DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT: A NECESSARY PREREQUISITE FOR
ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATIONS?
Ludvík Eger, Dana Egerová, Zuzana Krištofová
Diversity management
THE STARTING POINTS
 Diversity is here to stay
 The impact of diversity is growing
substantially
 Diversity will increase in the next years
 Organizations have to adapt to this reality
 Diversity management should be considered as a necessity for
companies
„The crisis made our diversity efforts more intense. We are a survivor
because of our relative diversity“ (E.Taylor, Deutsche Bank)
Diversity management
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT OF DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
From the affirmative actions
to broad use of diversity
management in organizations (after the year 2000)
CURRENT FOCUS ON DIVERSITY
 An issue of personal management - as the sub-discipline within the
Human Resource Management.
 A complex issue - diversity as a matter concerning all the organization.
 + more focus on customizing diversity.
Research study
THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH STUDY
 To explore diversity management practices in organisations.
 To provide examples of successful diversity management
implementations.
 To describe these examples as case studies “best practices”.
 To give a better understanding of application of diversity
management in organizations.
RESEARCH QUESTION
What is the existing state of the implementation of diversity
management in large organizations with foreign participation in the
Czech Republic?
.
Research study
The method of case study was selected for the description and for
more in-depth understanding of diversity management
implementation in the selected organisations.
The case studies were carried out through:
 structured interviews with the HR managers,
 documentary analysis,
 web pages analysis.
The study includes best-practice case studies from six organizations:
 one company from the field of telecommunication services,
 two companies from the field of food manufacture,
 one from the field of IT services and
 two companies from the field of banking.
„Best practices“ - Awards related to CSR and diversity
T- Mobile , e.g. 2010 and 2012 - 2nd place in Company of the year - equal
opportunities, 2011 - Top responsible company award
Kraft Foods, e.g. 2009 - Best Social Responsibility Practice award, Woman Engineer
Magazine award for proactive approach to employed women
Nestle Česko, e.g. 2012 - competition Top responsible company – 2nd place –
Workplace of the future
Komerční banka, 2008 - 3rd place in the competition Company of the year: Equal
opportunities, 2012 - title The most desirable employer of the decade
IBM ID Centre Brno, 2008, 2009 a 2010 - 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the competition
Company of the year: Equal opportunities
Česká spořitelna, e.g. 2011 – 1st place in the competition Company of the year:
Equal opportunities, 2011 – title Workplace of the future in the competition Top
responsible company
Summary of main findings from the case studies
Diversity strategy – YES – all companies
T-Mobile
Czech
Republic, a.s.
company
philanthropy,
CSR
CULTURE
CULTURE
support of
communities,
employees
involvement
diversity as
part and value
of org. culture
Kraft Foods
CR Ltd.
support of
necessary
social groups,
charity
inclusive
organisational
culture
Komerční
banka, a.s.
IBM ID Centre
Brno
Česká
spořitelna,
a.s.
shared values
principle
shared values
principle
civic society
development
charity,
volunteering,
equal
opportunities
educational
programs,
gender issues,
company
volunteering
equal
opportunities
company
volunteering,
employees
involvement,
charity
open diversity
culture
equal
opportunities
respect to
individuality
as values of
org. culture
respect and
openness as
org. culture
values
equal
opportunities,
mutual respect,
as part of org.
culture
Nestlé
Česko Ltd.
Summary of main findings from the case studies
Diversity aspects and their integration
Monitored
characteristics
T-Mobile
Czech
Republic, a.s.
Kraft Foods
CR Ltd.
Česko Ltd.
Komerční
banka, a.s.
IBM ID
Centre Brno
Česká
spořitelna,
a.s.
Nestlé
Workforce
Diversity
full
full
full
full
full
full
Integration
Integration
Integration
Integration
Integration
Integration
Behavioural
Diversity
partial
integration
partial
integration
full
Integration
full
Integration
full
Integration
partial
integration
Structural
Diversity
partial
integration
full
full
full
full
full
Integration
Integration
Integration
Integration
Integration
Business
Diversity
full
Integration
full
Integration
full
Integration
full
Integration
full
Integration
full
Integration
Summary of main findings from the case studies
Fields od diversity
T-Mobile Czech
Republic, a.s.
