"Diversity, if positively managed, can increase creativity and innovation in organizations as well as improve decision making by providing different perspectives on problems." (Robbins, 2001, p.16). Robbins states, "One of the most and broad-based challenges currently facing organizations in adapting to people who are different". .
Computer programming is a very technical field. The focus in every job I ever had has been on technical, hard skills. A vast majority of managers in the programming field began their career in the technical side of programming and had little need for soft skills. Our primary dealings are with the hard skills where issues are black and white, and solutions have clear-cut consequences with weight and substance. When programmers are hired, it is expected that they have many of the technical skills required to be successful. Anything they do not know can be easily learned from reading a book or taking a tutorial on the Internet. In contrast, a soft skills training usually requires a company to hire an outside consultant. This costs money and they do not see an immediate return on investment as they would with a newly acquired technical skill, they cannot justify spending the money on developing these much needed soft skills. Many of these professionals know what needs to be done and how to get the job done, many have difficulty communicating this to others and motivating employees to produce the best results. Individual development, employee empowerment, and socialization are important topics related to organizational behavior and the speed at which a company can use personnel for maximum effectiveness. If employees in an organization had a better understanding of Organizational Behavior, I believe that productivity would increase dramatically. If employees have not developed soft, interpersonal skills, this could be a major challenge. If companies would take the time to train their employees in this area, the team would communicate more effectively and be more aware and tolerant of the differences within the group.
