Management of Diversified Workforce and Sustained Competitive Advantage - Literature review Example

HOW MANAGEMENT OF A DIVERSE WORKFORCE CAN CONTRIBUTE TO AN ORGANIZATION’S SUSTAINED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND MEET EMPLOYEES NEEDS Name Course Tutor Date Introduction The 21st century business organizations are increasingly embracing diversity at the workplace for a variety of reasons. This has been made possible by globalization and the advancement in technology that has made the world a global village (Okoro & Washington, 2012). The diversity is reflected in a variety of attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnic background, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, physical appearance and ability as well as generation (Okoro & Washington, 2012). This has also been propagated by the changes in population demographics that result from immigration, increases single parenthood, and increased health leading to a corresponding increase in the number of aging population at the workplace. As workforce diversity increases, there is pressure on the business to absorb more diversified workforce so as to enjoy the accruing benefits that come along with it such as fully exploring market and reducing the cost of outsourcing. The aim of this paper is to explore how the management of diverse workforce can contribute to an organizations sustained competitive advantage and meet the needs of the employees as well. The paper will focus on the literature review on managing diversity in the workforce by evaluating the arguments on HRM’s role in the same. An organization with diversified workforce shall then be chosen and one diverse group further looked into. Literature Review of the Management of Diversified Workforce The human resource management has been charged with the role of managing people in organizations. HRM then plays a role in managing the diversity of the workforce through various activities. HRM has a set of processes and functions that are meant to attract, direct, and maintain the human resource of the organization. Most managers regard diversity management as a chance for equal opportunity for any person regardless of their background to be part of the organization (Rahman, 2013). Most HRM in organizations have been effective in hiring minorities and women to reflect the increasing diverse market networks as well as win more customers. When making the selections the HR managers have to use a selection criterion that favors workforce diversity in the organization (Noor, Khalid, & Rashid, 2013). The traditional skill and competence based selection criterion has long been dumped by various HR managers as this does not bring in the efficient workforce (Okoro & Washington, 2012). As a result the workforce has much been selected based on broadened stable attributes and competencies thus making the HRM be against workforce diversity (Rahman, 2013). Babalola & Marques (2013) observe that, through succession planning, the management is able to discriminate against the other employees choosing the best employee the management feels has the best attributes instead of focusing on the diverse groups being represented. HRM practitioners use diversity training in managing a diversified workforce. Diversity training and management development have formed the discussion in most professional HR debates (Okoro & Washington, 2012; (Noor et al., 2013)). In the UK public sector diversity training is regarded as a way of offering individuals with equal chances to get ahead (Rahman, 2013). Through diversity training the workforce is taken through the process of understanding the socio-economic, cultural, racial, and religious differences among the workforce and how to effectively embrace these differences for a better and effective work environment (Okoro & Washington, 2012). Through this the minority groups in the workplace are integrated to the workplace through inculcating of skills, motivation and knowledge to work effectively and freely thus productivity. Through this training the employees are able to respond to diversified customer base as well (Babalola & Marques, 2013). Due to mobility of workforce in the twenty-first century, the HR managers should be highly educated on diversity training so as to increase their level of interaction with people from different background and further initiate the employees into doing the same (Noor et al., 2013). The training could be skill based that is centered on behavior change or awareness based that covers the knowledge of the employees and their sensitivity to some diverse issues at the work place. The HRM has an impetuous role in making sure that the organizational culture aligns with diversity. This is made possible through value proposition that makes diversity the top agenda of the organization (Okoro & Washington, 2012). This is reflected by strong ad specific values that are communicated within the organization such as fairness, mutual respect, democracy, equality and teamwork. While this may seem too small, they go a long way to change the employees’ perception of the organization as one that manages diversified