Since the beginning of civilized society, Humans have dealt with built-in prejudice and racism that has been programmed into them by society and the archaic culture of racial supremacy. This has been primarily done because of the fear humans undergo when met or confronted with different views, cultures, opinions, and physical appearances that arent their own. This has been seen countless times throughout history from World War II to the discovery and eventual domination of the Americas by the English and Spanish. In todays business world the issue of racism and its effects have been brought to the forefront of a companys growth plans. Because of this companies have begun developing programs to increase the level of multicultural inclusion and decrease their individual biases. This can be done by opening communication on the difficult subject, developing education programs, having clear guidelines for harassment or racism, and investing in employee-led resource groups. (Schoeller, 2020) Many
companies have taken the necessary steps to expand their diversity. Diversity, however, can be a double-edged sword if not introduced properly. Laura Sherbin and Ripa Rashid state that diversity alone doesnt drive inclusion. In fact, without inclusion, theres often a diversity backlash This can be seen with many companies that have been in business for many years. They introduce a mask of diversity and change to the employee group to seem more diverse but change nothing when it comes to the culture that the past leadership has put in place. This leads to the exclusion of new and diverse employees from important activities or advancement opportunities. (Sherbin & Rashid, 2017) Throughout this literature review, we will be looking at the benefits that diversity with proper inclusion can have on companies. We will dive into the steps that leaders can take to elevate their work to the next level of business as well as the steps that are being taken to eliminate racism from the modern workplace.