Theories of Workforce Diversity - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : HRM-Workforce Diversity Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Introduction Workforce diversity refers to similarities and differences that exist among employees of the same company in terms of age, sex, religion, race, physical abilities, and disabilities among others. Workforce diversity is a rather complex trend to manage in every organization. However, for any organization to succeed, workforce diversity must be properly managed. This is most important with the current changes that are taking place as organizations try to become global. Workforce diversity indicates the policies and practices that an organization may take to incorporate people in the workforce some who may be considered in some ways, different from others in the organization. Workforce diversity has several benefits and some disadvantages to the organization. It may therefore be a blessing or a curse in the organization (U.S Forest Service, Fire and Aviation Management 2000). Whether a blessing or a curse, it depends on the ability of the manager to manage the diversity among the workforce. This essay therefore discusses ways in which workforce may become a curse or a blessing to the organization (IABC 2004). THEORIES OF WORKFORCE DIVERSITY a) Social identity theory This is a cognitive social psychological theory whose origin is Europe. This theory links between social structures and personal identity by considering the importance that people hold into their belonging to a certain group for example those joined by race, gender, and ethnicity. This theory suggests that people tend to assemble themselves into social groups that make sense to them and this defines the manner in which individuals work together with others from the other groups. Haslam (2001) defines social identity as an individual’s knowledge that he or she belongs to a certain group and the value that he or she attaches to the membership of a certain group. Social comparison is also another aspect of social identity theory that defines the process by which people use to assess themselves by making comparisons between membership in their group and that of other groups. People try to asses their membership in attempts to differentiate one’s membership in one group from others. This is done in order to achieve superiority over other groups. To enable people of different social categories to do things together, social categorization is the process that divides and classifies people together and to command the social environment so that it can enable people t take up social activities together. In most organizations, people tend to discriminate others from different categories (Tajfel & Turner 2006). b) Social network theory This theory considers social interactions inform of nodes and ties. Nod4s are the individuals who constitute the relationships while ties are the relationships that exist between the individuals. A social network is therefore an indication of all connections between individuals. These relationships can be used to define the social ability of an individual in his or her setting. According to this theory, the relationships that an individual has with others in the same organization are less important than the individual traits. This therefore explains that the ability of an individual to contribute to success in an organization depends on the ability that is granted t him by his or her position in the structure of the network. Social networks can define how organizations relate with each other, outlining the social relations that executives have with each other as well as the relations of employees with each other. A clear understanding of these networks can enable the organizations that deal with workplace diversity in setting up policies that will govern all activities in the organization (Ahmed 2007). Factors that motivate organizations to diversify their workforces Whether a curse or a blessing to the organization, workforce diversity has to be taken up due to various factors. Such factors include: a) Social responsibility Most of the people who benefit from proper practices of workplace diversity are men and women from the disadvantaged communities. As a social corporate responsibility, it is important for the organization to take up good workplace diversity practices to help them. Diversification of the workplaces can offer members of the society a chance to make a living and achieve their dreams. This is because it allows any members of the society a chance to work. It is therefore a social responsibility of the organization to ensure that its set up can allow any member in the society (Ball 2005). b) An economic reimbursement Most people who do not get spaces in the workplaces rely on social programs that are supported by the taxpayers’ money. Diversifying the workplaces will therefore ensure that these people get chances to work and they may be turned from tax users into tax payers. It ensures that they no longer rely on tax-supported programs. c) As workplace resources The varying demographics in the work place are a source of dramatic labour pool. Nowadays, a homogenous group of able men no longer dominates the labour pool. People from a range of backgrounds have dominated the labour pool with varied talents and different experiences. For companies to become competitive in the global business world, they must incorporate the diverse abilities that exist in the members of the society into their organization. This will also give them an advantage of attracting the most talented into their pool of labour. The diversified workforce will therefore enable the organization to survive in different places in the globe (Mor Barak 2010). d) As a legal requirement In many countries, there are laws that mandate organizations to be non-discriminatory when it comes to employment. There are legislations for Equal Employment Opportunity where non compliance can result in fines or denial of contracts by the government agencies. It is therefore important for the employers to take advantage of the workforce diversity under such legislations. e) As a marketing approach Buying power is gained from having access to people from all classes of life in today’s global business environment. The customer base is becoming diverse, made up of men, women and children of different races. It is therefore important to ensure that the workforce is similarly diverse made up of men and women of different