Contemporary personnel perspectives - Essay Example

The Basic Concept of Managing Diversity Accepts That the Workforce Consists Sociology CONTEMPORARY PERSONNEL PERSPECTIVES The basic concept of managing diversity accepts that the workforce consists of a diverse population of people. It is founded on the belief that harnessing these differences will create a productive environment in which everybody feels valued, where their talents are being fully utilised and in which organisational goals are met”.  Diversity encompasses both acceptance and respect for one another. It can be used to mean recognising that individuals can be different considering their races, cultures, and even sexual orientation. It means understanding that all individuals are unique and vary in different ways. These differences can be seen in ethnicity, race, gender, age, socio-economic status, political beliefs, sexual orientation, physical abilities, religious beliefs and other ideologies. Diversity is the exploration of differences in a positive, nurturing and a safe environment. It can be used to mean many things according to peoples’ understanding (Glastra et al 2000). In work places, or organizations, diversity aims at promoting equal opportunities in the work environment and retention programmes in order to ensure that the minority groups stay. Diversity also promotes dealing fairly with all individuals in the organisation, recruiting people with various backgrounds, promoting different cultures in the workplace, and producing public materials in order to promote the company and branding it as being diversity friendly. Organisations that promote diversity with tolerant employees who respect the differences have several benefits. For instance, it assists the organization in creating a work environment where the entire members feel valued and respected (Bleijenbergh, Peters & Poutsma, 2010). This helps the individuals to maximize their potential and show their talent thus contributing greatly to the well performance of the organisation. Diversity is a very important issue in working organizations all over the world. Most countries consist of various people with different cultures, ethnicity, social and religious backgrounds. This therefore enables the work places to promote diversity in order to promote equality, fairness and inclusion in all working organizations. Diversity can be perfectly managed in workplaces. When people hear about diversity, they think of ethnicity, race and gender, however, diversity is broader than what people really think it is. In America, and other countries, it is considered important to understand how the dimensions of diversity affect performance, success, motivation, and interaction with others. The institutional structures and practices that have barriers to some diversity dimensions should be examined, and banned (Heres & Benschop, 2010). Managing diversity is a process that is going on in various organizations in order to unleash various talents and capabilities brought about by the diverse population to the organization, society or community. Managing diversity helps in creating a wholesome community where everyone is valued. This encourages the individuals to use their talents and capabilities appropriately leading to improvement of performance in the organisation. Multiculturalism is the art of managing diversity and it is an inclusive process where everyone is included. Workforce diversity is a reality in most countries and organizations. For instance, at Berkeley, the women make up 60% of the workforce and the people of colour have a percentage of 43% according to their report. In addition, the accommodation issues for the diverse workforce are offered at the workforce (Ivancevich & Gilbert, 2000). Management can be defined as the planning and implementation of the practices and systems in an organisation in order to manage the people, maximize the potential benefits of diversity, and minimize the disadvantages. Managing diversity mainly provides a distinct advantage in an era where flexibility and creativity are the major ways to competitiveness. There are some important skills needed in order to transform organisational culture so that it can reflect the values of the diverse workforce. Some of the skills include willing to challenge and adjust the organizational practices that alter the different groups, understanding ones own cultures, prejudices, identity, and stereotypes, accepting and understanding the diversity concept management and considering that diversity is important to every aspect of management (Risberg, & Søderberg 2008). Managing diversity therefore means accepting and considering other people’s ideas as valuable. This improves good management practices through prevention of discrimination and promoting inclusiveness. However, good management alone is not enough in ensuring smooth operation in a diverse workforce (Stewart, & Harte, 2010). In addition, it is difficult to identify the role of diversity in management. It is therefore real that diversity accepts that a workforce contains a diverse collection of individuals since it encourages acceptance of people’s differences and considering them as valuable. Noon (2010) argues that the increasing globalization of the world requires a lot of interaction between people with different cultures, ethnicity, races, beliefs and backgrounds than in the past. People today belong to a worldwide economy with competition emerging from all continents therefore; organizations need a diverse community in order to become more resourceful and open to change. The maximisation and capitalisation on the workplace diversity has proved to be a very important issue in management. Diversity is important to all associates and employers in the workplace. Even though associates are interdependent in a workplace, the respect for individual differences is necessary for productivity to increase (Pitts, 2009). Diversity helps in reducing lawsuits and accelerates the market opportunities, creativity, business