Diversity Management and the Tool for Eliminating Discrimination - Research Paper Example

 DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT A TOOL FOR ELIMINATING DISCRIMINATION Table Of Content: Pages Executive Summary 2 Introduction 2 Overview of Management 2 Diversity and Its Conflict. 3 Gender Conflict 6 Race & Ethnicity Conflict 6 Age Conflict 6 Tenure Conflict 7 Educational Conflict 7 Diversity Management 8 Principal of Diversity Management. 8 Professional Development and Diversity Management. 10 Recruitment Alternatives 11 Possible Barriers 12 Potential Benefits 13 Conclusion 15 Bibliography 15 References 15 Executive Summary: Managing people is really a tough task and as far as managing of employees are concerned it really becomes a headache sometimes, because we are aware of the fact that organizations have different people in it and every different person has different mental and understanding level. Employees are different from each other with respect to race, religion, culture, education and many more things. Its good to apply two man power on a particular project rather than one, same opinion implies on workplaces. Collaboration of people who differ from each other in education, religion, skills, expertise does make a difference, as it can enhances the productivity of the organization. There are a number of benefits of managing the workplace diversity but it will only happen if possible barriers are halted. We will further elaborate our opinion in this whole study. Introduction: The purpose of this study is to assemble a list of writings which address diversity issues as they relate to various aspects of business and employment. Its elaborates the potential barriers which may hampered in managing diversity, different theories and quoted are included in this study which makes it more interesting. This study shows that what are the positive points of diversity management and how diversity management enhances the performance of the individuals as well as the organization. It will develop the skills which are essential to manage a work force team. In this article we will study how a diversified work team enhances the productivity of an organization and how we can mitigate the hazards of diversity. Overview of Management: Organizations are formed with a major aim to earn profits but to earn profits, dedication and hard work is required, apart from compelling the employees to do the work. Management or the managers are supposed to manage their employees and their work in a professional manner which is ethical and appreciable is well. Proper management will ultimately increase the performance and motivate the employees, because according to Steven Kopin self motivated employees are more productive and dedicating rather than the unmotivated ones. The most important human activity is managing. Ever since people began forming groups to accomplish aims they could not achieve as individuals, managing has been essential to ensure the co-ordination of individual efforts. As society has come to rely increasingly on group effort, and as many organized groups have become large, the task of managers has been rising in importance. The aim of all managers is the same: “to create a surplus”. Management is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected items. Management is essential for any organization for creating its value in the long run. Managers are charged with the responsibility of taking actions that will enable individuals to make their best contribution to groups’ objectives. Management thus applies to small and large organizations, to profit and for not-for-profit enterprise to manufacture as well as service industries. The term enterprise refers to a business, government agency, hospital, university, and any other type of organization. Diversity: Every person has some kind of uniqueness in him and we can say that the uniqueness of all individuals which includes everyone is known as diversity. It represents the unique values, culture and characteristics of all individuals. Societies are quickly becoming a relic of the past. Occurrence of migrations, intellectual languages and communication, transnational co-operation and cross-cultural coalition all testify to the fact that we have entered in the age of diversity. The increasingly rigid immigration laws which intend to exclude people of color in particular, are in contradiction to employees and demand of the cheap labors increases the graph of the diversity as we often see that in Europe or in Middle East many immigrants are Asians, Latin American and African Black. Let’s see from an organization’s perspective, so we can say that diversity is a good thing because when people are getting together in a congenial environment from a different culture and society then they must have different set of minds as well. As per a theory, the individuals from America are very good to capture the physiology of the person in an offense, adulation is there in their nature, while the individuals from Britain always talk to the point, they do not like to indulge in any kind of adulation before criticism like the Americans do. There are a number of elements which come under the umbrella of diversity like: Age Gender Ethnicity Race Physical Ability Sexual Orientation Physical characteristics Income Education Martial Status Religious Belief Geographic locations Personality type. