Diversity workplace

In this blogger, I am going to introduce and analysis the current state of diversity in the typical Australian workplace, and five advantages to be gained from embracing diversity in the workplace. Diversity in the Australian workplace means having employees from a wide range of backgrounds. In the other word, people can work with co-workers of different ages, gender, ethnicity, physical ability, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, work experience, educational background, and so on. The current state of diversity in the typical Australian workplace could be stated under the formal clause of national laws that cover equal employment opportunity and anti-discrimination in a workplace. employers and employees are required by these laws to create a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. Especially, employers should understand their rights and responsibilities according to human rights and anti-discrimination law. It is a vital part for employers to put anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and procedures in the workplace they can increase productivity and efficiency. 

Diversity workplace affects not only the company's internal people but also their customers, suppliers, and other external stakeholders. There are five advantages to be gained from embracing diversity in the workplace and if you have a diverse workplace in your company, you can benefit from the different talents, experiences, and perspectives of your employees. 

Talents, experience, skills: people from different background normally have different viewpoints toward issues the company faced because of their various experiences, perspectives, and emotional concerns. employees with different talents, skills, and experiences could bring benefits to the organisations and their performance. Also, team members can learn various experiences and skills from each other.

Increased productivity: diversity workplace brings in diverse different talents together working towards a common goal using different sets of skill that increases their productivity. 

Increase the possibilities of into international business: multicultural diversity workplace in one of important reason for a company who want to expand their business over shores. employees who speak different languages it can make it possible for a company to work on a global basis and interact with a broader client-base. 

Enhances communication skills: a good communication skill can bring in new attitudes and processed that profit the whole team. In addition, language skill pool is increased that help organisation forward to compete in the international global world and to increase its diverse customer base.  

Problem-solving performance: problem- solving efficiency indeed diverse labor carry broader experiences and perspectives to address difficulties. when so many different and diverse minds coming together, many solutions will occur as every individual brings in their own thinking way. In conclusion, the current state of diversity in the typical Australian workplace could be stated under the formal clause of national laws and employers and employees are required to create a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. the advantages of diversity embracing affect the base line revenues of any organization. In our global industry world, we cannot ignore the effects of diversity in the international organisation, otherwise, the organisations will decreased productivity and profitability.   

Social media

Social media includes internal social networks within an organisation and public social media like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. The use of internal social media has the potential benefits to make a huge difference within an organisation. Internal social media provide a way for employers and employees to interact and develop. By interacting with their employees and paying attention to the employees’ interactions, leaders can use the information provided by their social network to improve employee experience as well as customer experience and benefit their company as a whole.

Here are some reasons social networks can benefit employees and employers:

Social media networking is a great way to increase employees’ loyalty and raise morale, which is likely to happen when employees are given resources to build relationships with their co-workers. They are able to network with people in other departments that they don’t usually see. By empowering your employees to build these relationships, you strengthen your company as a whole when your employees feel better connected.

In addition, employees can ask questions and solve a work problem through the public social media. In other words, social media can help employees when dealing with a difficult work problem. For example, if an employee has an issue they cannot solve it, social media may give the answer. This is a simple and quick way to get several possible solutions after the employee writes this issue down on social media. Even sometimes, there is no good answers used to solve the problem, but social media will give us a new perspective.  

However, there are some problems with mixing personal social media with workplace relationships. Social media can become a bit of a distraction. For example, if employees use it as personal social media rather than a tool for effective communication with team members, it can lead to lost productivity. It can also take employees’ focus away from what’s really important, including losing their attention when they're working on difficult tasks. The lost productivity can lead to poor services and cause higher operating costs for their companies. 

In conclusion, under the research, I have found that there are nearly half of the companies in local businesses have a workday usage ban policy. But we should remember that even with a workday usage ban in workplace, which does not mean the employer has the right to control all employee social media activities. Even policies that are more specific and seemingly within company rights are subject to strict scrutiny; it’s best to get the assistance of legal counsel to be sure that any social media policy is not overly restrictive such that it violates employee rights.

5 Benefits of Social Network at work, Work Logy, viewed by 12/09/2016

https://workology.com/5-benefits-of-social-networks-at-work/\

7 reason Social Media in the Workplace can help Employees, the olsongroup, Viewed by 11/09/2017

https://theolsongroup.com/5-reasons-social-media-workplace-can-help-employees/

The Facts of Harmony Day

Harmony Day is a celebration of Australian cultural diversity which held on every year 21 March began since 1999, coinciding with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It is a day of cultural respect for everyone who lives in Australia. Since 1999, there have been more than 70,000 Harmony Day events held in childcare centres, schools, community groups, churches, businesses and federal, state and local government agencies across Australia.

The message of Harmony Day is ‘everyone belongs’. The main meaning of the Day is to engage people to come together and participate in the society and local activities. It focuses on community participation, inclusiveness, celebrating diversity, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.

The Official Colour: Orange

Orange is selected to be the official colour to represent Harmony Day because orange means social communication and meaningful conversations. In addition, orange signifies the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect. There is a tradition that Australians are encouraged to wear something orange and/or the distinctive orange ribbon to show their support for cultural diversity and an inclusive Australia.

21 March is also International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Harmony Day coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It also celebrate a series of events and activities worldwide on March 21 each year. The purpose of the Day is order to remind people of racial discrimination's negative consequences and to encourage people to remember their responsibility and legal duty to combat racial discrimination. On the Day, people usually run some activities and events like a webcast from the UN headquarters, and some events aim to assist young people to voice their ideas, find a right way to fight racial discrimination. Moreover, some essays, photo projects and published articles have been uploaded to against racial discrimination.

Posted by Wenhua Tian 
                   Mi Yuan