races, ethnicity, abilities and ages. A diversified workforce also helps in ensuring that companies produce good sand services that are appealing to the diverse customer base. Competitive organizations must therefore ensure a workforce that can meet diverse needs of the customers. Companies that also involve much interaction with the members of the public must ensure that the composition of their workforce reflects that of their customers and the general members of the public (DiTomaso, & Post 2004). HOW WORK FORCE DIVERSITY CAN BECOME A CURSE Workforce diversity may become a curse in the organization due to the following problems that it comes with. It becomes a curse since people feel threatened while working with others who are of different abilities, sex, and age. Other factors include: a) High cost of training With a diversified workforce, it is important to train the employees so that they can be able to accept the traits of others. They have to be trained on how to cope with other people’s personalities and ideas. Training is done to all the organization staff to enable them to coexist together. Some employees may have difficulties in working with others who are below or above their age. They therefore have to be trained through seminars and lectures so that they can work despite those differences (Ebert & Griffin 2005). b) High rise in conflicts Conflict may arise where two people with different ideas may view situations differently. Where there is diversity, most conflicts arise due to ignorance. People develop feelings of prejudice and offensive comments that results to people having difficulty in accepting each other. Conflicts mostly arise from feelings of superiority where one feels that he cannot follow ideas of those in the minority group. Where the management does not pay attention to such conflicts, the performance of the organization may have trouble. Proper management of conflicts may result in improved creativity and consequently the performance of the organization. Where mangers are able to bring together those whose goals are conflicting and support those belonging to the minority group, their performance in their duties can be increased. Conflicts must however be there in every situation where human beings exist but the most important thing is to manage them properly (Sherif 2007). c) Increased labour turnover and work absenteeism Labour turnover has been found to be high in workplaces where diversity is encouraged. This is especially where the ration of women is higher than for men. Absenteeism is also associated mostly with women. Members of the minority groups are also associated with higher labour turnover than those of the minority. This is because being in the minority group, one faces many challenges due to feeling of superiority from the members of the superior group. Absenteeism is also highly associated with the members of the superior group. This is because some of the suffer from the feeling of superiority to an extent that they cease following the regulations at the work place. Some of them may therefore take advantage of the superior status and start being absent from work. Workplace diversity is therefore associated with labour turnover and job absenteeism. However, more problems of workplace diversity arise when it is poorly managed. Poor management of the workplace diversity may result in loss of employee satisfaction and eventually reduced productivity. This is the employee that belong to the superior group mostly feel of high value, they are hard working and highly innovative. On the other hand, those from the minority group in most cases feel less valued due to factors such as stereotypes and prejudice that exists in the diverse workplaces. Poor workplace diversity management practices such as denial of access to information, and unacceptable treatment of the minority group may result in lowering the abilities of the minority group and de-motivation. This eventually results in reduced work performance. Potential of some members of the staff may be hindered where the employees are not given equal opportunities in the work place (Cummings & Worley 2008). HOW WORK FORCE DIVERSITY CAN BECOME A BLESSING Workforce diversity may become a blessing to the organization due to various benefits that it may bring to the organization most of which are geared towards increased productivity in the organization. It also becomes a blessing when the organization properly utilizes the differences in age, sex, race and abilities for the success of the organization. Some of the benefits of workforce diversity include: a) Offers a competitive advantage to the organization Proper management of workforce diversity places an organization at a competitive position since there is increased creativity, improved decision-making, innovativeness, and better marketing opportunities among the represented ethnic groups, gender, and the age groups. The organization may therefore be able to secure both local and foreign markets. According to Florida & Gary (2001), an organization whose employees belong to diverse cultures may experience effective performance compared to those belonging to homogeneous cultural group. This is because others may have new technological knowledge that they may apply in their countries of work. Provision of better services Organizations whose work force is diverse can provide better services to its customers since they have ability to understand the needs of their customers properly. Incorporation of women, children and men in an organization may enable in capturing of those niche markets thus diversifying their market sections. Ability to manage a diverse workforce is also seen as a moral and social necessity since all groups in the society have a role to play in the development of the entire society. Since the world economies are shifting towards offering services more than manufacturing, diversity may be of great importance since service industries rely more on ability to interact with the customers. A diversified workforce may therefore consist of people who are better in interacting with a certain group of customers than others. For example, women may be able to market services targeting women since they may relate with them better than men would do (Cummings & Worley 2008). b) Enables an organization to enter the global market arena A diverse workforce may have the advantages of innovativeness and creativity. This therefore enables an organization to be competitive even in the international