INTRODUCTION AND UNDERSTANDING
DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
BY: Ms. JANIFFER
NAMUBIRU
EMAIL: jnamubiru@[Link]
DEP’T: Human
Resourec Management
Summary of the topic
• Definition of diversity and its importances
• Evolution of diversity (Theories of diversity
• Drivers and motivators of diversity
• Diversity paradigms
• The business case of diversity (linking diversity to
organizational performance and innovation)
Overview of diversity
• Workforce diversity is not a matter for debate, it is a fact.
• In diverse workforce, managers are compelled to recognize and
manage the similarities and differences that exist among people in the
organization.
• Workplaces nowadays have started to embrace diversity and inclusion
programs to enhance organizational culture.
• Diversity consists of a range of characteristics such as gender, race,
disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation and age, as well as
personal traits, such as work style, social class, personality and
culture.
Definitions
Cox (2001) defined diversity as the variation of social and cultural
identities among people existing together in a defined employment setting
William and O’Reilly (1998) defined diversity as the degree of
heterogeneity among organisational members.
Workforce diversity is the similarities and the differences in such
characteristic as age, gender, ethnic heritage, physical abilities and
disabilities, race and sexual orientation among the employees of
organizations.
Diversity management
• Organizations are adopting diversity management strategies as a response to the growing diversity of
the workforce around the world.
• The purpose of diversity management is to enhance the performance of a heterogeneous workforce and
inclusive development of people with differences in gender, ethnicity, nationality, cultural and
educational backgrounds.
• The concept has become increasingly important due to globalization and the migration of people across
the globe.
Definition
Diversity management is the business strategy adopted by organizations to recruitment, retention and
inclusive development of individuals from a variety of backgrounds.
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.
When designing diversity management programmes, the main outcome should be to create a working
environment that involves everyone
Types of diversity management
1. Intranational diversity management 2. Cross-national diversity management
Cross-national, or international, diversity management refers to
Intranational diversity management refers to
managing a workforce that comprises of citizens from different
managing a workforce that comprises of citizens
countries. It may also involve immigrants from different
or immigrants in a single national context.
countries who are seeking employment.
Diversity programs focus on providing An example is a Ugandan company with branches in Kenya,
employment opportunities to minority groups or Tanzania and Rwanda. The company will establish diversity
recent immigrants. programs and policies that apply in its Ugandan headquarters, as
well as in its overseas offices.
For example, a Ugandan company may
The main challenge of cross-national diversity management is
implement policies and programs with the aim
that the parent company must consider the legislative and
of improving sensitivity and providing
cultural laws in the host countries it operates in, depending on
employment to minority ethnic groups in the where the employees live.
country.
Benefits/importance of diversity
management
1. Decrease in racist and discriminatory practices
2. Brings room for innovation and creativity
3. Collaborative environment as employees feels included and heard.
4. Higher brand reputation and image.
5. Reduces labor turnover (increases job satisfaction, and employees feel excited and motivated
while at work)
6. Quick and improved decision making
7. Enhanced problem solving
8. Diverse teams are more productive and perform better
9. Higher employee engagement
10. Etc….
Theories of diversity
Diversity theories tend to explain the effect of workforce diversity on teams/group as well
as performance. This effect can either be positive or negative.
1. Cognitive Diversity theory
Cognitive diversity refers to differences between team members in characteristics such
as expertise, experiences, and perspectives.
Cognitive diversity theory suggests that multiple perspectives stemming from the
cultural differences between group or organizational members result in creative problem
solving and innovation.
Many researchers contend that physical diversity characteristics such as race, age, or sex
(also known as bio-demographic diversity) positively influence performance because team
members contribute unique cognitive attributes based on their experiences stemming from
their demographic background.
From this perspective, the theory asserts that diversity highly benefits organizational
outcomes.
Theories continued…..
2. Similarity-attraction theory
• Similarity-attraction theory highlights that individuals are likely to be attracted toward
those who possess similar attributes and attitudes, and in contrast, they feel challenging
with others who have dissimilar attitudes, values and experiences.
• Individuals with similar backgrounds may find that they have more in common with each
other than with others from different backgrounds, making it more comfortable for them to
work together and collaborate toward producing a product or solving a problem.
• Similarity allows one to have his or her values and ideas reinforced, whereas dissimilarity
causes one to question his or her values and ideas, a process that is likely to be unsettling.
• Research has shown that in a situation where an individual has the opportunity to
interact with a number of different people, he or she is most likely to select a person who
is similar.
Theories continued…..
3. Schema Theory
• Schema theory explains how individuals interpret information about others based on their
demographic characteristics.
• Based on schema theory, employees develop schemas about co-workers based on race,
gender, and other diversity traits. They also form schemas about organizational policies,
leadership, and work climates.
• Schemas formed can be positive or negative and will affect the attitudes and behavior
employees have toward one another.
• As a result of the prior perceived knowledge or beliefs embodied in such schemas, individuals
categorize people, events, and objects. They then use these categories to evaluate newly
encountered people and make decisions regarding their interaction with them.
Theories continued…..
4. Information and Decision-Making Theory
• The information and decision-making theory in groups is based on the view that
the composition of the work group will affect how the group processes
information, communicates, and makes decisions.
• The information and decision-making theory in groups tends to show that, for
these two specific functions (producing information and making decisions),
the incorrect processes that result from high levels of heterogeneity are
overcome by benefits gained from more creativity, a larger number of ideas,
and a larger pool of knowledge.
Theories continued…..