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), are the laws which guarantee all the people have the right to apply and be evaluated for employment, regardless of their race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age or disability. This means that the evaluation process in the organization will be transparent enough that it will evaluate the incumbents with respect to their qualification, skills and capacity of work rather than their race, color, sex and all the things mentioned earlier. Organizations should be concerned with the work rather the person who is doing the work; if organizations think in the same manner, it can be made sure that the conflict in workplace due to diversity will vanish from the society which is defiantly a positive sign. An organization is more productive if it has people of different mind set, qualifications, and skills and from different cultures. Let’s say a person who belongs to Asia has exceptional writing skills and on the contrary a person who belongs to Britain has excellent communication skills, if they both work together then they can make a difference which is fruitful for them and equally beneficial for the organization. Apart from the above mentioned example there are a number of benefits in workplace diversity like: (i) Exchange of different ideas (ii) Different skills works together (iii) Accomplishment of goals will be tranquil. (iv) Helps in Decision making. (v) Formation of a congenial and friendly environment. After having a cursory glance over the above mentioned matter we can surely get an idea that diversity in the workplace will leave a positive impact on the organization and will enhance the motivation and moral among the employees. It makes an unbreakable chain between the employees and the organization that the employees of the organization are willing to give their 100 percent and in the result of their efforts the organization will enrich them by rewarding them intrinsically and extrinsically. As we are cognizant with the fact that every picture has two sides, if the same implies on workplace diversity, then there are some disadvantages of diversity as well. Many authors and writers have some point of view regarding the negative aspects of workplace diversity. Let’s read them in an appropriate manner that how an element of diversity creates conflict among the team. Conflict in Genders: Different studies, theories and surveys examined the relationship between gender diversity have a mix findings of outcome. For instance, in a laboratory setting, members of mix gender groups reported lower level of “friendliness”, “congenial ness” and “devotion” while the level of conflict is showing a bullish graph in comparisons to homogeneous workgroups. Lewis and Gibson (2000) found that gender diversity was associated with lower perceptions of collective efficacy in the group, but the effect was too weak to reach conventional levels of statistical significance. Conflicts in Race & Ethnicity: Racial diversity was associated with higher level of emotional conflict in teams; continuous harassment is also an emotional conflict. The United States suggested that increasing racial diversity in predominantly white communities led to increased levels of racial conflict. Pelled, Eisenhardt, and Xin (1999) found that racial diversity was associated with higher levels of emotional conflict in teams. Conflict in Age: Enormous researches and surveys found that age diversity was associated with higher levels of interpersonal conflicts. Other studies on top management teams have found significant relationships between age diversity and behavioral outcomes that are assumed to result from conflict, such as turnover (Jackson et al., 1991; Wiersema & Bird, 1993) Conflict in Tenure: The knowledge and the skills which a person congregates during his practical experience make the person become more knowledgeable and reliable for the organization. Employees who entered in an organization at about the same time will share similar experiences and develop similar values for the entity. So the teams which have greater tenure diversity result in more conflict than team characterized by less tenure diversity. Educational Background: Educational background is useful in one’s job and it will play a vital role to create conflict in the teams if the organization experiences greater diversity in it. Jehn, Chadwick, and Thatcher found that when team members are directed in teams with difference in educational background then they will perceive greater amount of conflict in the group. If the educational background conflict persist in the teams then to provide a meaningful decision is a bit difficult because there may be a lack of understanding and diversified level of thinking are not matched among team members. Definitely the communication skills, correspondence skills, interpersonal and problem solving skills of a qualified team member are much more as compared to a less qualified team member. From all this we can say that there are positive advantages as well as some negative advantages of workplace diversity but the executives and managers can reduce the effect of conflict with their expertise and proper management of diversity, But it will only happen when the organizational management is