workforce and thus making a significant contribution to their job satisfaction, organizational loyalty and commitment, and good interpersonal relationships between employees among other benefits (Babalola & Marques, 2013). HRM has the mandate of exploring the metrics of human capital together with effective measurement of the return on investment of effective workforce diversity management (Kirton & Greene, 2010). HR managers also come up with effective policies that are inclined towards the acquisition and management of a diversified workforce. HRM also ensures that there are effective performance appraisal mechanisms in place. These mechanisms have to be objective, job relevant, non-discriminatory, and fair to all the workers in an organization (Noor et al., 2013). There has been the inclusion of multicultural representatives in the appraisal committees as a way of encouraging diversity. Biased HRM practices in relation to performance appraisal hinder the success of workforce diversity (Rahman, 2013). Literature also indicates that HRM has a hand in diversity management through compensation and rewards to the employees in a fair and free manner (Babalola & Marques, 2013). The use of equitable performance based evaluation and pay mechanisms the management of diversity in an organization is assured. Diversified Workforce Management and Sustained Competitive Advantage The diversification of workforce has been related to the performance of organizations both at individual and group levels (Roberson, 2013). Bringing together people from different backgrounds, mean that an organization is rich in knowledge, culture and set of skills. From the Knowledge based vies of the firm, the transfer of skills and knowledge within the firm as a result of diversified workforce ensures that the firm achieves competitive advantage (Roberson, 2013). This is because the diversified workforce is able to imitate and integrate the socially complex knowledge based resources with the diversified bases of insights, competencies, and knowledge (Kirton & Greene, 2010). This creates superior performance compared to an organization that lacks workforce diversity; thus competitive advantage is instituted (Kirton & Greene, 2010). The values that are entrenched within the human capital pool of diversified workforce is inimitable and rare, this makes other companies or organizations not able to use the same method in the market. The diversified workforce is able to work cohesively towards the achievement of the vision of an organization. Additionally, the ability to work as a team also improves the performance of the organization, increasing its profitability. The diversified workforce is also able to be innovative in many ways, coming up with processes and systems that help an organization to become successful in the market compared to its peers. Workforce diversity is also advantageous for organizations in that it expands the perspective of the organizations, the strategies and tactics as well as approach and reposition strategies that make the firm perform better in the market (Roberson, 2013). This has been of assistance in marketing, launching of new products, and creation of new unique ideas in organizations such as Hp (Kamal & Ferdousi, 2009). Whenever market related decisions are to be made or when products design and developments as well as research is to be conducted, the diversified workforce makes it possible having a set of different backgrounds that covers the target market of the organization (Kamal & Ferdousi, 2009). Through such organizations are able to be ahead of their peers and thus sustainable competitive advantage. Virgin Airlines as an Organization that Manages Diversified Workforce Virgin Atlantic Airline embraces diversity and is reflected in the workforce it has. The company is committed to implementing a diversity policy and expects all employees to treat each other equally, with uttermost respect, and honestly (Virgin Atlantic, 2015). The company has used diversity to create an inclusive environment that is part of its culture. The company provides supportive and fair work environment to all employees regardless of their gender, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, race, nationality, political affiliation, religion and color (Virgin Atlantic, 2015). The workforce at Virgin Atlantic reflects the diverse nature of the society and is aimed at driving the success of the company throughout the globe. Virgin Atlantic appreciates the position of the employees as well as their differences. The employees are viewed as an important asset in the organization (Virgin Atlantic, 2015). Virgin Atlantic has integrated the Generation Y or Millennial Generation employees in its workforce as a measure of staying on top of the game thus making it possible to explore the rich innovative, skills and knowledge set that this group of employees have (Virgin Atlantic, 2015). Virgin Atlantic recognizes this set of employees as outspoken, goal oriented, and self motivated. Some of the ways used by the company in managing a diversified Generation Y workforce includes policies that guard training and