by Diversity management refers to organizational actions that aim to promote greater inclusion of employees from different backgrounds into an organization’s structure through specific policies and programs. Organizations are adopting diversity management strategies as a response to the growing diversity of the workforce around the world.
The HR Department is at the foremost of diversity policy implementation. Right from the time of finding the right talent to nurturing various employees’ talent, the human resource department is vital to helping implement such policies so that the employee’s abilities are the sole criteria for remuneration and appointment. Also, promoting the concepts of diversity helps the company goals succeed and improves revenue generation through quicker and more diverse solutions to all issues in the workplace. Thus diversity management should be implemented in close communication and alignment with company goals and top-management professionals.
Types of Diversity Management
Cross-national diversity management
Cross-national, or international, diversity management refers to managing a workforce that comprises citizens from different countries. It may also involve immigrants from different countries who are seeking employment.
An example is a US-based company with branches in Canada, Korea, and China. The company will establish diversity programs and policies that apply in its US headquarters, as well as in its overseas offices.
The main challenge of cross-national diversity management is that the parent company must consider the legislative and cultural laws in the host countries it operates in, depending on where the employees live.
Intranational diversity management
Intranational diversity management refers to managing a workforce that comprises citizens or immigrants in a single national context. Diversity programs focus on providing employment opportunities to minority groups or recent immigrants.
For example, a French company may implement policies and programs with the aim of improving sensitivity and providing employment to minority ethnic groups in the country.
Characteristics of Diversity Management
Provides tangible benefits
Unlike in the past when diversity management was viewed as a legal constraint, companies use the diversity strategy to tap into the potential of all employees and give the company a competitive advantage in its industry. It allows each employee, regardless of his/her race, religion, ethnicity, or origin to bring their talents and skills to the organization. A diverse workforce enables the organization to better serve clients from all over the world since diverse employees can understand their needs better.
Voluntary
Unlike legislation that is implemented through sanctions, diversity management is a voluntary organizational action. It is self-initiated by organizations with a workforce from different ethnicities, religions, nationalities, and demographics. There is no legislation to coerce or government incentives to encourage organizations to implement diversity management programs and policies.
Broad definition
While legislation and affirmative action target a specific group, diversity management uses a broad definition since the metrics for diversity are unlimited. The broad definition makes diversity programs more inclusive and has less potential for rejection by the members of the majority group or privileged sections of the society.
Steps to effective diversity management
- Effective Communication
- Employee Equality
- Diverse Teams Encouragement
- Maintain Transparent Policies
- Sensitivity Training
- Leadership
- Hiring
Backward Consequences
Negative spillover. This is when diversity initiatives have an undesirable effect on something other than the intended outcome. For example, diversity initiatives may result in negative attitudes among non-target group members. The root cause of this reaction may be the signal that targets are likely to succeed in the organization.
Backfiring. This is when a diversity initiative has an undesirable effect on the intended outcome, like when the program decreases representation or increases discrimination. A likely cause of backfiring is the implicit signal that target groups need help to succeed. Because diversity initiatives are supposed to help target group members, some people infer that target group members might not be able to succeed on their own. And this is problematic because it can lead to stereotyping and discrimination.
False progress. This is when a diversity initiative has the desired effect on the intended outcome when the diversity numbers improve, so it looks like things are getting better but that improvement is not accompanied by true underlying change.
There have been some anecdotal accounts about ways this might happen. For example, people have speculated that in order to improve the diversity numbers, a manager might take a non-managerial job held by a lot of women or minorities, and just reclassify it as a managerial job. It looks like the representation in managerial positions has gone up, but nothing has actually changed.
