DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY - Assignment Example

Diversity Management Strategy Assignment Diversity management strategy assignment Work place diversity is highly valued within the existing organizations because it promotes innovation (Henry & Evans, 2007). However, organizations face challenges of managing diversity as their workplaces become more diverse. Consequently, they need comprehensive diversity management plans that support the diverse culture and policies. The plan will guide decision making in practices that promote diversity in the work place. Step1. Assessment of Diversity The initial step of the organization’s diversity plan is assessing the current diversity in the work place.

The process involves examining employee backgrounds in the organization. This will enable the management team to identity the minority and majority workers in the organization. An organization that values work place diversity should have a balanced workforce in terms of employees’ backgrounds (Kreitz, 2009). The assessment should also involve a survey of employees’ satisfaction and their view regarding the current workplaces diversity strategies. The process can be done through questionnaires, discussions, and open forums.

This will enable the management to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current diversity management strategies. It will also help in identifying the challenges of implementing the diversity plan. A creation of an effective diversity management plan should involve all workers in the organization. Step2. Identifying diversity plan objectives The objectives of the diversity plan should be stated in this step. They should be measurable, attainable and aligned with the overall goals of the organization.

For instance, one of the objectives of this diversity plan includes increasing diversity from the highest levels such as management to the lowest level such as employees and subordinate staff. The other objective includes preventing discrimination based on employees’ backgrounds in the work place (White, 2011). The third objective includes promoting awareness of the importance of diversity in the places. The fourth objective entails supporting the culture and policies that promote diversity in the organization.

Step 3: Strategies The third step of the plan is identification of strategies that will promote diversity. The strategies should match with the organization diversity policies. One of the strategies that should be implemented in the organization is ensuring that all employees can access relevant diversity information and policies in the organization. This will be part of awareness creation of diversity. The strategy also involves providing workplace diversity training. The awareness creation is important because it will helps in making employees appreciate and value diversity.

The process will also help in establishing trust and respect among employees. The other strategy includes eliminating discrimination and harassment based on the organizations discrimination policies. It involves encouraging all employees to participate in decision making processes regardless of their backgrounds. Work place discrimination is one of the biggest challenges of implementing diversity strategies in the work place. An additional strategy is employing diverse workers at all levels.

The process involves ensuring that panel members are diversified to ensure that workers are employed fairly. A fair hiring process will help the organization achieve a well-balanced workforce. The hiring process should also be consistent with the national labor policies. Step 4 Plan implementation The next step is implementation of the plan. It involves applying all the strategies in the organizations based on diversity principles. For effective implementation of the plan, all members of the organization should be committed.

The implementation responsibility should not be left to the executive and management only. Employees should also participate in the implementation process. Step 5: Monitoring and evaluation of the plan The step involves regular monitoring of the effectiveness of the diversity plan. During the monitoring process, the management team should evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the diversity plan. The plans should be evaluated based on various performance indicators. An example of the performance indicators is the increase in creativity and innovations in the workplace.

Diversity promotes creativity in workplaces because it improves problems solving abilities of employees. It means that an effective diversity plan should increase the level of creativity (Nataatmadia & Dyson, 2007). In addition, the effectiveness of the plan can be measured by reduction of discrimination and harassment cases in the work place. An organization that values diversity experience fewer cases of discrimination in the work place. The effectiveness can also be measured by the attitudes of employees towards each other.

A useful plan should make workers respect each other regardless of their different backgrounds (Steger & Ronel, 2001). The increase in diversity after the implementation of the plan will also indicate its effectiveness. This is because it encourages the human resource to hire workers based on their skills without focusing on their backgrounds. References Henry, O. & Evans, A. (2007). Critical review of literature on workplace diversity. African Journal of Business Management, 72-76. Retrieved from: http://www.

academicjournals.org/article/article1380538775_Ongori%20and%20Agolla.p df Kreitz, P. (2009). Best practice for managing organizational diversity. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Retrieved from http://www.slac.stanford.edu/cgi-wrap/getdoc/slac-pub-12499.pdf Nataatmadia, I. & Dyson, L. (2007). Managing the modern workforce: Cultural diversity and its implications. Retrieved from http://www.irma-international.org/viewtitle/32666/ Steger, M. & Erwee, R. (2001). Diversity management in small companies: city council case study.

International Journal of Organizational Behavior, 4 (1), 77-95. Retrieved from: http://eprints.usq.edu.au/2268/1/Steger_Erwee.pdf White, G. (2011). Diversity in workplace causes rise in unique employee benefits and changes in cafeteria. Journal of Management and Marketing Research. Retrieved from http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/08082.pdf