Challenges of Managing Diversity in the Workplace Today - Case Study Example

This questionnaire is designed to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of a manager and how he/she perceives diversity in the workplace. The answers gathered are qualitative which elicited random thoughts on pertinent questions. The respondent was given allocated time for each question. The manager interviewed is an experienced/seasoned manager. Questionnaire Answer each question honestly. A respondent is given 15-30 seconds to answer a question. Please tick the box that corresponds to your answer. Male Age Years of work experience 1-5 Female 6-10 11-15 16-up 1. What is your management style? 2. What are the traits that qualify you as a leader/manager? 3. How do you consider your rank-and-file employees? 4. How do you develop your personnel/staff? 5. How do you manage diversity in the workplace? 6. What are your strengths and weaknesses? 7. Which of your traits are those you still wish to enhance? 8. In a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, rate your performance as a manager/leader. Why? 9. How do you manage your time? 10. What is your philosophy as a manager/leader? 11. What leadership style characterizes you? 12. How do you deal with conflicts with your colleagues and/or rank and file? 13. How do you motivate them to be efficient in their jobs? 14. What are the motivators to forestall inefficiency in the workplace? 15. What do you intend to accomplish for the next 3 years? ANSWERS: 1. What is your management style? transformational 2. What are the traits that qualify you as a leader/manager? committed, honest, service-oriented 3. How do you consider your rank-and-file employees? They are the collaborators; assets to the company 4. How do you develop your personnel/staff? Determine their career path; if necessary send them for further studies/trainings 5. How do you manage diversity in the workplace? respect and motivate them to work with a purpose 6. What are your strengths and weaknesses? +Hardworking, efficient, a leader with a vision (-) demanding, 7. Which of your traits are those you still wish to enhance? Motivating skills 8. In a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, rate your performance as a manager/leader. Why? 8 –there’s always room for improvement; there’s no perfect boss 9. How do you manage your time? Prioritizing urgent matters 10. What is your philosophy as a manager/leader? I am called to serve small or big scale. What’s important is whatever I do I give my best and I’m happy doing it. 11. How do you see diverse individuals in your company? They’re just a bunch of people who happens to be different from one another. I like it—it’s like completing the equation of life. 12. How do you deal with conflicts with your I first look at the whole scenario; colleagues and/or rank and file? listen to complaints and gather evidences before I take action 13. How do you motivate them to be efficient in their jobs? I appreciate diversity; I treat people with respect and keep them focused on their job; if incentives are available I give them what they deserve 14. What are the motivators to forestall inefficiency Vision, competitive pay and sense of in the workplace? Trust in the company 15. What do you intend to accomplish for the next 3 years? Draft, monitor and implement Staff Development Program ‘The Core Challenges of Managing Diversity in the Workplace Today’ Andrew Carnegie once put it that no man will make a great leader who wants to do it all by himself. In any organization, a leader cannot work in isolation. If he envisions a harmonious and successful workplace, he must work on building on a climate of trust. Trust is a confident belief without a burden of proof. Hence, a leader puts faith in his people and in doing so, he gambles the future of the company in the hands of diverse and unique individuals. Human resources practitioners amplify this principle by giving importance to and pointing to the necessity of developing the most appreciable asset in the workplace—people (Maxwell,1993). They work on the premise that everyone wants to feel worthwhile. Thus, this innate need of a person should be addressed by several steps. Let’s start with career pathing and continuous in-service training. In Los Angeles Times online article entitled, “How Management Views Diversity” the survey results gathered manifest how managers view diversity: A Competitive Opportunity: 42% Part of Good Management: 24% A Major Challenge: 22% An Affirmative Action Issue: 8% No Serious Impact: 4% Source: Conference Board survey of 131 organizations Gleaned from these findings we could deduce that a lot of people are still positive about this seeming problem. Thus, leaders/managers have to relook at their perspective about differences of people and the enormous job of leadership. In an interview done with a manager/leader respondent, a clear-cut reply on how she sees diversity of people seems to show that she is taking on the challenge of dealing with people of different backgrounds as an opportunity to seize. She considers the challenge of diversity as life’s equation. Without subordinates, no leader thus, can be considered a leader. This partnership of roles brings home the importance of collaboration and mutual respect in the workplace. Yet, this constant challenge to leaders to build on the strengths of their people has to be concretely drawn on a well-crafted career path. Dealing with people of different social backgrounds, different psyches and different idiosyncracies must make leaders more innovative yet at the same time, tolerant. When employees drone on the need of training and administrative support, a leader must respond to their clamor right away. A career path must be drafted stemming from the potentials of people in an organization. Whether those who form part of the administration and the rank-and-file ask for it, a long-term development plan must be clearly drawn up. This must respond to all types of training needs of both management and regular employees. Investing on people is always a good start. Although, it is true that people do not care how much a leader knows until they know how much he/she cares, training to character building must be ensued. This second response to the challenge of conflicts in the workplace could be minimized by meaningful interpersonal activities and ongoing character-building sessions. Not all who are hired are the cream of the crop in all sense of the word. Hence, learning must become a lifelong commitment. If competent people thrive, so must, people of character. Researches have often shown that it is not enough to have efficient people around. They must be trustworthy. This all the more harp on the urgency of human formation.The shaping of character is not always a done deal. It necessitates cooperation on the part of the employee who has to see the importance of ethics and moral responsibility. It also has to be rooted on a basic principle that everyone has to work in areas of personal weakness. In this regard, the management has a crucial role to play. In a survey conducted by Asian Reader’s Digest Trust Poll (Reader’s Digest, March 2010) it endeavored to find out who Filipinos trust. It was the first nationwide attempt to take a glympse at the current climate of Philippine’s