Organizational Diversity Audit - Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board - Example

Conducting an Organizational Diversity Audit: A Case Study of Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) INTRODUCTION An organizational diversity audit relates to the thorough and comprehensive review that is undertaken of the employment practices of the organization in relation to the constitution of its employees. As such, the audit seeks to present an in-depth organizational awareness of the issues of diversity in the organization and the impact these would have on the performance of the employees (Cox, 2003). Oftentimes, the management of most organizations are unaware comprehensively of the complexities that surround the culturally profound diversity issues in their organizations, nor do they comprehend the impact this can have on their employees’ performance. According to Davidson & Fielden (2003), it is significant that an organization, once in a while or periodically schedules to conduct and review their organizational diversity audits with the aim of knowing their employees well and enhancing their work productivity or performance. In this report, the chosen institution or organization for conducting the analysis is the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB), which is a board for public schools in Hamilton, Ontario formed in 1997 through the amalgamation of Wentworth and Hamilton schools’ boards. It offers a great deal or subject ranges to a students’ base that is overwhelming and which increases yearly. The diversity audit project being conducted for this organization is in line with the initially conducted evaluation process in 2006 that was aimed at collecting data on the diversity of the institution’s employees so as to track and award productivity efficiently (Cox, 2003). This organizational diversity audit has been informed by the need for the Board to possess statistical data that would reveal the diversity of its staff and fully inform the nature of human resource practices that it undertakes in relation to recruitment and retention of staff, and enhancement of development initiatives. The institution has been working with the community leaders in developing comprehensive equity policies; hence, the need for this diversity audit for it to be regarded as a diversity-competent institution (Schuman, 2010). Subsequently, this diversity audit has been undertaken with the intent of making it imperative for all staff members of HWDSB to clasp and model inclusiveness in its practices as a communal standard. This is because the institution perceives diversity audit as a test to the openness and accessibility of the institution’s educational policy programs. DIVERSITY AUDITING LITERATURE Various institutions undertake diversity audits for dynamic purposes in a bid to suit their organizational goals. Key among these objectives has been the need to highlight the necessity of diversity audits to the management practices of an organization (Cox, 2003). Therefore, the undertaking of this diversity audit for the institution is not new since other institutions in similar capacities have conducted the same. For instance, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), in 2006, undertook similar work whose results have continued to be used by the Board’s employees to date in making positive changes to the human resource management with regard to equity (Wildermuth & Gray, 2005). Organizational diversity audits serve a myriad of purposes in the organization. First, the audit aids in the unique determination of the various employees’ attitudes, beliefs, biases, harassment, prejudices and racial discrimination aspects in an organization that may be pervasive in management (Davidson & Fielden, 2003). Subsequently, the audits assist in the assessment of the senior management’s efforts that have been put forth in response to such issues through the conducting of advanced researches and analysis of the customizable factors uniquely defined by the organization. Second, organizational audits have been conducted with the need to provide insights into the organization’s values and assumptions that are critical for its decision-making processes and actions taken (Schuman, 2010). This is often achieved through the information-gathering procedures that are applied to the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data obtained from the organization’s files and anecdotal records; thus, expounding on the understanding of the influences and values of the organization (Wildermuth & Gray, 2005). As a result of the diversity audits, organizations have been able to comprehend their probable vulnerabilities to legal actions being taken on them due to the customizable factors of attitude, beliefs and discrimination noted, among others (Cox, 2003). Third, organizational diversity audits are usually conducted with the aim of examining the particular organizational culture issues eminent in their workplaces such as those related to the gender, religion, race and sexual preferences of the employees. As such, the diversity audit often concentrates on the conducting of typical researches geared towards the understanding of the past and ongoing issues in the organization such as employee morale indicators and boosts, turnover rates and the relevant departmental complaints registered by the employees and management. Therefore, the audits are always conducted with the intent of revealing to the organization and the general public the level of awareness to the policies of an organization are being successfully implemented (Davidson & Fielden, 2003). Fourth, organizational diversity audits are essential to the creation of databases that are used by the respective organizations and government agencies to depict the picture of designated groups found within the organization’s workforce (Cox, 2003). As a result, it enables the organizations determine their levels of reflectiveness to the immediate communities that they serve. Fifth, the organizational diversity audits help in the identification of the degree to which the designate groups of employees are represented in the organization, as well as the identification of the procedures that can be undertaken to review the recruitment initiatives in the organization (Schuman, 2010). The diversity audits enable the occurrence of these through the recognition of the non-reflective representations of the employees from within the immediate community; thus, increasing the number of applications obtained from such groups. For instance, when an organization may require recruiting a specific target group from its immediate surroundings, it may employ the results from its diversity audits in assessing the message sent out to such individuals, as well as the recruitment procedures adopted for the same (Davidson & Fielden, 2003). However, this is not often regarded as a replacement to the normal recruitment, interviewing, hiring or selection procedures that have been in place before in unfairly favoring the designate group (Wildermuth & Gray, 2005). Ultimately, organizational diversity audits are important on the basis that they act as a basis upon which the respective organizations evaluate their work environments for sensitivity aspects deployed in supporting the designated groups engaged in its employment plans. In addition, the diversity audits have often been significant in the serving as starting points for the establishment of organizational plans aimed at diversifying the workforce, practices, policies and procedures of the organization (Kakabadse & Kakabadse, 2000). This is because the plans are usually designed in consultation with all staff members in an organization, the trustees, administration, and the independent parties such as consultants. METHODOLOGY In conducting organizational diversity audit on Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB), the Diversity Audit Coordinator –John Thomason, as the expert for the project, ensured and maintained good working relationship with all the leaders of the employee groups and staff unions as the advisory committee members to the project. This was organized with the determination to create an understanding into the need for the audit and creation of tools to be used in the audit process (Cox, 2003). Subsequently, the audit procedure involved the conducting or regular consultative meetings with the committee for the achievement of the goals and with the understanding that all the deliberations and activities done at the advisory committee meetings would be shared with all employees’ unions/groups. As such, the coordinator was keen to enhance transparency during the process and continually furthered the understanding of the entire institution of the work being undertaken (Davidson & Fielden, 2003). Consequently, the diversity audit process involved the coordinator engaging in dynamic and intensive consultative meetings with the local community leaders at large in order to assess the issues of diversity that had been noted in the institution from their perspective, and which required immediate addressing. References Cox, T. (2003). Cultural diversity in organizations: Theory, research, and practice. San Francisco, Calif: Berrett-Koehler. Davidson, M., & Fielden, S. L. (2003). Individual diversity and psychology in organizations. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley. Gillis, T. L., & International Association of Business Communicators. (2011). The IABC handbook of organizational communication: A guide to internal communication, public relations, marketing, and leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Kakabadse, A., & Kakabadse, N. (2000). Essence of leadership. London [u.a.: Internat. Thomson Business Press. Schuman, S. (2010). The handbook for working with difficult groups: How they are difficult, why they are difficult and what you can do about it. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Wildermuth, C., & Gray, S. (2005). Diversity training. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press. Read More