Problems Arising Due to Lack of Diversity - Assignment Example

? Diversity Management [Type the document sub [Pick the Contents Question No Problems Arising Due to Lack of Diversity 3 Problem Statement 3 Identification of Possible Causes 3 Ineffective Hiring and Employee Development Practices 4 Lack of Cultural Diversity 4 Issues Arising from Lack of Diversity 4 Question No. 2 Introduction & Management of Diversity 5 Equal Employment Opportunity 6 Recruitment at All Levels 6 Diversity Training 6 Balanced Workforce Model 7 Accountability of Managers 7 Frequent Assessment of Diversity Management 8 Maintenance of Age & Gender Diversity 8 Long-term Strategic Planning 9 References 10 Kim, BY. 2005, ‘Mnaaging wokforcediversity: Developing a learning organization’. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism,vol. 5, no.2, pp.69-90. 10 Question No. 1 Problems Arising Due to Lack of Diversity Problem Statement Blueberry has been an adamant follower of the same ideology since its very inception; a philosophy that brought them much success but made their workforce saturated and discouraged diversity. The work processes are focused on getting the objectives achieved through the existing procedures, although management has identified that the workforce lacks diversity however the root cause has remained unaddressed. The CEO has communicated his concerns to the HR department who have tended to focus on recruitment, and performance management. The new practices have focused on changing the channels of recruitment and the scope has expanded. However, the problem is not the procedures of Blueberry but its culture. The HR department manages to recruit the workforce from new sources however the organization-fit characteristics that they are looking for remain same. Secondly, even if the fresh graduates are recruited from multiple universities and additional sources, they will still be trained to amalgamate into existing culture which is autocratic and fails to celebrate differences. Training provided to them will transform them into the same employees as existing workforce. Blueberry appears to lack diversity because the philosophy of the management addresses the effects instead of the causes (Esty et al. 1995; Hayles & Russel, 1996). Since the middle managers and department heads relate to previous practices therefore they carry out their work practices in the similar manner. Identification of Possible Causes Clients of Blueberry have complained that the organization representatives fail to communicate with the non-technical client representatives. Lack of diversity ensures that the existing pool of individuals bear same characteristics which develops monotony and absence of adaptability. Lack of diversity further makes it difficult for people belonging to the same group to deliver their message across the group since they have not been provided necessary training to do so. Ineffective Hiring and Employee Development Practices Blueberry believes that hiring individuals having effective communication skills will do the needful which is a misconception again (Kim, 2005). Even if the individuals have exemplary communication skills, spending considerable time within the group of individuals bearing same traits, limited exposure to people with different background, knowledge and beliefs and adhering to the organization philosophy shuns the celebration of differences in its core and makes it difficult for them to deliver necessary messages across cross-cultural and diverse groups after sometime. Problem identified is lack of client management skills however in reality, the issue is absence of mechanism which develops employees having ability to handle diverse situations (Gilbert et al., 1999). Lack of Cultural Diversity The culture in these regional offices represents the core values and philosophy with lack of flexibility to the varied requirements. The phenomenon of diversity management requires that the cultural norms and values should be respected and requirements arising from these differences should be addressed. The values and persona reflected by the work force of Blueberry represents its original culture and fails to show adaptability which in turn, makes it contradictory with the organizational culture of the clientele. Issues Arising from Lack of Diversity Lack of diversity is often turns into a problem since it leads to absence of creativity, adaptability and ineffective execution of solutions. Blueberry has a homogeneous workforce when it comes to skill set, gender and age. Creativity is a factor highly dependent on diversity (WSJ, 2012). Workforce comprising of people from diverse corporate backgrounds, ethnic groups and gender cultivate brain storming and effective solution mapping. Furthermore, due to multiple exposures, the processes and procedures can be amended according to best practices prevailing in the industry. Secondly, they can be equally altered in order to address cultural needs which would make the existing workforce understand the client requirements and communicate with them in a desired manner (Krietz, 2005). However, current workforce only represent a monotony which makes it people from different organizations to interact with them and vice versa. Other than this isolation, the development of employees is also hampering