MANAGEMENT IN DIVERSITY

QUESTION

This report throws light on the literature on diversity in the workplace and its impact. It has been found that there are both pros and cons attached to having a diverse workforce. On the one hand diversity has been linked with more creativity and better problem solving in the workplace as many minds with different experiences and knowledge come together. On the other hand it has also been linked to higher turnover, low morale and reduced commitment due to lack of cohesiveness in the groups.  But diversity in the workplace is inevitable and has to be worked upon in a manner to extract the best from the employees and give the best back to them. The report showcases many studies that highlight factors that can contribute for and against productivity in the work place. PricewaterhouseCoopers has been taken up as a case in point to elucidate some of the best practices that are on with regard to diversity management at the work place. All the research in the reports indicates towards the fact that diversity is a given and along with it come the negatives and positives that group dynamics bring with them, however, the negatives can be dealt with by implementing specific Human Resource Management practices and plugging gaps. Leadership also plays a vital role here as the leaders would determine the importance attached to diversity management and the make or break role they play in determining how and why are diverse groups formed and managed in the organization.

SOLUTION

Introduction

This is an era of globalization where there are no boundaries and no measurable length to which one can go for business.  Organization of all sizes are now only aiming at making a global presence for with that they get a strong foot hold across the globe and that truly is growth. However, to achieve this growth and expansion a crucial step needs to be taken, that of cross cultural understanding and awareness. Teams at the work place are getting increasingly diverse not only in the skill set that they have to offer but also in the age, gender and cultural aspects of it. Virtual teams are a reality and are only becoming a bigger part of the work place.  To ensure that we extract the maximum out of the workforce with such a diverse nature, we need to understand the background of each of the employees not only in terms of the work experience they have but also in terms of how work and various facet of it are perceived and valued in their particular culture.  Sensitivity to cultural differences and similarities is also essential to avoid any potential disruption due to differences in perception and cultural incompatibility. Gone are the days when men were only considered talking machines, today the softer side of human kind is delved into as much as the technical side is to maximize output and ensure longevity of tenure with motivated and satisfied employees.  The focus on cross cultural understanding is also crucial to cater to the ever increasing client base that now spans across cultures for most organizations. Diversity management is increasingly being recognized as a important organizational resources be it for having a cutting edge, being an employer of choice or to provide excellent customer services (Best Practices in Achieving Workforce Diversity).

Scope of the study

The study looks at various theories on diversity in the work place with an attempt to understand the impact of diversity management on the employees, organization and customers. The review of literature attempts to throw light on various empirical studies that have been conducted linking various key factors like motivation, satisfaction, and retention to diversity management.  The study also looks at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a case in point to understand how an organization works around diversity management and its positive and negative impact.

Review of Literature

There are many definitions of what diversity management refers to. Broadly, any difference, be it ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, language, lifestyle or tenure, refers to diversity (Kossek & Lobel 1996). The studies on diversity management have not only looked at the diverse demographic backgrounds of the employees but the difference in perception and intellectual capabilities and cultures.

Diversity in the workplace and its management is not an isolated factor. It is a function of the human resources management policies on recruitment, reward and recognition, performance appraisal, employee development and individual managerial behaviors that are crucial for getting the crucial competitive advantage.

There is a definite inter-relation between diversity, creativity, innovation and having the competitive advantage and researchers in academics and the business community have focused on factors that lead to creativity in individuals and on factors that play catalysts of creativity in teams (West & Anderson 1996). The conflicting research offers two schools of thoughts on the role diversity plays. The exponents of the Information Decision Approach proposes that diversity that is managed well can lead to enhanced creativity which in turn can lead to greater job commitment and satisfaction  and a better market place interface(Cox and Blake 1991; Iles & Hayers 1997;Richard & Shelor,2002). On the other hand, those advocating the Social Identity Theory argue that cohesiveness can get damaged with diversity by reducing communication and producing in-groups and out-groups in the team. This can further lead to distrust and discord in the team members and result in lack of customer focus and market orientation (Ely and Thomas 2001; Ibaarra 1993; Kanter 1977; Tafjel 1982). The social identity theory focuses on the social groups and the conflicts that can arise amongst them, the role of the individuals’ affiliation with the group and the psychological processes that are responsible for the formation of the group. Social identity refers to the self concept an individual holds about himself that is a result of the membership of a certain group and the value and emotional significance the individual attaches to the group. With a diverse work group the emotional and psychological value attached to the membership of that work group and the resulting outcomes and varies and also clash in cases where the cultural differences between the members is too vast.