Kraft Foods CR
Ltd.
Nestlé
Česko Ltd.
Komerční
banka, a.s.
IBM ID Centre
Brno
Česká
spořitelna, a.s.
equal
opportunities
„Fair Share“
talent
diversity,
equal
opportunitiesgender
talent
diversity,
support of
parents
equal
opportunities
for specific
groups
gender
diversity,
people with
disabilitiess
equal
opportunities
– gender, age,
nationality
work-life
balance
work-life
balance
work-life
balance
work-life
balance
cultural
adaptability
work-life
balance
T-Mobile Czech Republic, a.s.
The company employs almost 3000 employees in the Czech Republic. The company
entered the concept of social responsibility in the year 2005.
Examples of activities:
Within the strategy of diversity management the company focuses on two basic
fields of diversity.
• support of equal opportunities, the so called “Fair Share”. The company
implements programmes to support career growth for women, a well balanced age
structure of teams and the involvement of handicapped persons in work.
• The work-life balance.
The company also initiates programmes for parents on maternity/parental leave,
and assists them when they return after the maternity/parental leave. Last but not
least, the company also supports the ethnical diversity of teams.
+ Specific attention is paid to new employees and their coaching.
Kraft Foods CR Ltd. Company - Mondelēz International
In overall 5 factories in the CR and the SR, the company employs over 3,000 people.
Since April 2013 the official name of the company in the CR is Mondelez Czech
Republic.
Examples of activities
• The company supports diversity on the workplace by offering flexible working
hours, the possibility of working from home, reduced and part time workloads.
• The company also supports internal mobility at the local level and highlights the
support of talents within Kraft Foods and uses the talent management at the
international level.
• Equal treatment in the company is supported by means of personnel processes,
such as recruitment and selection of employees.
• Kraft Foods also monitors women representation in the management.
• Education and harmonizing work and private life is also part of the diversity
attitude.
Nestlé Česko Ltd. Company
The company is part of the international food group Nestlé.
Social responsibility is applied in the range from ethical standards up to responsible
behaviour in the field of the environment and active support of the non-profit
sector.
Examples of activities
Two priorities of diversity management were set in the company.
• The first one is the talent management and its link to diversity management.
• The second is the cooperation with parents on maternity leave and the system by
which they return to work.
• Attention is also paid to the field aimed at harmonizing personal and professional
life, alternative work modes…
Komerční banka, a.s.
Komerční banka, a.s. (KB) belongs to the three largest banks in the Czech Republic.
KB is part of the international group Société Générale. Currently it employs almost
8,000 employees, out of whom more than 70% are women. Social responsibility is
integral part of the KB strategy and is understood as one of the key fields of the
long-term success.
Examples of activities
• Within the support of equal opportunities the company implements programmes
aimed at specific groups of employees.
• the program for career guidance called Carmen,
• employees 50+, the handicapped employees, graduates and students.
• Mentoring, in KB it is included in the programme called Talent management, is
also applied in the field of gender diversity and within the support of women to help
them develop their careers.
+ supportig work-life balance.
Summary of findings
 Diversity strategy is developed in all organizations
 Diversity strategy is aligned to the business strategy
 Diversity is considered to be CSR issue
 Diversity is considered as one of the key elements of CSR
 Diversity is a part of organization culture
 Diversity is considered as one of the important company value
 Diversity programs and policies reflect specific purposes and
organization conditions
Conclusion
Economic, social and cultural changes in the Czech Republic make diversity
management necessity for companies that want to thrive in the current highly
competitive and uncertain business environment.
Managing diversity well provides some potential benefits to organisation:
 improved quality and effectiveness of the workforce
 Increased creativity and innovation
 broader service to customer
 improved decision-making and problem-solving
 Increased loyalty (from staff, customers)
 Improved retention/ recruitment
 lowered staff turnover
Conclusion
„Innovation provides the seeds for economic growth, and for that
innovation to happen depends as much on collective difference as
on aggregate ability….“
„Finding new and better solutions, innovating, requires thinking
differently. That’s why diversity powers innovation.“ (Page, 2007)
Conclusion
Thank you for your attention !
leger@kmo.zcu.cz
egerova@kpm.zcu.cz