markets. A diverse workforce also has the advantage of flexibility and this enables the organization to respond and adapt to market changes. Therefore, as the markets are changing into being global, the organizations that have a diverse workforce may be able to respond better than others. c) Workforce diversity addresses legal requirements There are legislations that address workplace issues such as gender equality, work place discrimination, and respect for the rights of the employees. An organization that manages workforce diversity therefore addresses the legal requirements against workplace discrimination and gender equality when it comes to employment thus distancing itself from legal wrangles. Strategies of managing workplace diversity In order to deal with diverse workforce in the most efficient manner, it is important for the management to consider factors such as the policies, practices and the environment in the organization, and their impact on the differences that occur within the workforce group. The focus of every organization is to ensure that workplace diversity becomes a blessing and not curse. To achieve this, the organization management must have in place strategies that will help them to properly manage the diverse workforce ( Erlenkamp 2007). The first thing to do is to ensure that the managers of various departments in the organization undergo training on how to deal with the workforce diversity. This will ensure that the department heads are aware of the differences that exist among the members of the organization and how to deal with these differences. The other members of the organization staff should follow this. The training should enable the employees pointy out differences that exist amongst themselves so that they can become more sensitive to things that they say to each other or in presence of others so that they do not sound offensive. It is also important for the human resource manager to hold discussion session with the members of staff so that there can be time for interaction. Griffin (2007) states that this should offer an opportunity for them to ask questions and talk about their experiences in the organization. This will enable the team mangers top know the employees who may be experiencing difficulties in relating with each other. However, not all of them may feel comfortable expressing themselves in public. It is therefore important for the team leaders to have private discussions with them so that they can hear from them. At certain times of the year, it is important for the manager to hold meetings with the employees. During the meetings held by the employees and the management, it is also important for the management to request the employees to talk about their culture, their country or their ethnic groups. Each of them can be given about ten minutes to speak about their diverse factors so that they can share the unique information that they have. The person can be asked questions as this will help the team to learn about each other and understand them better. People will be able to understand why someone behaves the way he or she does. This will help them to work together after they have understood each other (Cañas & Sondak 2010). Another very important thing in managing a diverse workforce is for the manager to ensure that communication channels are always open in the organization. According to Smidts, Pruyn, & Riel, (2001), efficient communication will help people from distant cultures to adjust in the culture of the organization location. People may have difficulties communicating with the customers and this should not hinder them from working in the organization. The management should facilitate how they are going to learn the common language so that they may feel part of the team. Communication is very important in a diverse workforce. Ability of the employees to communicate with each other enables one to learn about each other and adjust in working with him or her (Guffey & Loewy 2009). Challenges of managing a diverse workforce Managing a diverse workforce may be very challenging at sometimes. One of the challenges that are often faced is communication. Since workforce diversity is being incorporated to enhance success in global business, organizations are employing even people from different countries so that they can capture markets in those countries. Some of these people may lack a common language to be used in the organization and there may be difficulties in communicating with each other. These people may also have difficulties communicating with the customers in the local market. This may be a challenge especially to the new employees who are not very used to the environment (Leibold, & Voelpel, 2006). Another challenge may be inability of some employees to respond to change. Some employees may have difficulty in accepting the fact that the culture of the organization is becoming diverse as more people are coming with different ideas and practices. This calls for the employees to change so that they can also be able to work in a diverse workplace environment. However, some employees may be resistant to change and may have difficulties in abandoning some of their practices to take up new ideas. This resistance may limit the progress of the organization. This may mostly be evident when it comes to the aging workforce. Most old people may be resistant to change especially when the ideas are coming from the younger people (Mullins 2008). Conclusion Workforce diversity may truly be a blessing or a curse to the organization. However, the direction depends on the ability of the management to manage the diverse workforce. Where it is well managed, it brings various benefits to the organization and it may actually be a blessing to the organization. However, failure to properly manage the diverse workforce, it turns out to be a curse to the organization. This is because it leads to disputes, conflicts and other expenses that the organization may face in trying to manage it. Bibliography U.S Forest Service, Fire and Aviation Management, 2000, Workforce diversity: a model for the future, Washington Office, Washington D.C. IABC,2004, Workforce diversity, International Association of Business Communicators, New Orleans. Mor Barak, M., 2010, Managing Diversity: Toward a Globally Inclusive Workplace, SAGE, London. Erlenkamp, D., 2007, Managing International Teams and Workforce Diversity GRIN Verlag publishers, Oklahoma City. 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