Overview
The
21st century has made people closer than ever before with
improvements in telecommunication technology and transportation together with
globalization which connected the whole world together (Saxena, 2014). Due to
these advancements, the working environment has also become more diverse with
an integration of all individuals with various differences (Inegbedion, 2020).
Therefore,
this post aims to identify the background of diversity and how organizational
culture can facilitate a diverse workforce by successfully managing them.
Diversity defined
Diversity can be defined as ‘any significant difference that distinguishes one individual from another’ (Kreitz, 2008, p.102).
‘Workforce diversity refers to the composition of work units in terms of the cultural or demographic characteristics that are salient and symbolically meaningful in the relationships among group members’ (Di-Tomaso et al., 2007, p. 474).
Levels of Diversity
There are two layers of diversity which consists of deep level diversity and surface level diversity (Gardenswatz and Rowe, 1994 as cited in Huszczo and Endres, 2013).
Figure 1: Levels of Diversity
(Source: Huszczo and Endres, 2013)
- Surface-Level Diversity
This implies the difference of individuals based on easily visible demographic characteristics like age, gender, sex, race, ethnicity or disability (Riordon, 2000). In prior research surface- level diversity was considered very important because individuals used easily visible characteristics of themselves and others to categorize them in to social classifications based on their own thinking patterns and attitudes (Fiske, 2000).
- Deep-Level Diversity
This
consists of the psychological differences of individuals based on personality,
attitudes and values that can be known overtime (Harrison et al., 1998 as cited in Kristen and Wang, 2010).
The impact of Diversity
According to Martin (2014, p.89), even though certain challenges such as ‘miscommunication, creation of barriers and dysfunctional adaptation behaviors’ exist in diversity it is mitigated by the benefits it provides. The following points discusses the positive aspects of diversity:
- Diversity enhances learning
The insights, skills, and experiences of individuals that belong to different backgrounds can bring valuable ideas that can be used to penetrate certain markets which also enhances the knowledge of peers and company (Ely and Thomas, 2001).
- It creates an innovative culture
Gomez-Mejia
et al., (2006) proves through his
research that creativity, problem solving and flexibility of a diverse
organizational culture will encourage innovative ideas of employees. However,
Simmons & Rowland (2011) suggests that there should be proper goals and
processes to make maximum use of the diverse employees to facilitate
innovation.
Diversity Management and methods to implement diversity
management strategies
Diversity
Management is ‘the systematic and planned commitment by organizations to
recruit, retain, reward, and promote a heterogeneous mix of employees’ (Ivancevich
and Gilbert, 2000, p. 75)
In
order to manage diversity successfully, ‘diversity must be part of an
organization's strategic business objective’ (Aghazadeh, 2004).
Below are some methods to manage diversity successfully:
- Recruiting, selecting, and retaining diverse employees
When recruiting, advertisements should be promoted in such a
manner that underrepresented demographic parties would be attracted and keen on
applying to the position (Avery, 2003).
In the selection process,
organizations should have fair and unbiased protocols where managers possess
awareness to focus on the abilities, talents and skills of the individuals
without giving focus to demographic differences (Buckley et al., 2007).
Career advancements should be provided based on their talent and experience irrespective of their differences of personalities (Schaubroeck and Lam, 2002).
- Focusing on group activities
When different individuals come together as a group, the manager should act as leader to emphasize that everyone is working towards achieving common goals and objectives to complete a task successfully (Homan et al., 2017).
- Diversity Programs
Organizations needs to focus on programs where managers are
engaged in creating diversity through college recruitment programs and
mentoring, rotating them in various departments to open them to various
individuals and social accountability (Dobbin and Kalev, 2016).
Video 1 entails how Apple Inc. has embraced diversity of
individuals to create innovative better products.
Source: (Apple, 2017)
When
taking in to consideration how an organizational culture that facilitates
diversity can benefit, it is extremely important for organizations to build an
organizational culture that inspires and attracts capable individuals from
different backgrounds to work in organizations that makes them feel accepted
and capable (Panda, 2010).
References
Aghazadeh, S.
(2004). Managing workforce diversity as an essential resource for improving
organizational performance. International
Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. 53(6). pp. 521-531.
doi: 10.1108/17410400410556183.
Apple, (2017).
Apple — Inclusion & Diversity — Open. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvb49-Csq1o (Accessed: 7th May 2021).
Avery, D.
(2003). Reactions to Diversity in Recruitment Advertising: Are the Differences
Black and White?. Journal of Applied Psychology. 88(4). pp. 672–679. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.88.4.67.
Buckley, R., Jackson, K.,
Bolino, M., Veres J. and Hubert, F. (2007). The influence of relational
demography on panel interview ratings: A field experiment. Personnel Psychology. 60(3). pp. 627–646. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2007.00086.x.
DiTomaso, N., Post, C. and
Parks-Yancy, R. (2007). Workforce Diversity and Inequality: Power, Status, and
Numbers. Annual Review of Sociology.
33(1). pp. 473-501. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.33.040406.131805.
Dobbin, F. and Kalev, A. (2016).
Spotlight on building a diverse organization: Why diversity programs fail.
Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://stratserv.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Why-Diversity-Programs-Fail.pdf
(Accessed: 8th May 2021).
Ely, R. and
Thomas, D. (2001). Cultural Diversity at Work: The Effects of Diversity
Perspectives on Work Group Processes and Outcomes. Administrative Science Quarterly. 46(2). pp. 229-273. doi: 10.2307/2667087.
