Diversity Plan for Abercrombie & Fitch - Essay Example

Company Overview Abercrombie & Fitch (A & F) is an American casual wear retailer that focuses on youthful consumers.The company specializes in producing “luxury casual wear” and it is among the leading retailers in the nation. Besides, it is headquartered in New Albany with several offices globally. Abercrombie & Fitch operates in the consumer clothing industry that is fiercely competitive. The main competitors of Abercrombie & Fitch include up-market clothe firms e.g Aeropostale. The teen apparel retailer has had consistent good performance in terms of profitability despite the challenging U.S. retail environment (Anna 2013). In order to increase its revenue, the company has put in place measures to ensure that it spreads out to international markets by widening its product portfolio. It is therefore imperative that the company should implement a diversity and inclusion program so as to improve its position as an international apparels retailer. President’s Statement Diversity is an important source of competitive advantage in terms of innovation and growing company revenues. The ability of a company to compete in both the domestic markets and the international markets depends on the resourcefulness of its people. Suffice to say, Abercrombie & Fitch values its people as the most important asset for the company. Workplace diversity and inclusion gives sufficient intellectual capital to fuel our growth to new levels. The apparel retail market has been changing rapidly and it is through diversity that the company can be able to meet new challenges and create value for both our clients and shareholders. The strength of our company comes from the combination of our values, knowledge and expertise. Thus, diversity is the cradle upon which Abercrombie & Fitch Company’s success is anchored. The company values diversity not only for revenue growth but also to foster an all inclusive work environment. The management of Abercrombie & Fitch Company is fully committed to ensuring diversity and inclusion in its workplace. Justification for Diversity Diversity basically refers to human qualities and skill sets that are different and varied among individuals and groups (Morgan and Felix 475). For instance, diversity can be manifested in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, physical abilities and educational background among others. It needs the unique contributions that can be made by individuals with many differences and abilities. The success or failure of a company depends on its ability to create a work environment that harnesses a wide range of input from its employees and business partners (Eagly and Jean 216). Companies are also obliged to satisfy the population and demographics that they serve. One of the benefits of diversity is improved productivity (Kreitz 115). It is notable that innovation arises from a combination of different perspectives towards attaining a common goal. By embracing diversity, an organization is capable of excelling since it will have a large pool of experts with different perspectives to spur its growth. In fact, the global market requires diverse knowledge of consumers and their preferences. Suffice to say, a diverse workforce will be well suited to develop products that are appropriate for the diverse markets. Also, diversity plays and integral role in ensuring that important consumer cultural perspectives are considered in operations of business. For instance, Abercrombie & Fitch has to ensure that it understands the needs of its international markets like Africa which are fundamentally different from the American market. Diversity in the workplace is anchored in law. Organizations are legally required to ensure that their workforce is diverse and does not discriminate against any demographics. In order to avoid class lawsuits, Abercrombie & Fitch has to implement a diversity and inclusion plan that incorporates all the demographics and nationalities in which it operates. Suffice to say, the company’s reputation can be improved by positioning it as a champion of diversity. By building a reputation of embracing diversity, the company will increase its profitability and opportunities to attract the best workers. Notably, consumers choose to do business with companies whose business practices and policies are socially responsible (Armstrong et al 990). Diversity also increases the exposure of employees and fosters mutual respect. A workplace that comprises of employees with varied backgrounds in terms of cultures and experience can help to nurture a synergistic work environment. Employees will be able to learn from each other and thus increase their exposure. Due to the inevitable interactions among employees, diversity can help to foster their appreciation of different cultures and eventually create mutual respect (Morgan and Felix 479). This will be beneficial to Abercrombie & Fitch as it will enhance the value of each employee and make the company to be more competitive especially in the international markets. Goals, Objectives and Outcomes Currently, Abercrombie & Fitch has been subject to a number of class lawsuits. The company reached a settlement that required it to implement policies that promote diversity in its workforce as well as putting an end to discrimination in the work place. The company is in a precarious situation and therefore, there is need for it to implement a comprehensive diversity plan to bolster its image and meet the requirements of the court settlement in regards to diversity in its workplace. The company also has the responsibility to ensure that its marketing materials reflective the diversity of the community that it serves and eliminate discriminatory undertones. It is imperative that Abercrombie & Fitch requires an immediate and firm action plan to implement diversity. One of the goals of a diversity program in Abercrombie & Fitch Company is to incorporate diversity in its recruitment by ensuring that at least a third of new recruits come from marginalized and minority communities. This can be attained through an increase in the recruitment avenues to reach potential employees from diverse backgrounds. The company should put in place mechanisms to ensure that all the new recruitments reflect the diversity of the community by opening an office that specifically deals with issues of diversity. The diversity office will coordinate efforts to ensure that the business processes and hiring practices of Abercrombie & Fitch Company are consistent with the requirements of diversity. The other goal to facilitate diversity at Abercrombie & Fitch Company is to ensure that the work environment is supportive to all employees by creating facilities and mechanisms that are cognizant of different cultures. Further, the company should improve its communication channels to foster transparency and cooperation among all the employees of the company with marginalizing any group. Strategies and Tactics In order to attain the goal of workforce diversity, the company should widen its recruitment program to include people from minority groups and marginalized areas. The company can use recruitment agencies to reach potential employees from regions that the company does not have physical presence. Also, workforce diversity requires that all departments should attain a specified quota of employees from all the demographics. A friendly and conducive work environment that incorporates the needs of people from diverse backgrounds is fundamental in the efforts of promoting diversity in the workplace. Therefore, the company should put in place policies to ensure all the company facilities and policies can accommodate employees from different backgrounds. Further, the management should conduct regular audits to evaluate the suitability of the work environment in regards to diversity. Current and new employees should also be trained to appreciate and promote diversity among themselves in the course of their duties. Evaluation and Assessment To monitor the diversity in recruitment, the company should conduct regular appraisals to evaluate the number of people recruited from the various demographics. The success of the diversity program in regards to workforce recruitment will be measured through the number of people recruited from the minority and marginalized groups. The nature of the work environment will be evaluated through surveys and interviews to collect the opinions of the employees. A people management plan will also be implemented to set forth the milestones for the attainment of diversity at Abercrombie & Fitch Company. These measures will be benchmarked against international best practices for competitiveness in the international market. Works Cited Anna Prior. “Abercrombie & Fitch profit jumps on revenue growth.” 22 February 2013. Web. 16 April 2013 Armstrong, Claire, et al. "The impact of diversity and equality management on firm performance: Beyond high performance work systems." Human Resource Management 49.6 (2010): 977-998. Eagly, Alice H., and Jean Lau Chin. "Diversity and leadership in a changing world." American Psychologist 65.3 (2010): 216. Kreitz, Patricia A. "Best practices for managing organizational diversity." The Journal of Academic Librarianship 34.2 (2008): 101-120. Morgan, John, and Felix Vardy. "Diversity in the Workplace." The American Economic Review 99.1 (2009): 472-485. Read More