strongly willing to manage the diversity properly. It is referred to as diversity management which we will elaborate later. Diversity Management: Organizations want to manage groups of people which can accomplish the tasks effectively and efficiently. Organizations take many major steps to overcome on the conflict which may arise due to diversity, generally organization’s structure and hierarchical level within the organization are the essential course of action to overcome this ambiguous situation. Top executive of the organization must be intelligent and generous to their subordinates and proper delegation of authority and span of control is required to save the organization with the monster called “WORKPLACE DIVERSITY”. The phenomenon which also includes the steps to leap out from diversity is known as diversity management. Here we can present a principle to manage diversity. It may be arguable, as more principles that are though worthwhile can also be added. Fatal Flaws of Diversity for ethnincs minorities. We often see that organizations are arguing that workplace diversity will help to expand the business and it is good for the organization in many ways but unfortunately these opinions are just limited to be moralized, other wise rarely we can see transparent hiring system to hire a candidate which does not belongs to one culture. According to (Maxwell’s, 2004 case study of BBC Scotland) it is, however, misguided to believe that diversity will deliver in ways in which equal opportunities could not. Generally the employees fail to recognize the benefits they may receive from the diversity because they are usually focusing on the short term goals. Minorities are only pushed for small works like (retail stores keeper, sweeper...) and the management doesn’t support them and grant them promotions although the people who belong to minorities are qualified and ambitious. A statistics data reveals that 91 percent of the 113 organization responded that they have workplace diversity but only 35 percent of the organizations admitted that minority group plays a vital role in their profit earnings. Patterson’s study of immigrants in 1950 claims that the managers create discrimination among the local people and the minorities and argue that the minorities are mostly against them; they have a fear that if minorities are promoted then it will alleviate ethical/racial tension or they may lose their customers. Hoque, K & Noon, M (1999) in his article Racial Discrimination in speculative applications elaborates the procedure to mitigate the hazards of workplace diversity. He gives different strategies and policies which should be implemented in order to completely eliminate discrimination. The policies & principles which muse be required to break down the barrier of ethnic minority in the workplace are mentioned below. First we have to look over the policies and then the principals. POLICIES TO ELIMINATE DISCRMINATION: When a child is born, he is so pure that he doesn’t have any racial discrimination and jealousy from anyone but as he grows up racial and cultural discrimination builds up in him because of the surroundings from the society. As we have already covered the idea that unavailability of diversity at workplace can create so much conflict in the workplaces which is as bad as for the organization as it is for the individuals. Below are discussed many points which can be portrayed as a policy to fight with race discrimination. The local education should be liberal and must include subjects like human rights and civil which leaves a positive impact on the children’s mind. Law and order system needs a critical review to ensure quick justices. Religious leaders must take a step to set the minds of the people to eliminate issue based on cast and racial discrimination prevailing in the society. Critical review and verification must be there to ensure the merit base hiring and Government should take decisions to increase employment for the minorities and for other ignoring communities. Local NGO’s and government institution must be encouraged to arrange training and educational program to eliminate racial discrimination. Racial discrimination has a very negative effect on the children which ultimately effects on their mentality and their performance so the education policy should be developed to promote intercultural education in the children. Lorene Oikawa, BCGEU Vice-President and Chair of the Equity and Human Rights Committee say (On March 21, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination): “Let’s embrace the idea of "playing well with others." He also says that: “Our workplace and union must get strong when we welcome the people from different racial and ethnic background. We can find a wealth of skills, expertise, abilities and experience from every individual.” Let’s have a glance over the principals which may be required to eliminate the barriers of racial discrimination. Principals of Diversity Management: Establish a business strategy for effectively managing a diverse workforce; make such norms which have to be followed by each and every organizational employee. Create a positive work environment, it can be created by increasing the interaction among the employees, get together and official picnics are the best tool to amplify the interaction, which helps to condense