Subject : Organizational Behavior

Topic : IMPACT OF ORGANIZATIONAL

BEHAVIOR IN WORKFORCE
DIVERSITY

Submitted By : Ammar Navid Rizvi

Registration No. : 2432-309001

Submitted To : Sir Noor Ellahi

 IMPACT OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR IN
WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

The presentation was based on the book “A Peacock in the

Land of Penguins; a Fable about Creativity and Courage”
written by BJ Gallagher Hateley and Warren Schmidt. The
book describes diversity, how it affects us, and how we can use
it to help our organization and ourselves grow and flourish.
This entertaining tale focuses on creating a service culture where individual contributions
are appreciated and team members feel comfortable in challenging the status quo. This
book realizes the instructional value and teaches diversity and mutual respect among
employees.

“A Peacock in the Land of Penguins” brings to life the challenges of birds of different
feathers trying to work together through the engaging story of Perry the Peacock and the
other exotic birds who struggle to be themselves in the conformity-minded Land of
Penguins. This delightful fable humorously and memorably illuminates the importance of
understanding and embracing the full range of perspectives that people bring to bear on
their work. Perry the Peacock is an insightful, inspiring and non-threatening way to
illustrate employee empowerment, effective communication and team building skills
within the context of diversity.

When Perry and his exotic feathered friends arrive in the homogenous Land of Penguins
they have trouble fitting in, despite their talent and intelligence. However, when Perry
and his friends save the island from an attacking pack of wolves, the penguins realize that
in their ever-changing world, all birds would have to appreciate each other's skills and
contributions.
Dr. Edward E. Hubbard, an internationally respected consultant and trainer in
organizational change and diverse workforce integration, has a distinct definition of
diversity: “A collective mixture characterized by differences and similarities that get
applied in pursuit of organizational objectives.” People bring all of who they are to work,
he says, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical disabilities, income status.
They don’t check these qualities at the front door on their way in each morning. And he
interjects, “People think of diversity as differences, but diversity incorporates similarities
as well, the things that we have in common that bond us.”

Penguins are metaphorically portrayed as corporate styled birds in an icy climate dressed
formally and universally in black and white attire at all times. Outsiders are other birds
who have different but noble intentions and, despite integration efforts, cannot succeed in
the penguins’ narrow clan type organization. Ultimately these distinct feathered beings
find themselves in a new space that embraces their uniqueness and offers them the
freedom to be who they are; explore and invent opportunities, share their wisdom, reflect
on possibilities and dream their dreams.

Almost everyone has experienced the hurt and frustration of not feeling accepted, of
being perceived as "different" and not fitting into the group. People who have good ideas
that differ from conventional wisdom are often ignored or criticized for the very thing
that makes them valuable to the organization-their creativity. Innovation often comes
from the most unlikely places, and people in organizations need to break out of their
“penguin suit thinking” to create a climate where new ideas can flourish.

Many large organizations have seemed to clone their staff to maintain internal harmony.
The invisible logic is that employee sameness will allow the wheels to turn year after
year without the risky diversion of change or implementation of new ideas. But this
creates staleness in a competitive climate and hostile game playing to the more
industrious person with good ideas and intentions. Eventually creative individuals find
their paths but it is not often an easy journey. There are some companies that value
special strengths (creative industries and small businesses are more open than their
corporate counterparts) and will realize the value of these special birds but many “exotic
birds” will find solace in building their own business on their own terms.

The corporate climate is not friendly to peacocks but then it harbors grudges against
outsiders of all types. And yet, it is important for penguins and peacocks to learn, listen
and accept differences in one another without molting feathers. It is a life lesson for
everyone whether or not they are still in the workplace.

This story echoes one that is unfolding each and every day in organizations all across the
country - how to manage the increasing diversity of the workforce and capture the talent,
energy, and commitment of all employees.

A workforce that's more heterogeneous in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, age and other
characteristics that reflect differences. One of the major challenges facing managers in
the twenty-first century will be coordinating work activities of diverse organizational
members in accomplishing organizational goals. Today's organizations are characterized
by workforce diversity- a workforce that's more heterogamous in terms of gender, race,
ethnicity, age and other characteristics that reflect differences.

Basically workforce diversity can impact the performance of a group both positively as
well as negatively. Firstly, workforce diversity increases the skills available to a specific
group and the group shows more productive results as compared to the group which has
individuals from the same set of mind. Workforce diversity also increases the capability
of the individuals to work with people of different nature and habits.

Having an organizational culture that encourages employee involvement and creates a

sense of ownership and responsibility appears to be important for the management of
workplace diversity. This suggests that a feeling that all employees are being developed
and empowered within the workplace, not just those employees who contribute to
diversity, is needed for the effective management of workplace diversity.

