Overview

Australia is a culturally diverse country. This means it is made up of people from all around the world with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives; people, who speak different languages, practice different religions, have different lifestyles and interact in different ways.

You can see evidence of this everywhere you go – at the shops, walking down a city street, catching public transport or dining at a restaurant.

Cultural diversity is something to be celebrated. A diverse country, and indeed a diverse workplace, allows us to share and experience new ideas, cultures and ways of doing things.

Diversity in the workplace is not simply about employing people from different backgrounds, but embracing people’s differences and managing them in a way that benefits employees, customers and the establishment. Research indicates that such workplaces are better at innovation, problem-solving and creating new products and services.

Throughout this unit you will see how one manager turns his business around by embracing the diversity of his staff and implementing diversity management strategies. You are invited to share his journey and learn how to overcome diversity issues when things don’t work out as planned.

In this unit you will learn how to:

• Encourage respect for diversity in the workplace
• Use diversity as an asset
• Deal with problems arising from diversity issues.