Hennessey & Amabile (1998) also indicate that if you can understand individual strengths and weaknesses and form working relationships based on sensitivity and trust, diversity can greatly enhance creativity and problem solving at the work place. A diverse team leads to more perspectives on a single subject and therefore better results in problem solving and creativity. However, the flip side is that the more diverse the group the more difficult it can be to get the buy in of all stake holders and emerge with a result that not only satisfies the customer but also satisfies all the team members alike. Cummings (1998) has shown that successful innovation has three stages: conception, successful development and successful application and two potential problems can arise in a diverse team. The technical aspect requires that all team members agree to the solution and the human aspect requires that there be no discord and all members have their buy in for the proposed solution.

Workplace diversity management also has an impact on the motivation of employees’. The onus of ensuring effective allocation of members to various work groups lies with the leader. Therefore, effective leadership directly impacts effective diversity management the motivation levels of employees in diverse work groups. It is for the leader to assess and assign the right mix of people to the right job to ensure that the diverse experience and perspectives that the composition of the group is bringing together leads to more productive, motivated and satisfied employees. To assess the team on the softer aspects of cultural differences and sensitivities is as crucial as it is to assess and evaluate them on technical competencies. Motivation is a key concept of leadership as per House,Hanges,Javidan, Dorfman and Gupta(2004). According to them leadership refers to the ability with which the leaders can motivate others there by contributing to the effectiveness and success of the group. It has also been found that an employee that is not motivated is not likely to spend much effort on the job, avoid the workplace and quit the organization at the first opportunity (Amabile, 1993). Since it is the leaders who chose and define the scope of role each member in a work group has, it makes leadership key to effectiveness of diverse work groups.

Case Study : PricewaterhouseCoopers

PricewaterhouseCoopers is headquartered in New York with a headcount of 168, 710 global employees and 35836 U.S employees. The organization has been repeatedly recognized for managing a diverse workforce in the most effective way so as to achieve the best results for the organization and its people. PWC is all about talent pools that are not only diverse but can also be unexpected.  Talent development and recruitment are considered critical for business and followed up to ensure that the best man is chosen for the job and the best is retained and motivated (DiversityInc 2012).

PricewaterhouseCoopers recognizes that unless you link the responsibility of cross cultural mentoring, recruitment, retention and motivation of talent to the goals of executives, it may not be driven with the same force.  An important strategy adopted by PricewaterhouseCoopers is to strike a balance by offering its employees the most attractive flexi work options that enable them to balance personal and professional life.  The benefits they offer include a host of options like onsite religious accommodations, backup childcare assistance, nanny resources and referrals, paid paternity leave, well-being rewards, and tax equalization for all domestic partners(DiversityInc 2012).

The PWC sponsoring involves creating a pool of diversified talent. Partners are required to identify the employees and are evaluated on their reasoning for investing in these individuals. To facilitate this PWC toolkit includes a business case, guidelines, tips and real life experiences of partners and staff members(DiversityInc 2012).

Another PWC workforce management strategy that has been in the forefront is the world class mentoring program they offer. The mentors and mentees are given cross cultural awareness training and most of the mentor mentee equations are cross cultural(DiversityInc 2012).

Some of the areas that PWC has clearly taken the lead in diversity management are recruitment and retention, global diversity and LGBT. A total of nine resource groups are used for talent development and diversity training by PWC (DiversityInc 2012).

The effective diversity management measures have lead to very high levels of motivation in the employees which is evident in the low attrition. Research shows that when employees are valued and recognized it leads to greater individual productivity , better organizational effectiveness and industry competitiveness that is sustained much better than when we don’t cash on the diverse pool of talent.  (Taylor Cox).

