Australian Workplace Diversity

Australian Workplace Diversity

Australia is a vibrant and multi-cultural country. Almost 7 million people have migrated to Australia since 1945. The diversity of society is one of the greatest strengths of Australia. 

Australian Human Rights Commission (2014) indicates that about one in four of Australians were born overseas. In the year of 2013, overseas migration represented 60% of Australia's population growth. 

Today we are going to talk about cultural diversity in Australian workplace. Most of people would accept cultural diversity as part of daily life. Diversity at workplace is about capturing talent, boosting innovation and encouraging productivity. 

Current state of diversity in Australian workplace

Auastralia post (2016) pointed out their most significant diversity in the office, which contains gender, aborigional and Torres Strait Islander Australians, disabled, culturally and linguistically diverse.

Organisations which are able to manage their cultural diversity, is more likely to reduce staff turnover cost, and minimise legal and compliance risks.
Luckily, Australia has national and state laws that cover equal employment oppournity and anti-discrimination in workplace. By putting effective anti-discrimination and anti-harrassment procedures in place in business, you could improve productivity and increase efficiency.

Having co-workers from Culturally and Linguistically Diversity backgrounds is known as a CALD workplace.  This includes workplace that have people from different countries or different areas in Australia, have different cultural backgrounds,  speak different language and follow different religions.

5 Advantages of embracing diversity in workplace

1. Understand Australia's multi-cultural consumers

Having well embraced cultural diversity in workplace would largely improve understanding of customer base. Employees from wide range of cultural backgrounds comes a greater understanding of customers' poins of view. The higher the diversity, the more likely client needs would be empathise.

2. Better customer service 

    Their language and cultral skills. For instance, Australian banks and business often employ people who speak Mandarin in Chinatown branches to provide better service to consumers from Asian backgrounds. It works in insurance and retail organisation as well.

3. Improves employee performance

Employees are more likely to feel comfortable and happy in an environment where inclusivity is a priority. Equality in the workplace is important for encouraging workers from all backgrounds to feel confident in their ability and achieve their best. The higher the team morale, the more productive employees are.

4. Expand internationally to overseas markets

Having employees who knows the business background of the oversea market your organisation is going to expand to is great help. The benefits of diverse teams and multi cultural identities have been measured in a number of international studies which have found that diverse teams are better able

to solve complex problems, exhibit a higher level of creativity and a broader thought

process. These benefits are measurable- research has found diverse work teams, properly managed and trained, produce results six times higher than homogenous teams.

5.  Increased productivity

Diversity offers different ways of thinking. As long as employees are comfortable speaking with co-workers and express their own ideas, then collaboration and teamwork thrive. It’s also been shown that more diverse brands have higher levels of morale, which in turn leads to greater productivity and employee satisfaction.

Only by well embracing diversity in our workplace can we get best of the benefits. To embrace diversity, organisations is suggested to do following: (Business, 2016)
Develop workplace policies and training that promote cross-cultural awareness, hold lunches and events that celebrate workplace diversity and encourage employees to share their cultures and experiences. Set up mentoring arrangements that match employees from different backgrounds to encourage open communication. Also find out when significant cultural and religious events and days are on.

References: 
AU post 2016, Diversity and Inclusion, Annual Report 2016, viewd 8th Oct 2017, from:
https://auspost.com.au/content/dam/auspost_corp/media/documents/diversity-and-inclusion-annual-report-2016.pdf

Australian Human Rights Commitsion 2014, Face the facts: Cultural Diversity, Australian Human Rights Commision, viewed 8th Oct 2017, from:
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/face-facts-cultural-diversity

Business 2016, Employee People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds, Australian Goverment, viewed 8th Oct 2017, from:
https://www.business.gov.au/Info/Run/Employ-people/Employ-people-from-Culturally-and-Linguistically-Diverse-backgrounds