image and recruitment. The diverse staffs manage to contribute to higher production of products and services. In addition, diversity assists the members of a diverse staff to have a variety of viewpoints and solutions. A company that is perceived to support diversity appears good to other businesses that may feel in the same way and like to partner (Thanem, 2008). Furthermore, diversity attracts clients and customers in a company and can also attract qualified workers. It is therefore clear that harnessing different cultures together leads to the creation of a productive environment. For instance, all people would feel how much they are valued hence making them work wholeheartedly in order to achieve the organizational goals. The staff members therefore encourage the members to work hard and utilize their talents in order to meet the set goals of the organization. However, diversity management in a workforce brings various challenges to the organization. Dreachslin (2007) asserts that managing diversity not only deals with acknowledging differences but also involves recognizing the value of differences, promoting inclusiveness and combating discrimination. Managers can be challenged by the loss in personnel and in work productivity due to prejudice, complaints, legal action and discrimination against the organization. In addition, the negative attitudes and behaviours can act as barriers to the organizational diversity since they are capable of harming the working relationships. This may lead to damage of morale and productivity. In the workplace, the negative behaviours and attitudes include discrimination, stereotyping, and prejudice (Mukta and Lengnick-hall 2011). In a diverse organization, employees from different cultures come with various values, communication styles and expectations. These values should be understood and integrated in the organizational culture in order to manage a successful working atmosphere. In the United Kingdom, most companies become increasingly diverse making the employers to recognize the need to create welcoming and inclusive workplaces. Such an environment attracts more applicants making the company to hirer the most talented employees. Uniting different employees with different perspectives has other advantages such as enhancing creativity and business solutions. Certainly, the employees who feel valued in the workplace perform better thus showing that a workplace without tension or pressure created by a clash of cultures is very productive. There are various ways that can be utilised in order to achieve or promote diversity in the workplaces or companies. Boone & Hendriks (2009) argue that one of the ways that help achieve diversity in an organization is promoting a diversity-friendly culture. Companies should broadcast the importance of diversity. The company should accept and welcome all talented employees regardless of their gender, origin, age, appearance, beliefs and other considerations. In addition, the company should be aware of the broader definition of diversity in order to encompass the differences beyond sex and race. This would help the company to attract different people with different origins but with the best talents. In addition, the employees would consider themselves as a team and work together in order to promote the business and respect one another. In order to achieve diversity in an organization, quotas should be eliminated. The CEOs who have good intentions often order hiring quotas in order to achieve the required employee mix. Through this, the required goal of a balanced workforce that reflects the availability of qualified personnel in the surrounding organization can be legally achieved. The employers ought to consider the qualifications required for a job, eliminate the unnecessary parts and advertise vacancy widely to attract diverse population. The diverse pool of qualified applicants will definitely choose the company (Claire et al 2010). In case the applicants do not become more diverse, the selection process therefore would require scrutiny in order to determine why barriers are still existent. Moore et al (2009) say that organizations should limit word-of-mouth recruiting. When a company is not diverse, relying on a word of mouth recruiting would lead to continuation of a non-diverse workforce. Therefore, in order to achieve diversity, the organization should expand the recruiting efforts. For instance, it should place advertisements on the newspapers, magazines, journals, or with the organizations that focus mainly on the community from which the company is trying to recruit. In addition, the vacancies can also be posted at the state unemployment office. The other method that can be used to achieve diversity is to train the supervisors. The employees normally view the company’s attitudes through the ways of interaction with their supervisors. For that reason, the managerial decisions should always reflect the values of the company accurately (Bendl, Fleischman. & Walenta, 2008). The company should therefore train the supervisor’s on the expectations of the company and the objectives and values of diversity. In addition, it is necessary to explain how the supervisors can help to evaluate the set objectives and to re-examine the supervisors who do not support the objectives. Eliminating the hidden rules also helps in promoting diversity in organizations. Most employers should always have a manual with the written rules of the company. However, other important unofficial rules, such as please the senior managers, should not be written down. Instead, they should be communicated through words of mouth from the senior management team. This is done because not all employees prefer confidential relationships. Therefore, it is appropriate for the company to make efforts and educate the members about the hidden rules. The hidden rules would enable the diverse community to understand the needs of the company. Open access to training enables a variety of employees to have an opportunity