecting the organization can be done through seminars and online conferences. Such practices are common in some organizations. Therefore, it is essential that an organization appreciates different human abilities in diversity management practices.