the conflict graph gradually. Promotion of personal and professional development should be introduced in the organization to motivate the employees; this urges them to take initiative and reward them according to their performance regardless of the diversity of race and color or of any thing. Empower all employees to reach their full potential and give their maximum effort. Attract the best talent available in the country. Remove barriers that intervene in the progress of employees and eliminate the discrimination from the groups and teams. Harassment would not be tolerated. Immediately fires the employee or give him a warning letter if he/she is found guilty of such act. Organizations must make their evaluation process transparent and unbiased; guide the Human resources department to strictly follow the hiring rules for every candidate who wishes to join the organization which must be totally regardless with the diversity fact. Timely arrange a meeting in which every employee is supposed to participate which helps to enhance the quality of decision and will enhance the organizational performance. Gather different culture people which have the different mind set to think over a particular matter. Timely concerned with the supervisors regarding the behavior of their subordinates with each other. Management by Objective (MBO) is an effective tool to keep a hawk’s eye over the employee’s movement in terms of diversity. In MBO, the manager files a questionnaire which have to be filled by every employee, the questionnaire seeks information regarding the duties of the employees which are imposed to him, are they performing their duty properly? And are they convenient with the environment? Quote of Harold Koontz (Management a global prospective, Los Angeles in 1983) “If values clash, we can celebrate, tolerate but don’t DISCRIMINATE” According to the statistics, U.S department of Labor, Future work: Trends and challenges for work in 21st century that “By 2050, the population of U.S is expected to increase by 50-60% and minority groups will make up nearly half of the population”. This statistics further intimate that the population of older Americans is expected to more than double. Statistics manifest that one-quarter of all Americans will be of Hispanic Origin and workplace diversity will mitigate as the women and people with disabilities will be on the job. We can say that if America is go as per the predication then there will be cent percent chance to completely eliminate the discrimination and race factors from the society which ultimately boost the economy. Such measures should be taken to overcome on the workplace diversity, if these principal are kept in mind then there will be a very good chance to manage the diversity efficiently. Stephen Hester Says: (Organizational Behavior and Dynamics Volume 1 1992) “Making Head Count is more important than Counting Heads” Professional Development & Diversity Management: Organizations must identify training and development needs for all employees and try to departmentalize them according to their experience, expertise and personal interest. Utilize their individual development plans and rotate developmental assignments among them which enhance their conceptual and creativity skills. Assign a supervisor which leads them and the supervisor must have such instinct in his personality that the employees are committed towards the work and complete their assignments from the fear of coercion. There are two types of managers Theory X managers and Theory Y managers. Theory X managers assume employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work and try to earn without doing anything. They dislike work. Because of this, workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of controls developed; coercion is a good tool to influence such employees. A hierarchical structure is needed with narrow span of control at each and every level. While Theory Y managers assume employees are ambitious and self-motivated, dedicated, liberal and exercise self-control. Theory Y managers believe that employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. The types of managers are elaborated here because if managing of the diversity is concerned then Theory Y managers would be a good choice and, it’s a personal opinion that Coerce is not a remedy to urge employees to do work. Remember persistent making and implementation on the new strategies to manage the workplace diversity is an excellent job. Words Coated of Mr. Steven Kopin (Organizational behavior and dynamics Volume: 2, 1995) “Hope is not a strategy” Organizations merely emphasize on the Recruitment, however according to my perception it is the best tool available for the managers to eliminate diversity. Recruitment Alternatives: Organizations must induce their recruitment department to be transparent while hiring a new employee, make sure every incumbent which is being interviewed was applied for the position through proper channel. Special appointing authorities should be given to the recruiters for disable people and outstanding scholars. Transparent method should be used to evaluate the performance of the existing employees which is helpful for the promotion point of view and motivate employees. Apart from the unprofessional recruitment process, there are a number of things which may