Workplace Diversity: Opportunities and Dilemmas for Public Sector - Essay Example

Workplace Diversity - Opportunities and Dilemmas for Public Sector The field of HRM in general and Diversity Management in particular has undergone dramatic improvements in the past decades. Greatest development and research in this regard has occurred in the private sector, however, since the 1990s, there has been an increased awareness in the Public Sector also to benefit from the principles and research of private sector. In the Private Sector effective Diversity Management translates tangibly into enhanced profits. However, the challenges of Diversity Management "are compounded in the public sector by pressures creating additional dilemmas for the civil service system. Public sector organizations in most countries, rich and poor, experience an environment characterized by greater scarcity of resources. Competition, pressures to reduce the production role of the State, and taxpayer demands for higher efficiency and cost-effectiveness mark the new work place realities". [Ospina,2001]. Recent research has shown that public sector performance and national development are directly related to the quality of human resources they have. Since the transformation of world community into a "global village", Public Sectors in almost every country, especially America and Europe, have also got a diverse work force. Management of such diverse ethnic groups poses many challenges to managers. At the same time it affords numerous benefits both to the organization and the general public. Moreover, to ensure a fair and productive public service, diversity management needs to be backed up with a legal frame-work also. Numerous universities, Public Service Commissions and research scholars are continuously striving to bring forth a universally workable frame-work for diversity management. Even the UNO has shown keen interest in the subject and several expert group meetings and symposiums have been arranged in the UNO. This paper attempts to evaluate the dilemmas and opportunities that workplace diversity poses for management and organizations in the public sector. This study does not put forth any new theories or frameworks. In fact it focuses on diversity management in public sector with a view to identification of the factors involved in workplace diversity and issues related to it, advantages presented by effective diversity management, and problems or challenges for diversity management. Introduction One of the most conspicuous aspects of the turn of the new century is that traditional approaches to almost all aspects of life have been challenged. From personal dealings to foreign policy no subject remains un-challenged by the new paradigm which has occurred due to the doctrine of "global village". Coupled with the shift from an industrial era to a service-based society tremendous changes have been brought about in the concepts and practices of HRM. Most of the research and development in this field is aimed for the private sector with its multi-national companies and ethnically diverse work-force. "Workforce diversity has, indeed, become an imperative for organizational competitiveness and effectiveness and diversity management is increasingly becoming a principle of human resources management. Forces like globalization and the internationalization of public issues contribute to expand the flow of labor across national boundaries and facilitate the constant exchange of materials, as well as symbolic and human resources. To remain competitive, organizations must adapt to and manage these environmental forces". [Ospina,2001]. This paradigmatic shift is equally applicable to Public Sector. Although the primary aim of Public Sector is quite opposite to that of Private Sector, nevertheless, it faces almost the same challenges in terms of workplace diversity as any other Private Sector organization. In fact diversity poses more challenges to Public Sector because it is invariably short of resources, is weighed down by bureaucratic red-tape, and is confined in a tight perimeter of traditional and legal framework. But, since 1990s, there has been an increased awareness in the Public Sector to change their conservative approach to HRM. Resultantly many governments are trying out different models of Diversity Management to effectively handle workplace diversity. The work of UNO in this regard has identified three models or schools of thought for effective Diversity Management in Public Sector. These are:- Traditional public administration New Public Management Responsive governance that emphasizes networks, greater openness and partnerships with civil society and private sector . [Guido Bertucci]. Thus, an important challenge facing public leaders is how to incorporate or reinvigorate desirable traditional civil service values, such as impartiality, integrity and dedication to public service, while at the same time promoting management innovations and efficiency improvements as well as encouraging more open and responsive forms of administration. This synthesis envisages a public service that is impartial, professional and responsive and that draws, where appropriate, on the skills and resources of the private and civil society sectors. In addition, the new synthesis stresses the need for the public service to curb corruption and to exhibit the highest levels of neutral competence, efficiency and performance orientation in every respect. [Guido