I know the title may make you smile and giggle. I did too when it was introduced. I am
involved in a contact center employing over 80 people. Over 80 very different human
beings with very different ways of thinking, but 80 very different human beings all living
for the same purpose: make the best out of everything life gave to each and everyone of
them – creativity and courage – and on top of all, their will to team work, TOGETHER.

WHY COMPANIES GO FOR WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

Here is a quick overview of seven predominant factors that motivate companies, large
and small, to diversify their workforces:

As a Social Responsibility

Because many of the beneficiaries of good diversity practices are from groups of people
that are “disadvantaged” in our communities, there is certainly good reason to consider
workforce diversity as an exercise in good corporate responsibility. By diversifying our
workforces, we can give individuals the “break” they need to earn a living and achieve
their dreams.

As an Economic Payback

Many groups of people who have been excluded from workplaces are consequently
reliant on tax-supported social service programs. Diversifying the workforce, particularly
through initiatives like welfare-to-work, can effectively turn tax users into tax payers.

As a Resource Imperative

The changing demographics in the workforce, that were heralded a decade ago, are now
upon us. Today’s labor pool is dramatically different than in the past. No longer
dominated by a homogenous group of males, available talent is now overwhelmingly
represented by people from a vast array of backgrounds and life experiences.
Competitive companies cannot allow discriminatory preferences and practices to impede
them from attracting the best available talent within that pool.

As a Legal Requirement

Many companies are under legislative mandates to be non-discriminatory in their

employment practices. Non-compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity can result
in fines and/or loss of contracts with government agencies. In the context of such
legislation, it makes good business sense to utilize a diverse workforce.

As a Marketing Strategy

Buying power, particularly in today’s global economy, is represented by people from all
walks of life (ethnicities, races, ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, etc.) To
ensure that their products and services are designed to appeal to this diverse customer
base, “smart” companies, are hiring people, from those walks of life - for their
specialized insights and knowledge. Similarly, companies who interact directly with the
public are finding increasingly important to have the makeup of their workforces reflect
the makeup of their customer base.

As a Business Communications Strategy

All companies are seeing a growing diversity in the workforces around them - their
vendors, partners and customers. Companies that choose to retain homogenous
workforces will likely find themselves increasingly ineffective in their external
interactions and communications.

As a Capacity-building Strategy

Tumultuous change is the norm in the business climate of the 21st century. Companies
that prosper have the capacity to effectively solve problems, rapidly adapt to new
situations, readily identify new opportunities and quickly capitalize on them. This
capacity can be measured by the range of talent, experience, knowledge, insight, and
imagination available in their workforces. In recruiting employees, successful companies
recognize conformity to the status quo as a distinct disadvantage. In addition to their job-
specific abilities, employees are increasingly valued for the unique qualities and
perspectives that they can also bring to the table. According to Dr. Santiago Rodriguez,
Director of Diversity for Microsoft, true diversity is exemplified by companies that “hire
people who are different – knowing and valuing that they will change the way you do
business.”

It is clear that companies that diversify their workforces will have a distinct competitive
advantage over those that don’t. Further, it is clear that the greatest benefits of workforce
diversity will be experienced, not by the companies that that have learned to employ
people in spite of their differences, but by the companies that have learned to employ
people because of them.

MANAGING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY IN PAKISTAN

WORKFORCE diversity is the similarities and differences in the employees of an

organization. Workforce has diversified work place all over the world as well as in
Pakistan due to globalization, emerging minorities, multi-generation and multi-culturism.
Managing workforce diversity is to handle the diversified workforce. Due to diversified
workforce differences like age, culture, disabilities, race, religion and gender has emerged
in the organizations of Pakistan. Due to globalization, people from different countries and
cities with different culture, race and religion combine and work together which creates
differences among employees in terms of thinking, norms, values and religion. Minorities
and women are emerging in workplace because they have realized that it is the only way
for them to prove themselves and get their rights.

Another reason for women taking part in workforce in Pakistan and all over the world is
the increasing inflation and worsening economic conditions. This has reshaped workforce
which falsify the practices that were the part of workforce before when the traditional
ways of work were followed and workforce was not diversified. Multi-generations also
leads to workforce diversity. Now elderly people are willing to do work even after
retirement age due to increasing inflation and economic problems of Pakistan.

One another reason for willingness of elders to do work even after retirement age is to
maintain their standard of living and to remain busy. This creates a blend of young and
old people in workplace. They have different goals, values, needs and experiences which
create conflict of interest in workplace. Due to globalization, multi-generation and
increased number of minorities, multi-culturism can be observed in workforce. Different
cultures prevail in Pakistan because it has five provinces which diversify the work force
and it become more diverse when foreign people join the workforce. Culture has impact
human’s behavior. If different people from different cultures join the workforce, they will
have different values and behavior. In such situations, there is a need of human resource
manager who can handle diversity. Multi-culturism reflects different values, ethics and
behavior among workforce. All these factors lead to diversity in workforce all over the
world as well as in Pakistan.