PWC has done well with its workforce diversification and management however, the cutting edge will come when this can be taken to the next level by not only creating a diverse workforce but by taking it forward to linking it more directly with organizational goals and objectives. It has laid a lot of emphasis on creating groups that are truly diverse however; there are some gaps that need to be plugged.

The training on cross cultural awareness and team building needs to be more robust and cater to the realistic issues faced by the employees. The structure of the organization also handicaps the diversification and productivity as it is an equal challenge to get the higher ups to open up as it is uncomfortable for the juniors. Many cross cultural teams have not been as productive as they could have been due to improper composition and handling post pooling of diverse talent. The gap between the senior management and the middle/ junior management is a challenging front that needs to be addressed for successful diversification and maximization of talent.

Another facet that needs to be handled very carefully is the composition of the group. PWC is high on having multi cultural work groups , however, if all employees are not on the same page and professional dynamics are not in sync viz-a viz the position and/or authority the employees hold, it can be a hindrance to the aim of maximizing productivity with a diverse mix. Sensitivity to the composition of the group has to be of utmost importance and case studies and experiences of employees from mixed groups have shown that this area needs to be worked upon. It cannot merely be a diverse yet productive group on paper alone. It is also very difficult to measure the success of the various cross cultural groups that have been formed and the organization needs to come up with better and more fool proof ways of objectively assessing the deliverables of this mixed bag.

Managing Diversity

Given the critical role that diversity management plays in today’s business environment, it is imperative to look at the best methods that can lead to effective diversity management. There are various strategies employed by organizations and studies have shown that no one way is suitable to all situation. Dass and Parker (1999) has identified twelve strategic responses to managing workplace diversity  while Moore (1999) has highlighted four behavioral stereotypes – the diversity hostile, the diversity blind, the diversity naïve and the diversity integrationist.  Each organization has unique challenges that come with the nature of the business and the mix of people available to deliver on the same.

While some organizations chose to respond to this and maximize on the diversity its workforce brings , others may not necessarily see it as an opportunity. Any organization that is high on commitment will have an outcome driven approach to diversity. Today’s work place is all about groups of people and therefore personal styles of functioning are as important as the technical know- how an employee brings with him. The way an individual chooses to discharge his responsibilities is governed by the way in which an individual likes to work and if there is a good match between that and the role the individual has to play in the work group. Personal styles manifest themselves in the workplace; however, this does not necessarily mean that people with the same style of working will form an effective work group. For a group that has homogeneity, the trust between members can emerge easily however, there also the danger of the group falling into the blind spot where thinking and approach becomes skewed.

Garvin (1988) has shown that employees from a particular discipline or function perceive and define quality in a different way. For example, an employee tasked with procurement will focus on value for money as a quality parameter where as those involved in design will see it as intangible. These differences in perception create compartments that become difficult to sync with each other, may even lead to collision and not be able to make the most of the diverse experiences.  The composition of the group and the roles assigned there in have to therefore be handled in a very delicate manner, striking a balance on the technical and behavioral aspects.

Some groups might start well but to ensure that things are moving on the right tracks it is important to have some basic human resource management tools like the 360 degree feedback and the balance score card to be used along with reward systems for timely deliveries (Kaplan & Nortan 1996).

Conclusion

Research indicates both pros and cons of a diverse work team. A study by Thomas and Ely (1996) has shown that diverse teams lead to better organization, greater clarity and offers more combinations of approaches to solve a problem. This is because in a diverse group people come with cognitive and experiential diversity.  People in more diverse work groups can also have a broader network of contacts (Tushman 1997) and promote creativity and problem solving capabilities (Latimer 1998) cause the evaluation of the options is far more robust and less risk averse.

On the other hand, researchers have also argued that diverse groups face greater problems in communication and thereby higher conflict and turnover (Knight et al 1999). It has also been suggested in some studies that if employees perceive themselves as different from their counterparts, the levels of attachment to the work group and subsequently the organization are lower. (Mighty 1997).

The above research clearly indicates that research findings swing both ways in terms of having a diverse work group is concerned. However, the positive impacts are clearly more consequential as the negative ones can be worked upon. The next section explores the various ways through which organizations can maximize in this diverse work scenario.