economic, environmental and political uncertainty. The survey asked people to rate 80 influential Filipino personalities on their trustworthiness. The list was done in random and rating was in a scle of 1, being the lowest and 10, being the highest. The rating scores correspond to answers equated to “Don’t trust at all” and ten being “Trust completely”. It is astounding that the Top Five is an eclectic mix of diverse characters. Coming in at number five is our highest ranking politician, Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III who just awaits the final count results of besting over other Presidentiables. The fourth is Tony Meloto. Jessica Soho has grabbed the Third, being the most impartial news anchor. The Second is an embodiment of beauty and strength in pure Filipino talent in Ms. Leah Salonga and the most unlikely candidate who topped the survey is Rosa Rosal. For some she may seem far from emulation for she’s not even in the list of successful/richest men, yet, she has gained prominence and respectability for her indefatigable zeal as a volunteer in the Philippine National Red Cross. “Rosa is a worthy winner of our trust,” says Pease. The shift of focus on philantropic acts is now slowly defining the kind of society Philippines is slowly building on. Such evidence validates the fact that trust plays an important role in society. Hence, when we look again at the challenges of diversity we may be looking at the wrong problem. Diversity does not have to be a woe in any organization. It must be a reason for celebration for we are enriched by the gifts and uniqueness of people (Moga,S.J, 1993). So, the following steps may be a way of eliminating stressful scenarios in the workplace. Building on People Relationship is sine qua non. Leaders cannot exist without followers. Hence, a leader must ensure that coffee breaks are maximized and made meaningful with short chats and pleasantries. It doesn’t have to be a long discussion related to work. Life experiences and family anecdotes could best dot the day’s hardwork with laughter and humor. Design a Development Program It is not enough to take stock of the potentials of people in the workplace. Their attributes and talents must be enhanced with a systematic draft of list of professional trainings. We can cut down on unpredented expenditures if we have homegrown talents and skills. Their potentials could be tapped and instead of outsourcing, we can train trainors based on their strengths and propensities needed in the workplace. It just has to be formalized with a Development Program that ensures meaningful, purposeful and holistic development of employees. Although this task will take a lot of preparation, managers/leaders must pool their resources together and draft a workable plan for the employees’ professional and personal growth. Bits and Pieces of a Cake It is always a delight to see new things in store for deserving employees. Cash bonuses, free laptop or gadgets and short get-away holidays could be incentives that boost up the morale of hardworking and committed staff. Set a slice of the annual budget to have this done on great moments in the company. Besides material benefits, a simple token of appreciation will do to give a break to burnt out employees who have been serving the company for a number of years. Find an apt recognition for a small or big deed done in behalf of the company. Career Path for all Managers have to be cognizant of the needs not only of deserving staff and the management team but moreso, of the people that comprise his/her workforce. Designing a career path could be a manifestation of a clear resolve to end issues of mismatch in the workplace. How does a manager achieve this? A needs assesment could be conducted during the summer break. The human resources officer must tally the results gathered and list down perceived needs vis-a-vis ranked competencies. Each employee’s response sheet must be kept confidential and a working proposal for his/her career growth must be drafted. After short and long plans have been written, a Proposed Staff Development Program must be presented to the Board and approved by the company’s President/Chief Operating Officer. An Adhoc Committee could be tapped to implement, monitor and assess the complete program. Down with Unconscious Biases It sometimes happens that interviewers diverse applicants meet reflect the whole organization. One person said, "In one interview I would answer a question, and the interviewer would correct my thinking. It became an argument as opposed to a conversation. This did not sound like a very team oriented, nurturing or developing environment, and not a place I would like to be. Maybe the applicant misunderstood the interviewers approach, or perhaps the interviewer lacked an understanding of different cultures and communication styles, which interfered with his ability to assess the applicants true potential for the job. It is imperative that as society becomes more diverse, interviewers must learn about the cultural backgrounds of the people they interview. In an ordinary company situation biases are never wanting. Managers must know appropriate intervention at all times. If one reports a bias account of a specific task of a co-worker, managers must see the whole incident before entertaining a bias against an employee. In for a thanks Lastly, a sincere gesture of thanks is always a heart-warmer. A simple, earnestly-said thank you for a task well-done could start a cycle of appreciation and respect so much needed in the workplace. A compliment willingly given, a kind word and a quick errand could best be appreciated for simply what it is. Make it a habit to thank sincerely a co-worker who takes an extra mile for you. Conclusion Despite the varied views about diversity, we are called to celebrate the gift of people in the workplace. It must not be construed as a challenge but an opportunity to build a rich reservoir of talents. Those who think of their collaborators as stressors in life must rethink again because in life, relationship is akin to success. Much could be said and done, yet, leaders who could do a great deal of work in ensuring true harmony in the workplace is up for a good start. The steps outlined above could be taken as proposed strategies. A number of other steps could still be defined. What is important is as leaders grow in their craft they may consistently look for ways to build a climate of genuine relationships in the workplace. Investing on people is always an evidence of good management. If managers would always take into account people differences and be paralyzed by the antagonistic and difficult people in the organization, it would definitely spell chaos and divisive climate. Leaders/managers must change paradigms and take this opportunity to lead and ‘be truly for others.’ For up and coming leaders, the task is up for grabs: win trust and be trustworthy, and the rest will follow. References: Etchells, Sarah (2010) Who Do You Trust? Reader’s Digest March Edition. Philippines, p. 73-83. Los Angeles Times (1993) How Management Views Diversity May 17, 1993. Maxwell, John C. (1993) Developing the Leader Within You. Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville. p.113. Moga, SJ. Michael (1993) Toward Authentic Morality. National Bookstore, Philippines. Read More