to advance as far as they can depend on their talents. Most employees can participate in the training and this helps the company to select the potential workers from the diverse community. Additionally, the choice of diversity trainers should be considered in order to have a diverse workforce (Choi, & Rainey, 2010). For instance, an employer can hire a diversity consultant whose main target is to change the minds of the employees. It is therefore necessary to choose the consultants wisely. A productive diversity training session focuses on effective real working methods in the diverse environment all over the world. Achieving diversity and inclusiveness in the workplace is mainly considered as a fundamental part of fulfilling the goals and mission of any non-profit organisation. There are several benefits that result due to working in order to achieve diverse and inclusive environments. Some of the benefits include faster problem solving, good and more productive communication, enhancing programmes and some services to constituents, and enhancing creativity (Baugh, 2008). The main goal of diversity management initiative is to create a high performing organization by making sure that the employees’ talents and skills are effectively utilised. The employees need to be competent, well trained and the work environment should also be inclusive and supportive in order to meet the set goals. Diversity management is considered as a critical component in achieving high performance in well performing companies across Europe like Shell and Lufthansa. It is therefore integrated into the fabric of all programmes of human resource. The model of implementing the successful diversity management is outlined as follows: achieving leadership commitment, developing the strategic plan of diversity, considering both quantitative and qualitative measures, designing a structure, developing emphasis, offering diversity leaning programmes, offering diverse leadership programmes and implementing the mentorship and internship programmes (Michelle and Haslam 2007). Managers should consider what diversity means and the goals that can be achieved from it. There are various goals that can be met due to appropriate diversity management. Increased variety of ideas and perspectives, better organizational outcomes, better marketing and redressing the past injustices that result from discrimination, are some of the benefits that come with proper diversity management. The Health Financial Management Association values and respects diversity (Worman 2005). The statements from the HFMA indicated that the organization’s goal of diversity is to promote contributions and the viewpoint. Health organizations, educators, and policymakers are urged to strive actively in order to increase diversity. Due to the diverse nature of the British society, there are diverse patient populations too making it necessary to promote diversity. Most organizations normally strive in order incorporate diversity to improve the productivity of the organization and remain competitive (ACAS 2011). The need of incorporating diversity appears to grow out of the concept of economic and social fairness and morality. The main need of diversity is to increase the profits in both global and national competition. Diversity initiatives force mainly comes from the awareness of the business implications such as satisfying the demands of competitiveness, addressing the worker’s needs and fulfilling the requirements of the roles of the company in the community. In order to achieve a stable multicultural environment, organizations need to provide the employees with the skills of operating the multicultural environment. This can help the employees to understand their own as well as the values, attitudes, beliefs, cultures, strengths, weaknesses and behaviourism of other people. Diversity management accepts a diverse population of employees in an organization. The promotion of diversity helps the organization to improve in its performance, creativity, effectiveness and flexibility. This helps the organization to be more profitable both globally and nationally. Promoting diversity in workplaces ensures that the employees are more valued and respected. It also encourages understanding, accepting and respecting different cultures and other differences among the employees. In addition, diversity management helps the company to attract various qualified personnel from a diverse population.  This helps the company to improve in its performance and increase its profit and effectiveness. Increased performance of the company means that the company utilizes the employees’ talents hence assisting the organization to meet its goals. Finally, diversity is considered to play a very important role in the business success. However, the inclusion of various, ethnic, gender, sexual identity and religious groups in the workplace can make other employees uncomfortable. By delivering training to the employees on diversity, linking diversity to the success of the company and building team dynamics helps employers to improve by making great strides towards promoting inclusion and diversity in the workplace. The main value of diversity therefore is to increase the productivity and achieve the set goals in a diverse environment and encouraging employees to understand one another and use their talents well in productivity. References ACAS. Delivering Equality and Diversity. Retrieved on 26th November 2011 from www.acas.co.uk Baugh, G. 2008, "The Southwest Academy of Management: In search of Diversity Research", Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 401-404. Bendl, R., Fleischmann, A. & Walenta, C. 2008, "Diversity Management Discourse Meets Queer Theory", Gender in Management, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 382-394. Bleijenbergh, I., Peters, P. & Poutsma, E. 2010, "Diversity Management beyond the Business case", Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 413-421. 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