Gomez-Mejia,
L., Balkin, D., and Cardy, R. (2007). Managing
human resources. 5th edn. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Homan, A., Hollenbeck,
J., Humphrey, S., Knippenberg, D., Ilgen, D. and Van Kleef, G. (2017). Facing
Differences With an Open Mind: Openness to Experience, Salience of Intragroup
Differences, and Performance of Diverse Work Groups. Academy of Management Journal. 51(6). pp. 1204-1222. doi: 10.5465/amj.2008.35732995.
Huszczo, G.
and Endres, M. (2013). Joint Effects of Gender and Personality on Choice of
Happiness Strategies. Europe’s Journal of
Psychology. 9(1). pp. 136-149. doi: 10.5964/ejop.v9i1.536.
Inegbideon,
H., Sunday, E. Asaleye, A., Lawal, A. and Adebanji, A. (2020). Managing
Diversity for Organizational Efficiency.
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and Gilbert, J. (2000). Diversity management: Time for a new approach. Public Personnel Management. 29(1). pp.
75–92. doi:10.1177/009102600002900106.
Fiske, S. (2000). Interdependence
and the reduction of prejudice. The Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology. pp.
115–135.
Kreitz, P,
(2008). Best Practices for Managing Organizational Diversity. The Journal of Academic Librarianship.
pp. 101-120. doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2007.12.001.
Kristen, K.
and Wang, M. (2010). Deep-Level Diversity and Leadership. American Psychologist. 65(9). pp. 932-934. doi: 10.1037/a0021355.
Martin, G.
(2014). The Effects of Cultural Diversity in the Workplace. Journal of Diversity Management. 9(2).
pp.89-92.
Panda, S.
(2010). Managing cultural diversity-strategies for organizational success. Journal of Contemporary Research in
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(2014). Workforce
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14 Comments
Agreed Arjun, in Organization there are employees with multiple backgrounds, in such an environment different voices, diverse viewpoints, perspectives and approaches should value by employer to encourage employees to make a unique & meaningful contribution to the organization(Mazur,2014).
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feedback Sandun, yes different ideas and opinions of diverse employees can lead to innovation, new projects and result in competitive advantage and increase the quality of the service provided by the organization (Andrews et al., 2014).
DeleteAgreed with you Arjun, According to the article of Ann, et al., (2014) state that work force diversity promotes creativity, innovative problem solving and productivity. This occurs through the sharing of diverse ideas, experiences and perspectives.
ReplyDeleteYes Sachith, employees should be encouraged to value the physical, cultural and interpersonal differences of each other which can enhance problem-solving, decision making and creativity in work (Kochan et al., 2003).
DeleteAbsolutely Arjun. In current context, it has become a necessity to employ diversified workforce for organizations to survive. It is always an enormous challenge for the organisations management to manage such diversified workforce. Each individual is different from other due reasons such as religion, educational background, age and perception. Therefore, it is a possibility that at some point these differences may affect the interpersonal relationship among individuals. For smooth functioning of an organization, cordial interpersonal relationship among the employees is important (Saxena, 2014).
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Oshadee, as you correctly said individuals are from different backgrounds and they not only perceive themselves with but also perceive others according to their own ideologies therefore it is vital that leaders effectively manage the communication, adaptability, differences and changes to benefit the organization avoiding any clashes (Patrick and Kumar, 2012).
DeleteAgree with you. The policies formulated to manage diversity aim to implement initiatives, activities,
ReplyDeleteand practices that recognize, promote, or encourage the differences between groups or people. These elements are seen as positive values that warrant development to achieve social integration, which can also boost the productivity of the company and support the democratization of access to opportunities (Myers, 2003).
Yes Wasantha, workforce diversity creates a heterogeneous environment which can increase productivity but proper management techniques should be adapted to avoid culture clashes (Saxena, 2014).
DeleteAgree with you. Hiring diversified workforce will definitely leads to improved productivity, but may prove to disaster if not managed properly because not only the management but employees are also feeling some problems like language problem, attitude clashes, and difference in perceptions, which is directly related to human behavior which ultimately affects the productivity of any organization (Saxena, 2014).
ReplyDeleteYes definitely Chamara, that is why it is important to develop training programs for managers and other employees to be sensitive to other cultures and build an inclusive culture (David et al., 2015).
DeleteAgreed. Eunmi Chang (2008) mentioned, In today's globalized world, the management of diversity has become a significant challenge. For these diverse employees to become competitive resources, organizations must effectively manage them. And also, employees become more engaged if the organization focuses on managing employees more diverse.
ReplyDeleteYes Harsha, in order to overcome the challenges of diversity organizations need to include diversity as a Human Resource practice which will align the strategies of Human Resource practices and diversity management (Jabbour et al., 2011).
DeleteWell said, Managing diversity effectively is surly a win win situation for any organization that intends to grow and compete across borders. The differences in age, gender and race are not the only factor that account for cultural diversity at work. Therefore the ability of an organization to effectively manage its diversified workforce directly influences the quality of its creativity and innovation in terms of new product planning and development. Diversity helps to bridge the gaps in cultural deficiencies because people are gifted differently. A company who embraces diversity will attract a wider range of candidates to their vacancies, as it will be viewed as more progressive organiZation and will appeal to individuals from all walks of life. One particular culture might be very good in technical skill but may not be good at human skill. So it is essential to play on each individual’s strengths and collaborate with others in the team. So, a good blend of cultural diversity will create a good synergy for effective organizational effectiveness(Samuel & Odor, 2018).
ReplyDeleteYes Indeevari, managing diversity effectively open doors to more perspectives and wider skill base which increases performance of an organization but if not managed properly it can also cause a negative impact on inter group relationships therefore it is vital for organizations to adapt 'hybrid models' which includes both information decision making and social categorization perspectives that can exactly identify the root cause of both positive and negative diversity and take necessary actions to resolve it (Christian et al., 2006).
Delete