Course Objectives
•
Explain What is Diversity
•
Explain What is Diversity Management
•
Explain What is Organizational Diversity
•
Explain Gender Sensitization
•
Describe the Approaches to Understanding Cultures
•
Explain How to Communicate Across Cultures
•
List the Elements of Culture
•
Describe the Layers of Culture
•
Differentiate between Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity
•
Explain the Seven Ps Approach
•
Explain the Steps for Implementing Diversity Management
•
Describe the Economic Benefits of Workplace Diversity
•
Explain the Challenges to Adopting Diversity
•
Describe the Ways to Encourage Diversity
•
List the Tips for Diversity at Workplace
Introduction
Helium Inc. is an MNC and is wellknown for its policy of being an
‘equal opportunity employer’.
However, when Hazel
appears for the interview, she
is informed that due to the
stress and pressures
associated with the job, the
interviewers are not keen on
hiring women for this role.
Since, Helium has a policy on paper
for being an ‘equal opportunity
employer’, they had advertised for
receiving applications from everyone
but did not intend to hire women for
this particular position.
Hazel Wilson has
applied for the position
of a ‘Sales Manager’
with Helium Inc.
Introduction
Do you think Hazel was treated fairly?
Helium does support the
concept of being an ‘equal
opportunity employer’ and
hence encourages diversity.
Then, what exactly is causing this
difference between the policy that
exists in theory and actual practice?
Hazel is qualified and fit
for this position in
every way that a man
will be.
Introduction
Yes, Hazel was not treated fairly
because the only basis on which a
person should be recruited
should be on his or her own merit
and not based on gender, race,
ethnicity, religion etc.
Helium supports ‘diversity’ but
only in theory and has not been
able to put its policy into actual
practice which can prove to be
very harmful to the organization.
What is Diversity?
The term ‘diversity’ has been heard in our everyday usage.
Usually, when we come across the term, it is in
the context of having a mix of gender, race, ethnic,
sexual orientation etc. in a setting
wherein there is no discrimination
based on these traits.
Dimensions of Diversity
The following image shows the various dimensions that make up diversity in
people.
Military Experience
Job Title
Pay Scale
Group
Department/
Unit/Group
Life
Experience
Work
Experience
Age
Religion
Mental
Ability Physical
Ability
Family
Status
Sexual
Orientation
Gender
Identity
Personal
Ethnicity Habits
Education
Gender
Management
Status
Seniority
Race
Income
Work Style
Communication
Style
Work
Location
Headquarters
/Field
Union
Affiliation
Importance of Managing Diversity
We live in times when global
corporations and their reach
across the world bring
benefits in terms of
innovative HR policies as
well as challenges in terms of managing the
workforce are concerned. The rise of such
corporations means that the workforce is
composed of diverse races and ethnicities.
Further, the issue of gender diversity in terms of
more women participating in the workforce has
been a trend that has accelerated in the last two
decades in India and much earlier in the
developed countries.
Approaches to Understanding Cultures
1
The ‘Six Questions Approach’ was developed by Florence Kluckholn
and Fred Strodtbeck (1961). They developed a set of six questions
that compare cultures across six dimensions.
The Hofstede Model
Power Distance
Masculinity vs. Femininity
Individualism vs.
Collectivism
Long-term orientation vs.
Short-term thinking
Uncertainty Avoidance
Uncertainty Avoidance:
The fifth dimension of ‘uncertainty
avoidance’ refers to the structured work
environment, which in the West would
be oriented towards specific and
measurable goals and objectives
whereas out of the box thinking is
prevalent in the East.
Layers of Culture
Culture consists of four layers at various levels such as follows:
Outer Layer
National Culture: Provides a cultural
context within which businesses
operate
Inner Layer
Business Culture: Where the rules of
the games are known
Deeper Layer
Organizational Culture: A common set
of values shared by all within an
organization
The Core
The Core
Deeper Layer
Inner Layer
Outer Layer
Individual Culture: Basic assumptions,
rules, and methods dealing with
problems
Real Life Example
Real Life Example
The ‘Ring’ hand gesture means:
Need for Organizational Diversity
• Heterogeneous Nature of the Customer Base
Heterogeneous Nature of the Customer Base:
It is no longer the case that the customers are made up of monolithic wholes that
exhibit consistent and uniform patterns of behavior. On the other hand, the
customer base for many companies has splintered into ethnic, racial, gender and
other segmentations which means that organizations have to encourage diversity
in their workforce to tackle the aspirations of the fragmented customer bases.
Diversity Management vs. Equal Opportunity
The following table shows comparison of diversity management versus equal
opportunity.
Diversity Management
All employees maximize their potential
and their contribution to the company
Includes broad range of people; no one is
excluded
Mainly focused on issues of movement
within the company, the culture of the
organization and meeting business
objectives and goals
Is the concern of all the staff in an
organization, especially senior managers
Does not rely on positive or affirmative
action
Equal Opportunity
Concentration on issues of discrimination
Understands as an issue for certain groups
in labor market such as women, ethnic
minorities and people with disabilities
Focus on cultural change and meeting
business objectives and goals is less,
premised more on moral and ethical
issues
Perceives as an issue to do with human
resource practitioners
Relies on positive actions
Steps for Implementing Diversity Management
The following are the steps for implementing diversity
management:
Phase 1:
Getting started
Let’s look at each in detail.
Economic Benefits of Workplace Diversity
The following are some of the economic benefits of
workplace diversity:
•
A diverse workforce is a key driver of economic growth
•
A diverse workforce helps capture the majority consumer
market
A greater qualified workforce is recruited by following
diversity
Diversity helps to avoid employee turnover costs
•
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5
6
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•
•
Diversity helps organizations to be competitive in the
economic market: Due to the spread of globalization,
immigrations, population shifts, it has been found that
there will not be any ruling majority race in the world.
Hence, the need of the day is to adapt to this changing
statistics and embrace diversity to remain competitive in
the business world.
Tips for Diversity at Workplace
Tip# 1
Identify the importance
of contributions and the
people who contribute
• Keep an open mind
towards feedback,
contributions, ideas etc.
• Give priority to the
organization’s goals above
your personal goals
Tips for
Diversity at
Workplace
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