development, motivation, leadership and organizational culture (Virgin Atlantic, 2015). Managing Generation Y at Virgin Airlines The leadership of the organization is inclusive of the generation Y employees so that they are able to impact on their fellow employees. The company also organizes training and development sessions for the generation Y employees, where they are taken through the emerging trends in workplaces (Bhattacharyya, 2010). Additionally, the organizational culture at Virgin Airlines recognizes this diversified group and encourages their fair treatment within the organization (Dudovsky, 2012). The older employees are encouraged to share with the younger employees as a way of integrating the culture of the organization across generations (Dudovsky, 2012). Being that this generation is far much into technology and likes fun, the organization has catered for all these (Bhattacharyya, 2010). The organization has allowed social media usage among the staff. The employees are also allowed to take a few days or weeks off at their own discretion without necessarily undergoing the long process of leave or off approval by the human resource departments (Virgin Atlantic, 2015). The motivational systems at Virgin Atlantic are fair and transparent to the generation Y. Virgin Atlantic gives Charitable perks to the generation Y employees where they explore different parts of the world on charitable missions, as a means of motivating them (Virgin Atlantic, 2015). The communication channels in the organizations have also been leveled to the point of generation Y employees; this has created employee commitment (Bhattacharyya, 2010). They are also involved in the decisions of the organization especially where innovation is required (Virgin Atlantic, 2015). Virgin Airlines also ensures that there is a good representation of this group in the organization (Dudovsky, 2012). This is done through an annual non-discriminatory and transparent selection of the generation Y employees who act as the ambassadors of the organization representing its face as a diversified organization. Lastly, the dress code of the employees in this group has been left at their own discretion as long as it is presentable (Dudovsky, 2012). Through this Virgin Airlines has become an organization that can be benchmarked for having been able to effectively manage the generation Y employees and has been successful. Conclusion Workforce diversity is one of the widely debated and taught subjects in the field of HRM. Most managers are slowly integrating diversity into the workforce of the organizations they oversee. As seen in the paper, diversity comes through different set of ways. The methods used to achieve workforce diversity differ across organizations therefore giving birth to the concept of sustainable competitive advantage that as shown in the paper is achievable through diversity. There are different arguments for and against HRM’s role in instituting workforce diversity as have been discussed in the paper. Virgin Atlantic Airline is one of the companies that recognizes the importance of diversity in the workforce and has well formulated policies and HRM practices that effectively adhere to diversity. Generation Y or the millennial generation employees have been effectively managed at Virgin Atlantic Airlines as further shown in the paper. Other organizations should therefore benchmark Virgin Atlantic so as to scale to greater heights. Bibliography Babalola, S. S., & Marques, L. 2013, “Integrated Approach to Workplace Diversity through Human Resource Management”. Journal of Social and Development Sciences, 4(9), 435-445. Bhattacharyya, D. (2010). “Cross-cultural Management: Texts and Cases”. New Delhi: PHI Learning Ldt. Dudovsky, J. 2012, September 12, “Virgin Atlantic Airlines: employee motivation, leadership and organizational culture”. Retrieved from http://research-methodology.net/virgin-atlantic-airlines-employee-motivation-leadership-and-organisational-culture/ Kamal, Y., & Ferdousi, M. M. 2009, “Managing Diversity at Workplace: A Case Study of hp”. ASA University Review, 3(2), 157-170. Kirton, G., & Greene, A. M. 2010, “The dynamics of managing diversity: A critical approach”. Burlington: Elsevier. Noor, A. M., Khalid, S. A., & Rashid, N. R. 2013, “Human Resource Diversity Management Practices and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Conceptual Model”. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 3(8), 301-308. doi:10.6007/IJARBSS/v3-i8/144 Okoro, E. A., & Washington, M. C. 2012, “Workforce Diversity and Organizational Communication: Analysis of Human Capital Performance and Productivity”. Journal of Diversity Management, 7(1), 57-62. Rahman, H. 2013, “Effects of Workforce Diversity on Human Resource Management: A Theoretical Perspective”. Asian Academic Research Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 1(12), 61-70. Roberson, Q. 2013, “The Oxford Handbook of Diversity and Work”. New York: Oxford University Press. Virgin Atlantic. 2015, “Diversity & CSR | Virgin Atlantic Careers”. Retrieved from http://careersuk.virgin-atlantic.com/life-at-virgin-atlantic/equality-and-diversity.html Read More