Recommendations

Team work is the backbone of every result oriented organization. The leaders have to assume responsibility for creating the right mix of people technically and culturally so as to get the best out of the employees. Also, teams, those that are cross cultural and delivering as per expectation or better, need to be reinforced adequately and in time to motivate them and others across various functions and cultures in any organization. Human Resource Management through tailor made training programs, constructive and timely feedback and reinforcements have to be integrated at all levels. Leadership plays the most vital role here since their perspective and understanding of challenges confronted by the diverse work group will have a direct impact on the formation and further execution by the diverse team.  It is all about understanding the people dynamics in addition to the technical expertise and sensitivity to that can lead to better teams that lead to higher productivity and the competitive edge in the market.

Reference List

Amabile, T.M. 1993. Motivational synergy: Toward new conceptualizations of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the workplace. Human Resource Management Review

Cox, T. and Blake, H. 1991. Managing cultural diversity: implications for organizational competitiveness. Academy of Management Executive

Cumming, B.S. 1998. Innovation overview and future challenges. European Journal of Innovation Management

Dass, P. and Parker, B. 1999.Strategies for managing human resource diversity: From resistance to learning. Academy of Management Executive

Diversity Inc, 2012. The diversityInc top 50 companies for diversity. DiversityInc.  Available at 🙁http://diversityinc.com/2012-diversityinc-top-50/pricewaterhousecoopers/) ( Accessed at  May 4, 2012)

Elmes and Anshuman Prasad (eds) Managing the Organizational Melting Pot: Dilemmas of Workplace Diversity. Thousand Oaks, California.

Ely, J. and Thomas, D.A. 2001 Cultural diversity at work: The effects of diversity perspectives on work group processes and outcomes. Administrative Science Quarterly.

Tushman, M.L. 1997 Special boundary roles in the innovation process. Administrative Science Quarterly

Garvin, D.A. 1988.Managing Quality. Maxwell.MacMillan, Free Press, Toronto.

Hennessey, B.A. and Amabile, T.M. 1998.  Reward, intrinsic motivation, and creativity. American Psychologist

House, R.J., Hanges, P.J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P.W., & Gupta, V. 2004. Culture, leadership, and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Ibaarra, H. 1993.Personal networks of woman and minorities in management: A conceptual framework. Academy of Management Review.

Iles, P. and Hayers, P.K. 1997. Managing diversity in transnational project teams. Journal of Management Psychology

Kanter, R. 1977.Men and Women of the Corporation.Basic Books, New York.

Kaplan, R.S. and Norton, D.P. 1996.The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action. HBS Press, Boston

Knight, D., Pearce, C.L., Smith K.G., Olian, J.D.,Sims, H.P., Smith, K.A. and Flood, P. 1999. Top Management team diversity, group process, and strategic consensus,. Journal of Strategic Management

Kossek, E.E. and Lobel, S.A. 1996.ManagingDiversity: Human Resource Strategies for Transforming the Workplace. Blackwell, Cambridge, MA.

Latimer, R.L. 1998. The case for diversity in global business, and the impact of diversity on team Performance. Competitiveness Review

Moore, S. 1999. Understanding and managing diversity amongst groups at work: Key issues for organizational training and development. Journal of European Industrial Training

Richard, O.C. and Shelor, M. 2002. Linking top management team heterogeneity to firm performance: Juxtaposing two mid-range theories. International Journal of Human Resource Management

Tajfel, H. 1982. Instrumentality, identity and social comparisons. Cited in Mighty J.E. Triple Jeopardy: Immigrant Women of Colour in the Labor Force. In Pushkala Prasad, Albert J Mills, Michael

Taylor Cox,Jr, Cultural Diversity in organizations. San Fransisco, Berret Kohler. Available at (http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/workforce-diversity.pdf) (Accessed at May 4, 2012)

U.S. Department of Commerce and Vice President Al Gore’s National Partnership for Reinventing Benchmarking Study.  Best practices in achieving workforce diversity. Available at (http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/workforce-diversity.pdf) (Accessed at May 5, 2012)

KI42

Please  Click on the  below links to Chat Now  or fill the Order Form !