which is making them competent experts but ineffective business managers. Question No. 2 Introduction & Management of Diversity Founder of Blueberry, Lenox has identified the issues arising from lack of diversity however establishing the root cause of these issues still lacks. The management has amended the policies and procedures for recruitment and employee management in order to address this problem but necessary measures required to be installed in order to introduce diversity into the workforce. Other than expanding the scope of recruitment, it is important that the ideology related to diversity introduction and management is communicated to the managers and other employees in the organization. Blueberry, in order to encourage and penetrate the much needed diversity in its workforce must ensure that there is an equal opportunity policy applicable and followed. To resolve the issue of similar expertise with lack of ideas and communication skills they can use employee transfer as a measure to shake things up and introduce the existing workforce with new norms and culture prevalent in regional employees. Younger employees must be promoted to higher management positions in order to break the traditional norms although such promotions must be made on merit and performance. A measure of job rotation can be introduced with a limit of two years on a particular position in a particular region only, after two years a movement should be made mandatory to branch or regional offices. Team building activities and celebrating festivals of other cultures can also integrate the workforce and encourage diversity. Equal Employment Opportunity Introduction of equal employment opportunity is the first regime which needs to be accepted organization wide and primarily by the founder, Lenox, himself. Introducing equal opportunity philosophy will ensure that individuals from varied backgrounds with reference to gender, age, ethnicity and corporate history can be recruited and retained at various levels in the organization (Lidenberg, 2012). Maintaining relationships with the community will also ensure that regional resources are amalgamated into workforce since these individuals will be aware of clients’ requirements arising out of cultural differences. Recruitment at All Levels Expanding the recruitment from fresh graduates to hiring at all level of organization would also allow seasoned professionals from the industry to enter into organization and introduce diverse knowledge and skill set. It is also important to expand the scope of hiring from university and colleges to other sources and channels. Emlployee referrals are one of ways of attracting potential talent and present employee base will help in retention of these new incumbents (Milikan et al., 2003). Diversity Training Another important aspect of diversity management is the diversity training given to the existing workforce. Giving diversity training makes employees aware of the philosophy of the management i.e. benefits of a diverse workforce and emphasis on performance instead of quotas. Affinity groups are also another significant mechanism of introducing diversity and managing it. Where a diverse workforce is hired, it is important that the employees are given significant opportunity to brainstorm and communicate their views. This mode of communication will help them in understanding each other’s viewpoints and will also help in change management and conflict management. Balanced Workforce Model One of important aspects of diversity management is following a balanced workforce model. A balanced workforce model allows the management to be aware of the current demographics of the existing employee population and helps it set long-term and short-term goals for employee management. This regime makes managers accountable for upward mobility and also for making sure that one group of employees is not disproportionately affected by other. Lenox needs to amalgamate diversity management into its strategic business planning and address it as part of organizational strategy management instead of a solution to an existing problem (Arsenault, 2004). Hence, communication of this vision followed by necessary actions is a preliminary step. Including this vision into organization’s mission statement followed by cultural audits, trainings, evaluating effectiveness related to diversity will communicate management’s commitment to diversity management to the employees. Accountability of Managers Making regional managers accountable for introducing and managing variety of employees in their teams will ensure that regional teams have necessary elements required for addressing client’s needs (Ozbilgin & Tatli, 2008). Instead of allowing employees from the head office to represent Blueberry at regional offices, recruiting local resources with necessary skills set and varied background and experience should be preferred so that cultural differences can be addressed duly. The current issues of lack of diversity in Blueberry stems out of older workforce at senior management levels which introduced rigidity in organizational culture since fresh graduates have limited ability to bring out change and they would prefer opting for adaptation instead of introduction of diversity and innovation. Therefore, recruiting seasoned