Read more;
1. Social identification and categorisation theory
2. Justification-Suppression theory
DIVERSITY PARADIGM (FORMS OF THINKING ABOUT
DIVERSITY) Perspectives from Which Organizations See
Diversity Today
• Until recently, if you would ask ‘why should organization/companies concern themselves with
diversity’ many managers in the public and private sector asserted that discrimination is
wrong both legally and morally.
• But more and more today managers are voicing a second notion as well that diversity is good
business.
• The new idea is that a more diverse workforce increases organizational effectiveness; how it
lifts morale, brings greater access to new markets, enhances productivity, and has many other
positive impacts.
• What diversity management research is discovering is that many attempts to increase
diversity in the workplace have backfired, sometimes even heightening tensions among
employees and hindering an organization’s performance.
Continuation…
Discrimination and Fairness Paradigm
• This paradigm is the most used.
• Most organizations take this route and usually focus on equal opportunity,
fair treatment, recruitment, and compliance with the law of the land.
• The motto behind this paradigm is “We are all the same, differences do not
matter”. There are top-down rules that order such organizations; there is
pressure to adjust.
• It focuses on equal opportunity, fair treatment, recruiting of minorities among
other things.
• The goal with this paradigm is to hire people from diverse backgrounds in order
for them to increase its numbers for minorities and women.
Continued…….
• The thinking here is that certain demographic groups have been treated unfairly for example
when it comes to recruitment or promotion or occupying certain positions.
• To redress this, and in an attempt to be fair and to be seen to comply with the employment law,
a reorganization takes place within the company to reflect that of society.
• Organizations that use this style to manage diversity will continue to face issues because their
employees will feel that they were only hired to fill a void and not really hired based on their
qualifications. Employees will not feel as though they are valued or even an asset to the company.
• Some advantages of this paradigm are that, it tends to increase demographic diversity in the
workplace and ultimately succeeds in promoting fair treatment.
• The limitation is that it can favor people too much without considering other qualifications.
Access and Legitimacy Paradigm
• In the competitive climate of the 1980s and 1990s, a new inventory and rationale
for managing diversity emerged.
• This focuses on the acceptance and celebration of differences to ensure that the
diversity within the organization matches the diversity found among primary
stakeholders/market segment.
• This paradigm is the one that we usually use when presenting the business case
for diversity in the workplace. It’s about differences emphasized, but not used as
leverage.
• Diversity in this paradigm is used to connect with clients: it is a resource.
• This paradigm means valuing all individual differences, thus celebrating diversity.
Continued…….
• It can be argued that this paradigm encompasses mainstream practices, such as talent attraction
practices, gender targets, in view of the benefits of gender differentiation in the company, the
creation of group networks.
• The benefit of this approach is that employees feel comfortable around each other and can work
together to improve an organization.
• A limitation is that an organization can use diversity as a tool to enter into a new market, rather
than the qualification of an employee; this can limit their success in a market.
For example, we are living in an increasingly multicultural country, and new ethnic groups are quickly
gaining consumer power. Our company needs a demographically more diverse workforce to help us
gain access to these differentiated segments. We need employees with multilingual skills (using
several languages) in order to understand and serve our customers better and to gain legitimacy with
them. Diversity isn’t just fair; it makes business sense.
Integration and Learning Paradigm
• This is a new emerging paradigm. In contrast to both the fairness and access
paradigm, it organizes itself around the primary theme of integration.
• This paradigm focuses on integrating deep-level diversity differences such as
personality, attributes, beliefs and values into the actual work of the organization.
• It joins both the fairness and access paradigm; however, it exceeds both. Like the
fairness paradigm, it promotes equal opportunity for all individuals.
• And like the access paradigm, it acknowledges cultural differences among people
and recognizes the value in those differences.
Continued…….
• This new model for managing diversity lets the organization adopt differences among employees so
that it learns and grows because of them.
• Indeed, with the model fully in place, members of the organization can say, “We are all on the same
team, with our differences, not despite them.”
• One sign that a company hasn’t yet created a learning and effective paradigm is that people withhold
their opinions for fear of being seen as different.
For example, the adoption of one same language must be necessary for both assimilation (adjustments)
and differentiation in a multinational company, which is typically English as a worldwide language. An
organization can propose 5000 English vocabularies with a view that these vocabularies are fairly enough
to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency in communication between workers in MNCs. To implement
this, all of the non-native speakers must comply with the practice of English adoption in the organization,
which is a matter since it takes time to convert their own language to English in a conversation. The
adoption of English can ensure the learning of different habits from diverse clients through the discussions
led by the diverse employees that have taken part in the negotiations. The same language used reduces
the risks of triggering unbalanced information, thereby improving the efficiency inside the organization.
DRIVERS AND MOTIVATORS OF A DIVERSE
WORKPLACE
• Create inclusive company policies
• Celebrate individual differences
• Proactively hire for diversity
• Bring leadership and management on
board
• Conduct regular continuous dialogues/
Support workplace collaboration
• Communicate organizational values
• Diverse team work
• Etc.
THE BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY.
(linking diversity to organizational performance and
innovation)
(Justification of diversity in organizations in regards to business performance and
innovation)
• Diversity – characterized by differences, similarities, related tensions and
complexities – can be a strong contributor to innovation, performance and trust
in organizations, when it is managed in a way that builds inclusion.
• Stakeholders must ensure that diversity works in support of the respective
organization’s mission, vision and strategy, instead of creating possible
tensions and reinforcing pre-existing biases.
An assignment to be done in groups…..
Thank you for listening
In diversity, there is beauty and strength (Maya
Angelou)