Diversity in the Workforce 

Correlations among Well-Being, Job Performance and Satisfaction and Competency in the Healthcare
Annotated Bibliography

Chou, L., Chu, C., Yeh, H., & Chen, J. (2014). Work stress and employee well-being: The critical role of Zhong-Yong. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 17, 115-127.

In this article, Chou, Chu, Yeh, and Chen (2014) provides definitions of work stress, job satisfaction, and well-being.  Job satisfaction is defined by Locke (1976) cited in Chou, Chu, Yeh, and Chen (2014) as a positive or pleasurable emotional state emanating from employee’ job experience. The term “well-being” is defined by Chou et al. (2014) as a subjective feeling, which leads to subjective well-being. Individuals who have increased levels of well-being are often said to be in a satisfied and happy state. Diener, Oishi and Lucas (2003) cited in Chou et al. (2014) argue that well-being contains components of emotions and cognition.

Benefits of diversity in the workplace

Enchautegui-de-Jesus, N., Hughes, D., & Oh, H.J. (2006). Well-being in the context of

workplace ethnic diversity.  Journal of Community Psychology, 34(2), 211-223.

In this article, Enchautegui-de-Jesus et al.  (2006) conducted a study to investigate the relationship between workplace diversity and job satisfaction, life-satisfaction, psychological well-being, and psychosomatic complaints. The findings of this study indicated that there is an inverted U-shape correlation between positive well-being outcomes and workplace diversity. Additionally, the study found that individuals who worked in higher number of co-ethnics experienced increased psychosomatic complains and reduced job satisfaction and life satisfaction. Enchautegui-de-Jesus et al. (2006) describes the term “diversity” as the representation of a wide array of social categories, often based in ethnicity, race, and gender within an organization.

Cultural diversity in the workplace

Popper-Giveon, A., Liberman, I., & Keshet, Y. (2013). Workforce ethnic diversity and culturally

competent health care: The case of Arab physicians in Israel. Ethnicity & Health, 19(6), 645-658.

In this article, Popper-Given, Liberman, and Keshet (2013) explored workforce ethnic diversity and culturally competent health care. The authors argue that today’s healthcare is increasingly being provided within the context of ethnic diversity. Over the last few decades, concerns regarding ethnic disparities within healthcare have attracted healthcare providers, policy-makers, and researchers.  Additionally, leadership teams, government agencies, professionals, and corporate firms are actively working to promote and enhance their workforce diversity. Some of the incentives to increase workforce diversity include problem-solving, innovation, enhancements in team creativity, as well as, access to larger talent pool. Ethical and social drivers for promoting and enhancing workplace diversity include overcoming obstacles in access to economic, health, and education resources. Promoting diversity in workplace has been hailed as important in providing linguistically and culturally competent care with an aim of minimizing health disparities and enhancing the health of minority populations. For instance, Arab healthcare professionals working in Israel can provide Arab patients with improved care since they understand the values and language of Arab society than the Jewish (Popper-Giveon, et al., 2013). Popper-Giveon et al. (2013) found that workplace diversity increase job satisfaction among minority healthcare workers. Specifically, the authors found that Arab physicians working in Israel expressed satisfaction and aspiration to joining the majority Jewish society and they were happy to provide to provide care to a large proportion of patients, including Jews and Arabs.

Importance of diversity in the workplace

O’Brien, K.R., Scheffer, M., van Nes, E.H., & Lee, R. (2015). How to break the cycle of low

workforce diversity: A model for change.  PloS ONE, 10(7), 1-15.

In this article, O’Brien, Scheffer, van Nes and Lee (2015)  explored the correlation between diversity in the workforce and well-being has been well-searched and documented. Workplace diversity, as argued out by O’Brient et al. (2015) has the potential to increase group performance, particularly innovation and creativity. However, the authors pointed out that diversity can increase intergroup conflict and bias; reduce communication, trust, and cohesion (O’Brient et al., 2015).

Seeleman, C., Essink-Bot, M., Stronks, K., & Ingleby, D. (2015). How should health service

organizations respond to diversity? A content analysis of six approaches. BMC Health Services Research, 15 (510), 1-18.

In this article, Seeleman, Essink-Bot, Stronks and Ingleby (2015) identified a broad range of approaches to organizational responsiveness to diversity. Important domains for creating responsive organizations to diversity encompass actively fostering and promoting the ideal of responsiveness, promoting patient and community participating, ensuring responsiveness in care provision, ensuring access for all users, development of diverse and competent workforce, gathering and evaluating data to provide empirical evidence on needs and inequalities, as well as, organizational commitment (Seeleman, Essink-Bot, Stronks & Ingleby, 2015).  

Singh, B., Winkel, D.E., & Selvarajan, T.T. (2013). Managing diversity at work: Does

psychological safety holds the key to racial differences in employee performance? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 86, 242-263.

Singh, Winkel, and Selvarajan (2013) conducted a study to examine whether psychological safety holds the key to racial difference in employee performance. The findings of the study found that the correlation between employee performance and workplace diversity was mediated by psychological safety. Moreover, Singh et al. (2013) found that in diverse work climate, race plays a critical role in influencing workers’ organizational experience which may affect their attitude and behaviors. Specifically, the authors demonstrated that in a diversity work climate, workers feel psychologically safe communicating their identities, which in turn affect their extra-role and in-role performance. The study concluded that performance, psychological safety, and diversity climate is significant for all employees irrespective of their racial identity. According to Singh et al. (2013), the effects of psychological safety and diversity climate are stronger among employees from minority groups and as such, there was need for healthcare organizations to be more sensitive to the apprehensions and needs of minority healthcare workers. A study conducted by Popper-Giveon et al. (2013) workplace diversity increase job satisfaction among minority healthcare workers. Specifically, the authors found that Arab physicians working in Israel expressed satisfaction and aspiration to joining the majority Jewish society and they were happy to provide to provide care to a large proportion of patients, including Jews and Arabs (Popper-Giveon et al., 2013).

Conclusion

This annotated bibliography demonstrates that workplace diversity has the potential to increase group performance, job satisfaction, life satisfaction particularly innovation and creativity. Nevertheless, diversity can increase intergroup conflict and bias, reduce communication, trust, and cohesion. Specifically, some studies found that individuals who worked in higher number of co-ethnics experienced increased psychosomatic complains and reduced job satisfaction and life satisfaction.