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Implications
Author(s): Anita Ollapally and Jyotsna Bhatnagar
Scope of diversity:
Organizations in different countries focus on different aspects of diversity.
India(gender and disability), US(ethnicity and sexual orientation)
Organizational consequences:
Minorities feel cutoff when diversity is not recognized. This leads to absenteeism
and turnover. Example : When the African Americans felt that there was no
importance given to the concept of diversity in the organization, absenteeism was
higher and it was especially so when the superior was of the same race(Avery et
al 2007). Employees then tend to show lower commitment and higher intentions
to leave. In group division leads to lack of communication resulting in lower
creativity and productivity. Stress felt by employees to try and fit in. People hide
their ethnicity to try and fit in to the stereotypical white model. Transgenders
have trust issues and fear as the are ostracized the most. Discrimination while
recruiting leads to loss in talent.
Competitive advantage:
Managing diversities gives organizations the edge over others. Large and diverse
customer base satisfied if workforce is also diverse. Multiple perspectives due to
diversity, meaning better decisions and more innovative ideas. Top management
diversity is related competitive strategy and financial effectiveness. Turnover
reduced if diversity values of organization and person match. So financially
beneficial as well since costs reduce due to fewer turnover and lawsuits.
Barriers:
Stereotypes and prejudices in minds of people. Tendency to prefer men’s work.
Organizational culture prevents realization of HR policies. Actions of orgs don’t
match what they say.
Initiatives:
Improve (EI). Mentoring programs and training to develop intelligence related to
these issues. Flex time for women(day care centers etc.). Including people with
disabilities. Convincing top management of the importance of diverse workforce.
More women and ethnic minority applied to orgs that are perceived as diverse.
Create culture of inclusion and commit resources to diversity management.
Advertising employment messages promoting diversity. Intercultural events at
workplace.
Role of HR:
Should be sensitive to different needs of employees and devise policies
accordingly. Firms that have institutional diversity structures fare worse than
distinct firms with a few or no diversity initiatives. HR needs to present the case
for diversity projecting the advantages it brings to the org.
Leadership Competencies for Managing Diversity
Jan Visagie Herman Linde Werner Havenga
Leadership competencies:
Diverse orgs have different goals, managements styles and systems that makes
communication difficult. 5 key leadership competencies for managers who
manage diverse workforce:
Cultural empathy, adaptability, communication competence, generic managerial
skills and emotional stability.
Lockwood(2005) competencies for diversity management:
Non-judgmental listening,willingness to change concept about diversity,
collaboration skills, experience with conflict resolution,sensitivity towards terms
labeling groups, ability to identify diverse issues, intercultural team building,
openness to learning and ability to provide appropriate responses.
Diversity enhances social justice, employee satisfaction and also affects turnover.
Literature on diversity:
Studies conclude that heterogeneous groups produce higher quality solutions.
Some say they lead to dissatisfaction and greater turnover. It may lead to high
costs of coordination and conflict resolution.
Diversity measure:
Methods for measuring diversity:
1.Coefficient of variation-> age and tenure.
2.Blau index of heterogeneity and entropy index-> ethnicity/race, gender and
educational background.
Control variables-> org culture, team processes, avg tenure, gender, minority etc.
These control variables are used for the methods that measure diversity.