become the barriers of diversity management. Let’s take a look over the barriers. Possible Barriers: Mentioned below are the possible barriers which are not exhaustive. Again, it can be intimated that these all are not adequate, you can add in it from your thinking and assessment. The consideration area of the management from a particular employee and his mental capacitance is limited. Lack of diversity at the senior ranks, obviously if the executive class is not proper then how they can think that the lower level should be pertinent or up to the benchmark. Often we see that organizations categorize people into certain positions and don’t bother to utilize their expertise. For instance if a person belongs to finance, he have qualification pertaining to finance so why he is forced to do work in some other department where he is unable to utilize his expertise. Recruiting will be through proper channel and from the same source. Grooming/developing only one person, means keep emphasize on one person and keep working to enhancing the grooming of a particular person. Pre-selection. These all are the possible barriers which may be hampered in managing the diversity. If these barriers are kept in mind then the diversity can be fully vanished from the society and it will also help organizations to grow well. There are enormous benefits from managing workplace diversity, some of them are mentioned below. Potential Benefits: Mentioned below are some of the benefits which may result from managing the workplace diversity. The most common characteristic of work place diversity is “Its improved organizational performance as a whole”. Managing diversity prevents unlawful discrimination and harassment incidents reduces inferiority complex from the employees. It enhances the interaction among the employees which helps to improve workplace relations. Managing and building more effective teams with in the organization which psychotically impact on the productivity and efficiency of the team members. It will improve problem solving with in the organization. Managing diversity improves customer services, when employees are satisfied and motivated then they are more customer-oriented as compare to those employees who are unmotivated and the victims of diversity. Customers are more towards people who facilitate them in a proficient and polite manner. Diversity leaves a very bad impact on the health of a person it creates anxiety, abrasiveness, inferiority complexions and rampage in a person and a person who is suffering from all this ailment can not be a good customer service representative (CSR) which require immense tolerance. Goodwill of the company will enhance if they have motivated employees which creates integrity in front of their customers. Managing Diversity increases Creativity when people with different ways of solving difficult problems work together towards a common solution. There is no one best answer to any question--the more ideas you can obtain from different people, the more likely you are to develop a workable answer. Other cultures can offer insightful alternatives Americans might not have considered.  This is a tremendous advantage of diversity in the workplace. New attitudes are brought to the business table by people from diverse cultures which create competition among employees and under this stress they try to work hard. For instance, Americans may want to consider adopting the perspective other cultures gradually. Managing diversity can help in innovation of new processes which can result when people with different ideas and expertise come together and collaborate. “We have always done things this way and cannot change.” Diversity needs to be seen as an integral part of the business plan, essential to successful products and increased sales, which are fruitful for the organization in the end of the day. This is especially true in today’s global marketplace, as companies interact with different cultures and clients. Conclusion: Diversity management is about full utilization of people with different backgrounds, skills, qualifications, cultures and experiences. Effective diversity management strategy has a positive effect on cost reduction, creativity, problem solving, and organizational flexibility and eliminate discrimination from the society and helps to motivate the employees with in the organization to take the maximum from them. References: 1. Ahmed, Nilufer R. Managers Magazine, December 1993 v68n12. “Stirring the salad bowl: Diversity continues to increase”. 2. Balthazar, Carol. “Career Futures. Winter 1991. Disillusioned with the Decade of Diversity”. 3. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Organizational Behavior (pp. 190-222)... 4. Harnold Knootz “A prospective towards management” 5. Hoque, K & Noon, M (1999) Racial Discrimination in speculative applications: new optimism six years on? Human Resource Management Journal, Vol 9:3 6. Knight, D., Pearce, C. L., Smith, K. G., Olian, J. D., Sims, H. P., Smith, K. A., & Flood, P. (1999) Top management team diversity, group process, and strategic consensus . Strategic Management Journal, 20, 445-465. 7. Steven Kopin “Organization Behaviors” (Chapters Groups and Teams) 8. Noon, M (2007) the fatal flaws of diversity and the business case for ethnic minorities. Work, Employment and Society, Vol.21:4 Read More