resources with necessary skill set and market intelligence acquired from multiple resources will promulgate the change from managers’ level which would be accepted by junior employees as well (Patrick, 2010). Frequent Assessment of Diversity Management Other than that, periodic assessment and evaluation is of equal importance for diversity management. In Blueberry, a large set of instructions are provided from the founder whereas lesser employee feedback gives rise to a strict hierarchical structure within the organization. Introducing feedback and opinion sharing mechanism enhances employee involvement and helps the workforce have different set of opinions to contribute which leads to innovation and creativity. Maintenance of Age & Gender Diversity Failure to introduce age and gender diversity gives rise to a workforce that lacks inspiration, innovation and necessary energy. Due to generation gaps, managers and employees find difficulty in communication due to which employees concerns remain unaddressed. Therefore, it is suggested that Blueberry needs to perform recruitment at managerial levels as well non-managerial cadres on the basis of credentials and skills instead of a given age limit. This will further result in age diversity within the workforce and due to introduction of fresh talent and managerial levels, overall dimension of business processes can be changed. Frequent employee audits will allow the HR department to perform hiring at various levels and keep track of gender diversity introducing proportion and symmetry into the workforce. Long-term Strategic Planning Finally, introduction of diversity is not sufficient, it requires thorough management and long-term planning since resistance to change and discrimination will result in internal competition and rivalry which has its own consequences for business performance and achievement of objectives (WSJ, 2012). Blueberry has transformed in to a mature organization with extensive operations and a large workforce. It has faced various problems related to homogeneous workforce since its clients find it difficult to communicate with the organization representatives. This failure in communication has stemmed out of lack of diversity in its workforce. Blueberry’s employee management practice is based on inducting freshers and making them accustomed to organizational culture which was introduced by its founders. And, this workforce than progresses and reaches the managerial levels without making any value addition in the organization culture. Although company has expanded its scope of hiring from limited universities to multiple resources but the actual issue remains hidden: lack of change agents and senior managers having ability to introduce multiple knowledge base, values and skills. Due to existing practices, requirements of regional clients remain unaddressed since the employees are not aware of the mechanics of diversity management. In order to address this issue, it is important that policies and procedures must reflect introduction of diversity through equal opportunity provision ensuring that the work force comprises of employees from varied background with reference to age, gender, culture, ethnicity and corporate background. In addition to introduction of this change, diversity management and frequent assessment will ensure adherence of management to this philosophy through strategic management. References Arsenault, P. 2004. ‘Validating generational differences: A legitimate diversity and leadership issue’. The Leadership & Organization Development Journal, (25)2: 121-141. Esty, K, Griffin, R & Schorr-Hirsh, M 1995. ‘Workplace diversity. A managers guide to solving problems and turning diversity into a competitive advantage’. Avon, MA: Adams Media Harvey, CP 2012. ‘Understanding and Managing Diversity’. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.. pp. 51–55. Hayles, R & Russell, A 1996, The Diversity Directive: Why Some Initiatives Fail and What to do about it, Irwin Professional Publishing. Gilbert JA, Stead BA, & Ivancevich JM 1999. ‘Diversity management: A new organizational paradigm’. Journal of Business Ethics, 21(1), 61-76. Kim, BY. 2005, ‘Mnaaging wokforcediversity: Developing a learning organization’. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism,vol. 5, no.2, pp.69-90. Krietz, PA. 2007. ‘Best Practices for Managing Organizational Diversity’, Viewed 23 November 2012 Lidenberger, J. 2012. ‘Diversity and the workplace’. Viewed 23 November 2012 Milliken, FJ.; Morrison, EW & Hewlin, PF 2003. ‘An Exploratory Study of Employee Silence: Issues that Employees Don't Communicate Upward and Why’.Journal of Management Studies 40 (6): 1453–76. Ozbilgin M. & Tatli A.2008. Global diversity management: An evidence-based approach. London, England: Palgrave. Patrick HA. 2010. ‘Organization culture and its impact on diversity openness in the information technology organizational context’. Dimensions, 1(1), 67-72. U.S. Department of Commerce. 2012. ‘Best Practices in Achieving workplace diversity’. Viewed 23 November 2012 Walck, CL 1995. Editor's introduction: ‘Diverse approaches to managing diversity’. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, vol. 31: 119-23. Wall street journal. 2012. ‘How to increase workplace diversity.’ Viewed 23 November 2012 Read More