Bertucci]. Defining Diversity Management At this point it would be appropriate to understand two key terms - diversity and diversity management. In the simplest terms Diversity is defined as differences between individuals. Most commonly diversity is taken to mean population changes due to immigration. But according to modern definitions it also includes women, people with disabilities and older workers. Diversity management is defined as "a comprehensive managerial process for developing an environment that works for all employees". [3]. In an era when flexibility and creativity are keys to competitiveness, diversity is critical for an organization's success. Effective diversity management leads to many advantages. Sonia Ospina, Associate Professor at New York University and a prominent researcher on Diversity Management, has classified these according to the ethical, legal, public policy, HRM and organizational gains they provide. This classification alone can sufficiently highlight the functional importance of Diversity Management in the Public Sector. Challenges in Workplace Diversity Management Race and ethnicity are among the leading reasons for discrimination on the workplace. Employers and even co-workers make assumptions regarding migrants' professional qualification and skills. Moreover, due to different educational systems, even high education degrees of migrants may not be accepted in the host country or organization. Similarly migrations due to war and other social upheavals result in a collage of migrants ranging from illiterate to post graduates. This is one challenge to diversity management that public servants need to keep in view while formulating policies. Similarly women have traditionally been thought to be effective only in a handful of professions. However, now the trend is changing. Women are found in all kinds of professions and managerial slots. There may be occasions when male workers feel offended when ordered around by a female. Another tangent to this issue is a migrant in the same position. This aspect is also a challenge in diversity management. Negative attitudes and behaviours to a particular group or class is another challenge for managing workplace diversity. Such behaviour includes prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping. If left unchecked, these can lead to a strained working environment. In case any dismissal is carried on this basis it can result in costly litigation. [4]. Managing diversity at the workplace is not an easy job. Any manager attempting to do so must keep in mind the following points:- There is no quick fix. Bringing our cultural assumptions into our awareness and learning to recognize the cultural assumptions of others is a difficult and sometimes painful process. Creating multicultural organizations requires patience, hard work and an organizational commitment to change. Public sector organizations are status-quo oriented by nature. There may be resistance to change and a refusal to accept that the workplace has really diversified. This resistance to change is another challenge to diversity management. Communication or language barrier is perhaps the biggest challenge for managing workplace diversity. Ineffective communication leads to confusion and low moral. Benefits of Diversity Management Organizations employing a diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of solutions to problems in service, sourcing, and allocation of resources. Employees from diverse backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences in suggesting ideas that are flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer demands. A diverse collection of skills and experiences (e.g. languages, cultural understanding) allows a company to provide service to customers on a global basis. A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences. The organization can draw from that pool to meet business strategy needs and the needs of customers more effectively. Requirements for Managers of Workplace Diversity Recently a study was carried out to ascertain the managerial skills required for multicultural work groups. Several competencies such as cultural empathy, general managerial skills and personal managerial style, and the ability to learn on the job, were identified as necessary attributes to focus on in the selection of managers for a multicultural work environment. There is a strong likelihood people with these skills to handle diversity will be more desirable to organizations as time moves on and recruitment and selection criteria will have to adapt in some way to acommodate the new skills demand as well as the changing demographic of the labour pool. Strategies to manage diversity include: creating diverse teams throughout the organization, including diversity in managers' performance evaluation, goal ratings and promotion decisions; addressing particular HR needs of sub-populations of employees by adding new benefits and new choices within the existing ones to encompass a broader range of employee options; developing managerial succession plans; and continuously introducing new policies as new issues are identified. Managers in organizations with fairly good levels of diversity must work on the four tasks simultaneously. For example, managers in an already diverse work force must still monitor demographic changes in the labor market and evaluate their strategies to pursue further diversity. However, an organization with a homogeneous workforce has no diversity to manage, so it must first pursue strategies to become diverse. Organizations in early stages have the opportunity to create policies and systems that, from the beginning, help prevent some of the problems documented in older plural organizations. A final consideration of particular relevance to civil service systems is where diversity initiatives should be placed and who should administer them. There is no consensus in the literature. Locating diversity efforts in the human resource department risks marginalizing them or alienating program managers from them. But if diversity initiatives and programs are not centrally organized, they will get lost within the demands of production and service delivery. The developmental and contingent nature of diversity suggest that the decision about institutional location depends on criteria such as the degree of diversity of the overall workforce in public service, the level of each agency's attainment of diversity to date, and the extent to which other HR functions are decentralized. Depending on these criteria, diversity initiatives may be organized in a separate function when much remains to be done and become more integrated as managers become more sophisticated and sensitive to diversity, and as the organization advances toward the multicultural stage. Be that as it may, the agenda of moving toward maximizing diversity and to multicultural organizations is too relevant to be faced alone by either those responsible for formal personnel policies or by those addressing the organization's mission. Indeed, an organization seeking to maximize diversity needs to harness the creative and functional capacities of both human resource professionals and program managers. Research Agenda With the preceding knowledge in backdrop, the research agenda for this topic is as follows:- What are the different management theories Trace history of workplace diversity management. Define Diversity Management Determine its importance for Public Sector. Identify the advantages of workplace diversity management in the Public Sector. Identify the challenges to workplace diversity management in Public Sector. Determine what theoretical basis is available to guide the organizations interested in workplace diversity management. What legal frameworks are available to support workplace diversity management What is the process to organize and implement workplace diversity management programs. Overview of diversity management approaches and strategies Methodology Following method will be adopted to research the topic:- Review of relevant books on the subject. Download relevant material from internet Discussion with instructors and colleagues Interview and discussion with any public sector manager Conclusion Ultimately, diversity management in civil service, as managing diversity in any other organizational context, is a complex and multidimensional challenge that requires permanent and focused managerial attention. If strategies must be adapted to the degree of diversity of any given organization, in the context of civil service, strategies and approaches may also vary according to system features and the societal forces that affect it. For example, it is not the same to address diversity challenges in the context of public employment in transitional societies, where new civil services are only now being created, than to address them in the context of industrialized societies with mature civil service systems. In the former, managers can design features to avoid the contradictions that plague more traditional civil services, thus trying to make the system more sensitive to diversity issues from the very start. In the latter, diversity approaches would have to work simultaneously on re-dressing equity problems and maximizing the potential of the existing work force by creating more flexibility in the system. In the same way, the challenges may vary between developing societies. Some have established civil services that do not function well (e.g. where patronage and corruption still predominate in spite of the system) while in others the system is functional but has produced exclusionary practices and outcomes. More over, in most developing societies, diversity issues may complicate the managerial requirements to balance the contradictory pressures for employee protection and stability (required for professionalizing public employment) and the new demands for accountability and transparency to make public service more efficient. Works Cited 1. Ospina, Sonia and Wagner, Robert F. Managing Diversity in Civil Service: A Conceptual Framework for Public Organizations. UN Expert Group Meeting on Managing Diversity in Civil Service. May 2001. 2. Bertucci, Guido. Unlocking the Human Potential for Public Sector Performance. 3. 4. 5. Thomas, R. Roosevelt, Jr. 1991. "Managing Diversity: A Strategic Opportunity". The Municipal Yearbook. Washington, DC: International City Management Association. 6. Chang, S. & Tharenou, P., 2004. Competencies Needed for Managing a Multicultural Workgroup. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 7. Strachan, G., Burgess, J. & Sullivan, A., 2004. Affirmative Action or Managing Diversity What is the Future of Equal Opportunity Policies in Organizations Women in Management Review 8. Ospina, Sonia. 1996a. Illusions of Opportunity: Employee Expectations and Workplace Inequality. Ithaca, Cornell University Press. Read More